Transcript Decals - ipmsdenverrobwolf

Decals
By Gerry Cole
Version 10/6/08
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Decal Development
• Traditional Silk Screen Decals
• Dry Transfer
• Letraset INT Process
– Intermediate Transfer Process
• ALPS Printers
– MD-1000
– MD-5000
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Kodak First Check Printer
Digital Silk Printing
Ink Jet Printers
Laser Printers
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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
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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
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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
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Flexible transparent backing
Printed decal
Wax adhesive layer
Apply pressure to release
– Push into model surface
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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
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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
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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!
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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
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Alps Printers
• MD-1000
– 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
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Alps Printer
• MD-5000
– Added bright silver and gold foil print capability
– Update kit for Thermal Dye Sublimation printing
• Both versions have a variety of print modes
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Business Graphics
Graphic Art
Photographs
Monochrome
• Photo
• Text
– Spot Color
– Metallic
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Alps Printer
• Color printing – MD-1000
– 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”
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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)
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Laser Printers
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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
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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
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The End
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