Basic decal question

[joemac]

I've been told by various graphic/printer types that if you can photograph it, you can turn it into a decal.

I have yet to find anyone local who can actually produce the decals I need for a 1:32 scale model fire truck I'm building/modifying.

What is needed to actually produce the decals I need? My son has a printer, but I don't know what type, although I can find out.

The problem I see is that it's difficult (impossible?) to reproduce the real gold leaf that is used on the real thing. I've done actual gold leafing and i can't imagine doing it in scale. The sizing (adhesive) is too thick, for starters.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

[Jantrix]

I have printed decals off a standard ink jet printer with mixed results. A high end laser printer is the way to go or so I'm told.

Has anyone used a printing service? Even the local office supply stores with printing services?

[Lunajammer]

I had a very nice sheet produced by a local laser printer, I provided the white and clear sheets. However I'd also designed the graphics in Illustrator and Photoshop so resolution was high and crisp. Not sure who you could go to for metallic ink printing. I have a Pantone color book that shows metallic inks so I know they're out there.

[Erik Smith]

Either an alps printer or a decal service. You would need to contact them (somebody with an alps printer or a decal company) for graphics specifics as you can't just send a picture like an inkjet or laser printer.

You can get gold decal paper and you might be able to print black or dark colors onto that.

There are a couple members that print custom decals on ALPS printers.

[Chief Joseph]

A decent-looking gold leaf can be done with certain Alps printer models using the gold foil cartridge. Traditional screen printers use metallic inks that look better, though. Decals can be made from a photograph, but the old "garbage-in-garbage-out" maxim applies to the process. A crappy photo isn't going to magically turn into a good decal just by photocopying it. The best decals always come from using photographs to create new artwork specifically tailored for printing.

[joemac]

Thanks for the responses thus far. I know nothing about producing decals and not much more about printers.

My main concern is in producing a decal of the gold leaf that is only a half-inch wide with a thin black border in the small size to match a 1:32 scale model. It means the strip will be about a millimeter wide.

The other issue is the 'spun' effect that is imparted to the gold leaf.

Can a photo be scaled down that small?

Is the general consensus of opinion that I should go to a decal service?

[ScaleDale]

You can't practically achieve this effect at that scale even with an expensive decal printer. Packing that amount of detail into a single millimeter of space is asking too much.

Dale