Varnish Transfer Decals

udallcustombikes · Apr 28, 2011

Two of the decals I needed for my '37 BSA were only available in a varnish transfer type decal. I have never used this type before so I have read several sets of instructions on the web before I give it a shot. Any fellow rat rodders have experiance with these? Anything I need to be aware of before I attempt to put them on? Any tips to ease my installation?

I will document my installation later tonight when I attempt it.

Fireproof · Apr 29, 2011

The procedure for applying your decals sounds similar to gilding . . . seems like once you have those decals figured out, you should be able to attempt gold leafing. :wink:

udallcustombikes · Apr 29, 2011

Well, this might be a disaster. The site I bought the decals from said that they were varnish transfer. Having never dealt with varnish transfers I assumed that is what they were. After I had cut them from the sheet, removed the backing, brushed with varnish, and applied the decal to the frame it was time to wait. After the varnish was dry I went back with a damp cloth to remove the "tissue backer", except it was plastic, not tissue. It was right then that I realized that they had gone from varnish transfer to printed vinyl decals.

Now I have two varnish covered decals on the frame, in nice shiny varnish spots on the frame. So to get the spots where the decals were to match the rest of the frame I decided to go ahead and varnish the whole frame.

Guess I will go back out to the garage in the morning and see what I have done. Luckily I bought two complete sets of decals for when I decide to repaint the bike in the future. The future might be closer that I thought.