Tonight, I had the chance to apply some of the first decals printed on the Papilio paper using the Lexmark printer. These decals were sprayed with the Krylon Clear Acrylic, as I have not found a suitable thinning solution for their fixative. It is a thick syrup-like liquid that they recommend pouring onto the decal sheet and allowing it to roll around over the decal. I will try this method on another sheet. Also note, the Krylon I used was not the slow-cure version, but the fast-cure "15-minute-dry" variety. This version works, but it sets up much harder and with a more brittle feel than the slow-cure variety. It is also not as glossy when cured.

The decals came out quite nicely this time, which really confirms the poor quality of the Bel sheets I purchased earlier. One observation about the ink was that you could even cut through the ink after the last acrylic layer had dried, and when dipped into warm water the ink did not bleed at the cut edge.

Large decals are always an issue, regardless of whether the decal is home-made or professionally made. I've had MicroScale decals that would not behave when they were large, and they're considered one of the best in the business. The decals I created were wraps for ST-10 body tubes, and they were measured such that the decals only slightly overlapped at the seam. These decals wrapped around well, but I was not able to fully expunge the air from under the thin acrylic. I think this is a combination of the acrylic spray I used, and not using a decal setting solution under the decal. It took a lot of careful rubbing with a tissue to remove what I could, but some spots were just too stubborn. I'll have to wait until the decals dry, then poke the bubbles with a pin or the tip of a knife, and brush some decal setting solution onto them.

Actually, I'll probably just spray the models with acrylic and go fly them...

The two that I worked in this test were SEMROC's Astrobee 350 and Astro-1. I created decals to mimic the catalog images from 1965 (all-white Aerobee with black decal) and 1969 (white body Astro-1, with black nose cone and fins, and black & red decal), respectively. Yes, in spite of the obvious flaws that I can see in the printing and in the acrylic layers, these turned out rather nicely.

It will take a few decals through all of these printers to see which ones come out the best. Now that I know the Papilio papers are Epson-compatable, I will have to try a sheet through the old C84 to see for myself. I have to admit, the quality of the Epson inks on photographic paper is very nice, with fully saturated colors that decals would certainly benefit from. Those inks are not water-based, but solvent-based, and as such were not compatable with the water-based glue layers on other sheets. We'll see...

Attached is an image taken with my ultra-cheap digital camera, showing the results.

Craig McGraw

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