Vinyl vs Waterslide Graphics

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one_inch_railroad
Posts: 86
Joined: Sun Aug 14, 2011 11:20 pm

Vinyl vs Waterslide Graphics

Post by one_inch_railroad »

I have some 1" scale heavyweight coaches I need to get graphics made up for. In the past, I have always used waterslide decals on all my freight cars. I was wondering if I should think about using vinyl instead and what the various pro's and con's of each are. Which one is easier to apply, looks better, has better longevity, etc. The cars have some rivet detail on them so I'm not sure if that will make a difference. I also have a multicolor logo I would like to put on. Would that logo specifically be better as a waterslide?

Would it look okay to use some waterslide and some vinyl graphics or would the visual differences be noticeable enough that it looked bad?
FLtenwheeler
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Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2003 8:47 am
Location: Florida, on the Lake Wales Ridge

Re: Vinyl vs Waterslide Graphics

Post by FLtenwheeler »

You could also get vinyl stencils and paint the lettering.

Tim
He who dies with the most unfinished projects: Should of put more time into their hobby.
jcbrock
Posts: 511
Joined: Tue May 22, 2012 7:50 pm
Location: Oregon

Re: Vinyl vs Waterslide Graphics

Post by jcbrock »

My thought is it is a durability choice, amplified by where the equipment will be stored. The most durable and weatherproof would be Tim's idea of stencils and paint, followed by the waterslide with a sealer over the top, and lastly the vinyl. The vinyl adhesive may have issues if the cars are stored somewhere hot. My 2 cents, I only have experience with the vinyl and the paint options.
John Brock
dash9
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Re: Vinyl vs Waterslide Graphics

Post by dash9 »

There are different makeups of vinyl for graphics, one being Cast or Calendared. Cast vinyl will last 10 to 20 years, not the Chinese stuff but 3M. Calendared will last outside 2 to 3 years max. To go over wood grain or rivets you need .5 to 2 mils thick. Some specialty company's offer .05mils thick.
some have small lines in the glue to relieve air bubbles, most do not. We used 3 m on a truck 30 years ago and it still looks like the day it was put on. On another truck using cast but the cheap stuff 3 years old ( being Cheap) it is shrinking and fading really bad.
Kevin S
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Joined: Sun Apr 11, 2010 4:11 pm
Location: Rocklin, CA

Re: Vinyl vs Waterslide Graphics

Post by Kevin S »

I fully agree with Tim, have a paint mask stencil made and paint the lettering on. The problem with both vinyl and waterslide over the rivet is that it will looked domed at the rivet. Personal preference on the paint mask is a positive image, that is it just looks like vinyl lettering. Paint the lettering color first apply paint mask after paint has dried then paint the rest of the car. This way lessons the chance for overspray and takes less time and material for masking every thing off.
-Kevin S.
Gra2472
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Joined: Sat Jan 25, 2020 8:02 pm
Location: Monte Rio California

Re: Vinyl vs Waterslide Graphics

Post by Gra2472 »

Kevin just finished the paint and lettering on my locomotives a couple of weeks ago. I can say from experience that his method of painting the lettering using mask lettering works quite well. Clearly it is still a work in progress as I reassemble it.
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