does anyone here make/print custom decals

[youpey]

i am working on my amt 1/25 1978 ford bronco, and i would like to make it look like the free wheelin style.  I tried to draw them myself thinking it would be simple, but boy was i wrong. my lack of skills are astounding. plus, i tried printing what i did have and it looked terrible, fuzzy and like garbage. 

i would rather not use the stripes at all vs using ones that look bad. any help is greatly appreciated 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 24, 2021 by youpey

[robdebie]

I suggest reading some older threads on that subject:

http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/search/?q=%22custom%20decals%22&type=forums_topic&updated_after=any&sortby=relevancy&search_and_or=or&search_in=titles

After the homework, ask yourself whether you want to learn how to do it yourself, or do you want to outsource the job? Looking at the car, you could maybe do the drawing work yourself, but not the printing, since you need white ink to go under all the colors. The only consumer printer that has white is (was) an Alps, but it cannot do the beige / orangy / faded red colors that you need. So you will need to outsource the printing.

Also, be aware of the costs, it's probably more than the kit itself. Maybe even a lot more. So make sure you really want these custom decals.

Rob

Edited May 26, 2021 by robdebie

[youpey]

I tried for a few hours to draw the lines without any luck. Unfortunately I haven't been blessed with even basic drawing skills. 

I Think what i will try to do is mess with an image that i find online.

Im going  to try to primt it to white decal paper and just cut along the lines to make it so the white isn't seen. 

I Had found a picture of the sunburst version thai i was able to get to the right size  my printer is not good enough. Im going to try to go to staples and see if they will let me print on my decal paper with their image printer.

 

I really prefer this version over the sunburst one, and honestly worst case i will just paint the bronco blue and not use decals. If i can get the decals right, it will be black... or maybe one of each. I have 2 of the amt kits

 

Edited May 26, 2021 by youpey

[peteski]

For this type of decal the best is to put some masking tape over the side of the model, then roughly sketch the stripes on the tape.  Then scan the sketch on the masking tape into the computer, then use a graphic program (like Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, or Inkscape) which is capable of layers to put the scanned image on a locked layer, then draw the actual stripes over the scan. That will assure that the decal will fit over the body correctly.  The other way would be to place the body on a scanner, and scan the side. Then use that scanned image instead of the masking tape sketch to draw the correctly sized stripes. But it sounds like you don't have that capability.

 

 

Edited May 26, 2021 by peteski

[youpey]

  On 5/26/2021 at 4:11 AM, peteski said:

For this type of decal the best is to put some masking tape over the side of the model, then roughly sketch the stripes on the tape.  Then scan the sketch on the masking tape into the computer, then use a graphic program (like Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, or Inkscape) which is capable of layers to put the scanned image on a locked layer, then draw the actual stripes over the scan. That will assure that the decal will fit over the body correctly.  The other way would be to place the shell on a scanner, and scan the side. Then use that scanned image instead of the masking tape sketch to draw the correctly sized stripes. But it sounds like you don't have that capability.

 

 

Expand  

I had not thought of using masking tape on the model. That might work for me. I cant freehand draw, but i should be able to get it with the tape. I only need to do one side, the other will just be flipped 

 

Thanks for the great idea. 

[peteski]

Exactly.  I'm glad I was able to help out. For symmetrical (or repeating) designs only one needs to be drawn then it can be mirrored/flipped/rotated as needed.

I make my own decals using Corel Draw and the Alps printer.

Edited May 26, 2021 by peteski

[youpey]

I learned last night that my printer has a hidden higher printing resolution. 

I was test printing the decal and it looked fuzzy and dull and generally terrible. my plan was to just have staples print it for me on their good printer

 

However i got the new decal paper last night and i did a test print. However, i was messing with different options and found that if i change the paper type to shiny photo paper, it brings up a completely different menu. I chose high quality there and magically the printer started printing very slowly. when it finished, it actually had the same quality that the image had. 

I did i light coat of clear coat and it looks great. I did get a couple of dust spots in the clear so i need to do it again in my print box where dust wont fall on it.

Im going to try to cut it and put it on a test model today to see how it looks. 

It really is important because if it works the model will be painted a different color and i have been holding off on painting it based on the decal

[youpey]

in case anyone cares. i tested the decals on a test model painted a dark color. the decals look good. since i printed on white decals, there is no loss of color that i can see. however, i think i really dont like how it looks on a model. It just doesnt look right. im not sure why. i am going to skip it for now and paint the model the other way i had planned and maybe will attempt it again in the future. 

[peteski]

Making decals is not something that will give you perfect results on first try. I'm glad that you jumped in and experimented. Even though it wasn't a success, you have learned something.