Old Decal

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Terry Scidmore CPF

MGF, Master Grumble Framer
Joined
Jul 5, 2001
Posts
691
Loc
Seattle, WA 98168
Last month I read the post from Kathy about the Florida Police Car decal that she was including in a shadow box for a police officer.

Well, today a customer came in with a decal from 1958 that was adhered to the tail section of airforce planes. The decal has been tightly rolled since 1958. It is still in pretty good shape - on the orginal backing, still somewhat flexible, some cracks, no peeling vinyl or paint cracking off. Just really, really rolled!

The decal has value to the customer (he was the one who adhered the decals to the tails) and to collectors (the squadron was decommissioned in 1962 and the decal has not been made since).

Soooo - after rereading the posts about Kathy's decal, what would be suggestions for handling this decal? Should I suggest a conservator for preservation? What did (and didn't)work with the police decal?

Thanks for any help!
 
The only way to be sure that it can be unrolled
without cracking is through humidification of the
item. This must be done by a conservator, since
to much moisture could activate the decal and
its adhesive proporties.

Hugh
 
I think these things are made of some sort of plastic? I'll add to what Hugh said by suggesting an objects conservator. They'll probably have some familarity with degraded plastics. I suspect that more than water vapor will be needed here.

Rebecca
 
Thanks, Hugh and Rebecca! I really appreciate your input. I was pretty sure that I was going to suggest that my customer go through a conservator first with this decal - and he has 3 others he wants to do as well. I was glad that he was upfront about saying that it had sentimental value to him, and value to collectors.
 
Terry,
I haven't actually completed my project yet. Somebody on my thread had suggested positioning objects over some of the areas of my decal that are missing or damaged. I approached the client on this and he is rounding up another badge and a couple other things. I will say though this one here was curled up in a tube for thirty years. I didn't think there was any way possible I could flatten it without further damage, but it has been laying on a shelf for a month or so now (out of the tube)it has flattened itself out. In fact other than a couple of waves it is totally flat, with no help or encouragement from me. Go figure.

Mine is fairly cracked and damaged and the client isn't worried about value, he just wants to use it as a backdrop. I plan on using mylar. Hope this helps.

[ 03-06-2003, 01:09 PM: Message edited by: emibub ]
 
Kathy that is really great!

Let me see if I've got this right - you took a decal rolled up tight like a cinnamon stick, laid it on a shelf (or whathaveyou) still in its cinnamon stick form, and it unrolled by itself? If I've got that right, hurray!

Rebecca
 
Rebecca, A cinnamon stick is probably a bit of an exaggeration, it did partially unroll when we took it out of the tube. The reason I had asked about it to begin with is because I couldn't imagine how to flatten it without further damage and voila, it flattened itself. Maybe uncurled is a better way of putting it. At least now I can see the potential for the mylar to keep it flat and I don't see any signs of further cracking or chipping since it has "relaxed", there, that is probably a better word.
 
Hi Kathy! Thanks for letting me know what happened with yours. I peeked at mine after reading your post, and by golly, the little devil is a little less rolled than yesterday. I placed the decal in a bigger tube than what it was originally rolled in, and put it up on a storage shelf. It still has a long way to go, however, and I am referring the customer on to a conservator so they can work some magic on it!
 
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