About Aftermarket/Replacement Waterslides

As you’re hopefully aware of by now, every Real Grade model comes with a very large sheet of stickers. Some of them represent logos, others represent caution or warning signs (the kind that you might see on a real piece of military hardware or other heavy machinery), while others are metallic stickers meant to make certain body parts look more realistic and mechanical.

And they’re great! Except for when they’re not.

Let’s be clear - you don’t have to use any of these stickers if you don’t want to. But there’s a strong argument to be made that all these markings are part of the charm of the Real Grade line. It gives them a look and feel that you won’t really find in any other grade¹. While I can’t speak for anyone else, I’m going to guess that most people want to use them.

The only problem with doing so is that … well … they’re stickers. Sticker-type decals always have that not-quite-fully-transparent film around their borders, and this film tends to be highly visible on most colors of plastic (and goodness help you if you get any sort of panel lining marker or paint on your fingers, otherwise it will find its way onto the sticker, and that will make the film dark and more visible).

In my opinion, this isn’t a huge deal on, say, a High Grade kit where you only have a handful of stickers. You might still see the film, but there’s simply not enough of it present for it to become a distraction. But it’s a different story with Real Grades. Sooner or later the stickers will become an eyesore. Maybe not when you first get into the hobby - goodness knows I’ve built plenty of RGs decked out in stickers - but eventually you’ll want to up your game and make your kits look better.

When that happens you might find yourself trying some things. For example, you may just try to trim the film off. In my experience that’s a tricky proposition. If you don’t do it perfectly, there will still be visible film, only now it will be jagged and non-uniform, which usually looks even worse. Not to mention the fact that the decal can get wrinkled or otherwise damaged in the process.

Sooner or later you’ll have to face the fact that your best bet is to switch to waterslide decals.

Here’s some good news - multiple companies, including Bandai (but also third parties), manufacture sheets of replacement waterslides for every single Real Grade kit that comes out.

Now for some bad news - no one, not even Bandai, has these decals ready for sale on day one. So if you want to dress up your brand new, just-released Real Grade in waterslides, you’re going to have to wait a little bit to finish that build.

But if you can wait, then you’ll find that you’ll have some nice options. I’m going to do my best to provide some information and context based on what I’ve encountered so far.

A “Full” Sheet

When it comes to Real Grade kits, replacement waterslides are not exactly a 1:1 replacement for the original sticker sheet. This is simply because you can’t make a waterslide for a metallic sticker.

In some cases, the manufacturer will still print a replacement decal, but instead of being metallic it will be a flat grey color. In other cases, they simply won’t bother replacing or replicating it.

This isn’t really a big deal, because metallic stickers usually don’t have that ugly transparent border, so you can use them in tandem with waterslides without issue.

As a bonus, since you can’t replace and/or replicate those metallic stickers on the sheet of waterslides, that leaves some extra space on the sheet. In some cases the manufacturer will use that space to print additional decals beyond what you’d get on the stock sticker sheet:

As you can see, they’re pretty generic looking, and there’s too many of them to put on the Build Strike alone. But they’ll serve well for use on other models.

It Glows!

Some manufacturers make replacement decals that glow in the dark, or glow under UV light. It’s something to consider looking for, as it may look particularly cool on certain models.

Different Quality

Like I said above, multiple companies make waterslide decals for Gunpla. But there’s a lot of debate among fans as to which ones are the best.

Ironically, a lot of folks seem to think that Bandai’s official decals are the worst of the bunch, instead preferring brands like Delphi Decal.

Up until now, I’ve only ever used Bandai’s waterslides, but the ones I got for the Build Strike happen to be Delphi. I’ve definitely noticed a difference in quality. I’m just not sure if it is a good thing or a bad thing.

First, there’s something about the paper they’re printed on that makes the Delphi decals w bit hard to see, though they look fine once they’re applied to the model.

Second, the Delphi decals definitely feel “stickier”. They tend to immediately cling to whatever surface they’re touching. This can be both good and bad. On one hand, it can make them cling to tightly to your tweezers (or whatever tool you use), making them hard to get off and onto the plastic. And once they’re on the plastic, they can be difficult to move around and reposition unless you soak them with more water.

But on the other hand, once you have them in place, they’re going to stay exactly where you want them, which is definitely a good thing.

I’ve also heard that Delphis are tougher, in the sense that they’re less likely to get scratched or to scrape off. That’s not something I have any firsthand experience with - yet. But if it ever occurs, I’ll report back.

Now, am I going to tell you to go out of your way to only get certain brands of decals? Not at all. For one, I don’t know yet if it’d be worth it. For another, if you’re anything like me, then you may find that the decals you’re looking for are currently only sold at a single rando online hobby shop, in which case you’re not in a position to negotiate on the brand. The point is, unless you truly have a miserable experience with a certain brand, it’s better to have some decals than none at all.

Different Content

I noticed that Delphi’s decals are not always 1:1 recreations of the original Bandai stickers. For example, on the Build Strike, there is a sticker that says “Beam Rifle”, but on the Delphi decal it says “Beam Gun”.

At first I thought this may be done to avoid lawsuits, but there are plenty of other decals that are much more stylized or specific that are perfectly replicated. Perhaps it’s just a case of artistic license. Either way, it’s another bit of relevant information for your future purchasing decisions.

Numbers

Gunpla stickers are always numbered, which of course makes it easier to find on the sheet. As far as I can tell, most third party decals replicate these numbers, which is a good thing, since third party products often reposition where each decal is on the sheet.

But if you find a sheet that doesn’t have numbers, be prepared to carefully scan for each decal you need.

Price

I’ve seen replacement waterslides sell online for as low as $5-$6, with some being a bit pricier. Keep in mind, however, that most stores seem to also charge upwards of $3 to ship them. Using waterslides for your Real Grades could add up to $10 to the total cost of the model kit, so keep that in mind.

Conclusion

Now we know that you can replace Real Grade Stickers with waterslides. We know how much they cost, and we know how they differ. There’s only one question left on my mind - do they really make Real Grade kits look better? We’ll find out soon enough.