Decals....

[corsair5517]

Fellas, what do you use to seal your inkjet printed decals? I'm told that a matte acrylic varnish is 'the go', but I cannot find a matte one at the local craft store; anyone got something for me??

Thanks ever so much!

[steveh]

I wouldn't worry too much about using a matt one, at least for me, I always finish with an overall matt coat when all else is done. I use Klear for a gloss coat under decals & settle them in 50% Klear, so there is a fair bit of gloss about the model, so gloss decals aren't a problem, the matt coat settles the whole lot down.
Steve.

[Dave Homewood]

I'm no modeller any more so this may seem a daft question to this who are, but can you use Klear on acrylic paint? Does it not eat it?

[steveh]

No, Klear is an acrylic, goes on over acrylic paints a treat, though it does pay with any layer over another to let the 1st one cure properly.
Steve.

[Dave Homewood]

OK, thanks for that.

[corsair5517]

Right, so the matte/semi-gloss/gloss is a bit of a blind alley? The decals I've made are scans of my fathers wings and his ribbon bar which are going to be affixed to the headstock of a custom guitar build, which is going to be a high gloss finish anyway.

I'm a bit wary of any paints or fluids reacting badly and having to refinish as I've got a fair amount of sweat invested in this thing already!! Once the decals are sealed with the afore mentioned acrylic clear, it should be impervious to other types of clear, right?

[smithy]

Hi Corsair,

Well this is topical, I have just finished making some decals for my loooooong stalled A-4K Kahu project as some of the Hawkeye ones I had were out of scale.

Are you asking what to seal homemade ink jet printer decals before using them? If so, I used Testors Decal Bonder which comes in a rattle can which I got at one of my local model shops here in Melbourne.

This is the first time I've dabbled in making my own decals and you apparently need to seal them so the inks don't run either when dunked in water to apply them or using decal softeners to make them settle. The Testors stuff is a lacquer and I've heard it said that you can use Testors Dullcote (essentially the same product) or even Tamiya TS-80.

I have put two very light coats over the printed decals yesterday evening and am just about to apply them - only jumped online to check my photo references for placement and thought I'd look in here as well - so good timing!

I'll let you know how I get on.

HTH,

Tim

[corsair5517]

Oh, mate.... good show!!

I'm all agog!

Testers decal binder, you say?!

[smithy]

That's the stuff mate.

And I'd imagine you shouldn't have any bother using a final lacquer finish (which I'd imagine you'd be using on a guitar) over the top of the applied decals seeing as they have a lacquer coating from the decal seal. None of that worry about applying lacquers over acrylics which can cause problems sometimes.

But I haven't used the decals yet. Just about to go off and have a go now.

Wish me luck

[smithy]

Quick update...

I've applied two decals thus far and they've gone on a treat. Haven't applied Microsol or Mr Mark Softer yet (going to finish around the cockpit stencils first beforehand) but so far so good.