Anybody heard from thewintersoldier ?

The Gator

Well-known member
I thought thewintersoldier did a write up on using film free decals. I cannot seem to find it now.
Am I way off?
Thank you in advance for your replies.
-Gator
 
Sunnyscopa is the brand you want to get I read from his guide it’s what I use!
You’re going to want to print out your design on there.
Clean the surface of your enclosure!
Then cut it out and place in water for 20 seconds. (Use distilled water so as to not stain your decal and heat for 30 sec in microwave)
Make sure to completely dry the decal with paper towel.
In the meantime apply the glue do liberally so you can relocate the decal where you want it.
After you use the squeegee it comes with to remove any excess water and glue that’s under the decal.
After it’s ready for the first heat treatment. Use a hair dryer for 10 min constantly moving it.
After remove the film at this step you can also take a q tip with isp and wipe away any unwanted borders if you printed them out to help align the decal.
Then it’s ready for the 2nd heat treatment it goes in a dedicated oven at 200f for 50min to an hr!
And you’re done do your drilling and that’s it.
Hope this helps.

Extra Tip:
When submerging the decal in water after you pull it out right before you put it to dry you can try to shift the film off the paper backing to make it easier to peel after you apply it!

Also make sure to print your decal backwards! If you print it out normally when you go to apply it it will be reversed!
 
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Awesome! Thank you to everyone for the help.
It seems to be a great way to get durable graphics and actually perhaps easier than hand painted and waterslide decals.
I feel like I am ready to give it go.
The laser printer is the problem. I don't have one and I don't know much about them. I need recommendations and need to do some research.
 
Awesome! Thank you to everyone for the help.
It seems to be a great way to get durable graphics and actually perhaps easier than hand painted and waterslide decals.
I feel like I am ready to give it go.
The laser printer is the problem. I don't have one and I don't know much about them. I need recommendations and need to do some research.
I have a brother printer. This paper doesn’t like to play nice with printers. They even mention it in the Amazon questions section. Just don’t get discouraged if it doesn’t print out on the first shot keep messing with the position of the paper in the tray and it will eventually take and print. I never get mine to print on the first go around. I could be wrong but like I said I think this will be a problem with any laser printer.

I went with the brother printer cause it was the cheapest and had the highest resolution. Problem being if you want to print white in the future they don’t make white toner cartridges for brother printers only hp’s and canon’s
 
I bought a relatively expensive color laser and have consistently good results. Some other folks around here seem to get streaks in solid black that I don't get
 
@Guardians of the analog, your knowledge is requested.
New account, who dis? 😂😂😂 As far printers go, I have seen good results from HP printers of the no film users out there. I wanna say we all used them. Mine is a cheap 100 dollar black only HP laser printer. Depending on how deep you wanna go there are a few things anyone interested in this method should keep in mind. One, it's not cheap. Printer and the paper/glue are a commitment. Second is the learning curve. You will make mistakes and get creative using profanity in new ways. It takes practice to get your process down, and then you will still have things turn out bad sometimes., Trust me I know. Even with a color printer, there will be limitations as to what will translate between what your design is and what is on the enclosure. I'm being completely honest, between the cost on toner, the paper, shipping cost and the time it takes, I won't be going back to it as I feel the cost of UV printing is more time efficient and cost prohibitive.
 
New account, who dis? 😂😂😂 As far printers go, I have seen good results from HP printers of the no film users out there. I wanna say we all used them. Mine is a cheap 100 dollar black only HP laser printer. Depending on how deep you wanna go there are a few things anyone interested in this method should keep in mind. One, it's not cheap. Printer and the paper/glue are a commitment. Second is the learning curve. You will make mistakes and get creative using profanity in new ways. It takes practice to get your process down, and then you will still have things turn out bad sometimes., Trust me I know. Even with a color printer, there will be limitations as to what will translate between what your design is and what is on the enclosure. I'm being completely honest, between the cost on toner, the paper, shipping cost and the time it takes, I won't be going back to it as I feel the cost of UV printing is more time efficient and cost prohibitive.
I was literally thinking man I need to start doing UV printing. My thing is there’s only so much you can do with a laser printer and I agree even the color printers still won’t get same kind of detail you’re going to want.
 
I was literally thinking man I need to start doing UV printing. My thing is there’s only so much you can do with a laser printer and I agree even the color printers still won’t get same kind of detail you’re going to want.
UV printing felt daunting at first because I had to learn a new program and there were parameters to printing but I figured if I can build a complex pedal I could do this. I feel like for me, I wasn't able to achieve my full vision for my builds until I was doing UV prints. Just keep learning and pushing your finish line a little at a time.
 
UV printing felt daunting at first because I had to learn a new program and there were parameters to printing but I figured if I can build a complex pedal I could do this. I feel like for me, I wasn't able to achieve my full vision for my builds until I was doing UV prints. Just keep learning and pushing your finish line a little at a time.
Well that’s all I needed to hear sir! I think I’m going to finish using up all the enclosures I already have on hand ( I don’t like wasting money😉) and start doing UV enclosures. I believe you have guides on how to do that as well don’t you? I’m already using adobe illustrator so I don’t think I have to get accustomed to another program.
 
Well that’s all I needed to hear sir! I think I’m going to finish using up all the enclosures I already have on hand ( I don’t like wasting money😉) and start doing UV enclosures. I believe you have guides on how to do that as well don’t you? I’m already using adobe illustrator so I don’t think I have to get accustomed to another program.
The videos I did can apply to whatever program you use but the video I showed the layers and swatches for tayda are in illustrator. There are lots of other very talented people on here that are putting out amazing designs that are way more qualified than I am, but I've never been one to not help or answer a question if it would help. If I don't know we can find out together 😂
 
The videos I did can apply to whatever program you use but the video I showed the layers and swatches for tayda are in illustrator. There are lots of other very talented people on here that are putting out amazing designs that are way more qualified than I am, but I've never been one to not help or answer a question if it would help. If I don't know we can find out together 😂
I agree! I’m the same way I think this hobby immediately pushes you to help everyone else cause you want to see what someone can come up with if they had the same knowledge as you! I love seeing the creativity people can come up with, with the simple help and knowledge you can provide! Well said sir!
 
After taking the UV Print plunge I’m not sure I can go back. It’s just far and above anything I was doing before. Same for faceplates really. Plenty of help on the forum to figure it out too.
 
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