erikpmort

My Feedback: (52)

Hey I didn't know where I should post this, but i was wondering if any of you guys make your own stickers to put on your planes and how to do it.... is it as simple as getting some clear sticky paper and printing on it? or does it require a special printer etc.... I would love to get the equip to do it myself if it wasn't extremely expensive...

Panzlflyer

My Feedback: (15)

You can use an inkjet and there is available paper for decals, then seal it with a clear coat, treat as a normal decal.

Miniflyer

You can use a regular type printer (inkjet or laser), but you wil always have to seal it before applying. Also you will get transparent colors....so you will always see what is below. This is a problem especially with dark colors, or also changing colors below.
If you really want professional opaque type decals or stickers you will need access to a thermal transfer type printer. These are also capable of printing white and metallic. If you do not have one you should go through the trouble of having them printed from someone who has such a device. tailormadedecals offers a decal printing service.
I have also bought the necessary equipment for myself, but am glad to help out when someone is in need.
Regards
Hank

erikpmort

My Feedback: (52)

Well im kinda having this guy do it for me, but i wanted to learn more and see if i could do it myself in the future cause hes kinda expensive.

Miniflyer

Of course you can do it yourself and save money. Many decals will also come out all right on regular type printers because they have a light, single color background and do not need to have white in them.
But there are quite a few that simply need special equipment, or complicated tricks (printing the decal on decal paper and masking film, cutting out the decal shape out of the masking film with a scalpel, painting the area white with the mask and then applying the decal so it will cover it up etc.).

To save money and get good decals at a nice price anyway you can always create the decal file yourself in coreldraw, mail it to someone with thermal transfer capabilities and have it printed up by him. Around 15 euros is a very very good price for printing a letter size sheet, most custom shops do it for 20 to 25 euros..... this will usually be a lot cheaper than buying a printer that has these capabilities, they rum $500 and up. I bought it only because i do so much that the 5 euro difference in printing cost paid off pretty quickly :-).

Rgds
Hank

erikpmort

My Feedback: (52)

cool thanks guys i'll keep this in mind for the future

marwen1

My Feedback: (6)

erikpmort

The first thing I read that you wanted, was an INEXPENSIVE way to make decals

Q) what are you going to use them for and where are you going to use them?

marwen

Gorhecks

Hi erikpmort,

I had my designs printed on a custom decal from www.paintjazz.com for both my boat and plane. Could not remember exactly the cost, something like US$15-20.

What I like most of the decal is that the decal film is so thin that you hardly notice the film edge. Further it is weather-resistant (been using on my boatd for close to 6 months).

Miniflyer

Those are just the kind i'm making with the thermal transfer solid ink printer. Around $20 sounds cheap, they do not earn all too much with that. I charge about the same, running material costs only.
Of course the amounts of ink and carrier foil i am ordering is also much less, they will probably get a lot better prices ... :-)
Best regards
Hank

Ron Olson

My Feedback: (1)

I have my sister do my graphics for me, she owns a laser cutter and has a second one on order. I usually provide some of the Top-Flite TrimKote sheets or else she has some Avery vinyl on hand. Being my sister, she'll do a 12"x24" sheet that will fill it up for about $5.00 if that depending on her mood.

ponchoyo

i just spray paint and paint my planes instead of using stickers since they tend to fall of

Miniflyer

Ponchoyo, just painting is nice for sport planes, but scale aircraft have many many (very small) stencils that cannot be painted. Some decals also need 10 or more colors....are you willing to paint a decal with 10 or more colors which is less than a square inch of size?

If your decals are coming off, then you did something wron when applying and finishing.

Best regards
Hank

marwen1

My Feedback: (6)

You might want to spray either a gloss or a matte finish. get them from either an art store or else a good camera retailer.

marwen1

jgeck90

can someone send me a link to where i can buy the clear decal paper i have a HP PSC 1510 All-In-One...wht would i have to set the printing prefrences at to print on the clear decal i can just use Adobe Photoshop Elements rite? just bought the program 4.0 please let me know.
jeff

marwen1

My Feedback: (6)

Well, that's pretty much a loaded question.

1st off, if you have an HP product, then by all means ALWAYS use their inks, and ALWAYS use their media to get the very best performance.

Personally, I use EPSON pruducts. Once upon a time, I had an EPSON printer and I used HP paper (media). With 2 hrs, the blue ink was actually bleeding off into the white border. TOTALLY unacceptable! I couldn't have sold that print on the best odds in the world!

Now then, to your question. The odds are that the media you want will not be an HP product, so fair warning -- brace yourself for some strange results as well as the colours not being what you want them to be!

In any case, what you want to do is set your printer for the highest quality of printout as possible and you might want to choose something like a "premium gloss" or else a "film", maybe it will be called a TRANSPARENCY.

One other thing that I might want to give you a "heads-up" on is the colour balance of using a MIX of brands.

My closest friend is a professional photographer and has worked for JOSTENS (the school picture people) for over 35 years,
Digital pictures came out within the past few years. REGARLESS what I tell him, he constanlt mixes his inks, his media, and whatnot! He is always getting crappy results. He always comes to me asking what did he do wrong? Invariably, the answer is the same. Did you use HP ink? NO! Did you use HP paper? NO!

What can I say? All companies have research & development departments for a reason.

Use their reccomendations and the odds are, you won't go too far wrong!

best of luck

marwen1

jgeck90

THANKS MUCH marwen1

Miniflyer

HP printers will not produce decent decals. A professional printer has informed me thet the ONLY manufacturer using UV-resistant pigmented inks is Epson. All others will not make a lasting decal for any "outdoor use", even when clearcoated.

Just a note at the side....

Mister_Scary

If there's a will, there's a way.

I make decals and if they are going to be in the sun, I use UV clearcoat.
Here's a link to one brand:
http://www.levineautoparts.com/upclear1uvre.html

Just do a dogpile search for UV clearcoat spray or something similar.

michael-adcal

I trust only adcal-labels.co.uk for high quality labels & stickers. It is an ISO 9002 company since 1992 and specializes in screen and digital printing and produce labels and stickers. They produce high quality labels for an extremely wide range of customers.

They are specialists in [link=http://www.adcal-labels.co.uk]labels[/link], braille labels, domed labels, durable labels, high temperature labels, electrical labels, metal labels, security labels, industrial labels stickers, [link=http://www.adcal-labels.co.uk/bar-code-labels.htm]bar code labels[/link], bumper stickers, promotional stickers, warning stickers, printable stickers & window stickers.

You can also contact them for expert assistance with any labeling requirement.

Regards
Michael

krs

If you are lucky enough to own you own vinyl cutter, like me, you can pretty much make anything you want. It makes it very helpful !!!

SAVS

Previous post:

I just ordered a DF sticker from Bad Brad. He does these for heli and planes so I asked him if I could get one for my DF. Here is a picture he sent me of the draft DFI http://www.nextnethosting.net/DF/ima...%20Sticker.jpg Sticker. It will look awesome on the back window of my truck! The size is 5.5 X 7 or bigger for $6, you can contact Brad @ [email protected] ...Denny

This guy is good and inexpensive.

fugadude

I need to find a suitable sticker lable (a vinyl?) for a laser printer. Anyone have a source?