General Decal Questions

[Watchie]

I have a strat body on the back of which I want to place an American flag decal.  The body is finished using Minwax wipe-on poly (not waterbased).  My desire is to apply several additional coats of the poly over the decal, once it is in place.  Here are my questions:

1.  Do I want a vinyl sticker or waterslide decal?

2.  Can I poly coat over either and in effect secure the decal and hide the edges?

3.  If a vinyl decal is the way to go, is there any specific type to look for or all they all about the same?

Again, I want the finished product to be sealed well onto the body, and look like the decal is "deep" into the finish.

Thanks in advance for any and all input.

 

[Tipperman]

I do not know much about decals, but a waterslide is thin and if you don't apply it right initially it will scrunch up if you slide it around. a vinyl decal, on the other hand, is thicker and you can slide it around to adjust. (Someone can elaborate - I think a little water is used to help slide it around, but again, someone else would have to elaborate.) If I'm completely horribly wrong, ignore this comment.

 

[anorakDan]

Correct! A waterslide decal is not the way to go. With a vinyl "sticker" you can spray a little water with a tiny amount of liquid soap dissolved into it, will allow the decal to be slid into position, then you just burnish is down and let dry.

 

[Watchie]

Can a vinyl decal be overcoated with a poly finish?

 

[anorakDan]

Not sure about that. The thing to do is give it a try on a decal you don't care about.

I think there might a an issue with a water-based poly, in that the vinyl will repel the water. I don't know, just speculating.

For a solvent-based clearcoat, you never know if the solvent will attack the vinyl until you try it.

However, vinyl decals are often printed upon, so there are inks that will not interact with the vinyl, there must be clears as well.

When in doubt, experiment on something other than your project, with the same materials you intend to use.