Posted it at the decalling section earlier but kinda thought i get more viewers and possibly some advice on here…apologies.
Made my first custom decals using Bare metal foil clear inkjet paper. (just text, nothing fancy) On the instruction sheet it says to seal the printed items with their own brand of decal sealing agent.
1.) Is such a sealant a MUST?
2.) Is it possible to use alternative sealants like future or maybe even a household DIY market spraycan solution?
Not touching the decals for at least 24 hours anyways to let the ink dry thoroughly. Is it true that inkjet inks are waterbased? In that case i think using future might not be a very bright idea…dunno.
Any help and personal experiences are very much appreciated.
Yes, the inkjet inks are water soluble, and they will run when you apply the decals. I seal them with clear laquer or acrylic clearcoat, decanted from the rattle can and airbrushed in light coats. Future may work, never tried it, but brushing it on will run the inks as well.
Another option is a product from Micro-Scale called Decal Film, it is a liquid you brush on and it dries clear.
Richard- I used a spray can of Krylon acrylic satin clear for mine. Gave the decals a couple of light coats, then let them sit overnight. The next day I trimmed them as close as possible and applied them with micro set with no problems at all. HTH! [:D]
I use Krylon Crystal Clear to seal my decals. Use it lightly and let it dry for a day or two. Likes other have said, you do have to trim the decal as close as possible.
The printer ink is water based so you have to seal them before you can put the decals in water. Sealing them after applying them is optional as with any decals.
Thanks to all who have posted their advice and experiences.[tup]
I have sealed them myself with a diy market spraycan (alkyd based) in several light coatings. Gonna try to apply the decals to a guinea pig scrap model i have here once it is sufficiently cured using the conventional set and sol method and see how it turns out[;)]
Be aware that most DIY decal film is very thin, so you need to be careful not to let them fold onto themselves.
I don’t know how others apply decals, but I always slid the decal onto my finger or a large brush then applied it to the model. When I started to use homemade decals I learned that I had to slide the decal off the backing paper directly onto the model. Get just the edge on the model then carefully slide the paper out from the decal.
Oh dear, if you want your decal to fold on you that would be THE way to go imho…
Basically what you are telling afterwards is the way i normally apply decals: Have a smooth surface (futured) to work with in the first place (also preparing it with -set), soak the decal in HANDWARM water for a sec or 20, depending on the thickness and once it moves around easily on the carrier paper, put it to the model and slide it off with a wet finger. It actually helps to wait another few secs after soaking just holding your decal while still on the paper.
Position it (i use a kind of needle on a stick the ladies use for embossing gift cards and things…really nice tool for it and punching through possible leftover airbubbles afterwards) and leave it to dry. Once that is done, treat it with -sol as neccessary.
Never had any probs with that, only with the thinnest types of decals (botched a few trumpeter and hobby boss decals…)
Richard
That would be the way i would do it, regardless of any brand of decal.
Well i have printed out a small batch of text based decals and just tried two of them after 36 hours of drying time… Applied Microset to my guinea pig, dipped the decals in warm water for 20 secs and applied them as i always do.
Number one and also the smallest just shriveled up like it melted or smt and number two wich was longer went on well but the edge bleeded off a bit as i repositioned it.
The theory is that my coat of spraycan laquer wasn’t heavy enough so i took the leftover decals and coated them again (and probably yet another coat after 30 mins and wait how that turns out after a day or so. I am not defeated yet[;)]
Another theory could be that these thin decals don’t really need microset… maybe it is too heavy for them? Im just guessing here…
Kermit [banghead] sorry I should have told you my homemade decals dont like microset at all, they just shrivel up into a blob of goo. I think what happens is the microset gets up under the clear coat and disolves the decal film. I havent had any trouble with them silvering or not setteling down over details so didnt need the microset anyway. Another trick I use on them to help hide the edges of the decal is I brush (with a very soft brush) on future over the decal after it has dryed over night. The future seems to wick around the edges or build up there, if you just shoot a clear flat or semi gloss coat over the decals the edges stick out like a sore thumb.
PS when I put homemade decals on because they seem to stick very fast. I try and put them on very wet so I can move them around a little to position them, if you put them on dry like a normal decal they are stuck where ya put them. Oh and keep a few q-tips handy to pull excess water away once you have the decal in position or it will float around on the water and away from where you want it to be. Found that out the hard way.
After thinking about it i do think the microset must have been the culprit here. Especially the first tiny decal just sort of melted away as soon as it touched the microset.
I would try it without right now but after posting my last message i coated them with a new coat of my spraycan varnish, forcing me to wait 24 hours…
Tomorrow i will try to decal stuff without the -set and see what happens there.
Thank you very much for your very clear explanation. I really would like to get this down because it would mean i could tremendously expand the possible finishes and subjects one could model.
Kinda funny,… i tell you about my kermiefying in the NMF group and you help me with the custom decals and eventually (think ill try high gloss alclad on the C47 first) the foil. Great how internet can bring knowledge and experiences together don’t you think?[;)][tup]
I’m not sure were I learned that method of doing decals, it may be unique to me. I just mention it in case it is not my unique technique. Sliding it off the paper onto the model does seem to work better anyway.
I use Microset / Microsol on decals I make, and I’ve never had a problem. It could be the particular brand of decal film.
It works! Tried to apply a few more decals, this time using only the water and they went on pretty well altough i must say you do have to be VERY careful because these decals are the thinnest i have ever worked with; very very fragile. Thinking about that, you might even want to print your decals out two times and apply them on top of eachother…
Just for testing purposes i applied some microsol after futuring and drying and as i expected, the decals bled some ink. With this particular brand of decal paper (bare metal foil clear inkjet paper) you really want to avoid any kind of setting and softening agents. Maybe other brands are less fragile or picky, would have to experiment some more on that subject…
It could also have been my choice of sealant… I really wanted a coat that wasn’t acrylic (the alkyds are cleaned/ removed with white spirit (we call it turpentine overhere), just like enamels). If i have the time i will print out another batch and try to work with different kinds of coating (future/ acrylic varnish/ enamel varnish/ the recommended own brand solution, etc. etc.) to see if that has any effect in the end result. It is really something i wish to master.
Richard thats excatly why I started making some of my own decals, stencels, insturments that were missing from kits, and now I can make the real nose art that was on WWII aircraft or my own custom nose art [:D] I use the microscale decal paper too, althou they do say you can use microset it just doesnt work. Again sorry I didnt think to tell you about that earlier.
You are so very right Richard the internet is an endless wealth of information. In the past modeling was a lonely hobby, at least for me it was, not the IN thing to do here where I live it seems. This forum has changed that, in sharing of information, so many are willing to help others build better models. But the best thing for me is I have made some new friends ( you are one of them ) making my modeling so much more fun and rewarding.
Cant wait to see your super top secret Kermified racer paint job [:D]
Anyone ever tried using either the Kodak, Canon, or HP photoprinters to make decals? I know some of the inks [such as HP Vivera] are waterproof. [I work for HP, we do demos all the time of dipping phtotos in water]. I havent tried it yet, since I dont have an HP printer. But I know they print great photos that are waterproof, why not great decals that dont need sealed???