"Best decal material"?

[johnbuzzed]

I will be generating and printing some decals on my HP (inkjet) printer and I would like some input and opinions on which decal material you guys find to be the best to use. Thanks in advance.

[Jantrix]

Bare Metal Foil sells it from their website, or did last time I looked. I've not used it, but heard good things.

[Pete J.]

Here is the company that I get mine through. It is very thin and works well and it is far cheaper than any of the stuff you buy that is from a modeling company. http://www.texascraft.com/hps/Inkjet-Waterslide-Decal-Paper/

[Foxer]

I agree with Pete ... Papilio is the best.

[Tom Geiger]

I've had good luck with the Micro Mark product. Nice and thin, accepts ink well. Someone had recommended sealing it in with the Testors decal sealer. It's been good to me.

[vwdave92]

I've used the testors kit and had good luck.

Few tricks I have learned...

test run your stuff on photo paper or just plain white paper first...

run the decal paper through on printer setting for the high grade photo paper

let the ink dry OVER NIGHT. If you try to seal it too soon it will run.

let the sealer dry at least over night or a couple of days.

Like so many things I end up doing twice it's usually because I rushed the first job.

I was able to cure mine with Micor- Set and Micro-Sol just like any other decals but I would run some spare images and test them before you try to apply them or use any solutions on them. For the motorcycle below I scanned the cartograph decals then rebuild my images over the top so the sizes would be correct. In many cases the sponsor logos were white and I needed black. I was very happy with the results.

[Kit Basher]

X3 on Papillio. I got mine from Amazon.

[Pete J.]

Boy, and I thought I was one of the few who knew about Papillio! Glad others are using it. One word of advise. It comes in standard 8 1/2" X 11" sheets. What I did was cut it to 4"X 5" and run it in my photo paper tray. To me this means less waste. I run smaller layouts and I do several.

[Erik Smith]

I like Papilio too - the clear is thinner than the white though.

To save paper, I print out a test on regular paper, then cut out a piece of decal paper just big enough for the decal I am making, scotch tape over the image on plain paper and run through the printer.

[Foxer]

I'm a paper saver too. I always layout decals along the top of the sheet and print. I cut then just cut off the top with the decals and use it again next time. So far, running the paper multiple times through the printer hasn't affected anything.

[Tom Geiger]

To save paper, I print out a test on regular paper, then cut out a piece of decal paper just big enough for the decal I am making, scotch tape over the image on plain paper and run through the printer.

Bingo! I do the same. I mostly wind up using quarter sheets (lengthwise, still 8.5" wide) for most of my decals.

And print several to many of each image you need. Then pick the very best ones for your model once you've gone through all the steps of printing and sealing the sheet. Murphy will see that you waste a few too!

[johnbuzzed]

Thanks for all the advice. I already have some of the Papilio and since there were four recommendations, I'll stick with that (pun intended). I will try some of the other tips, too, such as printing the images on regular paper first. I hope to get to this over the Thanksgiving weekend.

[Bernard Kron]

Hi everyone. Since this thread has united so many avid decal makers and Papilio is so highly recommended, I thought I'd piggyback a question.I do a lot of decal work and I use the the decal paper BMF offers . I've had good results. However, I've been avoiding using the white decal paper because it is too thick. The problem is that when you cut it out the decal is thick enough so that the white edge shows. Is the Papilio white thin enough to avoid this? I would like to use white paper rather than clear in certain applications where I need bright, undiluted colors. The clear stuff, while simpler to use, suffers over darket colors where the transparency of inkjet ink gets affected by the underlying color.

I'll probably go ahead and order a sample of white Papilio but I thought I'd ask what your experiences have been.

Thanx in advance.

[Erik Smith]

The Papilio white is thick too, Bernard. I have used it with dark colored decals but had to touch up the edges to hide the white edge

Cadillac Pat has done some work with the clear film, white base, mask, and paint.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Erik Smith

[Bernard Kron]

Thanks for the comment, Erik.

[zenrat]

Print your decals on the clear and also print a plain backing on the white. The backing is basically a box the same size as the design with nothing in it but with a border to cut round. Cut inside the line and the backing will end up smaller than the design by twice the line thickness.

Put on the backing and then put on the design printed on the clear. If you position it centrally it will overlap enough on all sides to cover the white edge.

Of course you will have 2 thicknesses of decal film but you won't have a visible white stripe.

With white decal paper I find I can also have a problem with the decal water getting under the decal bonder at the cut edges and washing off some of the ink. If you use a white backing and also leave a thin strip of clear when you cut out the design then this is also avoided (but of course you'll have double thickness AND a thin edge - but no shonky looking white bits. You decide).

Edited November 23, 2013 by zenrat

[Mister 4x4]

Sorry dredge up an old thread, but I was stocking up on supplies yesterday, and noticed the Testors clear and white decal paper. I've made white backed decals in the past with Papilio (on my 1/10th carputer), and was less than impressed with the white background allowing the body colors to bleed through. Thanks for the tips on how to properly back-up the white areas.

My question though: Has anybody used a laser printer to make the decals, rather than inkjet, with any success?

I have an inkjet printer, but honestly I used it a few times for something minor, then the cartridges dried up. Another set of cartridges for 5 pages of print, and another set of dried cartridges weeks later. The incredible waste of ink (and money) is why I only use that printer for its scanner abilities and bought a color laser printer instead.

You can see the "mottling" of the white parts in this pic:

And I cleaned it all up with some reprints on adhesive-backed photo paper (hey, it's just an R/C car body, after all):

http://www.mister4x4.net/PCTweak/buildingrusty.htm (more about the machine and building it)

[Mike_G]

That's very imaginative

Edited December 28, 2014 by Mike_G

[Tom Geiger]

My question though: Has anybody used a laser printer to make the decals, rather than inkjet, with any success?

Be careful! The Micro Mark product I have has two different products. One marked Inkjet and one marked Laser. So each type of printer requires a different media. I can imagine this has to do with the heat process on the laser, otherwise I don't know the difference. Hoping someone with more / better info will chime in!

Just putting it out there so you don't go ruining the printer at work!

Edited December 28, 2014 by Tom Geiger

[Crazy Ed]

My question though: Has anybody used a laser printer to make the decals, rather than inkjet, with any success?

Yep, Just be SURE to set your Printer to the Gloss Paper setting. Otherwise (at least in my case) you can rub off what little toner that is left on the Decal Paper.

[Mister 4x4]

Thanks Guys! I knew someone would know. I'll be sure to post results - I've got a Super Swamper Tire Tread stripe to paint on the side of my Jeep!