Anyone have experience with painting decal sheets?

A long time ago.... on a workbench far away.....there was an experiment.

Using enamels and laquer  spray paint (Testers Model Master I believe ) I  "attampted" to make my own decals. I used a clear decal sheet from Microscale Decals (very good decals by the way) And made a 1/87 scale computor green screen in a locomotive. That was the enamel paint and it worked ... sort of ok. HOWEVER, that was a flat surface. When I attempted to do this on a variety of uneven or curved surfaces the paint "flaked" off the decal paper. Solv-a-set DID NOT HELP AT ALL!!! It only helped the paint float away.

As for the laquer.... well.... it kind of ate at the decal and left a crinkeled edge that NO amount of coaxing would fix.

So in conclusion.... Enamel paint over clear decal sheet on a flat surface... "iffy" at best.

Laquer paint NO!...... NO!    

Also, make sure you cut the decal with a very sharp X-acto on a piece of glass. Otherwise the paint will give you a jagged edge.

Actually  I never attempted this stunt again..... its just easier to get the decal you need in the first place. Theres a lot to be said for making your own on a computer.

Why would anyone paint decal sheets? Why not print your own instead? Easier to do that than making a mess of things by painting on decals sheets.

At the time of my "experiment/mess" computers were a newfangeled contraption.

I believe it was somtime in1985 / 86.... you would be amazed at what I can model using only two sticks and some leaves.

I paint decal sheets on occasion when my printer can not achive the color I am trying to get.  Usually its for simple things like color bands, stripes etc.  I will airbrush the color on very thin onto a decal sheet, once cured I will spray on an appropriate clear coat, again very thin so that the paint will not crack around curves etc.  I can then either cut out the shapes I need or I will mask the decal sheet prior to color and clear to get the shape or pattern I need. 

route62

I paint decal sheets on occasion when my printer can not achive the color I am trying to get.  Usually its for simple things like color bands, stripes etc.  I will airbrush the color on very thin onto a decal sheet, once cured I will spray on an appropriate clear coat, again very thin so that the paint will not crack around curves etc.  I can then either cut out the shapes I need or I will mask the decal sheet prior to color and clear to get the shape or pattern I need. 

 

I have done the same thing with good results. I also handbrush enamels sometimes for touch up or if I need a certain color. Start with thin coats and build up slowly once previous coat is dry. I have found you MUST use a clearcoat.

I have painted decal sheet stock in the past before inkjet decal paper.

For nearly ten years, I have just printed on decal paper. It is now an established method of making decals.  The only reason for painting decal paper today is for colors I cannot print, like gold numbers or silver designs.  I could probably use bare metal foil for these, and will probably experiment with that the next time I need metallic decals.

BTW, there is a forum below on decal issues, and the making of inkjet decals is a frequent thread.

Yes definitely.

like Route62 said, if you have things to add such as black intake screens, anti glare panels, pin stripes that are short, any kind of small detail that's a single color this is a good way to go.

I generally save decal sets after a build. Say you have an RAF roundrel that's 1" diameter. Spray it enamel black on the sheet. Cut out 1/4" square. Voila open small hatch on a ship.

Don Stauffer

...BTW, there is a forum below on decal issues, and the making of inkjet decals is a frequent thread.

 

Taking the handoff from Don, here is a link to that forum:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/tools_techniques_and_reference_materials/f/20.aspx

Lots of good tips...

I did "gray" out some stars on a build a couple years ago. I airbrushed on a thin coat of Humbrol Ocean Gray over the white portion of US stars while the decals were still on the sheet. Why? Because that is how it was on the real aircraft and the kit decals did not have that.

I have head some success with airbrushing acrylic paint onto clear film.  It can be fragile, and too much handling will cause it to start chipping/flaking at the edges - mind you, I never bothered sealing it.

Some have asked why not just use a printer.   Well when you need a solid but small swatch of colour it's really quick, as once the paint is dry, it's ready to trim and go.  The other also has to do with trimming, no worries about the colour bleeding at the edges.  Unlike printed inks, it is best to leave a bit of clear film around all edges.

Here is a Spitfire, using painted decal film as gun port covers:

regards,

Jack

There used to be a company that provided sheets of decal paper in various colors.  That used to make it really easy to make simple geometric shapes in color.  Haven't seen those in years, though.  How do we influence someone to bring a product like that back?

A few years ago I got some 5 x 7 color decal sheets from an outfit called Tauro Model Line Art. I can't remember all the colors they had but I got Red, White, Black and Clear. I've used them a lot for stripes and backgrounds for other decals. They work very well and if I remember correctly they were not that expensive.

Hope that this helps someone.

Jim  

You jogged my memory!

I think Micro Scale sold some. Had them in red and white and yellow and black.

http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=TF

The green stripes on these bombs are painted on white decal film from Bare Metal.  The paint is WEM Colourcoats RAF Light Green, thinned with lacquer thinner.

I've previously painted on Tauro's clear film also, but I couldn't find the sheet when I wanted it, so used the Bare Metal.  The Tauro worked better.

Testors used to make sheets of solid color decal stock, but I wasn't able to find them again.  Maybe they're discontinued.  They still seem to produce a clear film and a white film for their decal system.

Tauro still makes sheets of solid-color decal film:

http://www.tauromodel.it/inglese/decacces.htm

but I don't know if they're available anymore in the US, or have to be ordered from Italia.  Squadron used to handle them.

Amazon shows that they carry some:

 https://www.amazon.com/Tauro-Decals/pages/11189478011

From experience with painting decal film, they do have a shelf life--how long, I'm not sure. I'd saved some painted film for a couple of years, but by then the paint flaked off when trying to apply them.  

I usually paint the decal film, then use it within a day or so, before the paint gets too brittle.  

Hope you have success with your project.