Home made decal help

[Chris333]

Tom did the art on these and I got them to print to Testor clear decal paper. I sealed them with 3 light coats of decal bonder.

Everything is fine they soaked in the water, slid off the backing, and laid on the model fine. Then they distorted and wrinkled up like crazy using Micro-Sol. When I tried to flatten them out I end up wearing them away.


I have since use Micro-set to remove them.

The "55" on each side of the headlights went on fine though. Everything was printed and bonded the same way. The 55's don't have details to wrap around.

What should I do next time?

[Sokramiketes]

After they wrinkled, you tried to flatten them, like by poking and prodding? 

Most setting solutions will wrinkle the decals, the key is to leave them alone and let them flatten out on their own as they dry. 

[tom mann]

I would really try to use the ink jet decal paper from decalpaper.com - and this may be a good opportunity for white.  I've had the best luck sealing ink jet ink with Krylon Preserve It matte finish.

I haven't had my decal paper wrinkle up that bad before.

Also, lay off the stone texture paint.

[Chris333]

Stone texture... Yeah this ain't gonna be an award winner. First I couldn't get the silver to spray so I switched to solvent based testors. Then I saw how I couldn't get masking tape on silver paint without it leaving a mark when removed. So I sprayed the orange over the silver. I mixed that orange till it looked just right and once it was sprayed it looked way off. I stopped to add some yellow, sprayed it on, now it is too light. Add some red.... too orange now. Added white, cool looks good, but now I have like 7 coats of paint. Now I put the silver on last.

Not to mention the Bachmann cab windows are all wrong so the stripes don't match up right. There should be a black strip at the color separation, and I made the stripes, but after the way everything else went. I'll skip those.

I'll try a few more times before I order new paper and wait. This paper I'm using says "Inkjet/Clear waterslide decal paper" on it's back.


Oh yeah I now have a silver paint stain on the floor...   >

[SkipGear]

Chris,
 The Testors paper is very stretchable from my experience. It is hard to keep a larger decal from distorting. The decal you are printing would probably be easier on white. The white paper seems to be a bit more durable also.

If you get stuck, let me know, I'll run some off for you.

[ednadolski]

Anyone ever try using Microscale trim film for decals?   How were your results?   The instructions say this can be used with inkjets (for single colors, ie, black), if you seal with Dullcote first and Microscale Liquid Decal Film afterward.

Thanks,
Ed

[ednadolski]

When I tried to flatten them out I end up wearing them away.

Not too bad a weathering effect tho.

[nscalesteve]

After they wrinkled, you tried to flatten them, like by poking and prodding?

I'm with Skibbe here, after you put Micro-Sol on do not touch the decals anymore till they are totally dry - wrinkling is not a problem, it will flatten by itself while it dries...

...I normally put my home made decals (printed on Microscale Clear Film with an Alps) on with Micro-Set (blue), bring them in the right place, let them dry a bit so they will not move anymore (not totally dry !)  and then I apply Micro-Sol (red) and let it do its job, no touching, no flatten, no petting, nothing till it's totally dry (if the surface of the model is totally flat, no silvering will happen), in your case with the "stone-texture" you can always poke the parts where you have silvering with a sharp needle or a sharp xacto and apply some more Micro-Sol (only a little - the Micro-Sol will immediately go under the decal film and will finish its job -  do not wet the entire decal again) after everything is dry I use Testors Semi-Gloss to seal everything.
  

[Chris333]

I gave the cab side a good 3-4 cotes of gloss-cote so the stone texture isn't that bad, plus it is a mega close-up. Step back 3" and it isn't so stoney. It could be metal flakes too:

The "55" on each side of the headlight went down fine.

Anyhow, I ordered the decal paper Tom listed and will try again once it gets here.

Steve do you have any tricks to make sure Accu-Flex is thinned just right? (for the future) It seems to go from blotchy and clogging the tip to wet and beading up with just a small change.

[nscalesteve]

Steve do you have any tricks to make sure Accu-Flex is thinned just right? (for the future) It seems to go from blotchy and clogging the tip to wet and beading up with just a small change.

Accu-Flex ? I do not use Accu-Flex...
...Polly Scale, Badger Model flex and Testors Acryl is what I normally use, I have no experience with Accu-Flex

[Chris333]

OK Model-flex. I need to look at the bottle before I post  ;D

[Guilford Guy]

I don't thin modelflex as its very thin already. I know some of their products had problems with the pigments separating and clumping together in the bottle, which was murder if sprayed through an airbrush.

[nscalesteve]

ok...  ;D

I will try to explain what I am doing with water based colors. if they are new I normally don't thin them down (if the bottle is really full from the factory I just give it a nice stir - not shake) sometimes you'll get new bottles with 1/4 already gone (evaporated or what ever) and this paint is defenitely too thick (same with already opened bottles standing around for a while before they get used again), this paint I thin down till it is runny (it's not that easy to explain how thin the paint is I use but if it drops off nice and steady - just before it would run off - from the small "screw driver" I use to stir the paint it seems to be right - clear ?   ) and then I let the paint run thru a "stocking" twice to get rid of any paint chuncks or some other dried left over parts before I use it in the AirBrush. (the thing with the stocking I do then again every time I do use a paint which was standing for a week or more) I thin the paint down with destilled or purified (sp ?) water and some drops of JohnsonWax Klear. if I have to paint bigger metal parts I also put some 91% alcohol into the paint...

...and most important - NEVER use Badger Model flex silver - NEVER   - this paint is absolutely crap ! when I have to paint something silver I use Polly Scale ATSF silver which is much easier to handle and gives a much smoother and nicer finish.

this is how it works for me in combination with an Iwata Eclipse HP-BCS airbrush ! - other painter may have other experiences they would like to share...

[Chris333]

NEVER use Badger Model flex silver - NEVER

Sure tell me now...  I bought Model flex BNSF silver for this locomotive and the only way it would spray was full blast, grrrrr.  What you see above is Testors Chrome and Steel mixed together.

Can you tell I'm not a custom loco painter? 

Thanks.

[nscalesteve]

Can you tell I'm not a custom loco painter? 

...yeah right ! the thing you have done on the sill of your 44T looks stunning ! that looks way better than done with decals.