Water slide decal paper is even available at Walmart.

Gee, how did I miss that? I stroll the isle in Wal-Mart every time I go. Will have to search more deeply.

.... and hobby shops, Office Max, Micro Mark, etc. If I recall, Michael Baker is an expert in its use.

Hardly an expert, but I can tell you a lot of wrong ways to do it! Ha!

I have not seen it at Wal-Mart here. They keep downsizing the departments that I shop in, though. Their craft area is virtually down to one short aisle now.

I use an inkjet waterslide decal paper that I order online. It can be made waterproof with specific sealers (some don't work). A couple limitations are:

1) Opacity - Even though the decal paper comes in both clear and white, there is a limit to the opacity of the ink. It is very difficult to apply light colored decals over dark painted backgrounds.

2) White is not a color - Inkjets do not print white, they leave those areas blank. This goes hand in hand with the opacity issue above.

3) Inkjets cannot print gold or other metallics - I have developed a way to work around this, but even that has severe limitations.

Certain printers, like ALPS printers, are capable of the type of ink printing that makes the decals with all those qualities. This may be Norm's process, or he may have found a company that does the work. From my understanding, and I may be wrong about this, ALPS printers are no longer being made, and used ones are only as good as the ink remaining on the planet.

Latest completed project. This is a large silk cabby... much larger than most. The elevator-style chamber is lever operated from underneath. The lever mechanics allows the chamber to move into position with less finger movement than would typically be required.

This is also the first time I have tried my hand at stencil work with this many colors. Far from perfect, I had to cheat a bit and do some touch up work by hand.

Hey, there's no such thing as cheatin'. What matters is the finished product, and it looks good!

Looks good Michael. I always liked magic stencil work. Have you sold it yet???

Maybe I can see it first hand on Sunday if you've still got it.

Oh, great color on the dragon.

Gorgeous work Mr Baker...

Thanks, guys!

I have not tried to sell it yet. Even if I do, chances are I wouldn't ship it before next week, so it should be here this weekend.

This thing is a beast. I had an inquiry a couple months ago about a stage size Cabby, so I quoted a price but never heard back from the guy. I figured I'd make one anyway, just because it was something different. I'd estimate the doors are as big as the average size Cabby. It's about 11" across the base.

I had to cut six separate stencils, one for each color.

I see its six colors. Super job. Cant wait to see it.

What size silks is this model made to work best with, 24" or 27".

Now, how about building a Silk Cabby that will work with 36" silks, built on a stand. That would be really cool!

I haven't tested it for silk size, but I'd imagine it will take the larger ones. The chamber would probably hold a six footer, but it probably would not pass easily through the holes.

With 24", I'd bet you could easily do a six color silk dye, one after the other.