AmishWarlord

My Feedback: (5)

Cool.

Hey try Monocoating a cereal box and use that to test on so you don't mess up the covering on your plane.

You don't want to have to recover because some strange solvent made the Monocoat under your decal brittle.

golf4two

Quote:
Of note - my one ounce, four dollar bottle of Micro Set smells suspiciously like vinegar. Interesting, since I've heard that Micro Set and vinegar do pretty much the same thing. So if I can get Micro Set to do what I want it to do, I'll start testing with vinegar.
Unquote:

Hmmm, Heloise (of daily newspaper column fame) claims that vinegar is one of the cheapest, most effective cleaning agents known to many housewives. Could that be it's intent?

Also, by all means go with what you've got for sealing the edges. Even clear nail polish just around the edges would do. Since you are doing all of these experiments, why not try just a small decal sealing down only the edges ('bout 1/8 in overlap each direction)? Can't hurt anything now.

Regards,
G42

grosbeak

I was able to remove both of the large decals from the vertical stabilizer last night, thanks to some acetone and careful peeling. Once I got it all cleaned up again I followed the steps in my previous post:

1. Apply Micro Set to relevant area
2. Wipe off Micro Set
3. Apply decal
4. Wait an hour
5. Dress the edges with Micro Gloss

The only problem I encountered was insufficient decal bonder - A little bit of the decal ink ran during application but I was able to clean it up. I'll post a picture sometime today.

RemoteJets

Here some pictures form my home made decals on my F-15

I do it this way,
- print the decals,
- spray the complete decal paper with clear fernish from a spray can (if for methanol models use methanol resistance paint),
- cut out the decals,
- place it in some warm water (I said warm not boiling ),
- wet the surface where the decals has to come,
- when the back of the decal just loosens I place the decal on the airframe, slide it from teh back paper on the model,
- just wipe the decal dry from the middle to the sides,
- and done (for a better finish you should spray it with clear fernish again but there my model is not painted glossy I didn`t do that).

And it stays well on even with +250 km/hr flight

grosbeak

Thanks to acetone and some careful peeling I was able to remove the decals from tests #1 and #2. As mentioned above, test #4 followed these steps:

1. Apply Micro Set to relevant area
2. Wipe off Micro Set
3. Apply decal
4. Let decal dry for an hour
5. Seal edges with Micro Gloss

The decal sheet used had a single coat and a small test decal applied perfectly well. The ink ran a bit with this larger decal, however, so test #5 will use a decal sheet with two coats.

Overall, the test worked fairly well. I shook the bottle of Micro Gloss vigorously before applying it, which may account for the bubbles. And I think I used too much.



Tonight, test #5:

1. Use decal sheet with two coats of bonder
2. Apply Micro Set to relevant area
3. Wipe off Micro Set
4. Apply decal
5. Let decal dry for an hour
6. Seal edges with Micro Gloss (do not shake before application, and apply very light coat)

grosbeak

Okay, test #5 is complete and looking good.

I swapped in vinegar in place of the Micro Set and added a few steps. So:

1. Apply two coats of bonder to decal sheet
2. Apply vinegar to covering
3. Wipe off vinegar
4. Dab some water on covering
5. Apply decal
6. Squeegee water from beneath decal
7. Blot excess water with paper towel
8. Let decal dry for an hour
9. Seal edges with Micro Gloss

The result:



Note - I was able to scrape off the excess bubbles from Test #4 with a fingernail.

It went so well I moved on to test #6 - smaller decal, same procedure:

vasek

My Feedback: (4)

when you say "bonder" what exactly is that? thanks, v.

skeeter_ca

Can a full sheet picture, 8.5x5.5, be printed out and then tranfered to say the wing in one large piece? Will there be problems, like say the decal tearing or breaking up during the transfer.

skeeter

grosbeak

Good question - the ones you see on the tail of my plane are the largest I've tried. The decal material is fairly strong, but with a decal that large you'd want to be sure it's good and ready to slide off the backing paper before you try to transfer it.

If you're applying the decal to a compound curve or a surface with any kind of texture you may need to use a solvent to soften the material so it conforms to the curves - You could try vinegar or something similar (Micro Sol, for example, as referenced in post 13 of this thread).

LesUyeda

"like say the decal tearing or breaking up during the transfer."

Yes. You would prefer to do large items in a few smaller pieces, then "float" them into location as you apply them.

Les

wojtek

My Feedback: (73)

Toner transfer decals work even better ... I have had excellent results with this system .. I'm never using water slide decals again ! [8D]

http://www.pulsarprofx.com/decalpro/


~V~

AmishWarlord

My Feedback: (5)

LOL that looks like a royal PITA to me.

LOL at "Just nine easy steps"

There are 9 quick steps to make a full-color, dry-transfer, pressure sensitive graphic in under 10 minutes.

1) Remove Moisture

Print your decal and use a heat gun to dry it out without melting the decal or film.

2) Apply Clearcoat

Place a sheet of plastic laminate over the decal and run it though a thermal laminating machine. Hoping that there will be no bubbles from the cheap $50 POS machine you got off ebay.

3) Remove Excess

Tape over the entire decal then carefully pull the tape off with out ripping the decal.

4) Clean Surfaces

Take some paper towels and alcohol and clear the decal and a wispy thin sheet of mylar trying not to tear either.

5) Bond the Carrier

Now using spray adhesive spray a piece of paper towel then put the mylar sheet on the paper towel, now spray the decal. now peel off the mylar and place it over the decal.

6) Water Bath

Soak decal in water, "I know your thinking why didn't I just get some water slide paper?!" at this point. Soak the decal until it comes off like a water slide decal.

7) Dry the Graphic

That's right dry it with some paper towel, your not just going to stick it on the plane at this point.

8) Apply Adhesive

Break out the can of spray glue again and spray the back side of the decal.

9) Transfer graphic

Now place the sticker you just made onto your plane and hope the spray glue you used is fuel proof. Or you can try and seal it hoping that the glue you used doesn’t react badly with the stuff your using to seal it with.

Be sure to watch the video. http://www.pulsarprofx.com/decalpro/..._It_Works.html

...and did I see an expensive heat laminator machine that I'll need to buy?

Well here's the $110 machine,
http://www.staples.com/office/suppli...=10-37388726-2

From search site on laminators machines,

"Here are some - remember, quality costs, and a cheap laminator may not completely seal your stuff. Given the relatively close clustering around $90 for these products, you might consider going to Staples for the customer service."

Avaiojet

Interesting?

Charles

LesUyeda

"LOL that looks like a royal PITA to me. "

One need remember that it is not only the enjoyement of the desitnation, it is the pleasure of the journey.

Les

vasek

My Feedback: (4)

Not to mention how much paper towel is wasted for one small graphic > NOT eco friedly

wojtek

My Feedback: (73)

you can always use cloth towels or dry the paper ones ... The biggest problem with water slide decals off of inkjet printers is that the color will fade with UV exposure ( sun ) . Using a toner (laser) transfer system gets rid of this problem as toner is a plastic and will not fade with sunlight. Its more work, but has significantly better results. On any scale project iwht any significant time into it ,i would not use water slide even if i was to be clear coating over the decal because of the fading issue. In the end, every one uses what work for them, but its nice to know of various options

~V~