1. By Gerry Cole Version 10/6/08
Decals
By Gerry Cole
Version 10/6/08

2. Decal Development Traditional Silk Screen Decals Dry Transfer
Letraset INT Process
Intermediate Transfer Process
ALPS Printers
MD-1000
MD-5000
Kodak First Check Printer
Digital Silk Printing
Ink Jet Printers
Laser Printers

3. Silk Screen Decal Paper with water-based adhesive
Print inks through silk screen
Print lighter colors first
Registration problems
Paper expands with humidity
Second and following colors don’t match first one across the entire sheet, some sheets are “bad”
Apply lacquer clear coat
Plasticizer in lacquer
Too brittle - cracks
Too flexible - stretches

4. Silk Screen Decal Summary
Decal clear coat
Too thick or too thin (fragile)
Proper amount of plasticizer for modeling uses
Exposure to humidity changes during storage
Paper expands and contracts, while…
Clear coat doesn’t, therefore…
Clear coat cracks during water immersion
Adhesive changes color – brown or yellow
Chemical reaction in the adhesive layer
Exposure to UV helps restore
To trim or not to trim?
Even split within the club

5. Dry Transfer
Dry Transfer is a term used to describe decals which can be applied without the use of water or other solvent
Zip-A-Tone, Chart-Pak, Letratone, Letraset
Flexible transparent backing
Printed decal
Wax adhesive layer
Apply pressure to release
Push into model surface

6. Letraset INT Process Uses solid color Dry Transfer sheet
Yellow, red, blue, silver, gold, black, white, green plus custom colors matched to PMS #
White background under lighter colors
Need photo negative of desired artwork
Expose Dry Transfer sheet under negative
Develop Dry Transfer
“Wash away” all but desired image
Use as normal Dry Transfer
High quality, 300 dpi possible

7. Letraset INT Process Custom providers available
Stamford Type & Color “STC”
Example, for single color per sheet
Process 8” by 10” sheet, one of 16 colors, $49.75
Negative from your artwork $20.00
Custom mix color, 8” by 10”, $79.75
Matched to PMS standard colors
Provides 24 hour turnaround
Suggest you use decals within 30 days
Check web for other vendors

8. Letraset “Intermediate Transfer”
Since the Dry Transfer decal is “under” the flexible transparent backing, you can’t “color” the image or modify it before application
Intermediate Transfer lets you apply the decal to a special “transfer medium”
Decal may be colored with ink pen or spray
Transfer decal back to a flexible transparent backing
Apply colored decal as any Dry Transfer
Outdated today, but it did work!

9. Dry Transfer Summary No “silvering” problems – no clear coat!
Wax adhesive dries out, decal won’t release
“Renewal” spray only partially effective
Try Microwave for a few seconds – heats wax
Alignment difficult
Transparent plastic backing sheet stretches with use of adjacent decals
Hard to apply to curved parts
May not adhere well to rough surfaces
Apply Dry Transfer to clear decal film
Probably the simplest solution for alignment problems

10. Alps Printers MD-1000 300 or 600 dpi
Micro-Dry technology
300 or 600 dpi
Prints well on regular decal papers
8” by 10” print area
Ink colors
Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black (CMYK), White
Metallic Silver, Gold, Cyan, Magenta
Finishing - Clear Gloss
MD-5000

11. Alps Printer MD-5000 Both versions have a variety of print modes
Added bright silver and gold foil print capability
Update kit for Thermal Dye Sublimation printing
Both versions have a variety of print modes
Business Graphics
Graphic Art
Photographs
Monochrome
Photo
Text
Spot Color
Metallic

12. Alps Printer Color printing – MD-1000 Overlay Mode
Holds up to 4 ink cartridges, CMYK (K=black)
ALPS reads the bar codes on the cartridge to identify color
CMYK inks are transparent, need white background
Overlay Mode
Print spot color first (usually white)
Print second color with CMYK or Black
Seal colors with Finishing Clear
Halftone or “Dither”
Amount of offset of colored dots – not visible to the eye
Superfine, fine, standard, course, or no halftone
Photo Realistic print mode uses superfine dither
Consider all the preceding as only a “Guide”

13. ALPS Printer Summary Horizontal “Banding” a problem
Very common on MD-1000, less so on MD-5000
Factory alignment no longer an easy option
Prints very well on decal paper
Need to cut out image without cracking decal paper at the cut edge
Apply protective layer to decal?
Adds to thickness and reduces flexibility
Reduces chance for scratches in the colors
Use only same base as original decal clear coat
Microscale Decal Film usually very safe
However, some colors still just don’t reproduce well at all (greens, yellow, orange)

14. Kodak First Check Up to 9 ink cartridges Micro-Dry ALPS inks
CMYK
New Orange, Green
Bright foil silver and gold
Dull silver and gold
White
Black
Finish coat gloss
Dithering like ALPS

15. Kodak First Check Since ALPS printers read cartridge bar code
Can swap ALPS and First Check ink cartridges
Replace bar code strip
Why? ALPS cartridges getting very hard to find
Good oranges and greens now possible
Banding less a problem than with ALPS
Expensive >> $2,500
BUT,
Actually printing a decal with ALPS of First Check still a VERY time consuming process

16. Digital Silk Outsource decal printing Prints an opaque white
Wide range of colors available
But selecting exact colors largely trial and error
No metallic films can be printed
Less labor-intensive for decal developer
Concentrate more on new decal designs
DRAWDecals, Two Six, (UK), Model RR + others converting to Digital Silk

17. Laser Printers No white toner available
Color Laser printers very expensive
Prints on clear or white decal sheet
Elevated temperature of toner “fixer” roller can melt the decal sheet and cause a messy (and costly) jam
Image can “flake off” the clear decal sheet
Attractive for Black decals

18. Ink Jet Printers White ink not available Relatively inexpensive
Prints on special clear decal sheet
Ink Jet inks are normally absorbed by paper
won’t work well on conventional decal papers without modifications to the printer
Decal papers available in clear and white
A final clear coating required to protect the ink
Even when using special decal paper
Inks are translucent, apply over white paint or decal
Some club members have had good success

19. The End