from Bob at RCGroups

While reading one of the Posts in Scale Modeling, I happend to notice how many people are cutting out,gluing, and removing paper tranfers from their parts,trying to find the "best" not-so-sticky glue,etc.,etc,. While another Fellow's hint of using acetone to directly transfer the parts to the actual wood, went pretty much ignored in the melay... I don't use acetone, but rather laquer thinner... and I transfer My parts directly from a photo copy off the actual plan,to My nicely graded & selected contest wood NO careful cutting, NO glueing,No trying to get paper off,or "gummy"glue residue .. Like they say on the Infomercial "Set it, and forget it" ( or in this case, "Cut it" ) I took My cheapy Vivitar 2700 digital camera outside just before sunset this evening & snapped some fuzzy photos to give a general idea of how it's done.

STEP 1......

Here is what You need to begin Your parts transfer

1: Can of Laquer Thinner
2: Scissors
3: Your carefully selected wood
4: an Old cotton sock, rag,whatever you want..
5: Photo copy of the parts You wish to reproduce

STEP 2......

"loosely" cut around the area of Your Part(s) and place it face down(copy-side down) on the wood. Position it so you get the best economy out of your sheet.(space makes waste!) Your cloth should be "DAMPENED" NOT soaked in laquer thinner... Too much thinner will cause a blotching effect & make fine-lines thick!

STEP 3......

Holding firmly in place with one hand to prevent movement,use the other hand to blot on the back of the paper,straight down using firm pressure untill the paper becomes "translucent" showing the entire part on the back. ( I can't show this because I'm holding the camera ) Blot from one end to the other,and back again.. fimly..The transfer is a 1-shot deal & will not work the second time, so have an extra copy or two on hand for Boo-boo's while learning.....and for your later use.

STEP 4.....

Still holding one end firmly in place(to avoid moving) raise one end of the paper up to check your progress (again, I'm holding the camera so I can't) And... PRESTO! a perfect part,on the wood, ready to cut! EEEEEEZZZZZZZZ!!!!!! And the BEST part of all,is it's FAST & CHEAP! You can run off copies right from the plans by positioning it differently under a photo copier. I use "Office-Max"(they have a Do-it-youself "Copy-Max" inside )
The BIGGEST copy (11" x 17" legal size) costs 12 cents ea! The Laquer thinner can be bought at ANY hardware store for around $2.50 per qt. The can I'm using is rusty on top because I've had it so long,and it's still over half full...
The demonstration pieces I made took about 6 minutes to make, and I was going slow & taking pictures....

STEP 5...

Make use of the "unused space" by sqeezing smaller parts in where You can... Here I squeeze 3 stabilizer ribs into space pockets . Going over the same place with the dampened rag will NOT effect the parts already tranfered after the laquer thinner evaporates usually just a matter of 20 seconds or so. You can actually make your sheet look like the old Kit printwood with no space on the sheet left to waste!

The ACTUAL RESULTS...

My scanner does a MUCH better job of showing the actual results.
The ONLY difference between the actual pattern & the copy will be the letters or numbers will be "mirrored" or reversed on the part ( look at the scan )And for You "Laser-Cut Only" Kitboys,.. This will work on your Lasered sheets too. If You copy the actual lasered sheet in a photo copier befor You push those parts,You will be able to re-create any part to repair that "Mishap" that eventually comes to all of us. Some Laser-cut kits are less than forthcomming with parts patterns on the plans.... so this way You can replace that wing you tried to fly between the power-lines! And always have the means to build another..