So way back in October I ordered a set of Archer dry-transfer decals from their 1/35 Canadian KFOR deployment set in Somalia (I think). It had everything I needed: customizable licence plates, customizable bridge rating, the tiny Cdn flag in black for the rear hull, and front registry decals. Today was the day that I'd get this little piece of heaven out of the way. Boy, was I wrong...
So here it goes...
This was the first transfer I applied, the old flat black Cdn flag above the brake/turn signal lights (you owe me a beer!). As you can see, it's too big, and there was nowhere for me to tape it down smooth before rubbing it on. For a first decal to apply by dry transfer, this was a real challenge. Aaaand this was when I first noticed that dry transfers get silvering around the edges too. Now, whether MicroSol solutions would correct this or not, the only decal setting solution I have is the Testors one in the rectangular glass pot (for now), and it didn't seem to do squat on my Harrier dash. So instead I applied a few coats of Future to try and get the edges to settle down. Reading on Archer's website, they say that enamel or mineral spirit-based washes or paints will have adverse effects on their decals, while acrylic clear coats will not affect it at all. Well, there's enough Future on it now to choke an army of maids. Moving on...
Licence Plates!
I remember Scott G using a sliced up pop can to make a 'No Trespassing' sign for his Ma.K. build. For that beat-up, creased look for the license plates I wanted (they got thoroughly thrashed in the field), I decided to co-opt his technique. This is a piece of 7-Up can that's been snipped up, primered with Mr Surfacer 1000 in a spray bomb (SA-MOOTH!!!), sanded with 800 grit sandpaper (what was the point, really?!), re-primered with Vallejo Surface Primer, sanded again (because it needed it after that... I think Mr Surfacer will be my new and beloved priming agent from now on <3 ,<3 <3 ), and with my Archer Dry transfer license plates applied.
And this is where I started to experiment.
Nowhere had I seen anybody's advice on what sort of surface is best to apply a dry transfer. I had 4 plate decals, so I thought I'd try a little experimentation. On the top two decals, one has a coat of Future painted on underneath, while the other has just the sanded and rinsed primer surface. Now, without any obstructions in the way of a clean and good rub-down of the decal, I didn't really notice any difference. Then I proceeded to ruin both decals. I found that trying to rub a transfer onto another transfer wouldn't work so well. With my next two attempts, I coated Future between the plate transfer and the number transfers on top. BETTER!
Here's the front. Like I said, I applied Future between each
individual number on the plate. And it's pretty glossy. So much so that my work lamps washed out the last 3 numbers in the pic! The acrylic surface seemed to grab the decal fine. As well, it provided a protective barrier between the carrier film, the transfer itself, and any previous transfers I had laid down in the same area. I'm still working on the painted-on registry numbers in the hull corners. Not great, huh? BUT, since there's so much Future on it, I could just sand them off right now and go to a Testors printable decal sheet and make my own! Yup... thinking about it right now...
This is the rear plate. I did not do nearly as good a job of lining up the numbers on this as the front plate. However, in real life, they were never perfect anyways.
Yup... water-slide decals would have been a lot easier... now I know. And I could whip off all of my decals in MS Publisher in an hour 'imperfections' and all... hmmm...
Once more for the gifted: I thought that dry transfers would be a superior product in terms of ease of use and no edge silvering. I was wrong. With the decal setting solutions out there for making decals settle, and the fact that you can reposition and line up your decal as you see fit, I think that I will stick with wet-transfers myself.
