Removing to Reapply Decals

Question

I've painted my new Space Marine chapter Blood Angels style, trying to respect as much as possible the color scheme: squad decal on knee, company decal on shoulder and winged blood dop on other shoulder.

The decals I first used were the 90's decals from Games Workshop, but I just noticed that the new decals are smaller, and thus pretty much better (ie. don't overlap shoulder edge).

I've bought some decal paper, scanned the decals I wanted and will now print out my own decal sheets to have the exact number and style of decals I wish to have.

The only problem is, and thus the question: how can I safely remove a decal from a figurine? Is there an easy way? Or must I scrape and repaint the parts that I need to reapply decals to? The decals were sealed with Lahmian Medium and the figurines then coated with Humbrol Mat finish.

Answer 1

I usually have the exact opposite problem, I can never keep mine from cracking and peeling.

If the model wasn't sealed, you could have tried pressing some masking tape over the decal and peeling it off. That may take off the decal with out taking off the paint underneath.

Once the model is sealed, I don't think there's a good way to get the decal off without taking the paint with it. Any kind of chemical you use will need to get through the sealer and would probably dissolve the paint as well. You'll probably have to paint over the area and apply the decal on top of the old one.