Using dry transfers

[Sturgeon-Phish]

I'm redoing an American Flyer 350 and will be using dry transfers for the first time. Any tips instructions and cautions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Jim

[thor]

Wow, I didn't know these were still available, my sources - art shops - have all dried up. I take it you mean dry transfer lettering, like Letraset?

If so, then the trick is to be very gentle doing the transfer and then to burni***hem down.
Here's how.

Make sure the surface is absolutely clean and dry. If it has any lumps or bumps like rivets or scribed plank lines, you have to be extra careful as the lettering ink is fairly brittle and will crack and distort if not laid on a flat surface. The cheap lettering has a thick plastic sheet and that can cause the letters to distort and crack during transfer, the good stuff has a thin hard sheet..

If you can spare any letters try a practice run first

Depending on the brand, there is a trick you can use to help in awkward spots and that is to transfer the needed letter onto a piece of glass or plastic with the absolute minimum of pressure, use a pencil point and make spots of pressure like spot welds. Then you can lift it off with good tweezers and position it exactly as needed.

Once the letter is down, it has to be burnished or it wont stay stuck. You put a piece of tracing paper over it and with a pencil you 'shade' over the letter, which is applying extra pressure to drive out any air bubbles and make sure the adhesive takes.

These letters wont stay stuck if they get oily or much handling so its wise to put a transparent varnish/ matt coating on them afterwards. If it shows up against the plastic, use a fine 000 sable brush and just coat the letter.

Hope that helps.

[Jumijo]

As Thor said, make sure the surface is clean and dry. That includes removing any fingerprints on the piece.

I'm assuming that you have a dry transfer sheet specifically for that locomotive. Cut out enough of the backing material so that you can tape it to the shell with masking tape. Make sure the piece is straight and centered, then tape it down. Rub the dry transfers with a blunt instrument like a burnishing tool if you have one. If not, a pencil works fine, but not a freshly sharpened one. Make sure it has a blunt end. Rub just hard enough so that the letters come off the backing sheet. Too much pressure causes the transfers to crack or distort. After all the transfers have been applied, burni***hem down good with a sheet of paper as Thor suggested. they are fragile and may require a clear coat of some kind to protect them from damage, but I'll leave that up to you to decide.

Jim

[Anonymous]

Woodland Scenics still carries a large line of letters/numbers, mainly in Railroad type styles and "colors'. The advice on install above is complete. Hardest part on using dry transfer on an opaque target is that the target is opaque! I've used dry transfer in relation to drafting work and you are working on a light table. You can easily see and line up the material before applying. On a solid object this is almost impossible.

One other trick you can use is to put the dry transfer on clear decal film, burnish it, top coat with liquid decal film and then use regular decalling techniques on your work. This is still tuff to do with white letters/numbers as the decal backing paper is very light in color.