Help for making decals

[Pete L.]

fellas,

I've managed to creat the art work for a set of decals I'd like to creat in 1/25 scale.

It's on the computor and waiting to be put ona disc, cd . Has anyone ever taken art work to a Kinko's or similar buisness and had them print decals for you ?

[Aaronw]

I don't have personal experience with it, but from others I understand they really don't like to run the decal film through their machines.

Unless you have a really ancient printer most can print decals just fine within their limitations (no white, gold, silver etc). Just make sure you have the right kind of decal paper for your printer, inkjet or laser. The paper is not interchangable between the two.

[Pete L.]

Aaron,

Thanks for the info. At present I only have a B & W printer hence the Kinko's question. Anyone have suggestions on which color printer to purchase that would produce the best decals ?

thanks

[Jon Cole]

I have gone to Kinko's (now under new ownership, under a new name) with my artwork and decal film. Employee always gets nervous about inserting something "foreign" into their copier. I explain that I have done this successfully several times before. Always works out OK. I also tell them to use their best copier at the highest resolution. Also have them make a plain paper copy first so the film isn't wasted.

[caine440]

I always hear an Alps is the best as it is dry printing and can do white. However, they are very expensive. So I bought a Canon MP560 and have had pretty good luck printing decals.

Here is one that the decals were printed on the Canon.

Hope that helps.

[Aaronw]

I really don't think you can go wrong with any name brand printer for sale these days. I went printer shopping a few months ago, and the specs on the cheap printers were better than the $250 printer I bought 9 years ago.

I bought an Epson Workforce 30 for $60, I haven't done a whole lot with it but it seems to be a good one, fast quiet, makes pretty pictures. The thing I really liked was the color cartrides are seperate (cyan, magenta, yellow, black) so no more throwing out a 1/2 full cartridge because one color ran out before the rest.

An ALPS is very nice if you happen to have an extra $1500 laying around, but with careful planning you can do some nice work with an inkjet or laser jet as Roger shows.

Edited April 12, 2010 by Aaronw

[Foxer]

Some excellent advice here. Not much more to add as to what works for making the decals.

One thing I can add just as a word of caution, the decals made with an inkjet are fairly transparent and odds are they won't be seen much when applied to a dark surface. They are best on a white or light paint.

[Pete L.]

I have gone to Kinko's (now under new ownership, under a new name) with my artwork and decal film. Employee always gets nervous about inserting something "foreign" into their copier. I explain that I have done this successfully several times before. Always works out OK. I also tell them to use their best copier at the highest resolution. Also have them make a plain paper copy first so the film isn't wasted.

Jon,

I'm new at the decal thing so please excuse the dumb questions. where can I buy some decal film from ?

thank you

[diymirage]

i bought my first decal paper from the LHS for a fair amount

after i had decent (though not yet perfect but you cant expect perfect the first try) results i went on ebay and bought some more paper on there

there are several companies offering decal paper and i went with the one who had the clearest descriptions on thier page (ill share the name in a PM if you want, but i dont want to advertise)

i havent had a chance to try it out yet but as everyone says, it is pretty simple

[Aaronw]

I've used the decal paper from Micromark and it was decent

http://www.micromark.com/SearchResult.aspx?deptIdFilter=0&searchPhrase=decal

Bare Metal Foil's decal film was good too

http://www.bare-metal.com/model-decals.html

Testors also has decal film, its not bad but it is an odd size (5.5x8" or half a sheet of paper).

If you do have it done with a copy machine most of those use the laser printer paper.

After they are printed you will need to clear coat them before applying them or the water will make them smudge. Testor's sells a decal setting spray that I like but most clear coats will work, I know a lot of people use Krylon clear. Microscale makes a clear coat for decals you can brush on.

Although the Testors paper is an odd size, I think it is a good place to start, the software included is pretty useless, but you get a few sheets of film, a can of the clear coat and decent instructions telling you how to do it.

Edited April 12, 2010 by Aaronw

[Pete L.]

Aaron,

Thanks for all of your help. I'll start lookinf for the the Testor's stuff tomorrow.

[Pete L.]

Fellas,

Artwork is done, and I bought some Micro-mark Laser jet paper today so I'm off to Kinko's later rtoday !

[bigdaddyfan]

http://www.papilio.com/

I had this company and decal paper recommended to me by a graphic artist friend of my daughter. GREAT stuff.

[sjordan2]

http://www.papilio.com/

I had this company and decal paper recommended to me by a graphic artist friend of my daughter. GREAT stuff.

They're also a good source for heat transfer foils, which have a multitude of modeling uses.

http://www.papilio.com/metallic%20gold%20silver%20transfer%20foil%20blue%20green%20red.html

[Aaronw]

They're also a good source for heat transfer foils, which have a multitude of modeling uses.

http://www.papilio.com/metallic%20gold%20silver%20transfer%20foil%20blue%20green%20red.html

This stuff looks really interesting, have you tried it? If it will work on decal paper it would provide a much cheaper way for people to get metallic lettering.

Thanks

[sjordan2]

This stuff looks really interesting, have you tried it? If it will work on decal paper it would provide a much cheaper way for people to get metallic lettering.

Thanks

Haven't tried it on decal paper, but I would think the required heating could create a problem with the paper (the paper would have to go through 2 heat processes, 1 for the laser printer and 1 for heating the foil).

However, I've used it successfully to create things like a chrome Mercedes star for a horn button and the proper design for stereo speaker grilles. You just need to laser print multiples of your design on the same sheet with the color background you want, and choose the one that looks the best (remember, this requires laser printer toner to stick). I used a heat laminator instead of an iron. This should also work well for creating car radio faces, etc. This process, however, is best for small things and is very hit-or-miss when it comes to coverage of broad areas; the chrome may not stick entirely or could peel – depends on how well the laser toner is laid down.

One project I'm doing with this is a chrome door sill with a black script Mercedes logo on it; just print a reverse image of your design on black paper and the logo shows in black, while the sill comes out chrome.

Here's a company with products that let you make custom dry transfers along a similar method, but without using waterslide decal paper (a bit pricey, though). I don't know anything about them or if this will work on decal paper.

http://www.pulsarprofx.com/DecalPRO/Vertical/1_MENU/1b_Overview/Overview.html

Does anyone know about this process?

Edited April 19, 2010 by sjordan2