AirTag decoration - first ever attempt at a water slide transfer

[iamasmith]

I took a fresh AirTag from the pack, removed the battery and reinstalled the back then marked top and bottom using a whiteboard marker to make a couple of dots.

I took off the back again, embedded it in Blu-Tac (to fix the orientation and protect the electronics from water), and marked top and bottom again with a screwdriver then wiped off the dots.

The decal was printed using a HP 8022 OfficeJet on Sunnyscopa clear decal paper, left to dry overnight and then coated 3 times with Rustoleum Crystal Clear coating - that was left another 24 hours to ensure a good seal on the ink before doing the transfer.

This is getting 24 hours to set then I reckon 5 to 10 coats of Crystal Clear as a protection and about a week drying before using it with the keychain.

I'll post another picture and comments when it's complete and then decorate the one I'm using at the moment.

The pic is René Magritte's 'Son of Man' taken from Wikipedia and then enhanced using Pixelmator Pro's ML Superfine adjustment. I thought it would be kinda nice to have it on an Apple device

Points to note already, it's very tricky to get sub mm precision when flattening/stretching out the crinkles at the edge using fingers. This one doesn't matter too much as the keychain will cover slight issues.

IRL the edges look slightly chewed but they are not, this is because of the clouds bordering the ring. If doing a decal to fit an AirTag that isn't going into a keychain then possibly it's best to add a solid ring graphic to show it's perfectly round - again this won't matter in the dark blue Apple keychain I have.

 

[iamasmith]

Somewhat wish I had paired this first to make sure it was a good one after seeing another post about dead ones in the multi-pack.. well I'm obviously willing to write one of them off if it didn't work out

 

[iamasmith]

I really loved the gloss when I had put 4 coats of lacquer on the decal as shown, the colours were really vibrant.

Then I got a bit impatient because I wanted to try it in the keyring after only a day of drying (also shown) - clearly not long enough drying because the surface took on a matte texture. Taken it out, one more coat and I'll probably give it a whole week of drying before trying it again now

The light was also a little harsh, as you can see the deep blue of the leather looks fairly light but I'll post another pic with better lighting or adjustment after 1 whole week of drying.

 

[Eso]

Looks good to me

 

[iamasmith]

Looks good to me

I promise I didn't steal your Avatar!.. I would have done mine but I'll need to dig out the original non blurry artwork to make it look cool (Dharma Plastic Duck station)

 

[testcard]

Surreal! Looks good.

 

[matrix07]

Surreal! Looks good.

HAL would be perfect for AirTag. 😀

 

[iamasmith]

Lacquer has finally had a week to dry fully so I've started using it and I'm doing an RAF roundel on another one.

 

[iamasmith]

RAF Roundel, solid images look fab. I might do the old Apple logo but I've only got 2 more and want to make sure I have a good variety (+ I don't have a designation yet for the last 2).

 

[testcard]

RAF Roundel, solid images look fab. I might do the old Apple logo but I've only got 2 more and want to make sure I have a good variety (+ I don't have a designation yet for the last 2).

View attachment 1774541

RAF Roundel, solid images look fab. I might do the old Apple logo but I've only got 2 more and want to make sure I have a good variety (+ I don't have a designation yet for the last 2).

View attachment 1774541

That works really well. 👍

 

[pacmania1982]

I wonder how resistant these transfers will be.

Be interested in finding out after a few weeks/months.

 

[iamasmith]

I wonder how resistant these transfers will be.

Be interested in finding out after a few weeks/months.

I think they should be fairly resistant as they have several coats of polyurethane spray lacquer over them and I tend to carry the keys, now they are on a fob, in a coat pocket rather than with my change in the trouser pocket.

I did learn that spray coating the metal side part is mixed, I got away with it on the one on my keychain but the roundel one ended up with a tiny amount on the underside which I had to scrape off because the tolerances are so fine it was hard to get the unit clipped together properly.

The last 2, when I do them will probably get just the spray coat over the water transfer. One will be for my work bag probably and the other may be for travel luggage so it will probably sit inside a luggage pocket.. I have mixed feelings about AirTags in whatever casings if attached to the outside still being in there once it's been in a hold - certainly the Apple loops for them seem a little less robust than the Belkin ones but I've actually had the whole corner of a Samsonite suitcase taken off.. I mean properly ground away so there was a hole 3" wide with my clothes exposed after a grind through some luggage handling process.

 

[iamasmith]

Durability. 6 months later, after carrying my AirTag in my pocket with a few coins and a metal lighter when I forgot to put back with the cigars when coming back inside.. mostly had that chunk of metal in my pocket a lot. I would say that the durability is pretty good, I scratched some of the gunk off to see it better and it seems like all the scratches are still in the spray coating I used - a bit of alcohol will probably remove the rest.
I'm going to cycle this out for another one with a new decal and do a single re-spray coating on this one to restore the shine but the process really seems to be quite durable to me.

 

[iamasmith]

Freshly sprayed today - the 5th coat to smooth away the lines around the lines around the decal. From experience I'm not going to even try to use it for a week to 10 days.

You can see a microscopic fuzz in the coating (you actually can't with the naked eye) which finally disappears when fully dried but it's not until that time period that it's particularly rub resistant and can go milky if you start using it too soon.

I'll start using this as my main whilst I re-coat the one I have at the moment.

And yeah, I know there's a minor nic at the left hand side. The edge had bubbled a touch so I scratched it out and it's not noticeable at real world scale but it's there and it bugs me a little