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I'm looking at transfers for my DA army, 2x tac squads and 2x Rhino/Razorback. Mostly because my freehand skills are non-existant.

I know FW sells army specific sheets and that was my go-to option but then I caught a product on internet search for inkjet waterslideable transfer sheets...packs of 10 for fairly inexpensive. My brain went nuts with all the army specific stuff that I could make and plus it could allow me to get my full play group transfers for their own army for one low price.

My question: has anyone given these a go and how did they work out?

Here is an amazon link: LINK

Thanks!

I'd like to know as well.

Lucarikx

I've used the stuff. Compared to pre-made sheets, there are some differences.
The type I used, comes in clear or white. Either way, you have to cover the sheet with a clear coat to avoid that the ink just floats off when you do the water transfer.
The drying time for this coat adds quite some time to the turn-around on this.

So if your plan is to apply light coloured decals on a solid dark surface, you'll have to live with a white background in the decal.

The clear type makes it possible to put dark decals on lighter ground without a clear background.

The type I used, comes in clear or white. Either way, you have to cover the sheet with a clear coat to avoid that the ink just floats off when you do the water transfer.

I have read the same thing and would have planned as such.

So if your plan is to apply light coloured decals on a solid dark surface, you'll have to live with a white background in the decal.

Could you go into detail a bit more? For example, DA green background and I'd want to print a white chapter emblem for the top of the Rhino...how would this look if I used a clear sheet with white ink printed?

Thanks!

Brillow80 wrote:

The type I used, comes in clear or white. Either way, you have to cover the sheet with a clear coat to avoid that the ink just floats off when you do the water transfer.

I have read the same thing and would have planned as such.

So if your plan is to apply light coloured decals on a solid dark surface, you'll have to live with a white background in the decal.

Could you go into detail a bit more? For example, DA green background and I'd want to print a white chapter emblem for the top of the Rhino...how would this look if I used a clear sheet with white ink printed?

Thanks!

What kind of printer do you have that has white ink?

What kind of printer do you have that has white ink?

Well, drat. That answered that question in spades.
So in that case, I'd have to use the white paper and carefully cut around where the emblem is. At that point I might as well make templates and paint them on.

 tdwg83 wrote:

Brillow80 wrote:

The type I used, comes in clear or white. Either way, you have to cover the sheet with a clear coat to avoid that the ink just floats off when you do the water transfer.

I have read the same thing and would have planned as such.

So if your plan is to apply light coloured decals on a solid dark surface, you'll have to live with a white background in the decal.

Could you go into detail a bit more? For example, DA green background and I'd want to print a white chapter emblem for the top of the Rhino...how would this look if I used a clear sheet with white ink printed?

Thanks!

What kind of printer do you have that has white ink?

I believe they do exist, just not for home use or in home-use $ ranges...


OP, the issue is those sheets are clear, so you have to use colour on them. White won't work as, when printed, it's an absence of colour rather than a printed colour. Think of a grey scale image - the black has many more times the ink (black ink only) than the greys, each of which has more ink the darker it is. So, if you do white, it has not ink. If you do black, where the black is, is all ink.

If you are thinking of doing a very pale tan or very pale grey in place of the white - it won't work. The ink is not 'bright' enough to show when it's on the model because, as per the above example, the 'white' component of the colour (the paleness) is just an absence of colour, not a colour in itself.

Also, be careful if you decide to go, say, red - even though that's a really bright colour it won't be very bright on the decals if on a dark background.

Although not correct in colour scheme, if you are really hell-bent on using transfers, you're going to need to use white or something very, very light as a backing to the decals; white-centred pauldrons might be your only option.

Alternatively - you can get decals that are white in their background, however (I've not used them but have read) I believe they are both comparatively thick, and you have to cut them to the exact shape as the material itself is white. So if you printed, say, a red dragon on the white sheet you'd have to exactly cut to the outline otherwise you'd have white all around it in a uneven, messy pattern (where the clear decals have a clear base so it doesn't really matter too much how neat you are).

Apologies if this doesn;t make sense - no coffee yet this morning.

Exactly my point in long form.

Home use color printers typically have 4 inks, some times 7 for higher grade photo printers. none of those happen to be white. Some commercial printers are capable of laying down white as this is how we get white on clear decals that GW and other model makers put out.

options for the OP:
1. print an outlined image on white decal paper and either trim the outline off or leave it. If you can color it to nearly match your bas color that might be best.

2. Paint shoulder pad white or light color and use a darker colored on clear decal.

3. Out line on clear decal and paint a white blob on the shoulder pad. Then carefully come back with base color up to the out line printed.

4. Cut out a mask out of tape. fill in unmasked area with white

Any other suggestions?

Spot on as far as I see it, tdwg83.

Yep, I jabber when brain is not caffeinated....

There are printers that use white ink for decal printing - but finding one for home use is going to be harder than finding common sense on a gamer.

I had some success with inkjet decal film - but he amount of faffing around (lacquering the sheet before you use it because otherwise, the inks just run off when you wet them) meant me switching over to laser printer film. These also come in clear and white. The main difference is because the laserprinter fuses the toner to the film, you don't need to varnish the sheet prior to use. Cost is around the same (printer costs more, obviously).

NOTE: You MUST use the right films for the right printer. Laser film does not work in an inkjet (it's not meant to catch and hold the inks as laser printers heat fuse the toner to them) and inkjet films don't work in a laserprinter (and could kill your printer).

options for the OP:
1. print an outlined image on white decal paper and either trim the outline off or leave it. If you can color it to nearly match your bas color that might be best.

2. Paint shoulder pad white or light color and use a darker colored on clear decal.

3. Out line on clear decal and paint a white blob on the shoulder pad. Then carefully come back with base color up to the out line printed.

4. Cut out a mask out of tape. fill in unmasked area with white

Spot on!

I like 2 and 3 as they would help build my freehand skills!

I've used the laser printed sheets.

With the clear sheet, if you want to do a design with white or pale elements -- any non-solid colours, basically -- you have to paint a white panel on the model where you are going to put the decal.

If you look at this picture, the two storage silo terrain pieces in the foreground have decals applied on to tan and white painted panels.

I have used those sheets with nearly the same color scheme you will need and they worked wonderfully. My army was Raptors, so I went with a black background on the shoulder pad and painted a white or light grey circle in the area where the Raptor logo would be. I then gloss coated the shoulder pad and let it dry. After setting the decal with Micro Sol and Micro Set I went back and touched up the area around the decal with black paint. I think it turned out pretty darned well myself.

Todosi, that looks really good! I shall write down that process for future investigation.

I used the decal sheets made by Testors (same guys that make model airplane glue). They come in clear or white...the advantages/disadvantages have been discussed.
I found the images I wantred online and used MS Paint to clean them up, resize them as far down as 1/4 inch then saved the pic. I then used MS Word, selected the "A4" sized paper (the size the decal sheets come in), and the "insert picture" function to fill the page with all the decals i intended to make.
Best to get everything setup and make an entire page worth...once you've printed them out the decal sheet is harder (impossible) to reuse. Make extras because they will be delicate and you will trash a few of them until you get the hang of it.
After they print DO NOT TOUCH the surface. Inks normally soak into the paper to become permanent. On the decal sheet the inks just lay on top. Let the inks dry for an hour or so. Then use a simple spray varnish to lightly cover the decal. This locks the ink in place. Let dry. You may have to do a second coat depending on hour fine your first one was. Less is more in this case.
Once dry, cut out the decal as close as possible. The entire sheet becomes one decal...the closer you trim the individual decal, the better they will look and lay down. Some folks like to add a lite coat of gloss varnish to give the decal a smooth surface to lay on. YMMV. They only need to rest in water for 15 seconds or so before thye are ready to be slid into position. Again, experiemnt with what works for you.
Once you have the decal in place use Micro-Sol (or equivalent...plain vinegar also works) to disolve away the excess varnish coating and allow the decal to really lay flat.
Once dry, coat model with varnish and it will seal the models paint and decal.
Land Raider decals...even the larger ones on the top.


Clan banner (Squad markings) decals for IG...about 1/4 inch square each.

Interesting. I, too, have pondered the use of these DIY decals. Nice to know they work.