Can anyone make vinyl decals?

[tigeraid]

Slightly off-topic, since it's a military kit, but...

I usually make my own decals, but the problem is that much of the decal is bright white, and it's going on the AC-130H I'm building, which is military grey. When I print white decals (using white decal paper of course) they come out very thin and easy to see through, so the white doesn't even show up. I'm thinking my only solution might be vinyl, does anyone have a source for small sticker printing? nless someone here has a good method...

[SteveK2003]

Vinyl will be VERY thick on a small scale model (We use them on R/C cars), so you'd probably have to put about an inch of clear on there to blend them in.

You might want to look into spraying the fuselage white, masking out the overall outline of the decal and then spraying on the gray. THEN put on your decal and do some touch-up work with a brush or airbrush to blend it in. I saw a similar method used with the Valentino Rosso Michelin Peugeot 206 WRC, to prevent the yellow and blue from showing through the Michelin Man on the hood.

[hirofkd]

You can apply the decal on a separate sheet of white decal, like using a white template to cover the underlying surface. Normally, water-slide decal is thin, so you can add 1 or 2 extra layers without hurting the appearance. Alternatively, you can spray opaque white on a sheet of decal, and use it as a masking layer.

[tigeraid]

hmm... I've had success painting licence plate frames white before I apply my white decals on them, so they look solid... I'm not sure I can CLEANLY brushpaint the area though... and the body's already been painted, so while your idea is good Steve, it would mean starting over completely...

[SteveK2003]

Well, simply do the reverse: Cut the outline of the decal out of a larger piece of masking frisket or tape, and then airbrush white or gray over it. Make it a little larger than the decal, so you can go back and add more green to blend it in and get a good edge. You can use a tiny paint brush, or a piece of cardstock cut to shape held on top of the surface as a mask for the airbrush. If you hold it close and go lightly, you can get a good edge. Practice a bit, it's a neat trick.

You could try outlining the decal with a border of green a few millimeters thick, as close as you can get the hue of the body. Then you don't have to be so precise with the paint.

I wouldn't worry about building up too much paint, as flat clear will go over that much more easily than it would a vinyl decal.

[tigeraid]

Ah, interesting idea with the cardstock. I think I'll give that a try, thx.