DIY White waterside transfers

[David Holman]

Don't know if this has been mentioned before, but there is an interesting idea in MRJ about making your own, white, transfers. Computer printers do not work in white ink, so over the years, have found myself resorting to white gel pens and Indian ink/dipping pens for lettering on Donegal, Swilly, Sligo Leitrim and so on.

 However, there is a way of making your own transfers - you need to make the space around the letters the colour of the wagon body, but leave the letters themselves clear. Before applying the transfers, you paint the bit where the white lettering will go white, so this shows through the clear lettering on your transfers.

 Not sure if it is worth doing for the fairly simple lettering used on much Irish stock, but might be worth a try with more complex lettering or fonts. There again, if you can still get hold of the old Letraset dry transfers, these work very well too.

[Gabhal Luimnigh]

Clever idea  

[commerlad]

The above assumes that you are using clear film for printing your transfers on.

You can get white, then you set your letters/design as white or other colour on your draft and the background to the colour of the loco,coach,wagon as required.

You can go full size to the side if you like and trim to the edge. then just paint the roof/ends over the transfer cut

eg,

TransOurDream Tru-Water Slide Decal Paper Inkjet White 10 Sheets A4 Water Transfer Paper for Inkjet Printer Printable Water Slide Decals for Mugs, Tumblers, Glasses,DIY Candles(TRANS-019) : Amazon.co.uk: Stationery & Office Supplies

Edited July 19 by commerlad

[murphaph]

2 minutes ago, commerlad said:

The above assumes that you are using clear film for printing your transfers on.

You can get white, then you set your letters/design as white on your draft and the background to the colour of the loco,coach,wagon as required.

eg,

TransOurDream Tru-Water Slide Decal Paper Inkjet White 10 Sheets A4 Water Transfer Paper for Inkjet Printer Printable Water Slide Decals for Mugs, Tumblers, Glasses,DIY Candles(TRANS-019) : Amazon.co.uk: Stationery & Office Supplies

This technique (using white transfer paper) likely won't work with inkjet printers because the ink is water based and needs to be completely sealed under a layer of varnish. You can't cut away all the white margin leaving just the printed outer colour because then the varnish seal is broken and the ink will run as soon as you attempt to transfer the decal.

It would work with colour laser printers and white transfer paper as the toner is not water soluble and doesn't even need any varnish to seal it.

[commerlad]

6 hours ago, murphaph said:

This technique (using white transfer paper) likely won't work with inkjet printers because the ink is water based and needs to be completely sealed under a layer of varnish. You can't cut away all the white margin leaving just the printed outer colour because then the varnish seal is broken and the ink will run as soon as you attempt to transfer the decal.

It would work with colour laser printers and white transfer paper as the toner is not water soluble and doesn't even need any varnish to seal it.

@murphaph As I've done this before, I can say it will work with inkjets. Print the sheet, wait 48 hours, waft with a spray of sealer, and again once applied. 

If you look at the advert you can read their instructions. Other suppliers are available.

[murphaph]

How do you seal the cut edges?

I've made inkjet transfers onto white transfer paper too and have experienced ink run when I've cut the paper too close to the print, so I'm kind of struggling to imagine how it would work where the technique would require one to cut through the ink.

Perhaps you could knock up an example? Maybe we aren't imagining the same technique.

[commerlad]

As I said I print oversize. Yes you do get a bit of white when you cut But I place the cut edge where I am going to paint.

I have some bits around, I'll take photos.

 

[murphaph]

Ah ok so your process requires one to paint the model anyway, just around the transfer instead of painting a block of white to be masked into text as described by David. Apologies I thought you were offering a paint free alternative through the use of white transfer paper.

[Darius43]

I’ve printed white decals with a coloured surround using a laser printer and white decal sheet.

These “Irish Shell” tank wagon decals were printed using a black surround, which is pretty easily to blend in on a black painted model.

With white decal paper there is a visible white line where you cut the decal.  This shows up on the model once the decal is in place and needs to be painted over to hide it.

With other model base colours, blending the decal surround is harder as an exact colour match isn’t easy.  For the MTK 2-HAL model below I printed the decal in varying lighter and darker shades of the olive drab finish and selected the decal that best matched the model colour once printed.  As with the black surround decal the edges of the decal need to be painted over to hide the white line.

Cheers

Darius

[murphaph]

Nice work Darius. Looks very well on the black especially.