Alright, I have the decals right where I need them to be and have them printed... B4 I go and ruin the party is there anything I need to do before applying the decal to the aircraft???
Alright, I have the decals right where I need them to be and have them printed... B4 I go and ruin the party is there anything I need to do before applying the decal to the aircraft???
Hopefully you have decal solutions like MicroSol and MicroSet. Once the decals are in place and dry you want to apply a clear sealing coat, mat or gloss to match your plane finish. After this I always spray flat over everything when decalling is done.
Actually I have done anything but print them out. I'm not sure what's next_I just know that if it's not done right it wont work. LOL
Are these waterslide decals and are you printing them yourself?
If you print using a laser printer, just print, cut and apply, onece applied , as already stated, use a wet paintbrush to apply the decal and put in position, add water to help movement. One in place use a tissue to get rid of excess water then use micro sol to melt the decal to the model then when dry varnish over. Some use a gloss varnish as a base then matt varnish once decal applied.
If using a inkjet printer make sure you seal the decal before putting in water but the prodedure is the same. There are plenty of decal sealants on the market.
Last edited by Boney10; 01-09-2018 at 06:14.
"If using a inkjet printer make sure you seal the decal before putting in water but the procedure is the same. There are plenty of decal sealants on the market."
Thank You, that's what I was looking for. I wasn't sure how to proceed after printing them(before applying them). I read were you did apply sealant, I read were you didn't.. but I will apply the sealant before I go cutting and applying them to the aircraft. I'm going to go back and "touch up" my previous projects decals. That was one step I wasn't aware of. Learned something new.
I prefer a spray sealant for decals, just remember if you do use, a few layers is better than one soak it all over spray, it tends to curl if you use too much
Does it have to be a specific spray bonder for the decals after they are printed?
Last edited by badlands122; 01-09-2018 at 09:32.
Any decal sealant should work, but yes it needs to be decal sealant.
Not sure if was really correct, but I couldn't find ANY decal sealant at the LGS or LHS. So, what I ended up using was Rustoleum Gloss Clear. I let it dry for about 2hrs and the ink didn't run off the printed decals. You can see them on the 2 P51D's I have in the P51 wing....
Glad your decals worked.
The decal spray you should be able to get from the same store you get the decal paper, in Uk i have used Clear Glaze Acrylic spray.
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