Dry Transfer or Decals applied on Krylon paint

[granpab]

Two Bachmann Big Haulers have been painted with Krylon and look fine.  However, dry transfer decals will not stick at all to the painted surface. 

Can anyone share their method of decorating the Krylon paint?

[Paul W.]

Granpab,
I also paint with Krylon when I repaint locomotives and rolling stock.  I use wet decals, and dry transfers for lettering and numbering.
I haven't had any issues with getting them to stick. Once they dry, I do spray them with dull cote to seal and protect them.

Hope this helps, if you want the link to custom decals, let me know and I'll post a link.

[granpab]

Yes, I would like to try the custom decals you wrote about.
Perhaps I will have better luck with wet style than I am having with the dry transfer type.

Thanx for the offer

[Paul W.]

Here it is,

http://gold.mylargescale.com/StanCedarleaf/WebPageDecals/CustomDecalsx.html

Stan really does a great job. He will take your idea and design a logo that works for you. He has done several jobs for me, and they all look great. I gave him the wording, and an idea of what I was looking for, and he did the rest.
I'm actually doing the decal work on a tender right now.

Stan sends instructions with the decals, and if you follow them, the results will look great!

Good luck

[Jon D. Miller]

granpab,
I've been using Krylon Interior-Exterior rattle can paint on my locomotives and rolling stock for over ten years. I've never had a problem with dry transfer lettering or graphics sticking to Krylon paint.



This TBTO club Anniversary car was painted with Krylon and all the lettering and graphics are dry transfer.



This Shay is painted with Krylon. The Black Swamp Timber lettering on the tank is dry transfer along with the engine numbers.  This is one of the very early Shays and the lettering has held up well all these years.

I also use Woodland Scenics dry transfer lettering.  Or pick up  good quality dry transfer sets at local art or craft stores.

Now if your dry transfers are older than dirt, then you will have a problem.

I probably have well over 100 cars and 15 or so locomotives that are painted with Krylon and dry transfer lettered.  Never had a problem except when the dry transfers were really old and dried out.

Once the dry transfers are in place they are oversprayed with Krylon Matte Finish #1311.  This is applied in several light coats to protect the dry transfers.  On those rare occassions when I do use water slide decals, once they are dry, they are oversprayed with the same Matte Finish for protection.

JD

[Paul W.]

JD,
nice job on the Shay! Looks like that one is due for it's turn in the shop for service. I thought my Porter looked overdue, but your Shay beats mine!

Did you spray the entire engine with rust color, or did you just overspray the black with a dusting of rust color?

[Kevin Strong]

Dry transfers have a limited shelf life. That length varies depending on who made them. The Woodland Scenics (Model Graphics) dry transfers don't seem to last very long at all--maybe a year or two once the envelope has been opened. Others I've used have lasted nearly 10 years and still go down without a problem. Unfortunately, those suppliers have gone out of business. (Even worse, I just used my last set of letters and logos.)

That's the biggest problem with dry transfers--actually finding them anymore. There aren't that many print shops who still make them, and those that do aren't afraid to let you pay for the convenience.

It's possible to "recondition" dry transfers by spraying them or brushing them with contact cement prior to applying them. This works much better where the dry transfers are logos, complete names, etc., not individual letters from an alphabet or number sheet. You may also be able to apply the dry transfers before the paint has completely cured (i.e., dry to the touch but still smells.) The paint may have enough "tack" on it when pressured with the burnishing tool to grab the lettering and hold it in place.

Later,

K

[Jon D. Miller]

Paul,
The Shay was a complete paint job.  I used Ruddy Brown primer with light over spray of brown, not sure what color that was.  Then the paint was rubbed to blend/smooth it.   After the paint job then the Shay was weathered.  I have a Climax painted the same way. I rather like the looks of these two geared engines.

Kevin,
I agree.  Dry transfers, especially those from Woodland Scenics, do have a limited shelf life.  I can usually figure on getting maybe two years or so out of a set of individual letters.  Once past that time the Woodland Scenics become rather iffy to get a complete transfer of the letter.

I've used your technique to apply some of the older dry transfers before the paint has completely dried.  That method works well so that old dry transfers can still be used.

I have some very old Larry Larson custom graphics and lettering that seems a fresh as the day I got it.  Too bad that Larry had to cease making his dry transfers.

JD

[Larry Green]

A couple of additional comments to the excellent advice given above--
Since I have had to special-order the Woodland Scenic dry transfers I want from the LHS, and they have occasionally arrived "stale" from his distributor, I started ordering them direct from WS via their website. Can't get them any fresher than that.
I use Floquil (brush) and Krylon (spray), with the UV stabilized matt Krylon as final topcoat. One caution with dry transfers and Krylon--let them dry 24 hours before spraying the topcoat. Spraying them immediately after application can cause bleeding on vertical surfaces if the spray is applied a bit too heavy.

Final note--my fingers no longer work  well enough to do small dry transfer work and still consider it fun, so I recently switched to Del Tapporo's vinyl transfers, where entire texts go on as a unit.  I find them easier to apply and Del is great to do business with.

Larry

[ole]

I too have seen my 'older' WS dry transfers disintegrate even though they are stored in sealed plastic pages. But, no matter the condition of the transfer, I burnish them quite hard into the paint; that means at least 3 times across the transfer in all directions. And I never touch them until after the dull coat. You might try using a coat of clear gloss over the paint regardless of the paint gloss before doing the transfer work. Whatever the paint, I now use Krylon gloss and matte finishes exclusively. Hope this helps, Lee in Tucson

[granpab]

Thank you all for your advice and experiences. 

It seems the WS transfers that I had just purchased are the problem.  They will not stick to anything - and must have become stale at the hobby shop.

I think I will try some of the wet decals that were recommended. 

[brian allison]

Hi from 'down under'.
I have seen much reference to KRYLON paints on various forums.

Could someone kindly enlighten me as to what it is ? ie chemical name/type.
presume it is an acrylic type spray ??

locally, i use Tamiya sprays...a light coat of matt black followed immediately by a ligh coat of semi-gloss, gives an almost perfect match to most factory blacks.

also we use an etch primer/topcoat in black called 'satinetch' (used for painting log-fire flues). this gives an excellent matt finish that will never show finger marks,grease,oil etc.

i have used WS dry decals over these finishes with no problems at all.

regards, Brian A.

[Kevin Strong]

Krylon is a popular brand of spray paint on this side of the world. Whether it's sold internationally, I don't know. You may have some luck checking their web site http://www.krylon.com to see if it's available in your neck of the woods.

Later,

K

[glennk28]

I don't recall if this was covered before, but as a general rule, wet decals need a glossy surface, then set with proper setting solutions.  Oversprayed wwith gloss, then flat if desired.

Dry transfers prefer a matte surface--then seal with gloss or flat.  Sometimes older dry transfers are helped by warming near a light bulb.  gj

[Paul W.]

True,
Wet decals do prefer a glossy surface, but I have also had some great results applying them to Krylon semi-flat when painting a steam engine. I do use a setting solution to help soften the decal to form around rivets and wood grain details. After the decals have dried for two days, I then coat them with dul-cote. The lines dissapear once the topcoat is applied.