Hello there! This would be the place where you’ll hopefully find answers to the questions you may have regarding the use or placing the decals you’ve purchased. Let me start off by thanking you, first of all, you’re part of the reason why I can keep designing more sets.
Our decals are designed by hand in The Netherlands in Europe. They are then printed by a printing company in the UK and shipped back to The Netherlands where the decals are processed and the packages are put together with attention to detail and shipped out to our customers across the globe.
If you still have questions, please feel free to use the contact form below or email ray@rayskits.com or vicky@rayskits.com and we will be happy to respond within three business days.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
DECALS F.A.Q.
Are the decals die-cut?
No they’re not. The clear film is printed all across the paper, so you’ll have to cut it as close to the decal you wish to place as possible.
Should I pre-clear the decals?
You’re helping yourself greatly if you were to use a decal strengthening solution like Testor’s Decal Bonder.
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Even though the decals are perfectly fine to use without, the extra strength makes them less likely to roll up on themselves when trying to place them. And if you’re worried that it’ll leave a noticeable edge, don’t worry – decal solutions remove that too!
What kind of clear-coats work on these decals?
Nearly all model car kit/hobby clear-coats work excellently, such as Tamiya’s TS-13.
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The decals must’ve been allowed to set for up to a day before clearing them, as well as using decal solutions such as Tamiya, Ammo-Mig, Revell, Humbrol, Airfix. Use thin, gentle layers before laying it on thick as it’ll crinkle the decal when the clear interacts with it.
Do automotive clear-coats work?
They do, but they’re exceedingly risky.
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Especially 2K clear-coats aren’t a safe bet and given its a smorgasbord of ingredients it’s nearly impossible to tell which are safe and which aren’t. Personally I’ve had luck with Motip clear-coats but it had to be applied daintily, slowly and in many, many layers to ensure no wrinkling.
Should I use hot or cold water?
Just like most decals you’d get in your kits, warm water is the key to having it let go and become usable. However, it should never be hotter than luke-warm.
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Hot water makes the decal film extremely weak, causing it to roll onto itself far easier. With lukewarm water, it’ll remain perfectly malleable.
Will the color underneath bleed through?
It shouldn’t. Keyword, of course, is ‘shouldn’t’. The decals are printed on a base of opaque white, then the color is printed on top in a second pass, eliminating color bleed.
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Of course, unless one prints three layers of white, the body color will show through a little, it is inevitable with how thin the decal film has to be to set onto the body perfectly. Dark colors, especially blacks, will always dull out all-white decals slightly, but not extremely noticeably.
Why do you have two different types of decal paper?
To ensure the highest quality, I have them printed on two separate printers.
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One is the old fashioned ALPS on which black, white, silver and gold are printed in a fidelity sharper than anything else. The main color print is a screen-print process, which allows for, as the name implies, complex designs to be printed without multiple passes.(ordinarily, it would print one color with every pass).
Changes and Custom Requests
Can I request changes to decal sets?
Yes! You can request simple changes like different colors, different license plates, different white tire decals and other such changes by filling in the information during the completion of your order. There will be a comment box specifically for this at the end of the ordering process.
Can I request a different scale for a decal set?
Yes, you can request a different scale size by leaving a comment during the completion of your order. If we need additional information we will contact you via email for exact measurements.
Can I make a completely custom decal request?
Generally, we don’t accept any more fully custom art requests. This is largely due to the fact that there are already a plethora of custom requests still waiting to be finished.
Can I make a suggestion for a decal set that isn’t available on your website yet?
You can always use the contact form or send us an email in regards to a set that you would like to see added to our inventory. These are put on the ‘to do list’ without priority and Ray will work on those whenever he has time. If you want to also immediately pre-order and pay for such a set, it gets immediately pulled to the front of the queue so that we can handle your order in a timely manner.
Orders
Why are most of your items ‘On backorder’ but still available?
In general we print on demand, using one big monthly print haul. That means that all items that are listed as ‘On backorder but available’ can be ordered and will be printed and processed with the next printing run. You can find the next print date at the top of the decals page.
What does it mean when an item is ‘Out of stock’?
Decal sets that are not done or currently in the process of being revamped are put on ‘Out of stock’ to block current orders. If you are interested in a set that is out of stock, you can email us and we’ll send you a reminder when it can be ordered again!
Why are some items in stock when you work with a backorder system?
Sometimes we print too many decals or an order gets canceled, any of these sets are currently in stock and those can be shipped straight away when they are ordered.
What currency is used for the most part?
United States Dollar(USD, $) is the currency we handle our payments with.
Shipping
Why do you only offer package shipping for foreign customers? Letters would be cheaper.
We are bound by a change made by the WPO that prohibits sending commercial goods via stamped mail. So all orders are now forced to be shipped with a barcode label minimum.
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We understand $14,50 is expensive but this is exactly the cost of the barcode label and packaging materials. We are not marking up shipping costs.
When do you recommend using tracked shipping options?
We recommend packages with an order value of over $100,00 to be shipped with a tracking code but ultimately it is your choice to make. On very high value orders we hold the right to require tracked shipping for proper insurance in case of the package getting lost.
How long does it take for the package to arrive?
This depends on when during the print cycle you order and your location. Backorder items are shipped once per month and in stock items are shipped as soon as possible. For US and Canadian customers our average wait time from the moment of shipping is approximately three to four weeks. For EU customers packages tend to arrive within approximately one week (depending on how close the country is to the Netherlands) from the moment of shipping.
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When you order decals that are marked as ‘on backorder’ these get added to our next printing run (date can be found at the top of the decals page). On the printing run date, the files get sent digitally to the UK printing company. They take a week to process and print everything and then send it via post back to the Netherlands. Once we receive the decals, we cut, individually package, sort and assemble orders. Those packages are then sent out to our global customers. As you’ll understand we are also dependent on the speed of the various postal services and local holidays in this matter.
My package hasn’t arrived yet. What can I do?
If you are worried about your package, please check your email to see on what date the shipment confirmation was sent. If you have not received your package one month after that date please get in touch with us via the contact form or email and we’ll be happy to solve the issue for you.
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Please be advised that during the global pandemic postal services worldwide are under high pressure and frequently a little slower than normal. We also expect slower delivery times during the holiday season.
Why are Belarus and Russia excluded from shipping destinations?
Due to the 2022 Russo-Ukranian war and the related sanctions, we are unable to ship to the Russian Federation and Belarus. As of May 2022, shipping to most of Ukraine is possible again. Please do contact us before committing, as certain territories are still out of safe delivery range.
Shipping costs table:
Shipping will be calculated applied automatically when filling in a shipping address in the checkout form, though there’s more than one to choose from and may differ depending on your region:
| WORLDWIDE(Outside of EU) | SHIPPING COSTS |
|---|---|
| Untracked Mailbox Package – Worldwide, untracked and uninsured | 14.50$ |
| Tracked Mailbox Package – Worldwide, track & trace and insured up to 50$ | 27$ |
| Tracked Parcel – Worldwide, track & trace and insured up to 250$ | 31$ |
| EUROPE(Excluding Benelux & Germany) | SHIPPING COSTS |
|---|---|
| Untracked Mailbox Package – EU Zone 2, untracked and uninsured | 13.50$ |
| Tracked Parcel – EU Zone 2, track & trace and insured up to 100$ | 20$ |
| BENELUX & GERMANY | SHIPPING COSTS |
|---|---|
| NL Mailbox Package – Netherlands Only, tracked | 6.45$ |
| BE / LU / DE Untracked Mailbox Package – Untracked and uninsured | 8.50$ |
| BE / LU / DE Tracked Mailbox Package – Track & trace and insured up to 50$ | 13.50$ |
Refunds & Returns
I want to cancel my order, how can I do that?
If you want to cancel your order and it hasn’t been shipped yet, you can get in touch with us via the contact form or email us and we’ll manually cancel the order and refund the payment through PayPal. We do not offer refunds on custom orders.
I received my decals but I decided I don’t want them, how do I proceed?
If the decals are still unused and in new condition you can send them back to us and we’ll refund the cost of the order. We do not offer refunds on custom orders.
I am unsatisfied with my order, how can you help me?
We strive to deliver the best quality products, if there is anything wrong with your order please contact us using the contact form or email us describing the issue. We are happy to solve it for you.
My decals have arrived damaged, what now?
It can happen that the decals get damaged in the post. We do our best to package them as tightly and strongly as possible, but one can never predict what the post does to it. Please contact us and send a photo of your damaged goods and we shall immediately get to working on a replacement or a refund if desired!
Contact us
If you still have questions or just wish to contact us directly, please use the form below.