I can't remember if this has been posted recently or not. I tried a search of the forum and it turned up empty, so I'll go ahead and ask. I was curious if anyone had any methods they had either used or seen that used an inkjet printer to make their own decals. Trying to find just the right ones is difficult and expensive. Any help, wether instructions or even a web site or book would be great. Thanks everyone.

Silent J

Try a search under the 'warbirds' forum. you might get some results there too..

Although I have never tried it, there is a 'water tranfer sheet' that you can put through the printer, to make your own decals. Problems are: expencive, so you want to fill up the sheet, and you'll have to fuel proof thedecals once applied. (lustercoat clear coat is good for that..) and anything over 8/5" or 11" will need to be pieced together.

Depending on the size, and complexity of teh decal, something to concider is contacting a sign maker. One who cuts vinyl for signs. He'll have a slew of colours to choose from, and can cut letters, shapes, and even 'old style gothic text' if your heart desires. Speak tot hem,a dn you can probably bring in your own image, and have them cut it owt. Some of the vinyls used, are intended for harsh enviroments, and will / should stand up to the the glow fuels.

If you're talented with sissors, making a print-out of teh decal on regular paper, and use it as a template for cutting out monokote decals can work also. I do that quite a bit..

Thanks for your response. Do you know where I could find the water transfer sheets for printers? Maybe I'll do some Google searching for that.

Silent J

Found some. decalpaper.com

Silent J

You can also try Micro Mark on the net.joe

I don't know about decals, but this guy can make stickers. He has done a great job for me, at a great cost also.
Here is his email, given by his permission.

Stickers


Hope this helps
Happy flying

Try Beldecal.com reasonable prices compared to others

you could make your own by painting toughcote, or dope onto the sticky side of a label when that dries paint your picture and use as a normal decal. works quite well but can be fragile.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

The detail shown in the photo was done using decal paper from Micro-Mark. White on black looks good, but I have done some white on red and it does not pass. Seems inkjet printers do not print white, consequently you use a decal paper already painted white, then add the background color your going to put it on. If you can match colors it should work fine, I have not been able to match the day-glow red I selected for the model.

Even so you will be able to make a lot of decals that will look great, best yet you can create custom stuff exactly as you want them.

My A-27 is almost done.

The real trick tool for doing decals is called an ALPS Printer. It has the ability to print white as well as colors. That's the good news. The bad news is they were expensive-about $500. And the consumer model isn't made anymore..... They are available on eBay, however. Last time I looked there were about a dozen for sale.

That leaves you with an ink-jet and white or clear paper. I have found that some brands of paper do not get along with my HP inkjet at all. One paper that I got from a train shop smeared badly. So you have to play with the paper and sealer.

Kelvin

Heard of a trick about the white that I am going to try on my plane for making stars w/outlines.

First paint the decal paper with flat spray paint like Krylon or the like. Flat white will absorb the printer ink better than gloss white, I guess it's the enamel in gloss paint?

Anyway, when it is dry, then run it through the printer and print your decal on it. Some decal paper comes pre-white color, but haven't found any yet.

Patriot

P.S. I think you can get decal paper at Office Depot.

I want to make a wings like the ones in the fast and the furious for my hpi 200 mm body, anyone have any ideaS ON HOW TO DO THIS

Sorry I don't know the image you're talking about, but the process is always the same. Find a copy of the image you want to use. Scan it into a graphics program like Photoshop-there are several good choices-alter it to suit you and print it to the decal paper.

Ahah, I found the web site I was thinking of:

http://modelinghints.homestead.com/Decals.html

Bill's site is full of good building help.

The best decal paper is from Micro-Mark www.micro-mark.com and is quite reasonably priced, but you have to fill up a sheet of decals first, otherwise you are wasting it. They have both inkjet and laser paper, and they have the white backed paper, so your inkljet printer just leaves any white in your decal blank, thus all other areas on the page are colored, and the white remains white. You can also get clear paper for all decals that don't have white on them. The paper is about $7 for 5 pages and you can order online too. It's amazing what else they have there, an amazing source of hobby tools etc. They send a catalog out with every order, so take a look.

One thing to remember is to use a setting solution like microsol to make the decals more flexible and conform to compound curves and panel lines etc. If you have a half decent inkjet printer (and most are now) you can make really professional custom jobs, and you can also get most logos etc. already made up on the net. Anything you can't get off the net (for example, I am doing the Sabre El Diablo devil), you can do yourself with corel draw or photoshop.

If you aren't sure, $7 isn't too much to have a go and make your own, you won't be sorry. And if you are, you can make up some great decals for the kids, they go great on lunch boxes, doors etc.

Tim.

There is a clear window decal material available at Office Depot that works great with inkjet printers. You can actually remove these stickers if ever needed. Only draw back is that the ink is not liquid proof. I seal my decals with the wide clear tape used for wrapping boxes. A 10-pak of 8x10 sheets is about $10.00.

Wayne

Timrob,

Thanks for this great tip, I am going to try it.
Do you know how the colors last? Maybe the clear coat I will apply to "fuel proof" the decals will also protect the colors.

Thanks for your time.
Chris.

All of the numbering and stars and bars were made with clear or white sheets. I clearcoated with a flat clear. This was my first attempt at decals. The larger decals are harder to put on. The round edges for example on the circle like to roll under when positioning the decal on the plane. Give it a try, it's not very hard. Jim

The folks at Flight Metal or Bare Metal (can't remember which) make ink jet and laser printer decal paper in clear and white. Mine printed great however I've yet to do any transfer as the plane is not covered. Bought mine at the LHS. You have to seal it with a clear that is compatible. The manufacturer suggested Krylon Crystal Clear. My plan is to experiment with Top Flight Lustrekote for fuel proofing the decal once applied to the plane.

Nice job Jimmytheeagle,

Have you ever heard of someone who applied home made decals to iron on film like Monokote or any other brand? I wonder if the Krylon stuff used to fix the ink, which seems to be an acrylic coat, is strong enough. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Chris.

Since I mostly build scale I don't do much with monokote but the decals sticking wouldn't be an issue but I'm assuming you're refering to the shrinking qualities of the covering material and would the krylon stand up to a heat gun to get rid of a few wrinkles. I would probably try the clear lusterkote over the decals once they are in place. It would probably be best to take some 000 or 0000 steel wool to the area before applying the decal which would aid in the clear to adhere better. I think the lusterkote is probably tougher around glow fuels as well. Jim

Thanks,

I was mainly referring to the fuelproof process, I will try the clear Lusterkote. I hope it is not going to show a shinier area that will "stain" from the rest of the surface.

Chris.

The lusterkote clear comes in flat or gloss. Depending on the finish you want one might work better than the other. The clear does need to cover over part of the monokote to keep fuel or cleaning solutions from getting under the decal. One option is to spray the entire aircraft when done but when you get some wrinkles in the plane and want to take them out you have to use a gun and not an iron. Jim

The way I make decals is to NOT use the whole sheet of paper. I make a pencil mark on a piece of paper in the tray so I know which way it goes through. Then I print the decal on paper. Cut a piece of decal paper that's big enough and tape it to the piece of paper. I suppose it could cause a jam, but I've never had a problem. I haven't printed a heck of a lot of decals either.

There is a write up in a newsleter put out by the 495th squadron if you would like to check it out. You can get to it by
www.495thsquadron.org select newsletters, select February 2003 it will be on page 4 & 5. I have done them and after applying them to the plane I use minwax wipe-on poly clear satin and that protects them well from the fuel. Take a look and see if it is helpful to you.

Bob

Thanks, I read the interesting article in the newsletter. and sent a mail to the author. I wonder if there cannot be a compatibility issue between the UV protection spray and the clear coat to fuel proof the decal.

Chris.