DIY Decal Paper - Seen one, see 'em all?

[Didymus]

My do-it-yourself inkjet decal paper is not nearly as good as the good stuff you get with good kits. For starters, it takes about five thin coats of Krylon Crystal Clear to keep the ink from bleeding. When applied, the decals are very thin and translucent and don't have much adhesive. It takes a lot of fiddling and smoothing to get them to adhere to a curved surface. If I put Micro-Sol on them, they settle okay, more or less, but still don't flatten to my satisfaction.

All the DIY inkjet decal papers I've seen look the same - blue imprint on the back, etc. - but are they REALLY the same? I know that there are many sources, including BMF, but has anybody compared them? Or even a couple of them?

Are some better than others?

Ddms

[Slash.Snakepit]

Is your printer ink jet, laser or wax? I really think that to have a good DIY decal you must have a very good printer that isn´t InkJet.

[klutz_100]

Originally Posted by Didymus

Are some better than others?

Good question!

I just made up some decals last weekend using BMF White and BMF Clear for ink jet and I had all the experiences you mentioned above.

I used Badger decal sealant and I have to say it is quite aggressive stuff and on a couple of decals it actually made the ink run! (luckily I printed several duplicates jsut in case of problems)

[MidMazar]

Sorry this is off topic, did you lay down the crystal clear before printing or after? I myself is having problems with the ink running on testors paper. I thinkit might be because of the hp deskjet 720c i have.

Does the printer have to be a laser?

[Lownslow]

youre gonna spend a lot of $$$ on a laserjet. i have a brother 240c and it prints great decals. i used the bmf decal paper and i sealed my decals with TS13 and they worked fine.

[Didymus]

I use a Canon i9900 inkjet printer and get fairly good results, but only if I let the ink dry for a while and then apply about five light coats of Krylon Crystal Clear. If you don't coat the decals, the inkjet ink will run when you put them in water. But the imprints are still pretty delicate, even when they're coated.

I tested several coatings, and the Krylon did the best job. There may be a better coating out there - I'm willing to experiment.

But it's the cheesy, lightweight decal film that seems to be the problem. I bought it on-line, but can't find the paperwork so I don't know where I got it. It looks exactly the same as the BMF decal paper.

I would just like to find some substantial, high-quality inkjet decal paper with the same quality that you get with good quality kits.

Ddms

[MPWR]

Originally Posted by Didymus

I would just like to find some substantial, high-quality inkjet decal paper with the same quality that you get with good quality kits.

Isn't going to happen.

Kit companies don't use decals printed with inkjet (or even laser) printers, so kit decals are not a good comparison for DIY decals. There are real limit s tho what you can do with DIY decals- and if you understand and can work within these limits, it can be a very useful tool to have. But if you're looking for something comparable to kit decals, you're likely to be disappointed.

[Didymus]

I realize that an inkjet printer can't match the quality of the kit decals. (I think they're printed with a litho process of some kind.)

But I would like to find better paper/film stock than I've been getting. All the inkjet paper I've seen looks the same; I was hoping that somebody sells the kind of premium quality decal paper that's used by manufacturers like Renaissance.

Ddms

[Didymus]

Found the paperwork. I got my decal paper from http://decalpaper.com
"America's Largest Decal Supplier."

I've looked at various sites, and none of them offer decal papers in different grades. Nor do they boast that their papers are better than anyone else's. This seems to confirm my suspicion that all the inkjet decal paper in the world is made in the Sunny Scopa decal factory in S. Korea.

Ddms

[mrawl]

Have you tried Testors? Is it the same stuff? I have messed with the Testors - seems to be like you described, vanishingly thin, would need 2 or more stacked decals to get a decent white I'm sure. Discouraging....

[Didymus]

Originally Posted by mrawl

Have you tried Testors?

Nope. I was thinking about trying some "name brands" like BMF, Testors and Micromark, but the Testors sounds so similar that I don't think I need to bother.

Has anyone tried BMF or Micromark?

Ddms

[Tibi Keke]

Hi,
I never tryed yet to print decals by my self, but i am very interested and that's why i follow this topic.
Did anyone try this decal papers from Microscale http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/...tegory_Code=TF
Is for any good??

[Didymus]

Originally Posted by Tibi Keke

Hi,
I never tryed yet to print decals by my self, but i am very interested and that's why i follow this topic.
Did anyone try this decal papers from Microscale http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/...tegory_Code=TF
Is for any good??

It's hard to tell for sure, but those "trim films" appear to be small sheets of colored decal paper. I'm not sure exactly how they are used, but they don't seem intended for printing. (Inkjet printing on colored film would not be visible.)

Try Googling "decal paper"; you'll see many sources of inkjet decal paper at many prices - for the very same product, I suspect.

I don't want to give the impression that inkjet decals are worthless. When you're in a bind and need an unobtainable decal, they can save the day. But I wish I could find better quality paper/film stock.

Ddms

[MPWR]

Originally Posted by Didymus

It's hard to tell for sure, but those "trim films" appear to be small sheets of colored decal paper. I'm not sure exactly how they are used, but they don't seem intended for printing.

Trim Film is fantastic stuff. It is simply a solid sheet of colored decal film. Picture CF decal film, with a solid color instead of a pattern. To use, you simply cut it to the shape you want and apply it like a normal decal. It's perfect for racing stripes and other details for which a decal would be better than masking and painting.

If you don't see how it would be useful, you might consider having your imagination checked.

[Didymus]

Originally Posted by MPWR

If you don't see how it would be useful, you might consider having your imagination checked.

Well, excuuuuse me. I think it's your manners that need the checking.

Ddms