Help Needed Working with LaserJet Waterslide Transfer Decals

[David Dunlop]

This is new territory for me and a long time has passed since I last worked with commercial model decals.

From what I have read, any Inkjet printed waterslide decals needs to be sealed before use, rf the ink will bleed. This does not appear to be the case with laser printed decals where toners are used, but some comments suggest sealing them anyway. What is the general experience with this?

Unlike the wartime decals I am replacing, where the inks/paints were built up on the surface of the clear film, I have to lay down pads of white reflective paint and the luminous over-paint on the surface of the item, and then lay the decal over top of this thin pad. There are a number of products for decal work you can apply over the decal to snug it down over the surface it has been applied to, but do they all work with laser printed waterslide decals, or should some be avoided?

Also, do these coatings serve to protect the decal from damage, or is a second coat of some form of protection recommended? With the wartime decals on wireless equipment, it was the coat of varnish applied to the front panels after the application of the decals that provided this protection.

Any and all advise would be greatly appreciated.


David

[cliff]

A few years ago I made some of these decals in 1/35 scale for my models. I always had to spray clear varnish over them and letting them dry before putting them in the water to remove the backing

[Jakko Westerbeke]

I’ve never tried making my own decals, but it would kind of surprise me if you would need to spray laser-printed ones to protect them. The toner is waterproof — you can spill a drink over a laser-printed sheet of paper without any “ink” running (guess how I know this ).

IMHO the simplest thing to do is just to test it. Print a sheet with the decals you need, and add an extra bit to the sheet somewhere there’s room. It doesn’t matter what it is, just as long as there’s something being printed onto the decal paper. Cut that off, put it into water and see what happens. If the toner comes off, you know you need to spray the real ones to seal them against the water.

[Jordan Baker]

It really depends on the specific brand of decal sheet you have. Most laser ones will not need a clear coat.

There are a few different brands of decal softeners available. I use the Micro Sol one. It works on most decals but sometimes I doesn’t. Your best bet is to try out some tests with decal scraps and see what works. There is too many variables to say which specific product will work.

A clear coat over the final decal once applied is to both help protect it and also better seal it. When used with model kits most apply the clear coat to try and get the carrier film to disappear from view so as to make the design of the decal look painted on. The clear also protects the decal from any weathering steps that come later.

Most model kit paints are some version of acrylic based. Years ago one always had to be careful as a lot of products were still oils based and could easily damage some decals or lower levels of paint.