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I find Lazertran easiest to work with, although it has its foibles.
I started out using the stuff like Testors and Bare Metal Film (both companies are in the model kit/accessories business). Although the decal film is nice and thin, it's also incredibly fragile and is prone to stretching out of shape whilst applying large images. If you want to do entire front panels in one sheet, you may well struggle. I know I did! I also found the the ink could bleed through the underside of the decal film if left to soak for too long, causing unsightly smudges, despite having sealed the ink with Microscale Liquid Decal Film. That said, for individual images, it works very well indeed.
The Lazertran stuff is very durable, doesn't bleed and has excellent opaqueness when printing large areas on it. It's considerably thicker than all the other decal films I've tried, which makes it ideal for entire front panel decals, although much less so for individual images.
The trick with Lazertran is to get a good, compatible spray varnish which will cause the off-white finish to go properly clear. After much dicking about, I discovered a cheap and readily available from eBay spray yacht varnish, which I've had consistently good results with. I would not recommend using the decal itself as a white/off-white background, as it's just not opaque enough to use over darker colours, not to mention it can look patchy when not cleared with the varnish.
If you're not familiar with Lazertran's inkjet decal, its a bit different from the usual. It has a matt, off-white look to it which holds the ink really well. If you then spray the decal with a polyurethane varnish, the off-white goes completely clear.
Anyway, the trick to getting waterslide decals to settle down well is to first have a nice, smooth, glossy surface to enable it to stick properly. I brush a little Microsol Microset (a decal setting solution used by model makers) onto the surface of the enclosure and then carefully slide the decal into place, being careful not to stretch the decal. It's easily done!
Once the decal is in place, I blot away any water with a dampened tissue and wait a couple of minutes. I then carefully blot the decal down, gently pushing any air bubbles to the outside. You don't always get all of them, but don't worry too much yet. Sometimes I use a rubber craft roller for any stubborn air bubbles. You can use a pin to prick any residual bubbles, which will help them flatten down.
Once I'm happy that I have got rid of as many bubbles as possible, I then brush a coat of Microscale Microsol (a decal solvent) onto the surface. This often causes all manner of wrinkles to appear, but it's quite normal. Once it's thoroughly dried, the decal should have snuggled down nicely onto the enclosure. Any residual air bubbles can be pricked with a pin and another application of Microsol should settle it down.
Once you're happy with the decals, apply a couple of coats of clear lacquer to seal and protect.
I should mention that there were a few dodgy batches of the Lazertran stuff knocking around maybe a year or two ago. I found myself with a couple of bad packs, but Lazertan replaced them free of charge. I've not had any issues with it since.
Hope this helps!
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