PLASMA DECALS, PART 2
Based on the learnings from the first plasma decal, the second one went down without much drama: little or no decal damage, only ink bleed I could see was just a little at the edges, where it is unavoidable.
This was the process:
What I could have done, in hindsight, would be to print and extra of one of the pieces, and started with that one. That would have allowed for the learning process; certainly if I had an extra I would have pulled off the first one and tried again. I should have guessed that I might need one piece for practice. Oh well, no biggie.
Here's the first two pieces in place, showing the continuous pattern. I had to pay careful attention to make sure I put the second piece in the correct orientation.
Also notice I put the second piece in the "correct" position. Even though it's misaligned with the first, I couldn't bring myself to put all three in the same wrong position just to make them match. Maybe it would have looked better, dunno.
Based on the learnings from the first plasma decal, the second one went down without much drama: little or no decal damage, only ink bleed I could see was just a little at the edges, where it is unavoidable.
This was the process:
- Soak decal (half at a time, alternating every few seconds) for about, oh, 30 seconds.
- Place the decal face down on a piece of paper towel, making sure the back is good and wet. For all intents and purpose, the decal is still soaking at this point, but it is not submerged and the front is out of the water.
- Once it seems like the edge of the decal will separate from the backing easily, trim the decal. Recall that I soak these in an oversized state, so any ink bleed at the edge will get trimmed off.
- Apply Micro-set to the body
- Peel decal off the backing and lay it down into position. For this large decal, never try to slide it to adjust it; if it's out of place, lift up and try again. This one I came very close to getting right on the first try; only needed to lift and re-lay half of it.
- Do the old rolling Q-tip trick to get out the bubbles
- Apply Micro-sol
- LEAVE IT ALONE UNTIL DRY (currently at this step)
What I could have done, in hindsight, would be to print and extra of one of the pieces, and started with that one. That would have allowed for the learning process; certainly if I had an extra I would have pulled off the first one and tried again. I should have guessed that I might need one piece for practice. Oh well, no biggie.
Here's the first two pieces in place, showing the continuous pattern. I had to pay careful attention to make sure I put the second piece in the correct orientation.
Also notice I put the second piece in the "correct" position. Even though it's misaligned with the first, I couldn't bring myself to put all three in the same wrong position just to make them match. Maybe it would have looked better, dunno.
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