The Little World

The heading image is fuzzy, out of focus, over coloured, and frightening.

That actually describes my mind on a lot of occasions – federal elections, tax time, family festivals, etc – but in this instance it was actually vital – I need decals for my new aircraft. And my go-to solution for them appeared to have gotten up and gone away…

The background is that I have a good inkjet printer – an Epson R3000 that is capable of turning out professional photo images. I’ve used it in the past to print 1:18 scale decals onto especial paper that I got from a hobby shop…and by and large the decals came out perfectly. I learned to coat, then slide them off the sheet carefully, and seal them down. A couple of years ago all seemed rosy.

Then when I tried out the new little sheet of simple RAAF and RCAF roundels and fin flashes for single-engine aircraft, all hell broke loose. The roundels were smeared, cracked, diffuse, and altogether unusable. Yet no change had been made to the setting of the printer and no change to the inks…I tested the printer with a sheet of regular Epson Premium GLossy paper and determined that it was doing fine.

Fortunately, Jordan at Hobbytech had a thought:  Had the older decal sheets been subjected to any oil or water? No oil that I knew of, but they had been stored in my work shed along with the paints and other tools. Could this have been it?

Well, I purchased the last packet of 5.5 inch by 8.5 inch Testors paper and took it home to try. It looked like the same paper as before…The instruction sheet, however, did caution against storing it where damp or heat could affect it…and my work shed regularly cycled up to the 40’s in summer. As the Testors packet was fresh and cool, it was worth a try.

Note that Testors also help out by specifying a plain paper setting for the printer – so as not to overload the surface.

Well, to conclude, it worked perfectly. The printed sheet came through smear-free and the edges of the roundels are fine. Now they’ll get the MicroDecal coating and be ready for the aircraft. When I go through the bottle of MicroDecal I’ll even try the Testors spray can of coating.

Moral of this is to treat papers the same way we used to treat professional colour sheet film – keep things cool, dry, and use them within a reasonable time.