Carefully cut your decal to shape and place it in a saucer of cold water and leave to soak for 30 seconds or so, until the decal has released from the backing paper. Do not try to “force” (forcefully slide) the decal from the backing paper until it has fully released as this may stretch the varnish or cause it to break.
Slide the decal off the backing paper directly onto the surface you are applying it to. For larger decals it can be easier to slide the edge of the decal off the sheet first and then, whilst holding it in position, pull the backing paper away from underneath. Whilst the decal is still wet manoeuver it into its final resting position, ensuring that you have worked any air bubbles out to the edges. Using kitchen towel or soft tissue, carefully squeegee out any remaining bubbles and wipe away excess water and leave to dry for several hours in a warm place.
For best results, and to ensure the decal fits snugly over bumps and complex curves, use of a decal setting solution is strongly recommended. This will also help the edges of the transfer film to blend smoothly into your paintwork. There are a few fixing solutions available online, and I have found ‘Mr. Marks Softer’ to be one of the better ones. Brush the solution onto the area where you will be applying the decal and slide the transfer over this. Then brush some setting solution over the top of the transfer using a single brush stroke as too many brush strokes may cause the inks to bleed. Don’t be alarmed if the decal wrinkles up as these wrinkles will reduce, and pull the decal down firmly to the surface when fully dried. Then, leave to dry for several hours and do not touch the decal, or the surrounding paintwork, for several hours to allow everything to fully harden.
Transfers should only be applied to grease free, clean, glossy surfaces. If you require a matte finish to your model, spray over it with a suitable matte varnish after the transfer has been fitted and has dried thoroughly. As with all transfers, it is recommended that you coat them with a clear varnish after application to seal them in position and protect them indefinitely. Care needs to be taken if our decals are printed in metallic inks, as the metallic effect can be affected if you use a solvent based varnish. Water-based acrylic or 2-pack varnishes are recommended for these, but always ensure you have performed a test first to ensure there are no adverse effects to your finished piece.

You can use white waterslide decal paper and then will have to cut very precisely to prevent it from looking bad. Otherwise you will need a special printer with white toner/ink to print a white background colour before printing other colours.

You can use white waterslide decal paper and then will have to cut very precisely to prevent it from looking bad. Otherwise you will need a special printer with white toner/ink to print a white background colour before printing other colours.

Recommended printer settings: ‘Transparency’ & +3 Density for White

The blue backing waterslide decal paper has a clear decal film layer and blue colour backing paper which enables white designs to be visible. If you print white designs on white colour backing paper, it becomes very hard to see the printed white designs.

One of popular printers are Roland VS300i / Mimaki CJV300.

You need a special printer such as white toner printer (i.e. OKI Pro7411WT or iColor540) to print designs which involve white colour. Otherwise you have to use white decal paper, which requires very precise cutting to look professional.

For instance:

Roland model: VS300i
The standard-profil [Max3] Generic Clear Film [MT]
High Quality, W->CMYKLcLmMt
(without metallic there is another profile without [MT])
Errordiffusion (V)
Nearest Neighbor
Uni-Directional (or Bi-Directional)
Heater and Dryer on 45°C (maximum)
Slow printing is needed for the White ink to dry, so better use Uni-Directional.
This profile was taken from the Roland US Website.

Recommended printer settings: ‘Transparency’ & +3 Density for White

You need a special printer such as white toner printer (i.e. OKI Pro7411WT or iColor540) to print designs which involve white colour. Otherwise you have to use white decal paper, which requires very precise cutting to look professional.

For instance:

Roland model: VS300i
The standard-profil [Max3] Generic Clear Film [MT]
High Quality, W->CMYKLcLmMt
(without metallic there is another profile without [MT])
Errordiffusion (V)
Nearest Neighbor
Uni-Directional (or Bi-Directional)
Heater and Dryer on 45°C (maximum)
Slow printing is needed for the White ink to dry, so better use Uni-Directional.
This profile was taken from the Roland US Website.