jpiperson2002 - Posted - 11/29/2009:  11:52:25

This is a long post with about a dozen pictures of different ‘print-them-yourself’ temporary tattoo decals mounted inside my banjo heads. I got interested in this topic after reading some posts about banjo head art and mounting a commercial temporary tattoo decal on my Goodtime;



I liked the way it looked but at $3US to $5 each the commercial temporary tattoo decals are fairly expensive, plus the selection is limited and I had about a 1/3 failure rate getting them to mount cleanly. After some research I came across a product called Waterslide paper which is used to print your own temporary decals. It comes in 8.5x11” sheets designated for use ink jet or laser jet printers and costs about $30US for 10 sheets.

There are two basic types of Waterslide paper; transparent paper where the color white in the design is transparent in the decal, and white paper where the color white in the design shows white in the decal.

There are two general kinds of Waterslide kits available from many vendors like http://www.decalpaper.com/ One kit is marketed as temporary tattoo decals for use on skin and the other kit designated for making decals to be used on inanimate objects. The temporary tattoo kit for use on skin includes a clear adhesive plastic sheet which is used to cover the printed decal and to glue the decal to the skin. The other kind of kit for decaling inanimate objects uses clear Acrylic spray varnish to protect the images on Waterslide sheets, after which the Waterslide paper is moistened to release the decal which is then slid off the Waterslide backing paper and onto the head.

After testing about a dozen decals using each kind of kit I decided that decal kits using the clear acrylic spray looked better and were easier to apply and remove than the temporary skin tattoos which use the clear adhesive cover sheets. I could never get a completely clear image when mounting the temporary skin tattoos due to irregularities in the adhesive layer on the plastic sheets used to protect and attach the decals.

Making and applying temporary decals using Waterslide paper sealed with clear acrylic spray varnish is very simple and is shown in detail in several Youtube videos. Images are printed on 8.5x11” sheets of Waterslide paper and then the sheets are sprayed a few times with Ultraclear acrylic varnish to protect the ink.

These decals will appear in reversed image when mounted inside the head so be sure to flip unsymetric images before printing (MS Paint which comes with Windows can flip or rotate images) so they'll look the way you intend when mounted.

Once the varnish had dried the decal can be trimmed out of the sheet. Then it’s soaked in warm water for about 45 seconds to loosen the decal, which is slid gently off of the Waterslide paper backing and onto the banjo head. Use a soft damp sponge to gently remove wrinkles and to squeeze out any air bubbles caught under the decal.

Not sure where to find pictures to use on your decals? Here’s a fantastic resource for free downloadable artwork with literally thousands of pictures of tattoo and decal art; http://tinyurl.com/yk2qx5m

If you want to narrow your search try adding the word Tribal or Abstract to the search line (upper left of page). The site hosts many categories of art but tattoo designs are especially useful for making decals because they usually present a simple image on a white background. Any personal picture or photograph might also be used of course.

There is a very powerful free graphics program called Gimp available at; http://files.uberdownloads.com/apps/gimp/index.php
GIMP is the poor man’s versions of Photoshop and lets you switch out colors, manipulate photographs and so forth. It’s probably not needed to make decals but it can do almost anything that needs to be done with an image.

Making the decals was easy. I downloaded some interesting images and printed test copies in different sizes on regular paper to tape inside the head to see how they’d look. Here are the sheets of printed Waterslide decal paper before and after trimming. I used the transparent Waterslide paper so the background and white portions of the decals would be transparent after the decal is mounted.






First for comparison, here are some decals mounted inside a frosted head. They only show through the frosting with a pale ghostly image but it might be used for a subtle effect.






Here are some pictures of the temporary tattoo decals intended for use on skin mounted inside translucent renaissance heads, with a Remo head on the Goodtime and an Elite amber head on the BG250 resonator banjo. There is some slight patchiness of the images where the decals failed to adhere fully to the head in small spots;









Those skin tattoo decals form a tough stretchy transparent film which sticks securely to the head which can be peeled away cleanly with some effort;




And here are pictures of temporary decals which used the clear Acrylic spray varnish to seal the ink. These images show through the heads evenly and clearly. I didn’t use enough Acrylic varnish spray on some of the sheets and as a result some of the larger decals were difficult to slide off the backing paper without wrinkling because they were so flimsy. I found that liberally spraying the printed sheets 3 separate times with the clear acrylic varnish, allowing them to dry at least an hour between each application, built up a thicker decal which made it much easier to slide the larger decals off the backing and to apply them without wrinkling.

These varnish sprayed decals are very easy to apply and remove, they peel right off in a few seconds and if they stick a bit of warm water will help to remove them. Any residue leftover after removal can be wiped away gently with lacquer thinner. Always use lacquer thinner with good ventilation! It's a powerful solvent which can also be used to remove oily stains or even the manufacturers trademark from the head.













I hope that wasn't too many pictures for a single post.

So for about $4 per 8.5x11 sheet of Waterslide decal paper you can print your own temporary decals using any image in any size you want. They are easy to remove or replace if you want to temporarily add some artwork to your renaissance banjo head.

John Piper

Edited by - jpiperson2002 on 11/29/2009 15:58:52

harold saxton - Posted - 11/29/2009:  11:58:20

Super cool!

ramjo - Posted - 11/29/2009:  12:55:54

Great post--I learned a lot! I like your eye. Lots of potential here. Thanks for sharing.

mountiepicker - Posted - 11/29/2009:  13:43:58

That's a neat idea. Adds a contemporary, personalized look. To each his own.

Jason

PharmBoy - Posted - 11/29/2009:  17:20:41

Thanks for this. I want to investigate further..

booneroo - Posted - 11/29/2009:  18:52:33

Really cool.... lots of potential here! I've already got some wacky stuff going through my brain...

mike gregory - Posted - 11/29/2009:  20:11:34

This one might need a "MOON" bridge, to make it look happier.



Marvelous idea you've got going here.

Nelson - Posted - 11/29/2009:  20:32:53

Really cool!!!

5stringpicker2 - Posted - 11/30/2009:  07:02:10

I'm an Artist myself Airbrush & Sign Painter Retired of course & the only thing I ever customized was my cases, I have to give this try and see what develops, Thanx.

(I )===='---<::)

Gomer - Posted - 11/30/2009:  07:44:29

This is a very cool post! thanx.