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Thread: WWI Decals

  1. #1

    Default WWI Decals

    Where are the best places to get WWI 1/144 decals?

    I’ve seen the things that Miscellaneous Miniatures has as well as Aviattic. Anywhere else?

    I’m going to start working on some WWI stuff soon!

    Thanks!

  2. #2

  3. #3

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    A friend of mine mentioned that it might be possible to obtain a decal sheet, and print one a home computer. Has anyone tried this? If so, how did you go about it?

  4. #4

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    I have tried, but my printer stinks. You have to scan it in, make your own, or get a digital copy of the design. Then print it on decal paper. Then apply a seal coat of Testors Decal Spray or some equivalent. I have found that laser printers at staples or some other store are not too bad. If you have a good inkjet may be ok.

    Check out Misc Mini decals and the Aerodrome Store. They may have what you are looking for. If you have something specific some members may already have one and may have extras.

  5. #5

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    Quote Originally Posted by camelbeagle View Post
    I have tried, but my printer stinks. You have to scan it in, make your own, or get a digital copy of the design. Then print it on decal paper. Then apply a seal coat of Testors Decal Spray or some equivalent. I have found that laser printers at staples or some other store are not too bad. If you have a good inkjet may be ok.

    Check out Misc Mini decals and the Aerodrome Store. They may have what you are looking for. If you have something specific some members may already have one and may have extras.
    I think i have a decent enough printer... but, i am not sure i have the modeling skills to make it look right.

    To anyone who may have extra decals... i am interested.

  6. #6

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    John,

    I've made some decals on my HP color laser, some good, some not. It normally depends on the image and software you're using. A lot of jpg or png files are simply blurry when reduced to a workable size, others seem to work. Sometimes they can be edited pixel by pixel and cleaned up if the design is simple. Or I grab vector art if free downloads are available and print it from Illustrator. I'm an Illustrator klutz so can barely resize it and change the graphic color and that's about it.

    I've had good luck with this decal paper:
    Sunnyscopa white
    Sunnyscopa clear

    For complex designs sometime you'll want to underpaint where the decal will go with white and use the clear label decal, other times this isn't practical and you must use the white decal paper to get it to show up. These latter ones you'll need to be able to trim close to the image so usually simple shapes. I use Vallejo brush-on Gloss varnish and Matte varnish. Brush on a layer of gloss where the decal will go and let dry (usually overnight). Then I use Micro Sol and brush on some of that. Move the decal into place carefully with tweezers and manipulate with a toothpick or brush. Carefully pat dry with a piece of paper towel or tissue. Brush with Micro Set and let dry to form the decal to the model. Repeat. Then brush with Vallejo Matte varnish (sometimes twice).

    I also heartily recommend miscmini.com decals. He uses high end printers and is able to print white under images while doing the decals on clear paper.

  7. #7

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    Quote Originally Posted by malachi View Post
    I also heartily recommend miscmini.com decals. He uses high end printers and is able to print white under images while doing the decals on clear paper.
    Thank you Malachi! I do not have the editing skills either... i will most likely go with the link you shared, and/or the decal sheets available from the store here.


  8. #8

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    Hi

    If anyone has some Dh2 misc-mini decals spare I would be glad to arrange to buy or if not if one of our American members are doing an order would be happy to PayPal to add this to the order (and maybe a couple of others too.

    PM me if you can help

    Thanks

    Baz

  9. #9

  10. #10

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    Beware!

    The wing roundels on the Miscmini sheet are too small - make sure you get some that are 1mm to 1.5mm bigger - they should reach full chord, leading edge to trailing edge.

    My 24 Squadron painting notes can be found here-
    https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...ntente-)/page2
    post # 95
    I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!

  11. #11

    Miscellaneous Miniatures
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    If you need roundels of a certain diameter, just let me know the dimensions. Roundels are pretty easy to edit and print. Kevin

  12. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by miscmini View Post
    If you need roundels of a certain diameter, just let me know the dimensions. Roundels are pretty easy to edit and print. Kevin
    The 2-pack of Belgian rondels are great in the varying sizes and styles. I for one would buy similar sheets of British, French, and American, possibly Russian and Italian ones. Same for German/Austrian although I have various in those. Essentially a general "mixed bag" of popular ones.

  13. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by malachi View Post
    The 2-pack of Belgian rondels are great in the varying sizes and styles. I for one would buy similar sheets of British, French, and American, possibly Russian and Italian ones. Same for German/Austrian although I have various in those. Essentially a general "mixed bag" of popular ones.
    I did!
    At least one sheet of each, usually two.
    Kevin's decals are the best out there - and I'm not saying that just because they're the ONLY ones still out there, but they pretty much are.
    The multi-size marking sheets are really useful for when a new Shapeways purchase arrives in the post and you find that "normal" size ones don't quite fit.
    I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!

  14. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Flying Helmut View Post
    Beware!

    The wing roundels on the Miscmini sheet are too small - make sure you get some that are 1mm to 1.5mm bigger - they should reach full chord, leading edge to trailing edge.

    My 24 Squadron painting notes can be found here-
    https://www.wingsofwar.org/forums/sh...ntente-)/page2
    post # 95
    Thanks for the heads up. I will be getting the DH2 decal set so don’t think it will be an option to change the size of the roundel on that but will also look for correct roundel size.
    I will be building an old Davco productions kit so will have to see the size needed.

    Baz

  15. #15

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    Baz, once you know the size(s) needed, let me know and I'll see if I can amend the sheet so the images fit your models. Kevin

  16. #16

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    @Kevin: I was wondering, why there is no separate decal sheet of Iron Crosses with a white outline in your shop, as this type of marking seems to be the most used one. There are only the D.V and D.VII sheets with this type of crosses.

    Additionally I have a criticism on the white areas of the decals. The opacity isn't perfect (I have tested the Flik K.u.K. sheet). Compared to e. g. Valom, the white is missing therefore luminance.

  17. #17

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    Hi Florian, thank you for the feedback.

    The opacity of the white areas results from the printing process, a laser printer with white toner. I can provide a refund if you like but there's not much I can do unless you want a second set of white decals to make the result more opaque. Please let me know if you'd like a refund.

    Why are there no separate sheets of Iron Crosses in my store? There are two reasons for the that. The first reason is that I print many of the Iron Cross decals in the Aerodrome Accessories store. If the decals are carried there, I do not need to carry them. The second reason is that, on average, WW1 decals are not profitable for me.

  18. #18

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    Quote Originally Posted by miscmini View Post
    Hi Florian, thank you for the feedback.

    The opacity of the white areas results from the printing process, a laser printer with white toner. I can provide a refund if you like but there's not much I can do unless you want a second set of white decals to make the result more opaque. Please let me know if you'd like a refund.

    Why are there no separate sheets of Iron Crosses in my store? There are two reasons for the that. The first reason is that I print many of the Iron Cross decals in the Aerodrome Accessories store. If the decals are carried there, I do not need to carry them. The second reason is that, on average, WW1 decals are not profitable for me.
    Hello Kevin,

    thank you for the explanation. It was just meant as constructive feedback - no refund needed. Essentially I am very satisfied with your decals. The details are crisp, the white layer isn't offset, they are very thin and they react perfectly with the Revell softener. I appreciate your dedication to 1/144 WW1 models, too.

    I have one last question: why don't you accept templates provided by customers? Is it because of possible unknown copyright violations, or the extra work for proof of concept? Technically I think there is a vector graphic with two layers needed - one with the white areas in white and one with the other colours plus the white areas in a marking colour. Additionally, the customer should have made a test print with a regular sheet of paper, to check for resolution issues.

    Cheers

    Flo

  19. #19

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    Hi Flo, I appreciate the feedback.

    You cover the two primary reasons I do not accept templates. Copyright issues is one of the reasons. The other is the amount of work that goes into making the final product look good when it comes out of the printer. I work in and print from Libre Office Draw. I don't have a working knowledge of Illustrator, Photoshop, or Corel Draw. I've tried working in them and they're just not for me. I've tried files that other people have made in Libre Office and the issues there are more with image construction, settings, and the difference between how the images look on the screen and how they look coming out of the printer.

    As an example, I can create an image of a Lion Rampant that looks great on the monitor. It's very detailed with sharp definition between details. The colors and proportions look good, everything looks fine. When I print that very detailed image it comes out as a dark red mass with black areas. Through trial and error, I've learned that I need to use certain colors, concentrate on specific details, and adjust some proportions. Even with that knowledge, it may take three or four test runs to come up with something that I like. It's easier for me to have a few good reference pictures and just make the images myself.

    Kevin

  20. #20

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    Would it be helpful if I added wing chord to the Wings of Linen data? That way if you've got, say, an F.E.2b coming in and want to pre-order some decals, you can take the wing chord, divide by 144, and go a little smaller to leave some open space on the edges.

  21. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by ReducedAirFact View Post
    Would it be helpful if I added wing chord to the Wings of Linen data? That way if you've got, say, an F.E.2b coming in and want to pre-order some decals, you can take the wing chord, divide by 144, and go a little smaller to leave some open space on the edges.
    Personally, I couldn't say...
    I haven't researched FE2s, for example, because I haven't got round to painting any yet.

    I did research DH2s, though, when I painted my six 24 Squadron machines, and the photographs (and colour profiles) were in agreement for once; the wing roundels were huge, entirely filling the wings from leading edge to trailing edge.

    Photos of BE2s don't show this - there is a bit of bare canvas both in front of and behind the wing roundels, so I suppose a wing chord measurement would be more useful on some models than on others.
    I laugh in the face of danger - then I hide until it goes away!



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