Make your own Decals - Part 2

By Matt Furze
July 1, 2011

Back in 2004, Mark J. Redmond did a review of the decal paper available from Micro-Mark. Since I wanted some custom signs for some of the industries and businesses on my layout, and since I also wanted decals for some rolling stock, I read Mark's review and then ordered the trial pack that he mentioned - one sheet for decals with white in them, one sheet for decals without white in them, and a can of fixative spray. About the time it arrived, I happened across a new decal paper from Evan Designs (available through Walthers - Evan Designs is the outfit that makes the Model Builder software you can use to make and print your own background buildings). What intrigued me about the Evan Designs paper is that first, the claim was made that you don't need a fixative spray on the decal before putting it in water, and second, the same paper could be used for decals both with and without white in them. This paper is available for inkjet and bubblejet printers.

As it happened, this paper ($15.00 for a package of five 8 1/2 by 11 sheets) was on sale through Walthers at $12.98, so I splurged for a package, and while waiting for the order to come in, I prepared an 8 1/2 by 11 sheet in Microsoft Word with signs for various buildings, some handmade graffiti, a few of the modern PNL logos and "Ponderosa North Lines" in green copied from samples sent by our friend , Mark Enrst, in Colorado, some PNL number combinations, and a few "test" decals to work with before applying a "real" decal to one of my models.

The package of decal paper arrived, and I opened it, took out the instructions, and began reading. The single instruction sheet had paragraphs regarding printing on the paper, placing decals on the model, and various other actions regarding decals. It also noted that instructional videos were available online at www.modeltrainsoftware.com/decalpaper.html so I went online and viewed the various techniques.

The first notes were about printing your decals - nothing to it, really. Prepare your material, put a sheet in your printer, and print it, using a photo paper setting. After it comes out of your printer, set the sheet aside for 30 minutes or so to let it dry - the paper contains a special coating that absorbs the inks from your printer.

The next step is to cut out a decal you want to use, put it in a small amount of water for a minute or so until it curls up, then take it out and place it on a paper towel until it flattens out again. At this time, it will slide easily off the backing paper, so place it on your model and carefully remove the backing with tweezers. Blot the decal with a paper towel to dry it, and press down firmly on it while doing so. I should note here that the folks at Evan Designs do NOT recommend Solvaset or Microsol for their decals - if the decal starts to curl up as it dries on your model, put a few drops of cigarette lighter fluid on it and again, press firmly. Yes, you read that correctly - cigarette lighter fluid - Naptha is the operative ingredient (which is used in lens cleaners, shoe polish, and several other items). They note that it may take 6-8 applications of lighter fluid to get the decal completely nestled down to the surface, but the test decal I did (see photo 1) looked good following my second application. Key, I think, is applying pressure as you press on the decal with a paper towel. Repeat the process of adding a few drops of lighter fluid and pressing on the decal as needed to help it to nestle down into cracks (such as brickwork and the like).

Photo 1

Now for the interesting part - the test decal I applied to the spare building side was black lettering with a white background, as shown in Photo 1. The question: how do you get rid of the white? And the answer is probably in your kitchen - canola oil! So, armed with that information, a couple of Q-tips, and a small amount of canola oil, I went to work. Following the instructions, I put a small amount of canola oil on a portion of the decal, let it sit for 5 minutes, and then blotted up the excess oil with a paper towel and the Q-tips. The result is shown in Photo 2.

Photo 2

Photo 3 shows one of my "homemade" graffiti decals on an abandoned building on my layout. I trimmed around the decal as closely as I could, applied it as noted above, and then removed the small amounts of white around the edges and in areas inside the lettering using the canola oil. When I was satisfied with the results, I sprayed Dullcoat on it to tone the overall image down.

Photo 3

Overall, I'm quite satisfied with the Evan Designs product. Yes, a strange way of applying the decals, and an equally odd way of handling unwanted white areas in decals, but both methods are effective, and the end results are good. The decal itself is thin, doesn't seem to tear as you work with it, and the material seems to hold colors well. It definitely works as advertised, and gives us an additional option for adding signs and lettering to our building and railroad cars.