DECALS

[Ed2]

I'd like to try my hand at making my own decals using an inkjet printer.
Any information as to the best decal sheets, software, supplier etc., would be appreciated.

[Guntruck]

Hi Ed,

I use Expert's choice decal sheet, which is pretty good. I've produced several sheets for Nieuports and Gothas.

They are made by the Bare-Metal Foil Co (www.bare-metal.com). On this side of the pond I buy it from Antenocity's workshop (http://www.antenocitisworkshop.com/m...ear-laser.html), but I am sure another U.S. member knows other retailers the U.S.

John (Bedlam) has produced his own decals (and very nice they are!). I haven't found the best setting for my two printers yet, but here's what John said in another thread about printing:

"The sheet I sent to Guntruck was printed on my trusty HP Deskjet 940c using genuine cartridges and set to "best" quality, plain paper as recommended by the suppliers of the decal paper. I used the same setting for the camo on my Gotha. I have since played with my printer a bit, and got a much better result by setting the printer to "other photo paper" and turning photo mode on."

Post 31 in this This thread (about 3/4 the way down) gives a good idea of the process of applying the decals - again by John.

http://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/showthread.php?t=2397

Hopes this helps

[tuladin]

I found this website last week. I don't know anything about the product or the company, but it might be worth a look.

http://www.decalpaper.com/Default.asp?Redirected=Y

[tonyc206]

For the few that I have done so far I've used the 'Crafty Computer Paper' people.

I set my HP printer to Premiun glossy photo paper and best print quality and so far they have all turned out great

[The Cowman]

I got mine from Bel Decal Inc. I have had no problems with it. I have used both inkjet and laser paper from them, but unfortunately my color laser printer is down until this summer. Both of my printers are HP and are about 5 years old!

I do all my digital artwork in Macromedia Fireworks. Remember that .png files shrink down with much less loss and distortion than .jpg files!

[tonyc206]

Don't listen to Ken. He drinks Absinthe & brake fluid

[Steve]

I posted this on a local gaming website some time ago. Its a guide for making your own decals. I would only change one thing at this time; I started taking the sheets to the local Staples to have them printed. Their printers use much better ink and thus to colors are more opaque and closer to what the software shows. Sometimes the staff will ask to see the package to ensure the product can be used in laser printers but so far they have been willing to print the sheets for me. Just don't touch the face of the sheet as you take it home since its not "sealed" and will smudge easily until you spray it. Anyway here's the link, I hope it's helpful: http://www.orlandogaming.org/smf/index.php?topic=586.0

[The Cowman]

Don't listen to Ken. He drinks Absinthe & brake fluid

Hey now... lets not clutter up Ed's decal thread with my drinking habits...besides... it doubles as an awesome paint and decal remover should you make a mistake!

[Ed2]

Don't listen to Ken. He drinks Absinthe & brake fluid

Why is he cutting his break fluid with Absinthe???

[Bedlam]

Guntruck Steve and Tony have about nailed the process, but I'll add my tuppence worth.

I use Crafty clear inkjet paper. I did try some paper with a white background but it was rubbish - really thick. I print using Photo mode and tell the printer it's printing on photo paper (when I remember). If you find the ink bleeds or runs, you might have to try a different setting. On my printer (HP 940c) there's a setting in the advanced options to reduce the ink output, but I don't need to use it.

I design the decals in Paintshop Pro, large enough that I can print them at any scale I like without losing sharpness. I'm not bothered about the actual size as long as they are bigger than I will print them. I do each element of the final sheet as a separate file and save them as JPGs. Because I'm drawing them way over scale, I'm not bothered about loss of image quality through compression, but the choice is yours as long as the file type is recognised by whatever you use for your final layout.

I haven't used layers so far, but in future I will. If you do a layer per colour it's much easier to change that colour. For example, 5-colour night lozenge is the same pattern as the dark and intermediate day schemes, just different colours. If each colour was a different layer I could just change the entire layer at once. Do that five times and the job's done. Instead I'm going to have to flood-fill every lozenge individually. It's just occured to me that I could give the rib tapes their own layer and add a weathering layer of dirt / wear and a even layer of rib shadow detail too. If you ever decide to have the decal sheet printed by silk-screen or ALPS, you'll need it to be layered anyway.

I actually lay out my sheets in MS Word. You can use the layout tool in Paintshop Pro, but I find it fiddly. I just import the JPGs into Word, making sure the aspect ratio is locked and drag them around to suit. You can get the image size accurate to a hundredth of a millimetre using the Format Image function.

The only trouble with Word is that the formatting doesn't transfer between users very well - I got the Gotha sheet spot on at home, but when I opened it on a machine at work it was all over the place. You can save the page as a PDF file using Word 2007, but it loses a lot of sharpness.

One last thing which is easy to forget - your printer doesn't have white ink, so any white comes out clear. Coloured inkjet ink is fairly translucent, so to get the colours to come out right, you have to apply the decals over a white background. Black printing is a bit better so will go over any colour. Laser printers seem to have more solid inks, and Steve's idea of getting a professional print shop to print it makes a lot of sense. Don't forget the paper is different for inkjet and laser printers.

Printing your own decals works really well for black lettering and markings. Look at my Jasta 11 pictures and you'll see how sharp the Fokker serial numbers are, even at less than a millimeter high. It also works quite well for all-over decals like the lozenge pattern as long as you are patient applying it. It doesn't work so well for coloured patterns over colours so you'll still need to buy roundels and crosses commercially. I also found a sheet of white stripes in varying widths which is very useful.

If you're really patient you can do Reverisco-style tailored all-over decals yourself, but I've not tried yet. And probably never will! The closest I intend to come is a set of decals for Steinhauser's DR.I with red / yellow striped tail and a red fuselage band with a yellow cross.

[Ed2]

Thank you all for your help.
John, I saved your reply to word and will use your information to get me started.
And a special thanks to Ken and Tony for their addition to the Bartenders Guide.

[Schwerpunkt]

What sealants are you all using for the decal sheets? My first attempt I just printed and then applied the decal to the model unsealed, carefully maneuvering the piece using some non-printed excess.

[Ed2]

I was going to use four or five coats of Testors clear dull coat. But let the site experts answer your question.

[Guntruck]

What sealants are you all using for the decal sheets? My first attempt I just printed and then applied the decal to the model unsealed, carefully maneuvering the piece using some non-printed excess.

John put me on to Halford's clear lacquer, which is the dog's b******s as far as I am concerned.

[Bedlam]

Yeah, just ordinary gloss acrylic car laquer. The Halfords one is very good and has a nozzle with a nice fine spray. Do a couple of really thin coats and you'll be fine. Too much and the decal goes stiff. Don't soak the paper or it curls up and sticks to itself. Some inks seem to be fairly waterproof but mine isn't - I tried one without sealing and the ink just washed straight off!

Top tip, don't pick up the can of white primer by accident...

[Boney10]

Now now chaps try a little evostick, a rather nice bouquet

[Charlie3]

There is a complete waterslide decal system for ink jet printers avaialble at www.micromark.com
This is a modeling tools and supplies company. They have a test kit that includes a few sheets of the decal paper and some of their fixitive spray. I have found these decals to be very good. However as stated already, the decals will only be as good as your inks.
Micro Mark also has some of the coolest model tools you will find anywere, so have a browse, Christmas is coming!

Testors Model Company also has a decal system that is apparently simular to the one from Micro Mark and it should be available from most hobby stores that carry their paints. I have never used it however and can not comment on it's use.

Have fun!