Jump to content
Model Cars Magazine Forum

Crafting up decal sheets(for mostly late 70s, 80s & 90s models so far)(Updated: Feb 1st)


Recommended Posts

39 minutes ago, iBorg said:

Absolutely stunning work. Great artwork printed exceptionally well. Hopefully having multiple sheets printed will allow you to sell them (if you so desire) at an affrodable price.

Thank you! And yeppers, that's the current plan, selling off all but one of 'em which I keep for my own good times.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/26/2017 at 6:57 AM, echoxrayniner said:

So a while back I decided I'd give making my own decals sheets a go cause I was sick of having no Dodge/Plymouth air cleaner decals at any given time and I'd say so far, so good! Actually really enjoy it plus I kinda hope to fill a bit of a somewhat less popular void and some quality of life enhancers(like say the honeycomb mesh for '98 Firebirds and maks for '85-'92 Firebirds). Next week I'll hopefully have the '84 Hurst/Olds sheets at home from the printer and the week after the '80 Aspen R/T sets. Currently I'm working on a '79 Camaro, '79 Nova & '86 IROC-S El Camino sheet.

Update: Going full bore on late second and all of the third generation Camaro, got the '85-'87 done, working on the '79 and '81(trying to get the dial clusters and such in there too) and working on getting the Lear Siegler contour interiors out there along with the requested update on earlier-sixties MOPAR engine goodies and some interior extras(like the '64 Thunderbolt patterns).

MOPAR air cleaner decals:
20171103_131004.jpg?ssl=1&w=450

'91 Syclone(Marlboro), Sonoma GT & Typhoon:
20171116_125009.jpg?ssl=1&w=450syclone_decals.png?ssl=1&w=450

'84 Hurst/Olds Cutlass(with bonus '85-'87 goodies):
1984hurstolds.jpg20171128_132542.jpg?ssl=1&w=450

'80 Dodge Aspen R/T(Custom & Stock) for converting a '80 Volare kit:
aspenrt_sample.jpg
aspenrtstock_sample.jpg
20171130_132752.jpg?ssl=1&w=45020171130_132813.jpg?ssl=1&w=450

'85-'92 Firebird tail light masks:
pontiacfirebirdlightssample.jpg?ssl=1&w=20171130_132912.jpg?ssl=1&w=450

'85 Camaro IROC-Z/Z28:

1987camaro.jpg

 

Really nice work!  Would you be able to make some replacements for me for this kit?  Either that or tell me how?

5EC74DEB-262D-4668-A275-33754AC7C886.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 1-12-2017 at 3:30 AM, cpspoogie said:

Really nice work!  Would you be able to make some replacements for me for this kit?  Either that or tell me how?

*snip*

Happily, I'll need to know though whether the kit's in 1/24th scale or 1/25 and/or if it's just the exterior GT500 stripes, might be a bunch of guess work on my part otherwise D:

23 hours ago, Force said:

I'm going to check in here often and when you have the things I'm looking for ready I'll buy several sets immediately.

I'm working on the extra air cleaner decals and general engine bay fluffs(which was a great idea, thanks <3) and I'm generally basing the size tests/math on the Revell and AMT HEMI and/or 340-through-440 V8 blocks, so that's going smoothly, but could you do me a favor and measure the width and height of the seats on the Ford? I think I'm nailing the seat pattern, I just have no idea whether or not they're gonna be the right size(wanna atleast get it right given people spend money on it!). Currently using a '70 Charger bench for a really rough template >.<

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, echoxrayniner said:

I'm working on the extra air cleaner decals and general engine bay fluffs(which was a great idea, thanks <3) and I'm generally basing the size tests/math on the Revell and AMT HEMI and/or 340-through-440 V8 blocks, so that's going smoothly, but could you do me a favor and measure the width and height of the seats on the Ford? I think I'm nailing the seat pattern, I just have no idea whether or not they're gonna be the right size(wanna atleast get it right given people spend money on it!). Currently using a '70 Charger bench for a really rough template >.<

Of course.
I took out one of my Thunderbolt kits and measured, the two fabric inserts for the Thunderbolt back seat are 19 mm wide and and total length with the seat and back rest is 44 mm, and the space between the vertical black lines in the pattern are close to 1.5 mm.
The sides and middle of the back seat and the rest of the interior is vinyl and can easily be done with paint.

I have wanted to get the decals I suggested for a long time for my 62-65 Max Wedge and Race Hemi and Thunderbolt builds and I thought others would like to have them too, but I haven't found them anywhere on the aftermarket and I thought someone would make them as I think there is a market for them, but nothing so far.
If I had the skill to do them myself I would have done them a long time ago but I'm not that familiar with design programs for computers.

Edited by Force
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/2/2017 at 7:17 AM, echoxrayniner said:

Happily, I'll need to know though whether the kit's in 1/24th scale or 1/25 and/or if it's just the exterior GT500 stripes, might be a bunch of guess work on my part otherwise D:

I'm working on the extra air cleaner decals and general engine bay fluffs(which was a great idea, thanks <3) and I'm generally basing the size tests/math on the Revell and AMT HEMI and/or 340-through-440 V8 blocks, so that's going smoothly, but could you do me a favor and measure the width and height of the seats on the Ford? I think I'm nailing the seat pattern, I just have no idea whether or not they're gonna be the right size(wanna atleast get it right given people spend money on it!). Currently using a '70 Charger bench for a really rough template >.<

Well this is a 1/16 kit.  I do have a pic of the actual decal sheet, attached.  I really only need the bottom stripes and the letters, but I guess it’s just easier to make the whole sheet? 

A0B8CD37-9C14-433F-8C7F-2A8508483AA6.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/3/2017 at 2:40 AM, Force said:

Of course.
I took out one of my Thunderbolt kits and measured, the two fabric inserts for the Thunderbolt back seat are 19 mm wide and and total length with the seat and back rest is 44 mm, and the space between the vertical black lines in the pattern are close to 1.5 mm.
The sides and middle of the back seat and the rest of the interior is vinyl and can easily be done with paint.

I have wanted to get the decals I suggested for a long time for my 62-65 Max Wedge and Race Hemi and Thunderbolt builds and I thought others would like to have them too, but I haven't found them anywhere on the aftermarket and I thought someone would make them as I think there is a market for them, but nothing so far.
If I had the skill to do them myself I would have done them a long time ago but I'm not that familiar with design programs for computers.

You are the friggin' best, thank you! This is a great help, I'll be able to finish it up in a few days, I'll have some pictures soon so you can give it a looksee. And yeah, when you say "long time", I spotted a topic with a request for the seat decals from several years ago when I was digging up info on the seats and whatnot, man I'm surprised no-one's done it so far given you're far from the only one who'd like to see it done!

Edit:

What I got so far in an approx. 70mm by 90mm square, I can try to go smaller but the white would become near-single pixel width and I have no clue how well they'll end up on print if thats the case. It won't have the brown background of course, just put that in there for my own convenience on how it stands with the white. Keep as it is or go smaller and see what happens?

testfabric.jpg

17 hours ago, cpspoogie said:

Well this is a 1/16 kit.  I do have a pic of the actual decal sheet, attached.  I really only need the bottom stripes and the letters, but I guess it’s just easier to make the whole sheet? 

Ahhh if it's 1/16th, I'm afraid I can't really help. I mean, the GT-500 stripes possibly but they'd take up a fair amount of real estate on the sheet and be rather pricey as a result. I'll give it a shot, though but don't hold your hopes up high D:

Edited by echoxrayniner
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 11/30/2017 at 8:06 AM, echoxrayniner said:

Company called Rothko & Frost, accidentally stumbled upon them a while ago cause they offered what I initially wanted the most: medium 9x19cm sheets with metallics and full CMYK for less than 25 euro, so I could just craft up my stuff for funsies and use it myself for whenever the kit(looking at you AMT) would be missing certain decals/details, but they got rid of that small sheet option and now only offer A4-sized sheets exclusively so I thought, what the hell, lets go big.

Thanks for the info. Your artwork looks excellent!  What graphic program do you use.

Edited by peteski
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, echoxrayniner said:

You are the friggin' best, thank you! This is a great help, I'll be able to finish it up in a few days, I'll have some pictures soon so you can give it a looksee. And yeah, when you say "long time", I spotted a topic with a request for the seat decals from several years ago when I was digging up info on the seats and whatnot, man I'm surprised no-one's done it so far given you're far from the only one who'd like to see it done!

Edit:

What I got so far in an approx. 70mm by 90mm square, I can try to go smaller but the white would become near-single pixel width and I have no clue how well they'll end up on print if thats the case. It won't have the brown background of course, just put that in there for my own convenience on how it stands with the white. Keep as it is or go smaller and see what happens?

testfabric.jpg

Ahhh if it's 1/16th, I'm afraid I can't really help. I mean, the GT-500 stripes possibly but they'd take up a fair amount of real estate on the sheet and be rather pricey as a result. I'll give it a shot, though but don't hold your hopes up high D:

Ok.  I could have sworn the kit was 1/18 or 1/20, but everything I’ve seen online is 1/16.  I just assumed this was the Nichimo kit, which is 1/16, but those were generally motorized and this one isn’t.  I may have something entirely different here.  I think I may break out my old ink jet printer and try doing a few with those Testors decal sheets.  Thanks for looking into it for me.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Righty, next print will have the Camaro sheets('85/'79), AAR Cuda in 1/25th & something I suppose folks would want:

aircleaners_6268.jpg

If there's something for air cleaners, valve covers(I'm afraid the little MOPAR instructions thingy in yellow/red will just become a yellow blob) or similar that's still desired; lemme know!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

NJ, I sure wish this was available in other colors besides red or blue that the kit only offers...............

Pb285488.jpg.72477181940eeea7edac1302a8ab9d37.jpg

Likewise the '60 Chevy only comes in those colors. This of course is out of the '50's, but I hate when the kit interior decals limit you to only a couple exterior color choices. :rolleyes:

Another one that would be great to see is correct AMX-390 air cleaner decals. Interesting enough, Keith Marks makes all the other decals for AMX's except that one. To me that makes the engine to have that nice, bold decal on top of the air cleaner!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you could give me dimensions on the seats(or the decals themselves, hell that would make it a few minutes worth of work to turn it into any color!) I'll get right on it, also the AMX-390 decal; is it the half-circle one or the full circle one? I could make both, but I honestly haven't got a clue on how big they are compared to say, a MOPAR one so I'd probably need a dimension check on that air cleaner.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, echoxrayniner said:

Righty, next print will have the Camaro sheets('85/'79), AAR Cuda in 1/25th & something I suppose folks would want:

aircleaners_6268.jpg

If there's something for air cleaners, valve covers(I'm afraid the little MOPAR instructions thingy in yellow/red will just become a yellow blob) or similar that's still desired; lemme know!

Looks promising

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, MrObsessive said:

NJ, I sure wish this was available in other colors besides red or blue that the kit only offers...............

Likewise the '60 Chevy only comes in those colors. This of course is out of the '50's, but I hate when the kit interior decals limit you to only a couple exterior color choices. :rolleyes:

Another one that would be great to see is correct AMX-390 air cleaner decals. Interesting enough, Keith Marks makes all the other decals for AMX's except that one. To me that makes the engine to have that nice, bold decal on top of the air cleaner!

Is this the air cleaner decal the one you're looking for?

amx390.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, MrObsessive said:

Yup! That’s it! To me, an important detail when doing one of those engines!

To me too, man, to me too, I hate it when decal sheets pack a whole bunch of stuff but lack the most basest of things like these, I mean they can really put a big ol' finishing touch to a nice engine block. By the way, if you happen to have a AMX engine lying around, could you give me a rough measurement of the air cleaner lid? I based it on a MOPAR air cleaner for the sake of getting the shape right, now just need to make sure it's a solid fit!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, echoxrayniner said:

 By the way, if you happen to have a AMX engine lying around, could you give me a rough measurement of the air cleaner lid? I based it on a MOPAR air cleaner for the sake of getting the shape right, now just need to make sure it's a solid fit!

OK! Here's a real quick pic I have of a junk AMC V8 (from a Matador) and the proper air cleaner as far as the basic shape...........

5a2f0fe6f12f3_AMXaircleaner.JPG.428a736095706b9413861946ed4594eb.JPG

The very outside diameter of the decal should be roughly 15/32", while the inside diameter (so it can go around the molded in raised circle) should be roughly 11/32". I'm leaning strongly towards building an AMX whenever I get to cycling back to '60's muscle cars. This engine of course will be totally taken apart and redone to represent a proper 390. I have all the other bits and pieces on hand to make the car the way I'd like, including using a shortened Mustang chassis to better represent the undercarriage Unibody.

Thanks for asking! B)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The problem with this decal is that it goes onto a conical-shaped surface.  If you make it a simple ring-shape it will wrinkle when applied.  It really needs to be made in a shape of an open circle taking into consideration the conical surface of the air cleaner. Some geometric calculations will be needed to come up with the correct shape for the decal.

Edited by peteski
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I can't speak for NJ as to how he's going to print these Peter, but the air cleaner is not that severely conical. Sure it's slight, but yes, printed with the center ring cut out and not a complete solid circle would be ideal. I can always punch out that center area if it's too difficult to print in that manner.

I've placed decals like that before on other builds ('69 Daytona comes to mind) and it's nothing that decal setting solution and a hot moist cloth can't cure. ;)

Edited by MrObsessive
Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, peteski said:

The problem with this decal is that it goes onto a conical-shaped surface.  If you make it a simple ring-shape it will wrinkle when applied.  It really needs to be made in a shape of an open circle taking into consideration the conical surface of the air cleaner. Some geometric calculations will be needed to come up with the correct shape for the decal.

The next thing I'm planning on doing is editing 'em all(given 95% of 'em are the same shape luckily) and giving them give or take a solid mm or two of extra space(bit like the proper 3M stencils are printed these days) with two lines so people can cut a line into the circle and have 'em overlap itself so it'll set a ton better, for now I just generally suggest folks to cut two lines into the open spaces and let it go over itself slightly, makes it sliiiightly off-looking if you're looking for it but generally they set alright. Dodge's conical shapes tend to be a right ***** to deal with so I'm totally with ya'.

5 hours ago, MrObsessive said:

I can't speak for NJ as to how he's going to print these Peter, but the air cleaner is not that severely conical. Sure it's slight, but yes, printed with the center ring cut out and not a complete solid circle would be ideal. I can always punch out that center area if it's too difficult to print in that manner.

I've placed decals like that before on other builds ('69 Daytona comes to mind) and it's nothing that decal setting solution and a hot moist cloth can't cure. ;)

You'll have to punch out the inner circle, but it's all transparent so in the end, no difference I hope! Also thanks a ton for the measurements, they'll come through peeeerfectly now fitting-wise! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 minutes ago, MarvinGardens said:

NJ, 

  Can you do the '79-'81 Firebird graphics in other colors? I have a Monogram kit that originally came with the Light Blue/Dark Blue/Black stripe combination. All I find replacements of/for is for the colors you offer. Being able to reproduce other color combos would be awesome. 

Hell yeah I can, I was literally planning on doing the '77-'78 Firebird(in 1/24 & 25), '85 GTA and some variations on the '77-'81 birds(particularly some badass versions of red/black/silver for a friend), what combinations would you want?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You know, I am an idiot. It is the '79-'81 Z28 sheet I was looking at and THAT is the one I need (1/24th scale). The color combos remain the same: the Light Blue/Dark Blue/Black combo is what I am looking for.

 

Now, if others going full-custom with this same kit would like other color combos, I do have about 8 other color combo/ideas!

1980 Z28, but same colors:

Related image

 

1979 Z28 in the same colors:

Image result for 1979 Z28 Camaro

 

Edited by MarvinGardens
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, MarvinGardens said:

You know, I am an idiot. It is the '79-'81 Z28 sheet I was looking at and THAT is the one I need (1/24th scale). The color combos remain the same: the Light Blue/Dark Blue/Black combo is what I am looking for.

 

Now, if others going full-custom with this same kit would like other color combos, I do have about 8 other color combo/ideas!

1980 Z28, but same colors:

 

 

1979 Z28 in the same colors:

 

 

Hah, no worries! You're in luck, I've got the '79 Z/28 with dark/light blue with the black lettering at the printer as we speak and designing the '80/'81 sheet in orange/red/maroon,  blue/dark blue/navy this weekend, so a lot further on those than the Firebird ones which I gotta begin with still. I'll PM ya' once I get a hold of the '79 set!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • echoxrayniner changed the title to Crafting up decal sheets(for mostly late 70s, 80s & 90s models so far)(Updated: Feb 1st)

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...