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General decal application question

Started by pidjones, March 02, 2021, 10:57:25 AM

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pidjones

I have my painted, clear coated, wet sanded parts ready for decals. Bought from Yamatopdog on ebay. The tank decals came in top and bottom pieces for my '76 RD400c. Has anyone had experience in application and alignment of these? I've watched the videos and have very slightly soapy water in a sprayer ready along with all of the other tools. Just this final question before i plunge in. Unhappily, their videos concentrate on wrinkle removal (should not be much issue on an RD400c) and never address the aligning of two decals to for a single graphic. I've sent them a message via ebay.
"Love 'em all.... Let GOD sort 'em out!"

rodneya

Ive only got as far as stripping my 74 tank for paint, but I have also tried to find out how to get the decals straight. Its only a one piece decal, but has long stripes that will look crap if not straight and level. The decals come with instructions for the soapy water thing  and Ive seen guys use the green painters tape put on the tank as reference lines.

Are you going to clear coat over the decals?

sav0r

I've done some big vinyl work over the years, probably the largest of which were 12' x 2' down the side of my trailer. I've also done some wrapping of various body panels that really wasn't much fun.

The idea is to essentially float the vinyl on the soapy water. You should be able to slide the vinyl around with light pressure assuming you get enough soapy water on. This allows you to align it. Once aligned you squeegee, just be gentle at first as to not move the decal. Sometimes it is best to squeegee from the middle out.

Anyways, aligning two decals like that could be tricky. Good luck!
www.chrislivengood.net - for my projects and musings.

pidjones

Quote from: rodneya on March 02, 2021, 11:39:52 AM
Ive only got as far as stripping my 74 tank for paint, but I have also tried to find out how to get the decals straight. Its only a one piece decal, but has long stripes that will look crap if not straight and level. The decals come with instructions for the soapy water thing  and Ive seen guys use the green painters tape put on the tank as reference lines.

Are you going to clear coat over the decals?
Yes, you must clear coat before and after. I really had to clear coat before as it is a waterborne color coat, and you must clear coat after as the inks on the decal will run other wise. Luckily the bottom edge of the RD400 decal runs parallel and about 1/4" above the end of the bottom bend of the tank. BUT! It is a top and bottom piece decal and the vendor couldn't tell me if I should overlap or butt the joint.
"Love 'em all.... Let GOD sort 'em out!"

rodneya

I read a bunch of threads that mentioned applying base coat, then decals then clear. But the base coat has a limited time to get the clear coat applied. And I did not think that trying to apply decals with soapy water over fresh base coat would work out so well for me. I think my decal is just white vinyl, but I never even thought about colours running.

Also thought that if I clear coated then applied decals I would be able to remove the decals without damaging the paint of I totally screwed up application.


scully

#5
Quote from: pidjones on March 02, 2021, 12:23:44 PM
Quote from: rodneya on March 02, 2021, 11:39:52 AM
Ive only got as far as stripping my 74 tank for paint, but I have also tried to find out how to get the decals straight. Its only a one piece decal, but has long stripes that will look crap if not straight and level. The decals come with instructions for the soapy water thing  and Ive seen guys use the green painters tape put on the tank as reference lines.

Are you going to clear coat over the decals?
Yes, you must clear coat before and after. I really had to clear coat before as it is a waterborne color coat, and you must clear coat after as the inks on the decal will run other wise. Luckily the bottom edge of the RD400 decal runs parallel and about 1/4" above the end of the bottom bend of the tank. BUT! It is a top and bottom piece decal and the vendor couldn't tell me if I should overlap or butt the joint.

The originals were two piece as well. I have an original tank in green, the decals butt up to one another. When spraying the soap solution...tricky part there. once decal is on even a small portion of it, pulling it off will stretch it. at that point, get another decal set :) lol 

I'd almost say, spray the tank and the decal and apply to tank..

Thats how I did these two






RattlecanResto

Number one tip is remove the backing before you apply. The directions usually say to apply with the backing on. Do not do this unless you want creases and bubbles.
I use rapid tac instead of soapy water, for me it works a bit better.
I usually eyeball the alignment but sometimes a piece of tape here or there might be needed as a landmark.
Make sure the tank and decal is nice and wet before you place the decal. It will "float" a bit but not much. Hold on both ends and touch down on the center first and sorta roll it down on both ends. If you didn't land it correctly pick it up and try again but first spray some more. Once down start in the middle and very gently rub with your finger mostly lengthwise to establish your position. If still looks good keep rubbing with finger to smooth it down slowly working your way lengthwise and gradually working height wise as well. Make sure you are pushing any creases or bubbles out towards the edges. Keep edges wet at all times! If a crease or bubble is beginning to become trapped or is too big to work out, gently pull up the edge and try that area again working out bubbles or creases with your finger. Light finger pressure only. You may need to carefully use a razor blade to lift edge. Keep spraying to keep edges and any areas not down yet wet. Eventually you should have it all down with no creases or bubbles. It's tricky. You have to be patient. Once it looks good, you can squeegee from the center out. Once you start using the squeegee you cant undo it.

I'm thinking an RD400 shouldn't be too bad. The ones with compound curves are the hard ones!

As for when to add decals, I do it after several coats of clear, sand, add decals, then more clear.  :twocents:

pidjones

>>>the decals butt up to one another.<<<

Thanks, scully! This is info that I couldn't get from the decal vendor. The side cover decals are on now, but I got called away and will have to do the tank decals tomorrow. A couple very small drops were trapped, but a touch with a new razor blade let the water bleed out nicely.
"Love 'em all.... Let GOD sort 'em out!"

pidjones

OK, decals on. Not perfect, but none of the rest of it is. At least no major uh-ohs. One tank side about 3 mm higher than the other. Had to trim both top tank side decals as they had white border that stood proud if the black lines were lined up. Found that a pair of needle-point forceps were very valuable in getting the backing paper started to pull off. Had to lance a few water bubbles, but I think that is to be expected on such a flat surface. Found that running the squeegee (I had a proper vinyl application squeegee left from some prior project, plus some Bondo applicators) at a 45 degree angle along the decal once pretty well tacked down really helped push any remaining water out from under it. Won't be warm enough today to clear coat again. Maybe tomorrow.
"Love 'em all.... Let GOD sort 'em out!"