Making your own decals????

[bdk]

Anyone have any experience with this? You can use and ink jet or a laser printer? Any recommendations as to where to get the paper? Is this mail order only, or do larger model shops keep this stuff in stock?

And before you ask why this isn't in the modeling section of the forum it's because this isn't for a model.

Thanks!

[Matt Gunsch]

I have done them using a Ink jet with no problems, other than to make sure you have enough fixer on the decal. I have used them on instrument panels, as well as models.

Check with a hobby shop.

[bdk]

I'm a n00b! What be "fixer"?

[k5083]

If you want black decals, laser printing is your best option. You have to use special laser printable decal paper because the heat from the printer can release the film from ordinary paper and make a real mess. There are several sources of this decal stock, one is beldecal.com.

You can use inkjet for color. With modern water-resistant inks and being careful only to wet the decals from the back, you may not need a fixer. If you do use one, it is just an artist's fixative. I use spray cans of clear coat from Krylon, which come in gloss, matte, or satin.

For black decals you can use clear decal stock, but for color, you must use white decal stock and trim carefully around the decal, because color printer ink (inkjet or laser) is not opaque; it just tints whatever color the substrate is.

The exception is if you use a special type of printer called the ALPS which can lay down opaque white, colored, and metallic films. These are out of production, impossible to get serviced, and are hoarded jealously by modelers just like old Mattel vac-u-forms.

Another alternative is custom rub-on dry transfers, which are opaque. There are several vendors that you can send your artwork to and they will print them up for you. It is expensive. There is also at least one purveyor of kits to make them yourself, http://www.pulsarprofx.com/DecalPRO/index.html. I have tried their product and it is fiddly but it works. Multiple colors with dry transfers is difficult, so what I use them for is to create a white backing marking exactly the size of my color design, which I then inkjet-print onto clear stock and apply over-top of the white transfer to make it opaque.

August

[Holedigger]

A "fixer" would be a clear coat Fixative. There is art fixative that one would spray on pencil or charcoal drawings to keep it from smearing once you are done. On a ink jet printed piece, some sort of clear UV fixative should work, but have to experiment. A water based spray, probably NOT, so probably a solvent based one. The fixative often will shift the colors a bit, usually darker and sometimes a bit more saturated.

[Chad Veich]

Brandon,

If you (are anyone else) is looking to have high quality nomenclature done for a restoration I would recommend that you consider the company below. They do nice work, although not cheap. They actually did many of the dry transfers that went into the cockpit of "Glacier Girl".

www.aeroloft.com

[bdk]

OK, thanks all for the info. The original decals I want to duplicate are waterslide and I'm working from a color photo of the original decal that I have retouched in Photoshop. The application is a flat surface.

I have access to a color laser printer (preferred) or an inkjet. The white backing is fine for what I need to do.

[cg51]

Brandon, Microscale makes the paper, I have some part #460-1 for white and 460-0 for clear, I buy my stuff at 1stPlace hobbies in Indiana. They also stock the clear coat "fixer" Hope this helps
http://www.1stplacehobbies.com/ P.s. they are a good place to deal with, been buying there for years and have had no problems.

[The Inspector]

I've got 'TESTORS sure thing decal maker' in my confuser for models. I don't find any limits on sizes. It comes on a 3 1/2 inch diskette, loads in about 23 seconds and works in conjunction with my CANON MX310.

[Young Shep]

Most Hobby Shops carry the Testors kit in the store too.

[Garth]

The exception is if you use a special type of printer called the ALPS which can lay down opaque white, colored, and metallic films. These are out of production, impossible to get serviced, and are hoarded jealously by modelers just like old Mattel vac-u-forms.

I'll second that. There are two groups on yahoo, ALPS and ALPS-Decal, that are dedicated to ALPS enthusiasts. If you are looking for a limited (like a sheet or two) run, you should be able to find someone to work with you there.

There's also a guy named Mike Grant of Mike Grant Decals who uses ALPS for limited runs.

[bdk]

The local Long Beach, CA hobby shop (http://hobbywarehouseinc.com/) has yielded the following (in stock):

http://www.testors.com/product/0/9198/_/Custom_Decal_System

They also have 8-1/2" X 11" sheets of the paper for $5 each.

Thanks for all the advice! I knew you guys would have the answer. I'll give it a try and report back.

[RyanShort1]

Brandon - it can be a fun process - especially if there's a good story behind the custom decals. I did some several years ago for a custom Hawker Hunter for some friends. Also did some for a P-51 years ago. Inkjet is easier to do from home, but a lot messier - also tricky is trying to get it done professionally at a print shop like Office Max or Depot - their colors looked GREAT on the laser paper - but then I had issues with the coloration cracking and flaking off - or even being messed up by the printer. You might try several different brands and see if one works. Fixing does help.
Another question is how (or what program) you are doing the graphics. If you want higher quality and re-usable graphics it's always good to try to do them in vector format - that way if you decide to tweak something that's not quite right you can change the nodes fairly easily. You can also scale up or down - say from 1/72 down to 1/100 or back up to 1/32 - I know you're not doing it for a model, but if you found it didn't quite fit in the area you want it to, you can go back and re-scale it very quickly and have it re-printed. The graphics quality is also usually higher..

Ryan

[Mgawa]

It is more easy to pay somebody to do limited edition for you and you can make good sale after that.

[bdk]

Another question is how (or what program) you are doing the graphics.

Photoshop. This is a one time deal for me unless someone else needs these decals. Definitely not getting into the business though!