Wet Slide Decals

xPosTech

Member
Several years ago while researching home built three wheel cycles (chronic back problems) I came across Suzy Jackson's excellent writeup on making wet slide decals.

Wet slide decals are old school. They are the kind we used on all those model airplanes and cars back in the fifties. They're not peel-off vinyl but are on a paper backing which loosens when placed in warm water, then slid into place.

As with any process, there are some pros and cons. The decal colors are laid down using a four color screen printing process, similar to the way t shirts are printed.

The inks are expensive, but multiple colors may be used.

A hardened clear coat must be used over the decal.

Extremely complex graphics may be used, all you need is a high quality jpeg image.

If you are going to restore more than one tractor, or are in the vinyl decal business (hey Dan), you might want to check her process out.

Suzy Jackson's Decals

Ted
 

Doc

Admin
Staff member
Gold Site Supporter
Cool. Good info Ted. This will come in handy. Someone was asking about this just a couple of months ago.
 

olcowhand

Member
You can buy "wet-slide" material in legal size that you can print on your inkjet printer. You let it dry, then spray a clearcoat over to seal the colors in. After that dries, it's ready to transfer. Been aiming to buy some & give it a try. Would be good for intricate designs which I can't do with a vinyl cutter. I'll check out that link. Thanks!
 

xPosTech

Member
You can buy "wet-slide" material in legal size that you can print on your inkjet printer. You let it dry, then spray a clearcoat over to seal the colors in. After that dries, it's ready to transfer. Been aiming to buy some & give it a try. Would be good for intricate designs which I can't do with a vinyl cutter. I'll check out that link. Thanks!

Howdy Dan

The problem with inkjets is the ink. The sun will fade most of the inks used. I would test the inks -- do a test on a common transparency like an overhead projector sheet and put it in the sun for a while. I don't know which inks fade, but Suzy says most do.

If the wet slide material you get is rated for laser printers (heat), you can go to a printing service like Kinko's to print out your decals on a color laser printer. I have a laser printer, unfortunately its not color. The toners used in laser printers is actually plastic and shouldn't fade.

If the clearcoat has full UV protection you might be OK. I'm talking the final hardened clearcoat after the decals have been applied. They're pretty fragile. Of course, for a show queen that wouldn't matter. All my machines are expected to work for a living.:wink:

Ted...
...except...sob...:unhappy: ...the broke ones...which keeps me broke.
 
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