F-16 Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 I am currently using a sheet from BelDecal.com (2009) I am wondering how long should I wait for the wet ink to dry before I spray a protective clear coat sealer on them? The instructions say coat them immediately?? But This causes the wet ink to smudge.(?) How long should I wait for the ink to dry before I clear coat them? An hour? More? Scott CNJC-IPMS Quote Link to post Share on other sites
K2Pete Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Well ... an hour is good for a start. I've had some pretty heavy ink applications on decal paper and an hour isn't enuff, so I give it overnight, 6 or 8 hours then I spray on Krylon Clear. Pete Quote Link to post Share on other sites
spejic Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 If you hold the decal at an angle you can usually see if the ink is still wet or if it has dried. An hour should be safe - it usually takes less but it isn't instant. Also don't use too heavy a coat of clear coat. Just enough to cover. You can do a second coat later to make it water proof. Too much liquid will make the ink run. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
S K Loh Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 I have used Bel decal sheet. They are pretty good. The drying time for the ink (inkjet I believe) should be pretty short. So leaving it for an hour should suffice. What you need to do is to airbrush a thin coat of gloss ( I usually used a thinned down Future)and let it dry thoroughly for a day or so. Ensure that the decal artwork is adequately covered but not wet as this will prevent the smudging. You may do a second coat if necessary after allowing adequate dry time. Lastly I will then brushed on a final coat of Future to seal in the decal artwork. Brushing will ensure a complete sealing as opposed to airbrushing alone. This will minimise bleaching of the artwork when soaking the decal for application and with the use of decal setting and/or softener. Cheers. S K Loh Quote Link to post Share on other sites
balls47 Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 (edited) Hey Scott, I've printed some decals on decal paper with my inkjet printer. Obviously, you can't print white, and colors, especially lighter ones can be a real issue. If you have an ALPS buddy, save your "ALPS chips" for stuff with the tough colors. Sorry, I have digressed, so back to the topic at hand. I let mine dry overnight. Immediately after printing them, put them in a clean, dry plastic container. I have used a cardboard box a couple of times, because I forgot to have a plastic container ready. For sealing the sheets, and you definitely NEED to seal them, I spray on one of these two items. 1. Testors decal sealer(item#9200) It comes in a 3 oz. spray can. Mist it on from the spray can, after the sheet is dry. 2. 50/50 mixture of Micro-Scale Liquid Decal Film and denatured alcohol. The denatured alcohol makes the mixture spray better through an airbrush and it dries quicker. Airbrush this on it two or three light, misty coats. You might want to practice with this before using it on your masterpiece. As with the ink, I normally give this several hours to dry and cure before using. Good Luck!!! Edited October 24, 2014 by balls47 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
F-16 Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Ok, here is a rundown of what I have tried and the results... 1. I printed some black text, using full color ink setting, onto a BelDecal film sheet. NO PROBLEMS 2. I then let the ink dry OVERNIGHT to fully cure. NO PROBLEMS 3. The next morning, I sprayed the decal with Krylon Clear Acrylic spray. I then let this dry from 10AM to 7PM. NO PROBLEMS 4. The next morning, I applied the decal to some scrape, white plastic using plain water. NO PROBLEMS. 5. I let the decal dry overnight. NO PROBLEMS. 6. I examined the decal and saw that it was ok. 7. I then applied some MicroSet to the decal. PROBLEM. After 5 minutes, I noticed that the black lettering now had a red/magenta border "Halo" around it. The red/magenta ink had run and started to smear the clear carrier film around each letter. PROBLEM. So, I then repeated the same steps above on another part of the BelDecal clear film sheet. Another PROBLEM came up. The decal dried with the same red smearing, without using any MicroSet this time. The ink still smeared on the decal film. Remember, I let the ink dry overnight before I put on the clear coat. The ink WAS dry. I have heard that there was a problem with the quality of BelDecal film Inkjet sheets a few years ago. I bought my sheets from them in 2009. It is possible that I got a pack of the "faulty" sheets. I will get a package of Experts Choice decal film and see if it works without the ink bleeding. I'll keep you informed on how it goes. Scott CNJC-IPMS Quote Link to post Share on other sites
S K Loh Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 Hi Scott, I think one probable cause to your problem could be with the manner the Krylon coating is applied. The first unsuccessful encounter could be due to insufficient seal coating. The MicroSet could have penetrated the coating and reacted with the ink although it could have been cured. The second encounter could be a case of over-coating the decal artwork with Krylon in one pass resulting in immediate running of the ink and smudging of the artwork. The high pressure from the can is another contributing factor. This is the same result one would get if our normal inkjet printed material comes into contact with liquid even if the print was some time ago. This happened to me the first time I used the decal sheet. I oversprayed the sheet with Future using airbrush and the ink would just run and smudge until the coating sets or get absorbed my the decal sheet. One or two quick pass is the best best to "hold" the ink in place before a heavier coat to safeguard against the penetration effect from decal settting/softening solution during decal application. As I do 1/144 scale the artwork is usually small enough to allow me the brush on the final coat to seal it in without any issue. If you are doing 1/72 and larger scale, then I suppose airbrushing would be the better choice to lend a smooth finish (although Future is self-levelling). I hope this will help. Cheers Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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