Dry Rub Decals

What are dry transfers?

Dry transfers are decals that can be applied without the use of water or solvents.

They are supplied on a silicone sheet with a pressure sensitive adhesive ready applied.  All you have to do is cut them out and lay the decal over the area where they are required and rub down on the silicone to transfer the decal to the surface.

Because of the lengthy production times and costs, they are not the cheapest option, but for many modellers they are simply the only option for convenience and speed of results.

Advantages.

Dry transfers are a premium product and have several advantages over waterslide:

Firstly they are very easy to apply requiring nothing more than a dull implement to transfer the image.  Almost any colour is possible in dry transfer including white, metallics, pearlescent and foil colours.  They can fix to most surfaces, including irregular surfaces if applied correctly.  When applied they have a very low profile with NO carrier film like waterslide decals.

Whilst our Water slide transfers are very opaque Dry Rub decals are more so, blocking any bleed from colours laying below the decal.

The only disadvantage is that they need protection like any other decal from abrasion and fuel.  As most scale builders give their models a clear coat to give their models a uniform paint finish this is not really a major issue, but has to be mentioned.

Best use for Dry Transfers.

The best use of dry transfers is the application of small nomenclature (also known as maintenance marks) which can be a little too small to produce in paint stencils.  Indeed even when paint stencils will work, Dry Rub decals may be preferred because of the speed with which they can be applied.

It is possible to produce most motifs and nose art images with Dry Transfer, though they tend to be special orders and dealt with on an individual basis. Please contact me for details.

For a list of the currently available nomenclature sheets please click here.

Pricing

Standard markings seen on aircraft can be produced at a lower cost to one off custom artwork.  It is difficult to offer up a price list online as there are so many factors to take into account.  Origination, number of colours, detail, sizing quantity, and uniqueness of the artwork can all have a part to play in the pricing.  When the on-line shop is up and running there will be a range of standard markings available to purchase.

Please contact me with your enquiry and I will do my very best to meet your requirements.

Be careful of imitations!

Dry transfers, also know as Rubdown Transfers, are produced from film negatives in conjunction with photosensitive chemicals to fix an image in a paint film.  A negative has to be produced for each colour in the image.  Adhesive is applied at the same time so that the "glue" fits the shape of the decal leaving no residues.  These are true dry transfers as supplied by us.

Imitation systems using ink-jet and laser printers are claimed to be dry transfers (usually by Arts & Craft suppliers) but sadly lack the opacity and colour richness that can be achieved with real dry transfers.  They also have a transparent film just like waterslide decals to carrying the image on a film.   These are not true dry rub decals and will give disappointing results.

Available Schemes.

My database of information is growing and I welcome information from anyone with new schemes not listed so I can increase the information available.  To see the currently available list and those in development please click here.