Superman Decal Question

[jzerger]

I'm trying to put a Superman decal (red and yellow) on a dyna blue acrylester pen blank from PSI. I'm using Testors Transparent Decal Paper. The logo looks great on the decal paper. When I slide the decal off of the backing the logo is transparent and when I put it on the blank, the blue blank shows through, so that the logo is not the bright solid red and yellow colors I'm looking for. Question: Should I be using a different decal paper? Any suggestions would be appreciated. (I haven't had this problem with decals before, but I've always put the decal on white or white pearl blanks.) Thanks for your help.

 

[DaveM]

That is just the nature of most printer inks. They are not opaque. If you know of somebody with an ALPS printer, they have opaque printing. You could also print it on white decal paper and trim it so that no white was showing. (This takes a steady hand, great scissors and a bit of patience.) If you have white decal paper, you can also cut a piece of white to act as a backing, but it also has to be cut perfectly. Another option is to paint the blank where the decal will be placed with white paint. This outline also has to perfectly match the decal, and would be best done with a stencil, which can be made by cutting out an unused decal. I have used all of these methods over the years building models, and they all work, but they all require a bit of patience. I used to use Iris scissors, (made for eye surgery) to trim my decals back in the late eighties when I built lots of race car models.

Good Luck,
Dave

 

[wouldentu2?]

White decal paper would solve the problem but takes more work to trim the white outside edges back to the color. Alternative is to buy some Superman decals where they sell Pinewood Derby parts.