Best place to buy water slide decal paper
Hey all.
looking for recommendations as to where I can source good quality water slide decal paper for printing my own decals on an ink tank printer. I know Amazon has some but curious as to what would be the best brand as the options are limitless . Would also like to know what's the best option for sealing the decals.
thx in advance
Brian (41-14 Racing)
Discussion
I get mine from Amazon... I have had zero problems with any of them be they clear or white... I seal them with 2X Rustoleum Clear (but have used others) paint from Walmart before applying them to a car body. I use Micro Sol setting solution. I cover it all with automotive 2K clearcoat. If they come apart on you while applying, you need to use a little more clear when sealing. I spray two light coats. One horizontally and one vertically... I don't know why, but that is how I do it!
my latest in progress... a custom full body decal set on a BMW M1 for an upcoming race series. This is in 3 parts, top, left and right... if you look closely you can see how the setting solution helps it conform to every detail on the body... even the slats and the side detail... it is a must for a good quality job.
video: Shop talk
- that is stunning! — dr_dodge
- thanks mate! — Stoopid_Fish_Racing
- Any particular brand name on the waterside paper. I’ve had some issues with the stuff I previously bought from Amazon. I don’t want to waste money on poor quality like I’ve done in the past — 41-14
- Where did you get the metal blanks from that you used in the video — 41-14
- The stuff I have been getting lately is Koala brand... — Stoopid_Fish_Racing
- if you mean the woods metal, I got it from www.rotometal.com but you can also buy Woods metal from Amazon... — Stoopid_Fish_Racing
- I get the ingots off of amazon — dr_dodge
- Great video - glad to see your bench is as ‘busy’ as mine. But clearly your work is about 5x more detailed and intricate than my late night hack jobs. Wow. — AbbyNormal
- thanks mate... just hacking along trying to get better! — Stoopid_Fish_Racing
I learned a few tricks in the late 90's when I started printing my own decals. I'm still working through a large package of Micro-Mark clear decal film on blue paper. I print mostly using an Alps MD-1000 dry ink printer but I've also used inkjet and laser printers; sealing the decal with a few fine coats of clear or matte finish Krylon spray from a can or use an air brush for a finer spray using Testors or another hobby grade clear / dull coat. You want it to hit the decal paper tacky, not wet; wet coats will wrinkle the dry ink and smear ink jet prints.
If you have old decals that crumble when you wet them, try spraying clear on them first and let it dry for an hour or more. I've resurrected 60's era decals that way in the late 90's.
Sunnyscopa is the brand I use, which I buy on Amazon. I've tried others and this is my fave. Easy to work with.
I'm just getting going and have made multiple sheets using the paper l found at Hobby Lobby (in modeling supplies). I've had zero problems but I do use the Rustoleum Clear Gloss 2X and give the sheets 3 moderate coats about 20 - 30 minutes apart. It's all really easy and the biggest challenge is finding a vector editor you can stand and finding vector images.
- I just use paint 3d that was included in whatever version of microsoft that came on my laptop... no vector editor. You can use any picture you find on the internet and edit it to suit... .bmp, .gif or any format. Just copy/paste it into the progam and edit away! — Stoopid_Fish_Racing
- I'll have to try that — dr_dodge
- I must disagree with Stoopid_Fish as I have tried using jpegs etc. but pixelation and ‘jaggies’ occur as a non-vector image is massively re-sized. So I stick with vector images which remain sharp no matter how small I make them. — AbbyNormal
- A decent vector editor for the iPad is Vector Q. Works pretty well but you will need an Apple Pencil or I use a Logitech Crayon. If you want all the features you will pay $7 but that’s it. No subscription non-sense. — AbbyNormal
- Its all good... since in 99.9% of the cases I am shrinking images, there are no pixelation issues. I am more apt to run into clarity issues with my printer not being able to meet to quality of the drawing than the drawing being not good enough... — Stoopid_Fish_Racing
There are a bunch - a ton - a butt load of sites with free or semi-free vector images. Many of these 'free' sites want you to pay a subscription --- I use Pixabay for general images (found some great vectorized skulls and flames there last night) and for all those sponsor logos go to ---- www.brandsoftheworld.com/ ------ which is where I got my Budweiser and WD40 logos yesterday.
Like fish said, I get mine off amazon. Printer's Jack. $14 for 20 sheets. Spray it with clear coat Rustoleum 2x after printing or else it will disintegrate. Need to do a couple practice ones to figure out how many seconds you want it soaking in water, so I print out many copies (and sizes) of the same decal when printing a sheet
Following this process, it was easier to do decals than I anticipated
Make sure to spray clear coat on your car after applying decals, too
- bought the printer you suggested, gets here tomorrow, thanks! — dr_dodge
- Oh wow haha I hope it works just as well for you, doc!! — ConMan_Customs
- the printer will be fine, it's the personal skill that may fall short — dr_dodge
- It definitely takes some steady hands but don’t sell yourself short doc. If you can build a fast car you can do decals, no sweat! — ConMan_Customs
Lots of great info. Thank you to everyone that responded. It is greatly appreciated
Brian
- Great topic you brought up. I was wondering how the decals were done. Something else for me to explore. — RC_Attucks
For those that don't want to do the above, (makin' your own)
Rustbelt makes some great stuff and sponsors some races!
- Making your own is really fairly easy once you get through the entire process successfully. But there is still an art involved in this which must also be mastered. And I can say that if I need something super special or a super special build, Rust built customs would be the place I would go to. — AbbyNormal
- I am a very technical person, and my logos and posters show it, good thing mrs dr is the one with that artist talent. — dr_dodge
me to, I heard some is horribly thin, and decals break and crumple too easy
dr