Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion decals

what is the diffrence between a decal and a water transfer decal and where can i get a citys service water transfer decal for my pump resto? and excuse my ignorance....

A decal probably starts with a sheet of vinyl then is printed on with vinyl inks. The vinyl with its inks is then applied to the surface of whatever (in this case a pump surface). A water release decal starts out with a surface of glue on paper that is dissolved with water. Lacquer paint is then applied to that surface to create the desired image. Once the image is complete, the entire printed surface is covered with a layer of clear lacquer which in effect binds all of the different colors as one unit. Once the decal is placed in water, the printed colors float off of the glue and is then slid onto the surface of a piece of painted metal.

This is a simplified explanation of the decal differences from my standpoint. For what it is worth, original decals were made with the water release process.

I dare not resd what I just wrote for fear that I left major areas unexplained.

Koz

In my simple mind isn't the water transfer like the old model airplane decals and the vynal decals like the plastic letters you buy to make a sign... ?

I think that water slides are decals, and the vinyl stuff is called stickers. The decals intact but weathered look cool and the plastic stuff when it shrinks and curls look terrible.
I did buy some lubester& pump shell stickers from a guy in california that go back to the 60's and i think 50's(lubester) so they do go back quite a ways.
I hade a visible pump with a Union shield decal on it, they had painted around it. It was very readable looked pretty neat..like tha polly tombstone does........dodogas

The only thing I can add is that the vinal stickers can be squeegeed down to get the bubbles out, and the laquer based water transfer is very fragile becuase the thickness of the laquer clear is minimal. also laquer clear is brittle so don't fold or wrinkle the decal. when you soak it let it soak till the decal comes loose by it's self if you try to push it and it hasn't released yet then it will tear. then slide it into place and smooth it with your hand. it is also recommended to clear coat over the water transfer or they will remain terribly fragile. but if you are using basecoat /clearcoat just apply the water transfer before the clear good luck Mike