Notes on transfer tape

I've had a few discussions and email exchanges with Martin and others about transfer tape. I use it a lot these days, but I'm a bit cavalier in my writing about what it is and how I use it. I thought I'd write this note to elaborate a little.

I first learned about 3M's transfer tape in an excellent article by Brooks Stover called Scratchbuild a Small Factory that appeared in the May 2013 issue of Model Railroader. In it he shows a picture of how he made S-scale self-adhesive siding using transfer tape and card stock. That got me thinking, so I went and tracked down a roll of 3M transfer tape. Since then I've used it a lot, although I'm no expert on it. I can't say for certain why it's called transfer tape. The best I can figure out from cursory internet searches is that the name derives from the idea that this tape allows one to transfer decorative finishes to a structural substrate - but don't quote me on that. 

I buy it from Deserres - an art supply chain based in Montreal with a store here in Ottawa - in 1/2" and 3/4" rolls, where each roll has 36 yards of tape. 

The rolls are reverse wound, meaning that unlike regular household sticky tape, the glue is on the 'outside' of the carrier. That plaid wrapper on the roll protects its gluey surface from sticking to everything it touches. And believe me it will, stick that is. The adhesive is quite strong and fast grabbing.

In the photo I'm rolling out some tape on a piece of card. Notice the plaid wrapper above and to the left of my hand. Don't discard it as you'll need to put it back on the roll to preserve it once you've applied tape to something.

That brown paper is the tape's carrier, and underneath it, stuck to the card, is the adhesive. Usually once I've applied a piece of the tape to something, I burnish it to make sure it's evenly stuck down.

When you're ready to stick something to the tape, just peel off the carrier to expose the adhesive. You can see what you're left with is just a thin strip of very sticky adhesive - there's no carrier film at all as is the case with regular double-sided tape.

I've used transfer tape in a number of projects including: trimming the Grizzly Flats depot, holding down track on the EVRR, installing external elements on the Thomson high-rise, creating the roof on Steinberg's, building the facade of the Canadian Press complex, siding the the Rocky Ridge depot, and more recently, holding together the basic structure on the Thrifty's project.

No doubt there are many other uses for this material, and there are certainly better application techniques out there that I haven't heard of, so this post is hardly definitive. But, so far I've found this to be an excellent adhesive that has allowed me to bond dissimilar materials and tricky pieces with precision and little mess. I'm looking forward to learning more about what it can do.