Tonight I went to print the decals for my Bug, followed the instructions and they did not come out the way I had hoped. When I went to spray the bonder on the decal sheet the ink ran and I am rather fustrated now.
I am hoping you guys who use the program can help me out with some questions:
How long should I let the ink dry before applying Bonder spray?
How do I prevent ink from running after I have sprayed the Bonder?
What are the best printer settings for printing the decals? ( I use a Lexmark Z22 Ink Jet Printer)
How much Bonder should be applied that allows decals to adhere to even and uneven surfaces?
I haven’t used the Decal Maker, but being a graphic artist using similar materials, i can tell you a couple of things. 1st and foremost, let the print dry for at least 2-3 hours. And when spraying on the bonder, put on 5-6 very light coats. The lighter the better. Ink jet inks are watersoluable and if you spray on the bonder, it comes out as a liquid. So as many light coats as you can. See if that helps Airmaster
I can’t speak to Lexmark printers, I use an HP All in One, but I use the Photo or Best Quality setting and get decent results.
On the drying time for the ink, at least two hours. Preferably cover the decals with a bowl, box lid or something similar to keep dust (or cat hair in my case) off them while they dry. If it’s hummid outside, at least 4 hours, or overnight.
So far I’ve used the Testor’s decal spray that came with the kit, and have found that a minimum of two light coats, with a hour’s drying time between them, keeps the decals from running or disintegrating. You can’t allow too much drying time. Others on the forum have reported using the Krylon brand clear spray paint with good results as an overcoat.
The only water resistant (not waterproof) ink that I’m aware of is used by the color laser printers. Hideoulsy expensive.
I contacted a company in Miami, Florida called Bell, Inc. They make inkjet decal paper that they say is superior quality to Testors brand but costs alot less. Thier paper comes as 8.5 x 11 and 11 x 17 both clear and white backs. I spoke to a lady there named Martha and she too recommended the Krylon Clear Acrylic spray for thier paper but also said any clear acrylic spray can be used. She is sending me some sample sheets of the decal paper free of charge to try out. If this paper is better than the Testors decal paper I’m going to buy me some. 10 sheets of 8.5x11 decal paper for $8.50 and thats more paper than Testors sells with the packs at $9.99. Cut them in half and you get 20 sheets the size that Testors decal paper sells for. GREAT DEAL!
Thanks for the link. I’ll have to give them a try. Hobby Lobby here in town is always out of decal paper and with the price, you can’t afford to make mistakes.
yeah thanks guys and thanks airmaster for starting this topic! But first of all When I try and use the program(w/ out the CD) everytime I make a Decal Template in Photoshop, I cant find anywhere to save it as .st2 so it can show up in the Sure Thing Decal Maker prog. and lastely when I try to import a picture or anything at all some weird thing comes up directing me to a website to buy something, Im confused plz help! Thanks I love this site!
Photo Shop nor Paint Shop Pro has no means to support the .st2 file as this type file extention is exclusive only in the Surething program. When you create a decal image in PS or PSP save it as a .jpeg , .gif, or .tiff file in the folder or folders you usally use ( I prefer saving as .jpeg file ). When you create a decal template with Surething decal maker click save on the Blue toolbar or go to File and Save, next in the navigation window make a new folder just for your decal templates… (I named mine My Decal Designs in My Picture folder of the My Documents folder) and save your template file there it will save as default as an .st2 file and only can be opened with the surething decal program.
Surely you are joking that they dont cost much![:O] Looking at current ALPS printers listed currently for auction they start at $80.00 and up. I do my modeling on a budget and I have to go with what I can afford. Not everyone can afford an ALPS printer and the supplies to go with it.[sigh]
Dont take this the wrong way. I know your trying to help but some of us due to financial contraints have to go with less expensive products.[banghead]
Thanks AirMaster, Ill try that in a minute. One more ? though! If I want to make a white letter or anything in white, how can I get it to the scale I want it and do I use a black background on the program and it will come out just plain white or what. Im really not sure
Judging scale can be fustrating so what I do is make test prints on plain paper cut them out and put them on the model where I’ll be applying the actual decal. Same as you would test fitting model parts you can do the same with your custom decals too as this will let you see if they need to be bigger or smaller.
For white lettering use the white background decal paper and add a black or very light gray outline around the letters. If you use a black outline your going to trim the decal very close so that only the white areas of the decal shows. If you use a very very light gray as an outline it you may not have to trim the decal if you can get the outline color to blend in with the painted surface of the model. Another idea is to make the outline the same color as the painted suface your going to apply decal to as this will hide the outline. Best advice I can give you is to tinker with lettering and see what works best for you. You can also look around for white printer ink and print on a clear background decal sheet but you will still need to use an outline to see it on plain paper or decal. Experiment and see what works best.
This is just one option so keep asking here and see what the other guys have to say. Someone here may have a better idea about making text decals.
what is the normal costs for an ALPS printer?..i was assuming they would be way way up there,if it’s not all that far out of reach,maybe i’ll absorb the cost as a business expense(gotta have a printer anyway) and then maybe we can exchange decal files ,i’ll print them out and mail them back,win win situation?
i’ve looked at those and i think this may be a viable possibility as the wifes family has owened the local print shop for three generations,i’ll see what they can get that will do the job,it’s all too high tech in a new field for me
If you do get an ALPS printer I’m sure it will install the same as any other printer. One thing to remember is to install he ALPS printer drivers program FIRST on your computer before you hook up the printer to the computer. This way when the add hardware wizard pops up Wiindows should automaticly set printer to use the ALPS drivers when it detects the printer.
If you get the printer and it does not com with software go to http://www.alpsusa.com and download the driver program from there.
Computers are another hobby of mine and I do free tech support for friends online. If you need help seek me out.