Home made decals

[hari ari]

I shall be getting a color laser printer shortley, a Lexmark for home use. I hope to use this for making decals from pictures I have take. Could anyone point me to knowledge base to do this. Also if there is white in the scheme, how is this achieved.

Thanks

[Darius at home]

You can get clear decal paper for laser printers from Experts Choice or Hannants (see web link below).

Clear Decal

Warning - check that the paper is OK for laser printers and not inkjet printers.

Once you have printed the decals and the ink has dried you will need to apply a few coats of Microscale Liquid Decal Film. This can be spray or brush applied (using a wide flat brush). I have found that three brushed coats are required to prevent the ink from running when you dip the decal in water prior to application. You will have to cut around the decal as the brushed on cecal film shoud cover the whole sheet - just applying it to the decal area is not advisable as you will need a thin coating.

Print several copies of each decal item on the sheet so that you have plenty of spares - in my experience you will need them!!!

I made my own decals for a 1:48 Avro Shackleton and F-16C using an inkjet prnter. Unfortunatley you cannot print white with either a laser or inkjet. For that you will need an ALPS printer and I believe that these are now out of production. Lasers and Inkjets just print "nothing" for white - leaving you with a "transparent" decal where the white should be.

For my Virginia ANG tail markings on the F-16C I sprayed a white background on the model and applied the home-made decal over it. The white background shows through the transparent part of the decal giving the desired finish.

For white letters and numbers I would advise using afetrmarket decal letters and numbers.

Best of luck with your endeavours - it is not as difficult as it sounds.

Darius

[hari ari]

Darius, thanks

Hari