Waterslide Decal first time test problems [Pic inside]

[finkfloyd]

Hi,

So I decided to test a full face inkjet waterslide decal, laquered with acrylic paint(3 coats), left  overnight, then put it in water for 30 secs, transferred to pedal face, used lint free cloth to keep ironing out the air bubbles, left to dry for an hour, then sprayed with clear acrylic spray paint again..

Then this strange paved / spider web effect happened 

[bluesdevil]

You didn't let it dry long enough under the sticker  before putting on the top coat. You gotta give it at least a day or 2 and wipe out the bubbles that appear in the meantime.
    ALso you don't really need a heavy  3 coats over the sticker.... try 2 relatively lighter coats so it won't gum up when applying the final overcoat.
          Try again and good luck!!!

[audioguy]

I use Rustoleum lacquer for the top coat of the sticker, and then to top coat the pedal and it works 100% flawless. Ive used MANY other products and had the same results you're getting some even worse... some would make the ink run some would crackle, but the Rusto lacq works great- its in a green labeled can... only 3 or 4 bucks and perfect results.

Good luck

Audioguy

[finkfloyd]

Hi, thanks, Ill try your method of 2 light coats, and leave it 24hrs before laquering it again.
I knew I didnt leave it long enough, but impatience got the better of me..

Need to change the ink cartridge too I think, the black is running low, and turning blueish, as you can see on the pic..


I dont know whether we have that laquer here in the uk , but ill have a look around thanks

[bluesdevil]

Yeah, it's hard to wait when your excited about getting it all done finally!!
That's interesting about your "black" ink turning out bluish/purple. Are you using a HP printer? It's happened to me as well, but I think it was because I printed in the "High quality photo paper" mode and not the regular photo paper setting. It was fine when I changed settings. That bluish color is kinda cool actually!!

[jeroen_verbeeck]

It's actually a nice web you created, looks cool.

[twabelljr]

It's actually a nice web you created, looks cool.

I agree. I like the way it looks. If it's not fragile, I'd keep it.

[SuperGeo]

I think it adds a nice style to your stompbox 

[H.Manback]

I forgot to reply last time I saw this topic, but I read somewhere that somebody had a similar problem, and it was caused by bending the paper too much. He had a supercal pack and the sheets were sort of rolled up in the package, so they weren't flat when he got them out of the package. He then tried to straighten them out by bending them backwards, which is a bad idea because there is some kind of layer on the decal which 'breaks' when you do that.

If you have decal paper that isn't flat you're supposed to put them under a heavy book or something similar for a while until they are flat again.

This is what I read on a other forum, so it's not my experience. I just tried to apply my first decal and it went pretty bad , I got it on a bit crooked and tried to lift it from the box and realign it. That doesn't work too well... the glue sort of disappeared, so now I'm spraying clearcoat on the next attempt