Unofficial Royal Enfield Community Forum
General Discussion => Campfire Talk => Topic started by: High On Octane on March 23, 2013, 12:55:40 am
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Has anyone installed factory water transfers before? I need do the Indian transfers on my tank and just curious as to who has been successful at getting them perfect. Thanks.
Scottie
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I don't claim to be expert at it, but I have found that I get the best results by giving them plenty of soaking time in the water, so they float off the paper easily.
The biggest problems come when the decal sticks to the paper in places, and doesn't let go.
My method is soak it till it feels like it moves on the paper.
Then bring the paper with decal on it over to the bike, and then position the paper right up against the tank, and slide the decal off onto the tank. You have a little time while it is still wet to do final positioning adjustments.
Use your finger or a wet sponge to squeeze any air bubbles out the edges. Usually I don't get any air bubbles, but it sometimes might get under a large decal.
Handle with care.
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I found that putting just a tiny drop of dishwashing soap in some water and spraying it on the tank before sliding the decal in place helps to keep it from sticking before it is in the right place.
Moving it around is much easier and the detergent doesn't seem to harm the decals.
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I have done it several times with good luck using soap, don't rush trying to get it off the backing it will slide off easy when it is ready. You can use some tape guidelines around where you want it to go to get the positioning right. Don't fret or give up even if you tear the decal I tore one once and almost gave up but decided at the last minute to leave it on at least until I could order a new one and it looked perfect after being positioned and dried you would have had to look really close to find the tear. If you are going to clear coat afterwards let it dry for several days first and go really light with the first couple coats of clear. If you are just going to wax over it I would still let it dry well and use a non abrasive wax without any solvents and be gentle with the initial applications and buffings....
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Thanks guys. Sounds like I've doing them the same way everyone else does. Except for the soaking in water.
Scottie
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Check out these products which are available at most hobby stores.
http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=FINPROD (http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=FINPROD)
Also look for tips on youtube.