Decal Printing

[Maverick]

G'day Gang,

I'm looking towards replenishing the stash in the near future and I've been thinking about decals & decal printing.  Can anyone point me towards an appropriate printer to do my own decals as I think it would be of benefit to my modelling to be able to do so?

Thanks in Anticipation.

Mav

[unlikeKansas]

Mav,

Any good quality photo printer should do the job. I've had good results with my Epson R1800 Photo. This is an A3 printer with 8 seperate inks (6 coluor + black + gloss varnish).

What you have to remember is that printers use the white of the actual paper to create white colour, so when you print decals all of the white (e.g. middle of RAF roundels) will be clear on clear decal paper. You can buy white decal paper, but if you use this then you have to cut right up to the edge of your decal or you will have a white ring around it.

For the decals that I printed I used clear decal paper and printed white underlays where required directly on to the model's surface.

Here's a link to some already prepared (not mine) decal art for you to try out.

http://www.modelairplaneinternational.com/full_site/frames/info/_decalart.htm

[Maverick]

G'day Tony,

Thanks for that info.  I have a "whizz-bang" photo printer here at home, so I guess it's just a case of getting some decal paper for a test run (& restocking the printing ink!).

Regards,

Mav

[unlikeKansas]

I forgot to mention that it's a good idea to spray the decals with a varnish (e.g. Klear floor polish) after printing, to seal them before you put them into water.

[Maverick]

Once again, thanks for that Tony.  I assume the nett result is a sheet that has the carrier film over the entire surface, requiring trimming to suit?

Regards,

Mav

[Weaver]

Once again, thanks for that Tony.  I assume the nett result is a sheet that has the carrier film over the entire surface, requiring trimming to suit?

Regards,

Mav

That's correct. I did my first ever self-prints for the Triskelion and I was pleasantly surprised by the result, even with a bog-standard, definitely-not-photo-quality printer. I gave mine about three coats of matt Humbrol ratlle-can varnish before using them.

Tips:

The sheet's now curled badly (I did more than I needed), probably due to the varnish, so if you're keeping them for a while, I'd put them between sheets of tissue paper under a heavy book or something.

I found that I tended to underestimate how big the decals should be on the model, but I got away with it (just) because I printed everything multiple times in a range of sizes.

[Maverick]

Thanks for that Weaver.  I'll keep all of the above info in mind.  I'll most likely print way to much knowing me, so knowing how to store them effectively will be important.

Regards,

Mav

[Weaver]

Something just occurred to me: maybe if you sprayed varnish on the back as well, then they wouldn't curl so much? No idea if this is true, but it seems logical......

[Thorvic]

Something just occurred to me: maybe if you sprayed varnish on the back as well, then they wouldn't curl so much? No idea if this is true, but it seems logical......

Wouldnt that limit the effect of trying to activate them by dipping them in water as only the the cut edge able to absorb water and trigger the release ? 

G

[Weaver]

Something just occurred to me: maybe if you sprayed varnish on the back as well, then they wouldn't curl so much? No idea if this is true, but it seems logical......

Wouldnt that limit the effect of trying to activate them by dipping them in water as only the the cut edge able to absorb water and trigger the release ? 

G

Good point!

[Maverick]

Thanks for that info Lee, my printer cranks out to 1200 DPI, a setting I routinely use for photo-quality printing and one that I expect will be used for my decallling attempts.  I'll keep everyone updated once I give it a crack.

Regards,

Mav