Wesena e7: Waterslide Decals Photos

Wesena e7: Waterslide Decals Part 2

Paint is drying now, very happy with the results. I applied 2 light mist coats 15 min apart, followed by 2 thicker coats 15 min apart. I had to paint the rest of the front panel as the gloss changed the appearance of the metal. One word of warning if you plan on painting a large surface, apply the paint in light coats, I had a small area where the paint pooled and if you look close you can see a ripple on the front panel. It was much easier to apply the decals and paint on the small dvd cover as compared to my first attempt on the Silverstone case. The small size of the dvd cover made it very easy to align the decals, and easy to paint.

   
  

The steps I used to apply the decals:

1.)Cut each decal as close to the lettering as possible.

2.) Soak the decals one at a time in a bowl of water for about 5-10 seconds. Only place the second decal in the water after the first has been applied.

3.) Pull the decal gently out of the water, use your finger to push the edge of the decal off the paper, only about 1mm. Apply a coating of micro sol on the surface you wish to place the decal. Micro sol is pretty strong so you might want to test it on a part of the case that you wont see in case it eats away your paint.

4.)Use a small foam brush with some water on it to hold the free edge of the decal down against the surface you wish to apply the decal to and pull the paper out from under the decal. The micro sol starts to work very quickly so you will only have a second to position the decal.

5.)Once the decal is in place use a foam brush to gently dab micro sol on top of the decal. Only apply one coat now, it will start to wrinkle the decal and make it very soft. Let it dry (for me it dried in about 15min).

6.) re apply the micro sol every 15 min about 4 more times, at some point reapplying started to make no difference. You can gently push down on the decal with the foam brush to get the decal to bond better with the case, but push straight down do not make a brushing motion with any force. You can gently brush the microsol on the decal but only if you just barely touch the decal, and only on the 3rd or 4th application.

7.)Let the decal dry for 24 hours.

8.) Make sure the surface is clean of dust or finger prints, if it not wipe it off gently with a moist rag and let it dry.

9.) Apply two light mist coats of Testors Gloss Coat enamel paint, 15 min apart.

10.) After 15 min of drying apply a thicker coat of the enamel,wait 15 min and repeat. It is better to apply to little paint as you can always add more. If you look at my photos you can see some “orange peel” on the decals from applying too much paint.

11.) Let it dry 24 hours before handling, and even then you might want to wait even longer before really working with it.

Enjoy!