Making decals,what do you use?

[steve pagano]

I tried making some of my own decals but it didn't work out so well. The paper i used was called transparency film. The ink just kind of evaporated. What kind of paper do you guys use ?

[Leester]

Steve, you need to subscribe to CLW, Richard Oliver did an article on how to do it.

[Leester]

He ordered decal paper from http://beldecal.com/inkjet_decals.cfm

[Igor Burger]

Transparent film is too thinn, I use white laser stickers, works well with clear dope

I designed all in painting program, then printed what I need and the rest is on pictures

[Mike Gretz]

Making your own decals with an ink jet or laser printer is getting better all the time. 

Step one is to get yourself the correct paper.  I've had great success with
Micromark  http://www.micromark.com/
and BelDecal  http://beldecal.com/inkjet_decals.cfm

There are two kinds of paper - clear and white.  You can use the clear paper for all decals that don't have the color white in them, or light colors like yellow that need a white base.  In those cases use the white paper.  Toughest part about using the white paper is that you then have to trim the edges of the decal exactly on the color lines, otherwise you will have a white border around the design because the substrate itself is white.

I print my decals on a cheap Epson C88+ ink jet printer (that's a great printer for under $100).  Keep in mind that as they come out of the printer the decals are not water proof, let alone fuel proof.  The smallest drop of water will dissolve the ink.  They must be top coated!

The paper sellers will also have a clear topcoat spray.  I started out using that, but it wasn't fuel proof, so I'd then spray clear dope on top of that.  I finally eliminated their top coat spray all together and now just spray the decals with 2 coats of Sig Lite-Coat Clear Dope.  The dope goes on perfectly.  I let the decal dry overnight after it comes out of the printer.  Then spray on the first coat of dope and let it dry to the touch.  Then the 2nd coat of dope and let it dry overnight.  Then just dip the decal in room temperature water and apply to the model.

If a dope finish is being used on the model, let the decal dry on the airplane for a day or two and then shoot your final clear coats over the whole airplane. 

One issue with ink jet decals is longevity.  The inks have traditionally been very susceptible to fading from UV.  That is getting better all the time.  They now have special UV resistant inks you can buy that are supposed to be good for 100 years, but I haven't taken that step yet.  Some of them will only work with special high priced photo printers.  The good news is that most printer manufacturers are constantly improving their standard inks too.  The Epson ink that I use in my C88+ is their new DuraBrite Ultra ink, which is supposed to have a lot longer life than any of my model airplanes ever last. 

Here is a picture of some ink jet decals I recently made and applied to an RC ARF P-51 Mustang.

Mike Gretz

[Darrell Mims]

   ARF P-51    WHICH ONE IS THIS ?

[Bombat]

Mike
Where did you obtain the original images from for the Mustang : in particular the stars and bars insignia?
I need to obtain something similar for a 1/10 scale P51D
Thanks

[Mike Gretz]

Darrell - It's an upcoming SIG release.  Next fall most likely.  .90-1.20 size.

Bombat - I drew all the images in Adobe Illustrator from scratch using pictures of the full-scale Shangri-La for the nose art and USAAF specs for the stars&bar.  If you tell me what size (length) you want the stars&bars, I can scale it to that size and email a .jpg file to you that you can use to print them on decal paper.  Caution: the jpg file size will be pretty big because it is hi-res (300dpi) for best quality result.  So I hope you have a high speed internet connection.

Mike

[Paul Smith]

Are these decals of the "peel back" or "water soluble" type?

I would hope they are peel-back, due to the water-base ink. 

Do you know anything about possible problems using the Sig spary clear over Brodak/Randolph paint?

[Paul Smith]

I've been making stickers by a somewhat more crude process.

Printed on an Epson C60, using common bond paper, the sticking them on with 3M 77.

The final product is then covered with FasCal.  Not as "front row" as real paint, but it works.

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How I deal with the white background:

Scan a colour sample on the models background colour into the computer and use that colour as the background for the decal.  Then you don't need to be so picky about cutting it out.

[Mike Gretz]

They are water slide.  And believe it or not, after they are top coated, they become water proof. 

I've been amazed myself that these ink jet decals that are not waterproof right out of the printer - a tiny drop of water will make the ink will run right off the paper - can then, after top coating, be totally immersed in water without any problem.  I'll I can figure is that the non-water proof ink is completely sandwiched between the top coat clear and the layer of decal clear (or white) that is already on the paper when you get it.

Regarding compatibility of other brand dope products with the ink jet decals, I have no personal knowledge.  I'm use only SIG dope products (imagine that).  I would suspect that any brand that is truely butyrate dope will work just as well as the SIG is working for me.

Mike Gretz