Decals question again....??

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
DSallee

DSallee

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2008
Messages
358
Location
Holden MO. USA
Hey all,

I'm finally getting around to doing my "School Sports" pen and need some advise on applying the decals...

Well, I got the decal stuff at Hobby Lobby, designed what I want on the pen, turned the blank to finished specs.. pretty much a finished pen except assembly, micro-meshed to 12k to make sure I got ALL micro scratched... (boy it's a shinny one... LOL ... Solid BLACK!)

Anyway, got the images printed on the decal, got the decal curing and bonding as I type..

Now my questions (s) ...
1. do I need to "rough up" the finish, maybe go down to 600 where the decal is going to be?
2. once I do that, how do you apply the decal to the blank?? water? CA?
3. Once the decal is applied, do you just apply CA as normal, lightly to build up over the decal then micro-mesh it to the super shine again?

Appreciate any input you may have...
Dave
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Dave,The ones I have done I did not rough up the finish for the application of the decal. I put 4 coats of ca finish on the pen then applied the decal with water(just like the old model car decals) let the decal dry for 24 hrs. then applied my final ca finish. I`m certainly not a pro but maybe this will help if the pros don`t respond. Good luck. This is a poor photo of one that I did.
 

Attachments

  • Dogwood1.JPG
    Dogwood1.JPG
    25.3 KB · Views: 285
Well... I think I'll turn a "test" blank and see what works and doesn't before I apply it to the final product. I know if it messes up I can just sand it back off and start over but I really don't wanna do that on my somewhat finished blank...

I'll post back and let ya know how things went...

Dave
 
Putting CA on a wood pen turns it into a plastic pen, on the surface, so putting your decal on an acrylic (plastic) pen should be the same thing.
 
I sand to 400 and apply the decal then a CA finish to desired thickness. Then your usual finishing method.
 
i bought some adhesive clear printer paper type stuff from hobby lobby so that I could try something like this, not having seen it done before. I guess I can't be the first for everything lol. Anyhow, is this the same thing you guys have used? Or, is there another product that I possibly overlooked that would be easier to work with? I haven't tried my idea yet, haven't even opened the package of the plastic stuff. TIA
 
Hey Jason,

This is what everyone I have talked to uses, it's by Testors, Testors Decal System

This is also what I got at Hobby Lobby, comes with everything you need, decal paper (clear and white) and bonding spray (keeps the ink from bleeding when applying it to the blank supposedly).

Dave
 
Jason, What I use is the water applied decals. Get the decal stock from Hobby Lobby and make the design or whatever on my computer. Amounts to the same thing as the decals that we used way back when on model cars and airplanes. The water applied decals would be a bit thinner than the adhesive back stuff I would think. Hope this helps.
 
PAPATURNER said:
Jason, What I use is the water applied decals. Get the decal stock from Hobby Lobby and make the design or whatever on my computer. Amounts to the same thing as the decals that we used way back when on model cars and airplanes. The water applied decals would be a bit thinner than the adhesive back stuff I would think. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...

Exactly.. that is what's in the kit...


Dave
 
i've tried the decal thing a few times.......the only problem i have is when i go to transfer the decal to the pen, the decal curls so bad and i can't smooth it out without tearing the decal...
i still ain't figured it out....dangit
let me know how you do it please
 
Now when making your decals I assume you are copying these from some site??? How small do you have to shrink them and what type of copier are you using to get crisp colors. I need to buy a new copier for my new computer. What is a good one that is compatible with windows XP professional 64??? Thanks for the help.
 
hughbie said:
i've tried the decal thing a few times.......the only problem i have is when i go to transfer the decal to the pen, the decal curls so bad and i can't smooth it out without tearing the decal...
i still ain't figured it out....dangit
let me know how you do it please
Click to expand...

Your fingers don't work well. I found back when I was a kid building model planes that wrapping a finger in saran wrap and keeping it wet was the key.

I suppose the little pen kit parts baggies over a finger would work as well.
 
DurocShark said:
Your fingers don't work well. I found back when I was a kid building model planes that wrapping a finger in saran wrap and keeping it wet was the key.

I suppose the little pen kit parts baggies over a finger would work as well.
Click to expand...

That's a good idea... I'll try that!
 
jttheclockman said:
Now when making your decals I assume you are copying these from some site??? How small do you have to shrink them and what type of copier are you using to get crisp colors. I need to buy a new copier for my new computer. What is a good one that is compatible with windows XP professional 64??? Thanks for the help.
Click to expand...

I haven't had the greatest luck with decals on inkjets, as the inks can run
even though they're designed not to. But I think the novelty of making your own decals is great.

There's a Yahoo group for railroad modelers who make their own decals
(and boy, those guys are picky and perfectionists) and they seem to be
using Alps printers. Those use dry ribbons so there's no running inks. They
seem to be using these with the Testors decals, too. I haven't done that
yet, I just dragged an old Alps printer out of storage and got it running
last night. 600x600 dpi is more detail than most people can see without
some sort of magnifier.

The biggest problem is that there are no more drivers for the printers.
Alps discontinued the printers and then pulled all the drivers off of their
website and there's no more support. Good info on the web, though.

Best part about these printers is the metallic colors and white ink ribbons.
You can do gold, silver etc.. and you can put white over dark colors. (good
for tee shirt transfers onto a black shirt)

You can find those printers on Ebay pretty cheap now, since there's no
support for them anymore, and there seems to be no retailer who carries
the ribbons in a brick and mortar store. You can still get them online, and
there's a lot of people who still have the printers, so you can find drivers
and even manuals online. Probably much cheaper than buying a new
color copier.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom