Making Custom Decals

[raymondchung]

Dear Folks,

 

I have purchase from laser decals sheet from ??? ( i forget it already). It said it is laser decals paper. I try to print some decals on it using my color laser printer.

 

But the result is horrible, the "paint" tear-off from the surface (just after printout from the laser printer). And the color is not good. I try this one on normal paper, the quality is very good.

 

Would anyone have any suggestion on this ?

 

The printer I used is :

 

Ricoh 3800 Laser Color Printer.

[William G]

Raymond,

 

A few things pop to mind.

First, is the color layer coming off as one piece or is it flaking?

If so it seems that the binder that the toner uses to adhere to the paper is not getting enough grip on the decal paper.

Also some papers I have seen are not compatible with certain printers.

The temperature of the heating element that sets the toner to the page might not be hot enough to actually bond the toner to the clear film on the decal sheet.

You might also only have a sheet of waterslide release agent and no clear film. If this is the case, you might want to spray some clear coat lacquer onto a sheet, let it dry, then run it through the printer. After the page has cooled down. You want to spray another coat of clear on top of the image so that you give it some protection.

 

Some Links to help you

Bel Decal Laser Paper

How to Make your Own Decals Tutorial

 

Hope this helps #>

[raymondchung]

QUOTE (William G @ Aug 29 2003, 03:32 AM)

Raymond,   A few things pop to mind. First, is the color layer coming off as one piece or is it flaking? If so it seems that the binder that the toner uses to adhere to the paper is not getting enough grip on the decal paper. Also some papers I have seen are not compatible with certain printers. The temperature of the heating element that sets the toner to the page might not be hot enough to actually bond the toner to the clear film on the decal sheet. You might also only have a sheet of waterslide release agent and no clear film. If this is the case, you might want to spray some clear coat lacquer onto a sheet, let it dry, then run it through the printer. After the page has cooled down. You want to spray another coat of clear on top of the image so that you give it some protection.   Some Links to help you Bel Decal Laser Paper How to Make your Own Decals Tutorial   Hope this helps #>

Dear William,

 

 

Thank you for your information. The decals sheet I used is exactly Bel Decal which you mentioned.

 

Yes, the decals printout is flaking. But the laser color printer is a high-end (I guess, since it causes me almost US$8,000) version. Therefore, any material that I can use to make use of such decals paper ?

 

Using coated what ?

 

 

Looking forward for your help .

 

Raymond

[RICARDO]

I dry sand carfully tne sheet witn a 1000 sand paper before printing.

It flats the surface and helps the ink to grip.

After printing, i use some flat acrilic varnish on a soft brush to fix it.

i dry it quikly with a hair dryer.

It is the quickest and the most efficient way to do stong decals.

I make all instruments ang plugs in the cockpit with decals so it has to be very strong to take the shape of the surfaces.

i use custom decals for many things because with good computer and good softwares wou can go very far in realistic details.

If you want more details on that subject, or templates, i have plenty.

bye

[William G]

Raymond,

I saw on the Bel site that they have a detailed step by step to making the decals.

Also the recomendation from Ricardo is a good one , one that I forget to do more often than not. Love my inkjet printer, but hate to waste sheets of decal paper.

It is so nice to pull that pade off the printer and see the ink beading up like a nicely waxed car.

 

The coating I use is Testors Gloss Coat Or Testors Dull Coat.

Both are good to hold the inks to my sheets with little blurring of the image.

 

Again go here for the help files

http://www.beldecal.com/laser_paper.html

 

I have a model kit of a Star Fury from Babylon 5,

I found a nice picture to use as the wing art for the upper surface.

Printed it on my last sheet of decal paper as well as about a dozen small names for a small tomcat trophy.

the page comes off the printer with all the color beading up... Oh I was upset.

Oh well

 

Ricardo. I should have rememberd that at that time to have roughed the sheet.

Live and Learn. #>

[LSP_Ray]

QUOTE (William G @ Aug 29 2003, 03:53 PM)

I have a model kit of a Star Fury from Babylon 5, I found a nice picture to use as the wing art for the upper surface. Printed it on my last sheet of decal paper as well as about a dozen small names for a small tomcat trophy. the page comes off the printer with all the color beading up... Oh I was upset. Oh well   Ricardo. I should have rememberd that at that time to have roughed the sheet. Live and Learn. #>

I have found that some inkjets' ink does nothing but bead up. My Epson PhotoStylus was hopeless.

 

However, fyi, the HP Photosmart 7550 prints beautifully on inkjet paper, with no beading what so ever! It is designed with photos in mind, so the glossy decal paper being similar to the HP photo paper works great! The HP also prints in greys which is a big help with some decals. I still use my ALPS for most work as it is waterproof and prints white, but for greys the HP is the only way.

 

I am going to check out the Bel site though, I have been getting my paper via Micromark and would like to try some others.

[William G]

I could not agree with you more

I had the following printers with the results as well

 

Canon BJC 200 would not print at all on decal sheets even if they were flat or glossy. the ink beaded every time when using refill ink.

But when using Canon Ink it would print on flat decal paper.

 

Lexmark Z12 Would print but had scan lines no matter what ink was used.

 

HP PhotoSmart Printer would print very nice photo quality prints on the decal sheet. just had a problem some times with it reacting to the clearcoat after it dried.

Would have kept that printer but ink cartridges were too expensive and I could not find any good drivers at the time for XP or Linux.

 

Now I have my Epson C60 and it is decent as long as I make sure the surface is not too slick.