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Armor/AFV: Techniques
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How do I make my own decals?
Erik67
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Buskerud, Norway
Joined: July 31, 2005
KitMaker: 1,871 posts
Armorama: 1,423 posts
Posted: Thursday, August 11, 2005 - 09:28 PM UTC
I have been searching for decals for my latest project for a while, and thought i found some, but they were wrong scale.

My question is easy: Is it posible to buy "decal-paper" for a photo printer and for example make decals in Photoshop? Anyone who know how to do it?

Erik
(Having a lunch break on a slow Friday)
HILBERT
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Zuid-Holland, Netherlands
Joined: August 07, 2004
KitMaker: 4,808 posts
Armorama: 1,069 posts
Posted: Thursday, August 11, 2005 - 10:19 PM UTC
yes it;s possible. If the decal paper is not a A4 size then you have to cut it in size.
Just make your pic with PHP or PSP and print ir out.
I don't have any cleu how to look your pic in A4 size on your screen... that is what I finding out also.

Then you can print it out and cut it out.

That's what I would do.
But even better is to paint it.. if it is not that hard.

Hilbert
woltersk
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Utah, United States
Joined: May 27, 2003
KitMaker: 1,026 posts
Armorama: 654 posts
Posted: Thursday, August 11, 2005 - 10:38 PM UTC
Erik,
Testor's Decal System worked surprisingly well for me.

It comes with clear and white decal sheets which work in any inkjet printer.

I was able to make HO scale decals for my ROCO Minitank Leopards. I printed them using MS Word and to get the correct scale I just made several different sizes and picked the one that looked best.

For the small size they went on easily with no ripping or tearing.

AND they played well with the setting solutions, MicroSet and MicroSol.

If you cn get your hands on this give it a try. It was only a little over $5 US.

fbuis
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Ain, France
Joined: June 24, 2004
KitMaker: 447 posts
Armorama: 0 posts
Posted: Friday, August 12, 2005 - 12:47 AM UTC
If you would like to make-yourself-decal as Woltersk's suggestion:
Water slide decal and the Testors decal kit - I usually use this water slide decal, very good but need more work on the artwork, i replied recently to an Armorama mate about this do-it-yourself decal:
https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/54924&page=1

HTH
Epi
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Texas, United States
Joined: December 22, 2001
KitMaker: 3,586 posts
Armorama: 2,556 posts
Posted: Friday, August 12, 2005 - 01:08 AM UTC
Erik,
If you can't get Testors Decal kit, Expert's Choice from MicroScale has some great decal paper both in clear and white, single sheet or packs of three, ink jet or laser printer.

Expert's Choice

I've made a couple of custome decals on this, but i mainly use it to add custom bumper number on my vehicles. I use dry tranfer numbers and letters on this decal paper and then place it on the vehicle like a regular decal.
HeavyArty
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Florida, United States
Joined: May 16, 2002
KitMaker: 17,694 posts
Armorama: 13,742 posts
Posted: Friday, August 12, 2005 - 02:39 AM UTC
I make my own decals all the time. The decals on my M88A1(couple posts down), for xample were made by me in the below manner. I have used the Testor's decal paper along with ones by Papilio, a commercial art supply company that you can order from pretty cheaply. The key is to seal them with an acrylic clear coat, not lacquer based. The lacquer will eat away the decal backing film. I use Krylon Crystal Clear acrylic spray. I print using standard inkjet ink. Let the image dry about 5-10 minutes, then spray with a coat of the Krylon. Let it dry for about 15 minutes, and they are ready to use. I have not had any problems. Also, if you use the Krylon matt finish, the decal will take less to hide since it is already dullcoted. To make white decals you don't need an Alps printer either. All you need to do is get white decal paper and then make the area surrounding the white decal the same color as your base coat of paint. It works perfectly.

Here's the link to Papilio: http://www.papilio.com/index.html
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