painting dry transfers

Some very nice dry transfer stencils are being made for a wide variety of aircraft models, and some markings are two- or even three-colored, and the sheets are indeed multi colored from end to end. These are in every scale up to 1/24. I'm currently using them on a trial basis, and I can't believe how nice it is to have your stencils disappear down into the paint rather than ride on top like a rash on your model. They are, indeed, fragile and time consuming, but a/c modelers are better off than they were, when these marking were only the domain of armor guys.
Q, I was not even aware that Letraset was in the model markings business. I know them from my journalism school days, when we all dreaded having to take that boring old typography class. But with the advent of computer graphics and print production, I assume the makers of press type will have to branch out in order to survive.
Tom

Sharkskin,

Back when Letraset first introduced rub on decals for models, they were indeed single and double colors only (the biggest percentage of them were German insignia, letters and numerals). They eventually became multi colored (unit and personal markings, national insignia etc). I don't think the multi-coloring was what took them off the market (although the expense of producing them probably figured into the decision to discontinue them). I believe that the decision was caused by the fact that after 3 or 4 months on the shelf, about 50% of them shattered like glass when you tried to apply them and and after about 6 or 7 months, they wouldn't stick to any surface when you applied them. So which would a modeler buy, a set of rub -on insignia (for as many as a 1/2 dozen models on a sheet), use one set , and come back 8 or 9 months later and find the rest are unusable, or a set of decal insignia which he can use one set and know the rest will still be usable several years down the road. What I would really like to see is for Letraset to produce a set of rub-ons for individual aircraft (all the markings for that particular plane) much like PropAgTeam currently does.

Just keep in mind that what makes dry transfers so nicely flat and look almost like they are painted on is the result of that extremely thin and -- this is the important part -- porous film on which they are printed. Paint will tend to wick when applied to bare DT's, as will multiple colors of ink when they are printed, which is why it will be a long while before we see elaborately rendered nose art of pinup girls instead of simple white stars in dry transfer. I have not had the experience, but have read the warning that even some overcoats will cause dry transfer ink to run, so apply anything, from paint to clear overcoats with caution. DT's are great compared to decals in many ways, but they are always going to be fragile. I would be surprised, if you tried to paint on one, that you would get anything but spider-webs for edges.

It's been a long time since I've used dry transfer decals, but I don't see how you are going to get the paint on them unless they are already on the model. I would find an old model, apply some transfers and then probably apply a coat of Future over them (I would think a coat of Future probably has the least chance of an adverse reaction to the transfers than a clear laquer, enamel or even acrylics). I'd then let the Future dry for a couple of days and start experimenting to find the proper thinning for my paint. Probably start with 3 to 4 drops of thinner to a bottle and go up 1 or 2 drops at a time until I found a mixture that I liked.