Returning to Hobby - Custom Decals?

[latormentabritanica]

Hello All!

 

I'm just coming back to the hobby after about a ten year break and am super excited to build again.

 

Since homegrown industries have exploded worldwide over the years, I'm curious if anyone out there makes custom decals upon request. I'm looking to build some aircraft that no one has done decal sheets for and was hoping someone could design and print a sheet of squadron insignia of varying sizes so in the future I can build whichever aircraft I want from those units.

 

Any insights into this would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

[Rob de Bie]

Generally speaking, the design (drawing) time makes your plan very expensive. It needs to be done in vector graphics and generally takes many hours. Plus the communication to understand what you want. Multiply that by your favorite hourly rate, and lay down for a while 🙂 The printing itself is affordable. Below is a sheet of ~150 x 200 mm, that cost me 20 euros to print, by Spotmodel in Spain. My best advice: learn vector graphics. It's uphill for a while, but after that it's great fun.

 

 

Rob

Edited March 3, 2021 by Rob de Bie

[latormentabritanica]

Hi Rob!

 

I have to admit, this is hands down the best advice anyone has ever given me on ARC! At first I was very doubtful, but within just a few nights of playing around I was able to use Inkscape to create about half of the insignia I wanted in really accurate detail. This has been pretty revolutionary, so I thank you very much!

 

Would you be so kind as to point me to where I can learn how to properly adjust my designs so they fit the right scale? I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Thanks again!!!

[Rob de Bie]

1 hour ago, latormentabritanica said:

Hi Rob!

 

I have to admit, this is hands down the best advice anyone has ever given me on ARC! At first I was very doubtful, but within just a few nights of playing around I was able to use Inkscape to create about half of the insignia I wanted in really accurate detail. This has been pretty revolutionary, so I thank you very much!

 

Would you be so kind as to point me to where I can learn how to properly adjust my designs so they fit the right scale? I would greatly appreciate it.

 

Thanks again!!!

 

Ha, I recognize your enthousiasm! Decal drawing is great fun, and opens up so many possibilities. About the scaling of the artwork, here are three methods that I use often.

 

1. Find a good telelens photo of the subject. You can scale it to the same size as your model, and then test-fit and scale your own markings. Here's an example where I scaled RNLAF C-130 markings (all in red).

 

 

2. A fairly easy method is to print the decals on your regular printer, and do test fits on the model. Here's a BD-5S with a paper print roughly attached. The length matches the fuselage, therefore the decal size is found.

 

 

3. Sometimes you can find official manuals for the markings. Think of USAF Tech Order 1-1-4, or Navy manual MIL-STD-2161C. You can find these online as PDFs.

 

I hope this helps, and have fun!

 

Rob

[latormentabritanica]

OK, I was thinking I would have to print out various sizes until I get them to fit properly. Unfortunately, everything I'm designing decals for is from the 1950s and 60s, so I don't have as many reference photos as I would like. I'll have to run test prints.

 

Thanks again!

[andyf117]

I will second all three of Rob's points above, and add a couple of suggestions to them...

 

1. Along with the scaled-photo method to determine sizes of markings, it can be expanded on by using high-res close-up photos as templates for tracing individual markings which can then be scaled-down.

2. Even if you're confident that designs are scaled to the exact required size, plain paper test prints will determine if they do actually print at the size they should.

3. Graphics from the pdf versions of the manuals mentioned can be copied and pasted and scaled - especially useful for common smaller stencil-type items.