I know advances have been made rapidly in the past few years allowing modelers, etc. to print their own decals at home. I have never done this, but I think it is time to try it. Here are a couple of questions before I jump in. Do decals printed on ink jet printers (say hp deskjet 6122) work? How do you keep the ink from running when you are installing the decal? Also, what is the best brand of decal paper (clear specifically)? Is there a certain type of decal film I should use with my inkjet that will solve the running ink problem? Thanks in advance for all your help.
Ron [8D]
Yes they will work but you need to seal them first with an overspray of something like FLoquil Crystal Cote or High Gloss which is a solvent based material. I have started to lift area from photos and print them on photo paper for use for things like corporate symbols and billboards. you can get both glossy and matte paper for your needs. Also works for putting interiors behind windows. I do not do decals but I suspect the same problem exists that does when printing glossy photo paper. the ink has to dry on the surface rather than be absorbed as on regular paper. This can take 45-60 minutes for an 8 1/2 x 11 photo. So they need to be set aside while they dry.
Ron;
Get a kit from Micro Mark, and try it. As noted above, you will have to seal them.
Epson is now advertising a ink jet printer that uses water resistant ink, might be able to get away with not sealing them, but there is no similar ink currently available for your HP. And it would not work properly if you tried to use it for cartridge refilling.
Chiming in here… With UP’s logo issues, and others most likely to follow, we may all need to know more about “how-to” decal. I currently use transfers to make minor changes to already decaled models. To get started in “decaling”, which may be the way our future goes, I have a couple questions.
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Does FLoquil Crystal Cote or High Gloss come in a spray can or is it a brush-on application?
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Do you need special software with “pre-canned” layouts or will any graphics/photo sofware work?
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If I buy a “sheet” of decal paper but only use 2"-3" sq inches now and 2"-3" sq inches at some other time and so on, how do you set the print so that it knows where on the “sheet” to print?
And like n2mopac, I too would like to here from the experienced decalers on which decal paper is the best or worst and maybe some tips-n-tricks on how to do it right or what not to do?
Did you check out the web site of a company called Bel, Inc. which advertises in MR? They supply paper for Ink Jet. There address: www.beldecal.com Phone: 305.593.0911
Jim
Any imaging software will work so long as you can size the image to scale and it will talk to your printer.
Chopping off bits of decal paper may cause feed problems in your printer. Otherwise you can use partial sheets.
I’d suggest you make up sheet sized printing jobs and use what you need and save the extra decals for future use. Being sure to coat them with an overspray to prevent image smearing. Put them in a cool dry dark place to keep them fresh and usable.
I have some decal paper that I picked up in my local artist supply store that is for inkjet printers only and does NOT require a fixative or laquer. The patented coating absorbs and fixes the inkjet ink. Not a cheap product, made in Wales and retails in Canada at over $3 per sheet.
I saw the results that the store owner got and was impressed. I have yet to use any of the paper as I am trying hard to design my RR logo. Yikes, this is not an easy task. Whooda thunk. I am willing to post results when I have some and I’ll wait until then to provide the paper makers with some free advertising.
They claim that the decal background can be made to show as white or clear depending on how the surface is treated at application time.
One thing no one has mentioned, the only printer out there that will print white letters is an Alps printer, and they no longer sell printers in the US, the way around this is to use white decal film paper, this too is available from several sources, and use color blocks matching the colors of your engines and rolling stock, if you use the clear decal film paper, then you will need to still use the color block, but paint a white background to place the decal onto…:o)
Hello betsy662,
Unfortunately it’s not a very good white. It’s not easy to get strong opacity with white and the Alps doesn’t produce what we all see as white in the decals we have.
The Welsh paper mentioned in my earlier post claims to be able to provide a clear or white background depending on preparation, but it too isn’t a very good white.
The only solution that I can think of would be to paint the subject white in the required area before applying the decal. It wouldn’t need to be too accurate a paint job if the decal is designed well.
Just a warning - - -
I tried making my own decals using two different manufacturers of decal paper last year. The inkjet printer didn’t print very well on the paper. The ink tended to bead up and smear - no matter WHAT I set the printer for.
Also, keep in mind that even if you don’t want to show white in your decal, you can get problems. For example - when an injet printer prints gray, it assumes that it is printing black dots separated by white paper (albeit EXTREMELY small). If you print gray on clear decal paper, then when you apply it to your painted model, you’re going to get the background color instead of white - so decals tend to have incorrect colors and be much darker on the model.
Also, I found that using a decal setting solution worked - sort of. The decal would snuggle down over details without a problem, but the inkjet ink (and the fixative spray) were not as flexible, and the color would “crack” leaving places where, although the decal covered, you could see fine lines of background color through the decal.
I have not done any of this in the past year, so it’s possible that the technology has changed (for the better), but in my experience, making your own decals can be very difficult…
Rob
I produce graphics using CADD or a word processor program. Then I print on a laserprinter. High resolution and good toner fixation. I have used both tranparant and solid white paper. Some photocopiers can print “negative”.
dark colors work best on transparant. Light pastells can wash out on transparant. Any colors can work on solid.
produce a “proof” sheet. THEN PHOTOCOPY IT ONTO THE DECAL PAPER USING A LASERCOPIER.
Has worked well for me so far. I have done several cars, and lettered a locomotive. (white on black) Did have to touch up the edge of the decal w/ black paint to hide the white edge.
I’ve seen a Testors kit for about $6.00 at WalMart. Look in the model paint section of the store. Perhaps your LHS may also carry this product + supplies of paper & spray. Haven’t tried it yet, but will have plenty of time over holidays to try. I bet if your printer has custom paper settings you may be able to cut it 1/2 like some of the Avery label sheets. Happy Holidays!
What is the product name and the company that makes it? And where can you find it?
Thanks for everyone’s input so far,
Ron
What fonts (and size) for HO would you recommend when making your own printed decals?
Hi there,
That sounds mighty interesting! What’s the make of the paper? And where did you get it in Van?
ALPS printers weren’t the only printers that did white, just the only ones affordable by home users. Kodak proofing printers do white, but they start out around five grand. At least one of the smaller decal makers replaced their ALPS printers with a Kodak lately.
Since I mainly need white in the few custom decals I forsee having done, I think I’ll just farm the work out to one of the shops that have the gear. [:)]
I find that downtown print shops don’t want to bother with printing white onto decal paper. They think that the paper will jam up their printers. I don’t think there are any white printers around even at the printers.
Hello rees1379,
Nice name, and welcome to the forum. Thanks for bringing this topic back to the front page, I seem to have missed replying to a couple of posts…woops.
http://www.lazertran.com/ is the website of the makers and I got mine from Artopia on Hastings Street at Richards in Vancouver.
Hello RhB_HJ,
They only sell a package so it’s sort of expensive but if you are interested I’ll sell you a sheet of mine if you want to drop by my office, also on Hastings at Richards.
Tut tut, bad Tony. I have yet to actually make any decals with it as I have only recently finished painting some rolling stock and loco’s and finally got a logo that I’m happy with. Many thanks to the talented Shaywen. I expect to have a picture of decal infested something soon so I’ll put it here when I’ve dome that.
Use a Roman or Extended Roman for serif fonts and a Gothic for sans-serif. Check the web for downloadable TrueType or OpenType fonts. Match up what you find against photos of your subject. 1 point is 1/72 inch so you can figure it out to figure what matches your prototype.
As promised I have a picture of a decal. There was a lot of experimentation and I have found many several ways of how to make a complete pigs breakfast of it. I’ll take some pics of the various failures and the effort and process to achieve the more dismal results if anyone wants to avoid experimentation. I am quite pleased with the way the white bits worked. The lettering is quite readable.
