Where else to find decals beside the obvious

I'm looking for some water slide decals of vintage drag cars and just door badges in general and I've tried the obvious

Top End, Whoopie Kat, SMBC, Rob's modeling and a few vendors on eBay.
Thought you guys might be able to point me in the right direction

G'day Sixx,

Wouldn't have any ideas where to look as vintage drag cars aren't really my thing, but why not try making them yourself? Is pretty easy, and works great, even with an inkjet printer. I've done it a few times myself and the results have been great. The only thing is a bit of thought needs to be given when trying to do a white decal, but other than that, it may be the best (only) way to get what you are after.

I'm sure there would be a tutorial on doing your own decals here somewhere on the forum, but if you would like a run down let me know and I'll tell you my method.

Good luck.

Is pretty easy, and works great, even with an inkjet printer. I've done it a few times myself and the results have been great.

Which decal paper do you use?

Which decal paper do you use?

I would like to know if anyone have used the decal papers from Bare Metal Foil Co. ?

http://www.bare-metal.com/Experts-Choice-Decal-Film.html

They have it for laser and inkjet, white and clear.

this is a good source http://www.pumpkin-models.at/, not so common.

Thanks for the great info, I think I'm gonna try both, pumpkin_models and look into making some~ My biggest problem will be shrinking down the image to size. One, I'm not too great at using different computer programs or I didn't exactly excel in Math. Any help with that would be greatly appreciated.

G'day Sixx,

Ok, I'll start by saying this is going to refer to Ebay, but I am not this seller, these are not my auctions (I live on the other side of the planet), and the seller is not known to me at all........ but get on Ebay and search under decal paper or look for a seller called hmsjr24 . He currently has a number of types on there, look for this item number 200218984682 and 200218984217 .

I have purchased several sheets of both the white and clear inkjet. They come with instructions as well but essentially:

1. Find or create your image. It always works better if you can use an image much larger than you need then reduce it down in size to suit your model. Make sure you get ones with a good resolution....crappy pics will always be just that...crappy!

2. Set your printer settings to the highest quality print, and select glossy photo paper as the paper type.

3. Print onto a normal sheet of pglossy photo paper to see how the image will come out on the decal sheet. You can print on normal paper but you won't get the 'gloss' effect obviously.

4. Make sure the images are arranged on the page to ensure the best use of the space available (ie: minimise waste). You can always reuse the left over decal sheet...

5. Insert the decal paper and print (still on the best quality settings).

6. Once printed set the sheet down somewhere where dust won't get on it. The ink dries fairly quickly, but still a good idea to keep it away from dust. Whatever you do DON'T touch teh decal as it is drying...you will get a great copy of your finger print...also avoid blowing on the sheet just in case a nice little spit-bubble lands on the page..it will always find the centre of the most elaborate decal...guaranteed!

7. You will need some sort of clear preserver. I use Krylon Preserve It spray. Designed to protect photo prints. Trim off the section with the decals on it (put the remainder away for next time). Lay the printed sheet down on some cardboard and spray some fairly light coats over the sheet, being sure to get good even coverage. Once done, again, put in a dust free area and let dry. Mine is usually dry in under an hour.

8. To remove the decal you need to trim around it with a very sharp pair of scissors, or a new blade (old ones will tear the page). Soak in water and apply as normal. You can also use the setting solutions with the sheet if need be, and the decals can be cleared over with the final paint job as well.

Note: If the surface of the decal is a little rough after the spraying with sealer, you can actually polish the decal surface. I've used Scratch X and works fine, brings up to a nice gloss. You may need to experiment with the number of passes and thickness of the coat of the sealer you use, but if done correctly you won't get any ink bleed when submerging in water.

Remember, if you are trying to do coloured decals, print them on the white paper, unless the model they are going on to is white, as the white 'background' gives the colour the best finish.

The only real downside I've found so far...the decal can be a little thick when done, so try and keep the sealer coats fairly thin....certainly nothing that is going to detract from the model, but don't expect to get 'Tamiya-thin' decals this way, mine end up about twice the thickness of a standard kit decal.

Have a look here at some I have done, nothing special, quite simple, but gives you an idea. They are actually higher resolution printed than my camera can capture, and my camera is 8.3 MP!

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii31/ceejayqld_2007/decals.jpg
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii31/ceejayqld_2007/BA5.jpg
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii31/ceejayqld_2007/BA1.jpg
http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/ii31/ceejayqld_2007/ford4.jpg

The ones on the silver car were plain black printed on clear sheet. The one on the bonnet / hood was trimmed around the actual decal very carefully, but after using some decal setting solution the edge is barely noticable.

The one on teh black pick-up actually covers the entire door below the pinstripe. Is printed on white paper, with black printed background and orange logo. Once the decal was applied and polished you cannot tell between the decal and the paint finish of the car.

By the way, these were printed on a Canon i560 inkjet.

I hope this helps you out...good luck.

Chola - I've been trying to figure out if it would be worth my effort or within my capacity to print my own decals, but you've convinced me to give it a shot :evillol:

Chola!
Awesome work man! and a great tutorial on how to do it. Your pictures of your builds look great too
Thanks again man
I'm gonna have to give it a try

G'day,

No worries guys, happy to help. If you have any problems just let me know.

Just remember to get the decal paper for INKJET printers...if you get the stuff for lasers and you only have any inkjet, it will just pool on the paper and you would have wasted your money. Also, believe it or not, inkjet printers actually reproduce colours better than lasers (this has a very long and boring technical explaination but trust me - I did a huge amount of printer research a few months back when I was looking into buying an ALPS printer and was checking out other options!).

Another tip, avoid touching the urface o the decal paper at all times (this includes before you print on it. I did by accudent and the oils in my fingers left a print, I didn't realise this until I printed a decal on it and it showed up in the decal!

Sixx - those aren't actually builds....they are my decals but the cars are 1/18's, but they were the best pics I had.

Good luck lads, and again, if you have any dramas, please feel free to send me a pm!

Another tip, avoid touching the urface o the decal paper at all times (this includes before you print on it.

Ink jet colors smear when they're fresh and run when they're wet. To prevent bleeding when applying the decal to the model, ink jet decals should be protected with Krylon Crystal Clear or Krylon Preserve It after they've had a chance to dry overnight. I've had no fingerprint problems with crystal-cleared decals.

There are many on-line sources for decal film; BMF is among the most expensive.

Ddms