Homemade decals

[mysterj1]

Hi everyone,

I'm interested in creating some custom decals for a Titan 90 I'm getting ready to start. Since I'm somewhat computer savvy (and decidedly NOT an artist) I thought perhaps this might be a way of creating something personal and unique for my new Chevy.

I've done a couple quick searches here but haven't seen anything that fit the bill. Does anyone have any pointers/suggestions how I could pull this off?

Thanks,

Joe

[Aaron Corey]

I've used the decal film from Bare Metal Foil (http://www.bare-meta...Decal-Film.html) to make custom decals. They offer both clear and white film, depending on whether or not your decal design has white areas. Also, bright colors (like yellow and orange) can benefit from being printed on white film, especially if you model is painted in a dark color. Just make sure you get the correct type of film for your printer (laser or ink jet).

For designing you artwork, you can use just about any type of paint or illustration software, as long as it allows you to create and print your design at the right size for your model. Using a paint program (like MS Paint or Photoshop) might be more challenging since you have less precise control over the sizes of objects. Personally, I use a 2D illustration program called Microsoft Visio for this purpose because it's quite user-friendly and it allows you to draw your artwork at exactly the right size (i.e. the screen has a grid and rulers so that you can easily control the size of the graphics you're drawing). Adobe Illustrator would work too, but of course it's more expensive and has a steeper learning curve. Depending on the complexity of your design, you could even use the drawing tools built into Microsoft Word.

After you print your decals, you'll need to seal them. Bare Metal Foil also makes a "liquid decal film" product for this purpose (http://www.bare-metal.com/Microscale-Model-Finishing-Products.html). Alternatively, you can use Testors glosscote laquer in the spray can. I prefer the liquid decal film since it doesn't have the toxic fumes of the laquer. You just brush it on and it dries fairly quickly.

Edited March 6, 2012 by Aaron Corey

[mysterj1]

Thanks for the feedback! I get your point about white background...my truck will be root beer brown, and I want to have my decal (just some text, really) in some sort of yelllow/orange accent color. Unfortunately, I only have access to a laser printer (black/white). I will talk to my local print shop to see if they can do this, but wouldn't I want to use a clear background?

Thanks,

Joe

[Aaron Corey]

For text, clear film would be the way to go. The issue with light colors on a dark paint job is that inkjet printer ink is translucent, so the underlying color (brown in your case) would show through.

The only way around this that I'm aware of is to use a printing process that allows you to print with more opaque pigments or print a white layer underneath the color layer. Most consumer printers these days don't have this capability, but a print shop may have access to printing techniques that would do the trick. For example, they might be able to screen-print a white text layer first, then lay down your yellow/orange color on top of that (I believe that's the process that model kit manufactures use for their decals). As long as the two layers are perfectly aligned, you won't see the white layer.

[mysterj1]

Ah, I see! thanks for following up on that point, makes perfect sense. I'll check w/ Kinko's and see if this is anything they can do.