Is Micro Sol Neccesary with Waterslide Decals

[PhiloB]

I'm planning on my first envirotex enclosure and I've applied the waterslide decal.  Will I benefit from buying some Micro Sol or will the envirotex make irrelevant?

[Gledison]

Sorry, im not helping you here
Just want to ask you to let me know how was your first test. im doing my first tests and had some issues with curing in the toast oven (huge bubles )
cheers

[muddyfox]

You are baking the waterslide? 
I haven't tried waterslides on pedals yet but I did some on model airplanes and those dried overnight all on their own. Now you got me curious. 

Isn't there some special bake-on decal paper?

[bcalla]

Micro Sol and similar product Solvaset are used when applying the decal.  What they do is make the decal film a little softer so that it hugs contours better.  If you use a gloss finish, for pedals it will primarily help around drilled holes, and over any defects in the paint (if there is a tiny spec of paint that raises up from the finish, you won't get an air pocket around it).  Because it softens the film, it makes it a little more likely that you will stretch the decal if you move it around too much.  Since your decal is down, there is no need.

[PhiloB]

I don't bake.  It says to let it dry 12 hours.  This is my second go at it.  The first one I sprayed with clear coat and you can see the edge of the decal pretty clearly.  Didn't know if the epoxy resin hid the edge any better.  I'd prefer to skip the micro sol step (it'd save me a trip to the Hobby store tomorrow and I could envirotex tonight).  I'm pretty impatient unfortunately.

[mattlee0037]

I've heard some clear vinegar in water does this job nicely as well and much cheaper


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[muddyfox]

So you soak the waterslide in vinegar/water prior to applying it to soften it up?

[gtr2]

I used to use microsol but I don't anymore.  It can leave watermark type residue under the clear coat.

[bcalla]

I don't bake.  It says to let it dry 12 hours.  This is my second go at it.  The first one I sprayed with clear coat and you can see the edge of the decal pretty clearly.  Didn't know if the epoxy resin hid the edge any better.  I'd prefer to skip the micro sol step (it'd save me a trip to the Hobby store tomorrow and I could envirotex tonight).  I'm pretty impatient unfortunately.

Envirotex does a much better job hiding decals than clear paint.  I only have 2 ET sessions under my belt, first one I did one pedal that had a waterslide decal, second I did 2 pedals with vinyl stickers.  In both cases the edges are invisible.

You're going to have to control your impatience with ET.  The first time I put it on pretty thick and it took about 5 days to really harden.  Second time I kept it a little thinner and it still took 2 days.  One hint to determine this, put ET on something you don't care about at the same time as your pedal.  You can feel free to handle the other item to see if it's hard.  I used some lids to plastic containers that I store parts in.

[PhiloB]

Great suggestion bcalla.  Josh, you make a good point also about watermarks.  Wouldn't have thought about that.  Looks like no Micro Sol unless I'm not happy with the results.

[bcalla]

I still use Solvaset, and I have been familiar with it and Micro Sol for about 45 years when I used to work in a hobby shop.  It is much less critical to use on pedals than what is was originally sold for - model trains, airplanes, ships, etc.  Those items have detail molded into them - think of the rivet detail on a model airplane wing.  These solutions can make the decal look like paint on those surfaces.  Obviously not an issue with gloss enamel baked onto a smooth aluminum enclosure.

However, I usually work with pre-painted enclosures (sometimes blems), drill them on my press, and decal the top with a large sheet that covers most of the top surface.  The drill can cause an indentation - almost like a crater - around the edges of the holes.  A large sheet decal will sometime lift around the edges of the hole because it's not perfectly flat.  I have had decals chip around holes.  The solvents help with this by letting the decal follow the contour of the crater.

As far as watermarks are concerned, you should very carefully wash the decal with water once dried - this should remove marks from the solvent.

[davent]

I used to paint Micro Set over the edges of the decal once the decal was positioned, would do it periodically over the course of a couple days and it did seem to help blend the edges in a little.

Like others have said about vinegar, this stuff does smell acetic acid and would seem to be not much more then dilute white vinegar sold in tiny little bottles at a premium price.

[PhiloB]

I let the decal dry for exactly 12 hours.  The envirotex pour went surprisingly well.  Nice coverage to the edge.  Went back about an hour later and the edges of the decal were pulling up! I guess this is where the Solvaset would have benefitted me.  I'm goning to let it dry 48 hrs and practice drilling the holes.  Will probably end up redoing the whole thing.  Live and learn.

[mattlee0037]

So you soak the waterslide in vinegar/water prior to applying it to soften it up?

Yeah. Note I've never done this, but came across lots of people suggesting this instead of spending money on decal softener. I'd say make a small decal you don't care about and try it out. It's a few bucks to get like a gallon of the stuff. A few cap-fulls of it in your soaking water and test it out.

[jimilee]

I let the decal dry for exactly 12 hours.  The envirotex pour went surprisingly well.  Nice coverage to the edge.  Went back about an hour later and the edges of the decal were pulling up! I guess this is where the Solvaset would have benefitted me.  I'm goning to let it dry 48 hrs and practice drilling the holes.  Will probably end up redoing the whole thing.  Live and learn.

I let my water slides dry for at least 24hrs. Any sooner and I did notice the edges pulling up also. I don't use any microsol, I just soak the enclosure in hot water and it makes the decal easier to slide around on the top.generally I don't worry about air bubbles, it usually works itself out unless the paint you used is ultra glossy. I've had some bad ones and some good ones. I think there is a tutorial around here somewhere that is very helpful.