Mike Phillips Posted December 14, 2003 Share Posted December 14, 2003 Just thought I'd share this with you guys. I picked up the Testors Custom Decal system the other day and thought I'd try to print some for myself. I wasnt going to try anything too hard like noseart, just some letters and so forth. Here's the results. First of all, I didnt use the paper that came with the set. One, because I had heard the clear paper had a milky residue, and that the white wasnt very opaque. Two, the sheets were smaller than 8.5 by 11, and I didnt want to try to figure out how to get it seated in the printer properly. I had some Expert's Choice sheets in clear and white and a sheet of clear Detail Master paper that I used. I just went into Wordpad in Win98, and printed several of a few letters that would be good for tailcodes(I build 1/32 modern jets BTW). First I had to find out the correct size. For 24 inch tailcodes, a font size of 90 works for the large letters(ex: "SP"), 60 is good for the larger serial # numbers(ex: 291), and 25 works well for the "AF" and the year (ex: 69). I first printed out on a test sheet of paper to see if there would be any "jaggies". I selected the highest DPI for the printer, which was 300. The printer is a HP 880C Deskjet. If there was a higher DPI, I couldnt find it. I also printed at the best settings, and used the "other specialty paper" setting. I've printed photos taken with a digital camera at 1280x960 with this printer on plain paper before, and they come out really nice. The test sheet looked good. So I popped in a piece of the Detail Master and printed away. I was printing these in the stock gray color that Wordpad uses. The page came out of the printer, but the ink almost immediatly started to bubble up. After about an hour, it was almost unreadable, it was so faint. But no jagged edges. Next, I took a black test sheet to a photocopier (a black and white Sharp sf-2514), and ran a sheet of the Experts Choice thru it. This sheet came out pretty nice. The decal paper went thru easily, and came out looking good. As it dried, the letters faded a little, but they look to be useable. Again no jagged edges. For the third experiment, I scanned a set of some A-4 Skyhawk decals using Adobe Photo Deluxe on an HP scanner(I dont remember the model #). The originals are old, and the red for the intake triangles had bled some at the edges. I dont know if this is from age or happened when they were made. I cut them out of the scan, and then changed the background color from that "pale blue" color that the paper comes in to white. I ran a sheet of the EC clear paper thru the printer, and got pretty much the same results as with the letters on the first try. I then ran a sheet of the EC white paper thru, and got a little bit better one. But the red came out a little jagged at the edges. Also the word "Danger" on the marking was a fairly blurry. Since this is my first attempt at this, I've got a few questions. 1. Would the gray letters be faint because of color used? Or would it be because of possibly low ink levels in the cartridge, or the paper not accepting the ink very well? 2. Same for the red on the triangles. Would this be an ink or paper issue? 3. Would the resolution that I was printing at be the problem? My Dad has an HP photo printer, that is used for just that purpose, printing photos. His is the one with the little screen that lets you see what pictures are on the memory stick that you insert in it. If he prints on photo glossy paper, the pictures come out so good, that I cant tell the difference between them and one taken with a 35mm camera. Since this printer is made to accept special papers, would this be a better alternative printer to try printing decals on? By the way, the spray decal film that comes with the kit seems to go on pretty smooth, but really stinks! It smells like Tamiya Spray paints! YUCK! I havent tried to apply any of the markings I made yet, but when I do, I'll report the results. Any thoughts or comments would be much appreciated! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ricardo Posted December 15, 2003 Share Posted December 15, 2003 Making decals is a question of trial and error; I know it's an expensive trial and error but that's the only way. If I were you I'd try your dad's printer or maybe a laser printer or a color photocopier. HTH, Ricardo PS: The inks used on ink jet printers is water based and fades when exposed to UV light. There are some acrylic gloss clear products sold at art supply stores that have an UV protection factor. Get some of those to protect your custom decals once they are on the model. :lol: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
William G Posted December 16, 2003 Share Posted December 16, 2003 PS: The inks used on ink jet printers is water based and fades when exposed to UV light. There are some acrylic gloss clear products sold at art supply stores that have an UV protection factor. Get some of those to protect your custom decals once they are on the model. Actually most of the inks are alchohol based. But they are for the most part Water Soluble, therefore most will run if water is applied to them. this is why most for your decal kits come with a clear overcoat either a bottle or a spray can. Depending on the printer and the inks used some actually have very good resistance to UV light, as well as very high color deffinintion. You want to look at what the specs are for the inks as to the durability on these inks. One thing to watch for is Be careful with using anything that is not made for Laser printers in the laser printer. Since the Laser printer is a variant of the standard photocopier, you want to make sure that you do not use anything that might get gummed up on the heater wire that sets the toner. Likewise you want to also insure that any laser media is compattable with your inkjet. The Inkjet papers (Decal that is) are designed in the majority, to not be heat set. Unless you have one that expressly states that it needs to be heat set. you dont want to heat it. The toner needs to be heated enough so that the styrene melts causing the carbon black (or the other colors) to bond to the surface. Hope that this helps. William G :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
kuma Posted December 17, 2003 Share Posted December 17, 2003 Hi! I'm using Golden acrylic UV-protective varnish as a top coat for my models. I just use it because it gives a nice finish, not because I think that I need to UV-protect my aircraft. But since the varnish is made for artists to protect their paintings one could use it also for custom decals. It is available in a flat, satin or gloss sheen and comes in a 250ml bottle, which nearly lasts a lifetime, although it is not cheap (13-15 Euros). Martin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Airbusteacher Posted January 10, 2004 Share Posted January 10, 2004 (ex: "SP"), 60 is good for the larger serial # numbers(ex: 291), and 25 works well for the "AF" and the year (ex: 69). Are you doing a Spangdahlem Weasel by any chance? I worked that jet when I was there between 80-82. It's parked at DM now.....right off of Golf Links road. *sigh* Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Phillips Posted January 10, 2004 Author Share Posted January 10, 2004 Airbusteacher-- Yea, actually I was going to do one. Was the one you are referring to a Mig Killer when it was an E model? Would you have any pics of the jet when you worked it? Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Airbusteacher Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Would you have any pics of the jet when you worked it? Actually, no. When I was at "Spang" they were really hyper about cameras on the flightline. Regardless of the fact that at our yearly airshow, people from all over the world took photos of the jets. Go figure. But if any one of us took a camera to work and just started clicking away, the security police woulda been all over us like a bad paint job. So....sorry, no. However...the Detail and Scale Series has a good set of photos of the Weasel as they were at the time. I don't know if you can get it, but I'll betcha dollars to donuts somebody has a copy of it on this (very fine) site. My set was "borrowed" when I was in college and never returned. Imagine that. :) If it's of any help....the Weasels at Spang in 1980-82 had Vietnam camo.....High speed tanks on sta 5 (actually a slightly modified F-15 tank)....were light gray on the bottom.....had an ECM pod on the right forward Aim-7 station (Sta 3), were the 81st TFS with yellow fin flash....and had either white tailcodes or black depending on whether it was 1980, 81 or 82. Early is white, later is black....as you prolly already know. They were generally a lot cleaner than the E's and D's that lived in the other squadrons (480th and 23rd) But at the time, they weren't very uh "flashy" save for the tail color. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Airbusteacher Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 Mike, Here's a photo of one of the G's I built. A friend of mine got a ride in A/C 280 whiile in Spain....and I got all the particulars about how it was configured, etc, and I gave this to him as a gift when he made his 5th stripe. The photo is almost 20 years old. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Mike Phillips Posted January 11, 2004 Author Share Posted January 11, 2004 Airbusteacher-- Thanks for the info! I get really confused about how the AF does its serials on the tails sometimes. And the years they were painted in certain schemes too! A good friend of mine was the CC on 69-0291 in the 80s when the jet was an E stationed at Moody AFB in Georgia. THAT jet was a Mig Killer in Vietnam(there's a story about it in "...And Kill Migs" by Squadron. I was under the assumption that this jet was later converted to a G model, but the times you are mentioning dont pan out. When he crewed it, it was in the wraparound SEA scheme. I've seen some stuff on the net that says there was a G model that was serialed 69-7291, so that may be the jet you are talking about. I have a pic of a Spang jet in the Hill grey scheme marked 69-291 with the yellow fin stripe. And Aeromaster did a sheet with a 69-291 with a mig kill marking on it, but it was assigned to the 90th at Clark. Could it be possible that there was a G serialed 69-0291 AND one as 69-7291? Dang, this is confusing! By the way...here's the 69-0291 I did as an E when my friend was CC. The article is on this site if you wanna check it out! Thanks for the info! Mike Quote Link to post Share on other sites
J.C. Bahr Posted January 11, 2004 Share Posted January 11, 2004 So, were there any G's that served in Desert Storm/Southern/Northern Watch that had Mig kills in their previous lives as E-models... but that did not sport their kill(s)? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Airbusteacher Posted January 12, 2004 Share Posted January 12, 2004 Could it be possible that there was a G serialed 69-0291 AND one as 69-7291? Dang, this is confusing! Oh absolutely. You touched a vague memory about that. But I can't seem to dig it out of the sludge that is my brain. As far as I know, all G's were converted E's and all were 1969 jets. That dang Detail and Scale has all that info. Supernice E model. You did a great job!!! Gotta admit, I love the old Phantom II....phantom bites and all. I have a scar on my back, and like a lot of people, several dozen on my hands from them. It was a tough two years for me, but I don't think I'd trade ithem for anything. And a correction to an earlier post. Sta 3 is the left forward LAU-7, not the right. Doh :D My bad. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.