From the Facebook, Estes Model Rockets page:
Mike Nelson posted his recent build -
"Time for Estes to bring back a line of Goony Birds. Here's my scratch I finished the other day. BT80 With a 24mm Motor mount for "D" or "E" and Clip art scaled and laser Jet printed on white decal paper. BULLET BILL from Super Mario."
My take:
This is a great use of white decal sheets and well balanced art.
White decals are tricky. After you print over the thin white undercoat, the white can show up along the edges. You've got to trim them right along the over printed image or you end up with a white border.
I'd like to experiment a bit when a white decal (like this) is needed. Maybe you can carefully blacken the white edges with a permanent marker?
The white areas aren't a full opaque white. This isn't a critique, it's just typical of home print decals.The white areas look a bit gray, the black paint underneath is showing through.
Note how large and stocky the decal art is. Many builders make their decal images too small. Some designers use large type and larger art to great effect.
I just printed some white water-slide decal replacements using Papilo white inkjet decal paper. The colors and opacity were fine, but the decals were too thick.
ReplyDeleteHi Anonymous,
DeleteI've never used Papilio brand decal paper, so I can't comment on the thickness. White decal paper will be thicker because of the white undercoat you print on.
I do three sprayings of UV Clear Krylon Acrylic on my clear decal paper. Any more coats and the decals are too thick. My decals are thicker than what you get in an Estes kit, though. They are easier to transfer with three coats of clear.
Currently I buy my clear decal paper from: www.world-paper.com
100 sheets for $96.00, much cheaper than Papilio.
These decal sheets have the light blue "Inkjet/Clear, Waterslide Decal Paper" printed on the back.