ORIGINAL: The Raven

Thanks for the info. I'm looking at printing some ink jet style water slide decals (suitably sealed of course) but am concerned about how fade resistant the inks are.

>To minimize the "fade" use photo type/quality ink when printing the decals.

Also, my roundels are going to be WWII early RAAF which is a big white center with a blue border.

Is there any special technique to putting large waterslide decals over a painted surface?

>When doing large decals (much over 3" diameter ) I make certain the surface is
>extremely smooth. I go over the decal area with 1,000, then 1,500 wet/dry
>paper. I also add one or two additional coats of clear to the decal to help stiffen
>it up. Finally, I let the decal soak (weighted down flat ) until the decal literally
>"floats off" the backing and I also spray the area with Windex (clear if possible)
>before applying the decal. I am more concerned about getting the decal on
>smoothly than adhesion - I feel the final clear coat (along with the balance of the
>decal adhesive ) will provide enough adhesion.

I'm very familiar with plastic scale models and the requirement to put decals on a gloss surface to avoid silvering....and the use of decal softner (which shouldn't be necessary in this scale).

>The decal softner is up to you. The nice part about doing your own decals is
>that if it doesn't apply properly, you can always redo it with minimal cost.