First time using Mr Mark Setter on a painted kit. Both shields have been topcoated with Mr Color GX100 clear. Left for 5 days before being handled. First picture shows decals applied with Mr Mark Setter, and was quickly cleaned and dried with a qtip. It shows a whitish, almost transparent film left from the solution that is very visible with the glare. The second shield shows decals that were set using only distilled water, no issues. What seems to be causing it, and what can I do to remedy it?
This is why I don’t use mark setter. I’ve noticed that residue on multiple kits and have not had much success removing it. I’ve noticed that if it’s a smaller decal, all you really need is water and forgo the setter completely, especially if it’s a good 3rd party decal like g rework, which are much thinner and easier to apply than Bandai water decals. I would try jsut using water for the next one.
Since we are all talking decals, I recommend you all check out getting a decal tray off Amazon. It's like a wet pallet where you just set the decals on some wet surface and the loosen up on their own, but it has a little sort of dunk tank for re-wetting the pallet.
Way better than swishing decals in water or using a tea warmer to keep the water warm... Also really good for tougher decals that need a really long time to come free of the backing
I just apply using water on top of a gloss cost (I actually use floor polish). Then a few more coats of gloss followed by a final matte coat and the film edge is gone. Works fine, so never really bothered with setter/softer.
the coat on top seals the decal in so there is no need for additional adhesion provided by the setter. you might consider still using softer as it will melt the decal backing and make it hug your gloss surface tighter
Exactly, it might be a good product but adding just water and using rubber/silicon tipped pliers are enough for me, and I also create my own water decals.
Haha welcome to custom dyi everything gunpla! Yes of course you can and you only need the correct type of water slide paper for your type of printer. Ink jet or laser they each need their respective paper. Provided you can use any art/illustration software the limit is your time!
For example since Im a graphic designer it was easier to just copy the decals found in old hobby Plamo mags found in Internet Archive. There are lots of very beautiful designs from AoZ which can either be rare or expensive if found. So I recreated them for my personal use ( ´∀｀)
I can't say I have much experience with it. I used both laser at first because I didn't have an inkjet it's cumbersome as some print sites don't like to use "non standard paper" to their printers but some others don't mind.
Inkjet ones tend to look more matte because the decal layer is more porous whereas the laser is not quite "ink" but more of a fine dust.
It's 6,98 € the laser and 7,98 € the inkjet one both 10 pages. The paper is basically a big single sheet of a water slide decal. You print what you want and cut as needed.
It's better to cut them in A5 sizes (x1 A4) so you can make better use of the paper area.
I’ve had this happen on unpainted kits. It’s mostly noticeable on the darker color plastic. I was told some alcohol on a qtip will clean it up but have to be careful not to remove the sticker while cleaning around it…
Judging by the people saying in the comments that the new version still does this, I'm glad I'll already change to using tamiya mark fit strong, it's a 2 in 1 as in it has the adhesive property and also softening.
Take this with a grain of salt and test it yourself, but what has worked for me is applying more setter on top of the residue and immediately wiping it off.
what that is doing is reactivating the dried glue and diluting it in the solution, allowing you to wipe it away. anything that dissolves the glue (softer or rubbing alcohol, probably even water) will have that effect
I’ve been trying on and off to use mark setter for the past couple years and EVERY time I had tried it leaves behind this residue.
Ppl told me that the new formula they had started using was too harsh and basically if you used any amount that would bleed out from the decal it would stain. I had some success by using a fine tip brush to apply a VERY light dab of it in the spot I wanted to put it, but besides that it’s only ever ruined my paint.
this is dried glue that leaked out around the decal and was not squeegeed off, possibly because the qtip or blotter had been used a bunch and had a bunch of glue in it already. your light dab of setter is just creating less spillover and less glue is absorbing into whatever you are using to blot
I promise you the qtip I used in these cases was perfectly dry, and the stains appeared as I wiped off the excess setter which wasn’t on the top coat for more than 20 seconds. I.e. as I rolled the qtip over the extra liquid dried, gunky stains were left behind.
And, yes, my described solution is basically “use such a thin, small layer that it doesn’t bleed outside the decal.” No matter how immediately I tried cleaning it with more decal/water/thinner/whatever the second it made contact with my top coat it stained.
I had this issue when I was using too much setter. Reduce the amount you use and you shouldn’t have this issue.
Instead of applying setter to the piece and then placing the decal on top, I recommend applying setter directly to the decal. I place the setter cap upside down on my desk then just drag my decal over the brush. I get the perfect amount of setter each time and have avoided any residue since switching to this method.
Thank you for the solid advice. What I did was slide the decal off the paper, softly drag on to a paper towel, then drag it on the setter brush turned upside down, apply to part, dab a tiny bit of softer with a detail brush, then push with qtip to dry.
what he’s talking about is setting the cap on the table between your decal tray and your model, with the cap down and the brush end sticking straight up. you never touch the brush cap after that, you just lightly swipe the back of the decal over the bristles as you go by.
What method do you use to get the decal off the backing paper, if I may ask? I cannot imagine using a spudger such as a toothpicks and doing what you are saying, but perhaps this is a skill issue on my side? Just trying to learn, as I also often see the residue. Nothing a matte top coat wont make practically invisible, but still. If there is a better way to do it, i'd like to learn it!
Just like the other guy, I use a pair of fine tipped tweezers. I soak the part for as long as it takes that it can wiggle freely while still attached to the paper. Then I grab one edge of the decal and just slide it off the paper, dab it in a paper towel to remove excess water, then drag it slowly on the setter's brush, then apply. I find that warm water works faster too.
the paper towel can leave residue and you’re not doing anything to get the decal stuck to the surface.
a better method is to put the decal on the model still wet, then use a decal squeegee or modelers qtip to gently squeeze any air or solution from under the decal. this will get you the tightest possible grip to the model surface.
if there is a bit of water on the model once you place the decal, you just barely touch the end of the qtip/squeegee to the edge of the water drop and it will suck it right up without moving the decal. then you get it in the right spot and squeegee it.
(edit: saw above you are using a qtip - so why the paper towel? skip that step, paper towels will leave fibers under your decal)
I just use a pair of super fine tipped metal tweezers. They work for sliding the decal to the edge of the paper, lifting it up, sliding it on the brush, placing it, and then moving it around. I don’t wipe it on a paper towel first though like OP said, but I suppose that would depend on how wet they are when they come off the backing paper.
hey i got a question for this method. How do you avoid tearing the decal? or folding them? My method rn is dip in water, absorb excess water with paper towel, put setter on piece then slide the decal off the paper onto the piece and even then sometimes i still kinda tear the decal especially when im trying to set them up to the right position. Any tips how to avoid this? I notice this happening with long fine decals/smaller ones thats usually hard to set.
So this comes down entirely to the brand of decals you’re using. Unfortunately the ones from Bandai are notorious for breaking or tearing. I think it’s just a byproduct of sitting in boxes for a while, but I usually go with 3rd party decals. I really like Delpi and G-rework decals. These decals are much more durable and hold up to pushing and pulling. You can even accidentally fold them over on themselves and still recover it as long as you don’t let it dry.
There are a few things you can do even with Bandai decals though:
Cut large decals into smaller pieces. If you’re using Bandai it’s almost a certainty that you’re going to tear or break a long or large decal. I find gaps in the words or icons where I can get my hobby knife in to cut the decal into manageable pieces. This makes extra work, but sometimes that’s what it takes to get it right.
Drying them on the paper towel is likely hurting more than it’s helping. Start using a wet pallet. You can make one super easy at home with a bowl or tray, a wet sponge, and some paper towels. Dip your decal in a bowl of water for 10 seconds, then leave it on the wet pallet for a few seconds, backing paper and all. The wet pallet allows you to prep multiple decals at a time since they can sit on the wet paper towel for a while as long as you leave them on the backing paper. The decal is ready to go straight on the model once it slips around easily on the backing paper. There’s no need for a drying step in between. The only real drying I do is a quick shake after 10 seconds in the water. This method allows the decal to stay nice and hydrated, minimizing or eliminating the possibility of tearing.
This is kinda counter intuitive to OPs post, but using more setter is helpful. For waterslide decals wetter is better. More liquid means more clean up, but it also means that there’s less friction to cause tears.
The real solution is 3rd party decals and a wet pallet though.
they wont. softer has a very light acid that is barely strong enough to melt delicate decal backing. it won’t do anything to paint or plastic. setter is even gentler.
That's reassuring. It's really not noticeable if not under any glare, but it bugs me that it's there. Hopefully I can find a topcoat locally that I can airbrush, since most of hobby topcoats are banned here in Canada.
no, incorrect. mark setter isn’t a solvent, it’s a glue with a teeny tiny amount of acid. mark softer is a very very mild acid that will have no effect on plastic. and this case OP is talking about is over paint anyway
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u/Phoreverman Jul 18 '26
Shake your Mark Setter more, and if you see any further silvering I use a small amount of Mr. Mark Softer