# Homemade Dry Transfers



## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

A couple of years back, I bought a *DecalPRO fx* kit for making homemade dry transfers from *Pulsar Professional fx*. The original purpose for which I bought it vaporized, so the kit languished in the garage for a couple of years. I now have a new purpose for it, so I broke it out.

This is three views of my first successful dry transfer applied to a cardboard box...










The Home Depot logo was a practice image included with the kit. It took me three unsuccessful tries before I got a usable transfer because there's a bit of a learning curve (hence the included practice images). I used a green foil for this one.

The beauty of this system is you can make a dry transfer from any image you can print on a laser printer. If you look at their web site (linked above), you'll see that multi-color images and logos are also do-able, as are pure white graphics (the Holy Grail for model railroad decals and transfers). It remains to be seen how well these lay down over textures like brick or rivet patterns. I'll let you know. 

Just thought I'd share this as I'm excited about the possibilities.


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## Jonnychuffchuff (Dec 24, 2010)

Watching with great interest, Dwight...


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Okay, here's the result of my first actual test attempt at doing what I want to do... white letters on HO brick siding...










A slanted view shows just how well the transfers can be pressed into the detail (mortar lines) of the siding test piece...










This was oversprayed with DullCoat, and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with the final result. I even like the cracks in the graphic as it gives it an older peeling look (of course it needs to be "dirtied up"). I discovered that a wash of india ink and denatured alcohol messes up the DullCoat, turning it white.









Positioning is also critical as, unlike conventional dry transfers, once these touch the surface, they start sticking immediately. Not sure if a piece of waxed paper under the transfer would allow easier positioning... something I'm going to have to try.

All in all, this certainly isn't the easiest system to use, and there's a lot that can go wrong during the multi-step process of making the transfer. But each time I learn something to avoid doing the next time, so I expect at some point I'll get fairly decent at it and have a lower "screw up" rate. After all, to be fair to the product, I just started this morning.


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## Larry Green (Jan 2, 2008)

Dwight, I also have had Tester's Dullcoat turn milky after getting wet in the rain. Since that, I have been using Krylon 1311 Matte Finish, which is supposedlly also UV stabilized. Some ballast hoppers with this applied as a top coat were left outside most of one summer, with no ill effects.

Larry


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Larry Green on 11 Apr 2013 07:58 AM 
Dwight, I also have had Tester's Dullcoat turn milky after getting wet in the rain. Since that, I have been using Krylon 1311 Matte Finish, which is supposedlly also UV stabilized. Some ballast hoppers with this applied as a top coat were left outside most of one summer, with no ill effects.

Larry


I would certainly second that, Larry... In my experience, for outdoor applications, Krylon Satin can # 51313 or the Matte 1311 is far superior to dull coat. I use them extensively for the final coating my my decals. Many have been out in the weather for years and are still good... 

Looks like Dwight may be using these items inside so it may not be as affected as it might outdoors... 

Great idea, Dwight.. It's looking right nice...


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## Del Tapparo (Jan 4, 2008)

Testor's Dullcoat left my shop about 12 years ago. I found it yellowed outside. Krylon matte UV-Resistant Clear is my choice.


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## DKRickman (Mar 25, 2008)

Could you apply the transfers to clear decal film, in order to make them easier to locate on the model? Also, would they settle down around the details better that way, or is the transfer material too thick to snuggle in like a water slide decal?


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

The transfers are already on a clear film until you locate them and press them down. You can certainly make a transfer that contains an entire line of text. My biggest so far is the word "PRESCRIPTIONS" printed vertically and measuring 1/2" wide by 6-1/4" long which is on the side of a building. It was made as one transfer, and located and applied as one transfer. 

As for settling down around the details, look at the slanted close up in my 2nd post that shows the transfer pressed into the mortar lines. I doubt a decal would do any better. ??


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Dwight what did you use to work the transfer down into the crevices? 

Looks great, I'm sending you my orders today! 

Greg


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

My thumb. hehehe.


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

So, without having to go to great effort to make them "follow" the crevices, that implies to me that the transfer is thin and at reasonably flexible, and the adhesive is moderately aggressive. 

Greg


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Yeah, they're pretty thin. The colorized "foil" used to make the transfer is one mill thick and consists of a pigment bonded to a one mill clear Mylar carrier. The pigment layer itself is so thin that my Starrett micrometer can't measure it, and ultimately it becomes the transfer itself once the carrier is peeled away. Have you watched the video on the web site?


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## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

Dwight,

Any thoughts or experiments on whether this stuff will hold up in a live steam environment? I guess there wouldn't be a need to apply signage directly to a boiler, but as you know, the rest of the engine can get pretty warm as well! And certainly wet & oily..

And P.S. -- A quick look at the instructions reveals that you need a particular brand (model?) of pouch laminator. How much does that cost?

Thanx,


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Gary - the link provided in the first post has all the stuff you need along with prices, including the laminator and the heat gun. As for live steam, the web site claims these are pretty durable once they set up for a few days. I'd recommend a clear overspray anyway. Seems to me some guys have used Krylon Matte Finish on live steamers with no problems. I wouldn't recommend it for someplace that gets very hot, like a number plate on the front of the smokebox, but tenders don't generally get very warm, nor oily for that matter, and the overspray should protect them. 

Getting the right amount of spray adhesive on them is definitely necessary for proper adhesion of the transfers. There's a video on the web site specifically about how to do this. There's also a video that demonstrates the entire process. But even their instructions says one should PRACTICE with them before trying to use them, and I fully agree. They make this easy by providing several "practice graphics" already printed (like the Home Depot logo). As I said before, there's a lot that can go wrong, and only by trying it will you find out what those things are. Better to find out through practise than on an actual model. Like anything though, once you get the hang of it, it isn't all that bad. 

I'm using them for a large HO brick industry. I'll post a photo of it here in a week or so once I finish it. It's certainly not large scale, but that won't matter to illustrate the results I got when using these transfers.


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

I wouldn't recommend it for someplace that gets very hot, like a number plate on the front of the smokebox, but tenders don't generally get very warm, nor oily for that matter, and the overspray should protect them.It occurred to me while overviewing this thread that a technique which should work for number plates and other "hot spots" would be to use the dry transfer as a mask. If, say, you wanted to do a number plate with a white number on a red background, you would first spray the number plate white and allow to dry, then apply the dry transfer number, then spray the number plate red and allow to dry. You can then use masking tape applied over the dry transfer to peel it off, revealing the white paint underneath. This technique will be as temperature and oil resistant as the paint used and the surface prep allows.


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

At any rate, here is the mostly-finished structure demonstrating the results I achieved using this system. While this is an HO structure, the dry transfers are scale-independent, and should be able to be applied to large scale locomotives, rolling stock, and structures with equal success.


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

Yeowser... I was looking at the 1st photo and trying to decide how one would model such a building... then I saw the cabinet handles behind the water tower and could not figure out what they were! Some sort of air vent??? Took a couple of minutes and many blinking of the eyes before I realized it IS a model of a building. Nice work!


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

Great building! 

Best, 
TJ


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Now that's a heck of a great model, and the lettering did come out great.


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Thank you Gents. I'm really impressed with this new system. Seems likely that I can now make a dry transfer out of anything I can print... or even scan.








Took a couple of minutes and many blinking of the eyes before I realized it IS a model of a building. Nice work!Thank you Semper!! That's probably the highest compliment one can get on a model photograph - when one can't tell if it's "real" or not. Or as Marty would say, "Is it real, or is it just 1:29?" (or 1:87 in this case). hehehe


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Dwight, that building is outrageous!


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks Randy! First time I've ever painted a brick building that I was happy with. Besides, after over four straight years of building steam locomotives and making chips, I needed a break for a while, and to do something different (but still trains), and an HO industrial switching layout is something I've wanted to do for decades. And while I've scratchbuilt plenty of stuff and built kits of all types, I've never really kitbashed before. Styrene isn't one of my favorite mediums, but I always like learning new techniques and building new skills.


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

That is very, very nice, Dwight. Exceptionally well done....


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## Jonnychuffchuff (Dec 24, 2010)

Good stuff, Dwight! Thanks for the info on this system!


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