Water slide decal
Encyclopedia
Water slide decals are water-mounted decal
s generally printed face up and rely on the dextrose corn sugar residue from the
decal paper to bond the decal transfer to a surface. A water-based adhesive layer can be added to the decal to create a stronger bond or may be placed between layers of lacquer
to create a durable decal transfer.
Water slide decals are thinner than many other decorative techniques (such as vinyl
stickers) and as they are printed, they can be produced to a very high level of detail
. As such, they are popular in craft areas such as scale modeling.
Until recently, water slide decals were professionally printed and only available in supplied designs, but with the advent of printable decal paper for colour inkjet and laser printer
s, custom decals can now be produced by the hobbyist or small business. Even without this, decals have been made at home by modellers. Gummed paper tape was used as a base and adhesive, with layers of hairspray
(a shellac
varnish) built-up to form the transparent layer. The difficulty with this in the 1970s was in printing the coloured image neatly by hand, as this pre-dated accessible computer printing.
Decal
A decal or transfer is a plastic, cloth, paper or ceramic substrate that has printed on it a pattern or image that can be moved to another surface upon contact, usually with the aid of heat or water. The word is short for decalcomania...
s generally printed face up and rely on the dextrose corn sugar residue from the
decal paper to bond the decal transfer to a surface. A water-based adhesive layer can be added to the decal to create a stronger bond or may be placed between layers of lacquer
Lacquer
In a general sense, lacquer is a somewhat imprecise term for a clear or coloured varnish that dries by solvent evaporation and often a curing process as well that produces a hard, durable finish, in any sheen level from ultra matte to high gloss and that can be further polished as required...
to create a durable decal transfer.
Water slide decals are thinner than many other decorative techniques (such as vinyl
Vinyl
A vinyl compound is any organic compound that contains a vinyl group ,which are derivatives of ethene, CH2=CH2, with one hydrogen atom replaced with some other group...
stickers) and as they are printed, they can be produced to a very high level of detail
Level of detail
In computer graphics, accounting for level of detail involves decreasing the complexity of a 3D object representation as it moves away from the viewer or according other metrics such as object importance, eye-space speed or position....
. As such, they are popular in craft areas such as scale modeling.
Until recently, water slide decals were professionally printed and only available in supplied designs, but with the advent of printable decal paper for colour inkjet and laser printer
Laser printer
A laser printer is a common type of computer printer that rapidly produces high quality text and graphics on plain paper. As with digital photocopiers and multifunction printers , laser printers employ a xerographic printing process, but differ from analog photocopiers in that the image is produced...
s, custom decals can now be produced by the hobbyist or small business. Even without this, decals have been made at home by modellers. Gummed paper tape was used as a base and adhesive, with layers of hairspray
Hairspray
Hairspray may refer to:* Hair spray, a personal grooming product* Hairspray , a film by John Waters** Hairspray , the film's soundtrack album* Hairspray , a stage musical based on the original film...
(a shellac
Shellac
Shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. It is processed and sold as dry flakes , which are dissolved in ethyl alcohol to make liquid shellac, which is used as a brush-on colorant, food glaze and wood finish...
varnish) built-up to form the transparent layer. The difficulty with this in the 1970s was in printing the coloured image neatly by hand, as this pre-dated accessible computer printing.