Hi Tim, I have not heard of these 'dry decals' for many years, I still have a few sets of my old Verlinden 'dry decals' I have always used a lead pencil to burnish my decals down, thanks for this catch-up video, best regards from a Kiwi ( New Zealander) living in Australia, Les
Very cool. I remember dry transfer being used in graphic design work in the 1980s, but I had not yet seen that these were now being used for model kits. It makes perfect sense for gundam/gunpla builders to have spearheaded this as an alternative to waterslide decals, as they have some very smooth planar forms and gently contoured surfaces available to work with on their models.
I've still got plenty of Letraset lettering sheets from back in the '80s. There were some decal sets available back then as well, mostly airliners if I recall correctly. One additional process I always do is to lay the glossy side of the backing paper onto the just-applied decal, and burnish it down through the paper. It ensures good adhesion to the substrate.
I still have a whole drawer full of Letraset, Zip-A-Tone and model railroad dry transfers of alphanumerics and pinstripes. Some of them are over 50 years old and in good condition.
What is the mechanism that causes burnishing to release a dry transfer from the backing and adhere to the model? Is it just pressure, or is it heat from the friction of burnishing? What's happening on a physical/chemical level? What is the ink composed of? Wax? Acrylic? Something else?
Not an expert on these but it appears that it is just a pressure sensitive adhesive that holds the transfer to the model. The physical pressure activates the adhesive such that the adhesion to the model overcomes the mild adhesive used to hold the transfer to the plastic backing. The heat from friction from the burnishing would be minimal and inconsistent all across the face of the transfer.
Would have been really awesome if you did a few transfers and then put different clear coats on them to show which ones work and don't - no reason to get hypothetical about the effect of lacquer transfers when you've got a spray booth!
Ive used dry transfers since the early 70's when taking map making in University. I have my own Letraset burnisher and it still works quite fine.
OK, points for the Clutch tee, recognized the band's logo. And thanks for all of the great tips.
Hi Tim, I have not heard of these 'dry decals' for many years, I still have a few sets of my old Verlinden 'dry decals' I have always used a lead pencil to burnish my decals down, thanks for this catch-up video, best regards from a Kiwi ( New Zealander) living in Australia, Les
I haven't seen dry transfers since I was a kid. Back then though, we applied them with a ball point pen.Good to know that they are still around
Very cool. I remember dry transfer being used in graphic design work in the 1980s, but I had not yet seen that these were now being used for model kits. It makes perfect sense for gundam/gunpla builders to have spearheaded this as an alternative to waterslide decals, as they have some very smooth planar forms and gently contoured surfaces available to work with on their models.
Last time I used those was for design drawings. I had an agate burnisher I used. Worked a treat.
I've still got plenty of Letraset lettering sheets from back in the '80s. There were some decal sets available back then as well, mostly airliners if I recall correctly. One additional process I always do is to lay the glossy side of the backing paper onto the just-applied decal, and burnish it down through the paper. It ensures good adhesion to the substrate.
Lots of great info here. I don't think I've ever seen dry transfers in auto model kits but I am looking to venture into gunpla.
I still have a whole drawer full of Letraset, Zip-A-Tone and model railroad dry transfers of alphanumerics and pinstripes. Some of them are over 50 years old and in good condition.
Temporary tattoos work too 👍🏻
You from the DC/Baltimore area? Not many people know about CLUTCH... One of the greatest bands ever🤘
Thanks for this video Tim. I never knew about dry transfers
What is the mechanism that causes burnishing to release a dry transfer from the backing and adhere to the model? Is it just pressure, or is it heat from the friction of burnishing? What's happening on a physical/chemical level?
What is the ink composed of? Wax? Acrylic? Something else?
Not an expert on these but it appears that it is just a pressure sensitive adhesive that holds the transfer to the model. The physical pressure activates the adhesive such that the adhesion to the model overcomes the mild adhesive used to hold the transfer to the plastic backing. The heat from friction from the burnishing would be minimal and inconsistent all across the face of the transfer.
In what applications would you be applying these transfers? They wouldn't work on anything even slightly curved, such as a car roof or hood.
Would have been really awesome if you did a few transfers and then put different clear coats on them to show which ones work and don't - no reason to get hypothetical about the effect of lacquer transfers when you've got a spray booth!
What about panel lines?
Dry transfer are junk on anything other than flat surfaces. Hate them they never last even with a clear coat.