General Information

• Applying Your Decals
  

Applying Your Waterslide Decals

Before you start your decaling project Have a place where you can leave everything
in place from start to finish as your project will need drying time
Supplies you will need are a sharp pair of scissors paper towels a lid for the water
tooth picks to adjust decals once they are applied to casting. some type of clamp to hold casting and dish soap

Are inks are printed from a high quality INK Jet printer
600 dots per inch on high quality decal films

DECALS ARE DESIGNED For LIGHT COLOR BACKGROUNDS

Inks Are Transparent
AND WILL NOT SHOW UP ON DARK COLORED BACKGROUNDS

All graphics are printed on clear decal film

TIP 1
 Clear Coat Paint
Use same type of clear as base color
enamel on enamel etc.
Never mix paints with lacquer & enamel as
 YOU MAY GET A NASTY REACTION
Also use the same brands of paint for your project
Brand A Color Brand A Clear Coat
BAD REACTION Examples
enamel base color / Lacquer clear coat = cracking or peeling effect

If there is any question on the paints pre test them on a scrap casting

TIP 2
Dish Soap is used so that the decal will slide easier for adjusting once
applied to your diecast project. just a few drops mixed in the bowl will do
any type of dish soap will work    JUST A COUPLE DROPS IN BOWL

TIP 3
You will need Some type of container to hold the water, I use a butter top lid
you will only need enough water to submerge the decal less than
1/4 inch will work fine use Luke warm water

TIP 4
THIS TIP IS VERY IMPORTANT  BE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THIS BEFORE TOUCHING YOUR DECALS

Are decals are printed using water based inks which
 REQUIRE A CLEAR COAT SPRAY  BEFORE SUBMERGING DECAL INTO WATER

MEANING DO NOT PLACE DECAL IN WATER BEFORE GIVING THE DECAL A COUPLE CLEAR COATS OF SPRAY PAINT


*

NOTE
Clear coat only the decals you plan on Appling in one sitting section for the simple reason
once you clear coat your decal if left 24 hours or more the paint will cure making applying decal a little tougher, and in some cases if un applied decals sit to long you run the risk of the paint cracking when applying decal which makes cracks in the decal image
MircoMark.com has solutions to soften decals in this case

Decals Applied within a few hours of the clear coat are still flexible and lay down easily.
Once you have completed the clear coats, and the paint is dry
Use a sharp pair of  scissors to cut your decal as close as you can to the graphic image

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Fill butter lid with 1/4 inch of luke warm water or just need enough water to submerge decal, and add a few drops of dish soap and mix with water. Place decal image side down in water for 20-60 seconds. Once backing has soaked up the water decal is ready test first BY JUST TRYING TO MOVE FILM OFF PAPER
Placing decal image side down in water will prevent decal from rolling up as shown in 2nd image



This could happen when image is placed in water image side up and decal may roll up on itself when pulling it off the paper backing

APPLYING DECALS

Using Some type of clamp
Attach Clamp to body post clamp is used so you will not need to handle casting and risk damaging newly applied decals with your fingers This may or may not work well for you Judgment Call

After decal has soaked for 20-60 seconds remove decal from water and push decal off the backing paper about 1/4 of the way. Place the 1/4 section of decal on the casting and holding that part with your thumb against the casting pull the other 3/4 of the decal backing out from under the decal. adjust decal for placement and use cloth or paper towel to remove excess water from under decal by using a up & down padding motion until decal shows some tack to casting
Than use a side to side motion to remove more excess water and any water bubbles between casting and decal. Allow this to dry.  after it has dried.  apply a light clear of coat to further hold decal in place  This helps since you need to apply more sections of decal and this will prevent damage to applied decals Remember drying time is important so allow time for drying When Appling top sections I like to add the roof section first and line up the hood and trunk pieces to the Roof section

Repeat all above steps in the same manner Line up the hood & trunk sections to roof keeping them inline
if there is any excess decal fold under casting, into the window sections and spray will a little clear on the inside of casting to hold them in place. Apply a light coat of clear on all top sections to hold in place
Again allow time for drying

Applying Side Panels


When applying side panels
Pull decal off backing using the same Process as the top sections
Apply side panel decals from the bottom of casting so you will get a close fit around wheel wells padding water out from under decal like the top sections
ALLOW DRYING TIME BETWEEN EACH SIDE and any clear coats

Finally give your project a few light coats of clear so the decal edges will blend into the clear coat for a smooth seamless finish
Allow To Dry Overnight

 

Appling Flames & Stripes Same Process




Applying flames & stripes uses the same application tools an process as the vehicle wraps
The decaling process for flames is the same as applying the Body Graphics on the FedUp Camaro  so just what is different will be noted
the difference with these types of flames are they are generic in fit. Meaning the flames will fit any casting that is 1/64 in scale they will fit a Super Bee in the same manner as a Camaro. In the event you have a casting with a opening hood you will need to apply the decal and apply clear coats than slit the hood opening section. using a very sharp razor blade.

NOTE the arrows There is flame decal in the wheel wells you will need to cut a couple of slits at 10  12 & 2 from the bottom of the decal to the top of the wheel well and fold the excess decal up under into the well. This will give the look of the inner well being painted with the flame
a shot of clear wet Paint  inside the wheel well before folding decal under will hold the folded under part of decal in place. you may want to give the inside a light clear coat after all flame decals have been applied just for added holding protection

 

Adding Racing Stripes




Our rally stripes are generic  MEANING they will fit on any hot wheels or matchbox 1/64 car or truck   The example shown is a hot wheels 70 Plymouth roadrunner



First measure project   HOOD   ROOF TRUNK separately. Cut rally stripe{s} to a length just a little longer than the project area measurement
trim off decal as close to image as possible on sides . Start with roof stripe as this will help keep the completed stripe straight.



Once roof decal has been applied make sure it is centered and straight. use a padding motion to remove standing water under the decal
than a back & forth motion to remove more excess water from under decal. With the excess decal fold under into the inside of the project. allow to dry than apply a light clear coat to roof and under side to keep stripe in place
Allow to dry

  
Apply trunk and hood decals in the same manner folding under or cutting any excess decal
for the trunk line up decal to roof making sure it runs in a straight line
If trunk or hood decals have the taillights or grill sections in the main casting
start the decal at the very edge of grill or taillights and run back to the windows folding or cutting any excess decal apply clear coats inside and out side or casting to secure decal in place ALLOW TO DRY Apply more clear coats to the desired gloss effect

Hoods with Scoops may require an additional cut added this is also a judgment call depending on the height of scoop