Print your own decals paper

[Farmersam]

Hi, has anyone tried water slide decal paper where you print your decals at home with an ink jet printer? Do they work well as I am looking at getting some? Thanks for your help

[TM190]

Thats how I used to do them when I first started out.. Worked pretty well for the odd job here and there, but takes bit of time to apply them etc. and can be a bit annoying if they fold over on each other and get stuck etc.. 

[MODELFARMER]

but hten Blake is all thumbs so that was never his strong point

[roberthenning]

Yeah i use them, although you have to laqure them or when you put them in water the ink will rub off. Great for finer details, also sticky back photo paper is worth a try for certain types of decals, but can look a bit clumsy on smaller decals

[Lady Ferguson]

Fiddly and a bit of a pain in my personal opinion. I find clear vinyl or dry rub-off (which is very thin and what I use for all my transit vans) decals much easier and just as effective. Normally, when I show a customer all the options available they rarely choose waterslide.

[Farmersam]

Thanks everyone, that all very helpful.  Where can you get clear vinyl or dry rub-off decal paper?

[Lady Ferguson]

Thanks everyone, that all very helpful.  Where can you get clear vinyl or dry rub-off decal paper?

I buy all my paper from:

http://www.craftycomputerpaper.co.uk/default.aspx

You may have to ask them about clear vinyl, though, as I couldn't find it on their website. If you're stuck let me know and I can always get some in for you

[justy 46]

Waterslide can be tricky,but if your familiar with Airfix & Revell kits ,it should be second nature to ya!

[Light Land]

Get mandy to make your decals mate,she's top rate to deal with and they are cheap as chips.

[Farmersam]

Get mandy to make your decals mate,she's top rate to deal with and they are cheap as chips.

Yeah I think that sounds like a smart idea!    Was just looking at the paper for the odd small job 

[Farmersam]

Waterslide can be tricky,but if your familiar with Airfix & Revell kits ,it should be second nature to ya!

  Have done a few myself.  I found them quite easy to use but I soon learnt how they fold over and stick to themselves! 

[Farmersam]

I buy all my paper from:

http://www.craftycomputerpaper.co.uk/default.aspx

You may have to ask them about clear vinyl, though, as I couldn't find it on their website. If you're stuck let me know and I can always get some in for you

I rember looking at that site last year and thinking that they looked quite good. Like Light Land said,  it sounds like your the easiest way to make decals 

[Lady Ferguson]

  Have done a few myself.  I found them quite easy to use but I soon learnt how they fold over and stick to themselves! 

I also found waterslide to be a little thicker than I'd like. I still use them for certain projects, but still much prefer dry decal or vinyl. With dry decal you can also go over bumpy areas to a degree.

[Paul Palmer]

has to be mandy sam,look in other conversions or venton farm topics,and see what mandy did for my lexion combine and quadtrac,they are superb,and easy to apply

[Farmersam]

has to be mandy sam,look in other conversions or venton farm topics,and see what mandy did for my lexion combine and quadtrac,they are superb,and easy to apply

Yes those decals she did do look amazing 

[Paul Palmer]

Yes those decals she did do look amazing 

they are sam

[justy 46]

  Have done a few myself.  I found them quite easy to use but I soon learnt how they fold over and stick to themselves! 

Yeah had that problem too a few times. Put it back in lukewarm again & it might straighten again. IF YOUR LUCKY!

[Tractorman810]

i would use mandy or another provider now , i did try waterslide, and whilst more than used to it from my younger model making years, i found it always seemed very wishy washy colour wise, especially the clear one, even with a colour laser jet printing them, mandy did the decals for my recent lely combine build  and did a hell of a job on them sharpening them up and giving me the option of clear sticky and rubb off in one go

[Lady Ferguson]

Thanks for all the compliments guys [ [

I have used waterslide to good effect, but they work best on a really flat surface, need spraying thoroughly with a fixer (to keep the image in-place when wet) and seal with varnish afterwards to prevent lifting - a really long-winded way of going about it when you can just use a clear vinyl sticker instead for the same result, in my opinion.

If your surface has any undulations then a dry rub-off decal is better, because it's thinner, softer and you can push it into the surface to a certain degree (ie. for my vans I push the decal into the crease down the centre). You just have to be careful on a painted surface, as you can pull the paint off when you rub the dry decal into place.

[Farmersam]

Excellent advice as always Mandy!   

[Barry]

Dry rub off decal paper is this the stuff you recommend Mandy?