Evil Appetite Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 Has MCM ever run articles on creating your own decals, from which software to use, scanning all the way to printing a final product? If so..which issue was it in? If not, might I suggest one? I think it would make a great topic! I've been waiting for the competition to do that for a while now. Getting tired of the How - To re-runs they've been churning out lately --- Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doughnut Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 While I agree it would be a great topic to cover, I will point out one reason that they may have stayed away from it for so long and that reason is licensing. As a decal maker and former legal company employee, I can tell you that as soon as a magazine starts to promote something that could be even remotely considered as encouraging one to break the law, they get in hot water. They would have to emphasize that you can only make decals of your original artwork and honestly, who is interested in doing only that? As you yourself stated, you would like a tutorial that covers scanning, and scanning is the first step in artwork piracy. For example, to legitimately produce decals that include a Goodyear logo, you have to get permission from Goodyear themselves. To produce a decal for a car that was driven by Don Prudhomme, you need to get Don to sign off on it (good luck on that one!), and so on. As I have also stated on other similar topics, there are so many variables that an article would have to cover inkjet, color laser, Alps-based dry inks, etc. Each method is completely different. So while I share your enthusiasm and think it's a great idea, I can also offer you some ideas why they won't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Appetite Posted March 24, 2011 Author Share Posted March 24, 2011 I never thought about it from that perspective. I guess there wouldn't only be the issue of artwork piracy, but software piracy..who would spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on Illustrator or Photoshop when they could download it for instance. You're right! --- Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Sumner Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 (edited) I never thought about it from that perspective. I guess there wouldn't only be the issue of artwork piracy, but software piracy..who would spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on Illustrator or Photoshop when they could download it for instance. You're right! --- Mike Can one individual modeler make one set of decals to put on one particular model and be within the law? I mean if he doesn't make any for sale? Or is that illegal too? And what if you took a photo of a car that was at the track and made your decals from your own photos? Edited March 24, 2011 by Terry Sumner Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scale-Master Posted March 24, 2011 Share Posted March 24, 2011 You can make anything you want for yourself without fear of reprisal from the powers that be. You can even give it to someone without worry. It is only when you offer to sell those items a case of infringement can be made. I too speak from experience as a professional decal artist... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aarondupont Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 Check out Yahoo Groups. The used to be an ALPS group. Punch in decals in their group browser. You may find what you need. Testors sells decal paper. They also have the decal coating. Good luck. Aaron Dupont Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Sumner Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 This might help too. It's a tutorial on how this airplane modeler makes his own decals. It's pretty good... http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/SMF/index.php?topic=725.0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Art Laski Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 This might help too. It's a tutorial on how this airplane modeler makes his own decals. It's pretty good... http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/SMF/index.php?topic=725.0 Terry, Thanks for posting that. I've had some trouble with my home made decals bleeding when I soak them, and never thought to brush the water on the back as the author suggests. I think that will help big-time. -Art Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Appetite Posted March 25, 2011 Author Share Posted March 25, 2011 Can one individual modeler make one set of decals to put on one particular model and be within the law? I mean if he doesn't make any for sale? Or is that illegal too? And what if you took a photo of a car that was at the track and made your decals from your own photos? As someone stated , "You can make anything you want for yourself without fear of reprisal from the powers that be" You knew that, I'm sure. I was referring to the means to the end that an article like I suggested might encourage. As in, software piracy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaronw Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 I can't imagine how licensing artwork for a magazine article is even an issue. It would be very simple to use all original or public domain artwork, for the demonstrations. As far as any liability to the magazine for showing how to pirate material, how would that be different from a resin casting article which many magazines have done. A decal article is actually a good idea, DIY decal questions come up frequently. I've been meaning to do a quick and dirty tutorial for quite awhile, guess I should get to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evil Appetite Posted March 25, 2011 Author Share Posted March 25, 2011 (edited) Check out Yahoo Groups. The used to be an ALPS group. Punch in decals in their group browser. You may find what you need. Testors sells decal paper. They also have the decal coating. Good luck. Aaron Dupont Thanks for the tutorial and heads-up on Yahoo! Groups..I came across a hell of a lot of really great groups! --- Mike Edited March 25, 2011 by Evil Appetite Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Kron Posted March 25, 2011 Share Posted March 25, 2011 (edited) I misread the meaning of the title of this thread and it got me thinking about an idea for a regular feature in MCM that might be popular. But first off, I see no harm at all in a how-to regarding printing your own decals, especially those on ink-jet printers on clear or white decal sheet and all the things to watch out for in that regard. Now regarding content, making copies for personal use of something you own does not violate a copyright and, as such, doesn't oblige the copyright holder to protect their copyright by going after you (if the don't they risk losing the protection of their copyright). I was involved in music licensing so I know the ins and outs of the underlying legal principal pretty well. If you purchase a copyrighted work from a party licensed by the copyright holder to sell it to you, you buy the right to use it as you see fit as long as it doesn't transfer the use of the work to another party (for example copying and sharing copyrighted recordings or printed material with others without the express permission of the copyright holder denies the copyright holder the benefit of economic gain from the potential sale of their work). Which brings me to my misreading. For some reason I thought this might refer to MCM doing a regular feature where an artist would design decal art that could be scanned and printed by MCM readers for use on their models. As long as it was original art produced for purposes of the article, or was clearly art in the public domain, there would be no risk. The need for such things is obvious (flames,scallops, business names, car names, pinstripes, fogged panels, nose art, etc.). It would be especially cool if it was part of an article featuring an artist's rendering of a suggested model. Just a thought... Edited March 25, 2011 by gbk1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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