making scale decals

Antony · 22-01-2007

Ive seen mentioned a few times in the forums people making their own decals. They seem to be printed on a standard printer using paper specially for this purpose. Can anyone tell me where I can purchase any of this paper? I know no one around my area sell it and Im assuming its a specialist (is it possibly the paper used for making t-shirts?)

Antony

IainM · 22-01-2007

Hi Anthony,

I know this has been covered on the site before .....
can't work out how to copy the thread to you, so try this source.
Worked OK for me, but I guess it depends on PC skills a bit !

Best of luck.
http://www.craftycomputerpaper.co.uk/

**Bluewavestudios** · 22-01-2007

Hi Anthony,

Yes I can certainly reccomend the people on the Link Iain has posted above, I have used them a few times now for Decal Paper, they do several different types and reasonably priced too.

Regards.......Mark

Antony · 23-01-2007

thanks guys - being able to make your own gives you options that kit decals dont

**Bluewavestudios** · 23-01-2007

Anthony,

Agreed with you on that one and the benefits of making your own are that they can be done in any scale you require and you can make as many as you like.

Regards........Mark.

**GEEDUBBYA** · 24-01-2007

Howdy Anthony,

Testors corp. has recently issued a "kit" for making decals on your home computer. It is called "Sure Thing Decal Maker" and comes with (2) Two small sheets of decal paper, one white background the other clear, a can of "fixitive spray" and a cd containing the program for your computer (albeit a limited version of the program until you purchase an "upgrade".
You can find out more info on the program here: http://www.decalgear.com/DG/Category...&af=VST-TDM-01 and the site also offers decal paper for purchase.
I have purchased the kit (not the upgrade) and for a beginner, it seems like it would be ok even though it is a "no frills" version.
Other places to purchase decal paper would include most any hobby store although you may have to ask. If they do not have it in stock I am sure they could order it for you and have the paper usually within a week.

Above: sure thing decal maker Kit

Above: 3 oz. can of "decal bonder/fixitive" included in kit

Not shown: 1/2 sheets of decal paper (white and clear backgrounds). More info on the paper mentioned above including pricing, can be found here: http://www.decalgear.com/DG/Product.asp?ProdCode=62201

I know that some testors products may be hard to get in the UK, but I was not really sure where you were located so I thought I would just throw this info "out there" in case you could use it.

Have a good day,

Greg

Antony · 25-01-2007

great - thanks Greg I'll take a peek at that.

lol - I just took a look at it and thought great I'll order one then I read the note at the bottom stating that solvent based products could not be shiped outside continental USA. But at least I can get the software and paper from them.

martin emery · 26-01-2007

is there any other software out there that is avabile in the uk

**Bluewavestudios** · 27-01-2007

Hi All,

If you are running Windows Xp........you have all the software you need, all the programs are built into Xp already.....That is all I use for my decals and No other special Programs at all.

MsPaint may look like a very simple program but can be very powerful if you play around with it. Another program to check if you have Microsoft Office (most of you will have it on your PC's) is Microsoft Word. Yep I know it's a word Program, but check out all the drawing tools in there too, Very Useful. Once saved the drawings can easily be copied and pasted into MsPaint and Vice Versa for very flexible editing. I have spent many hours messing with these 2 programs and have had excellent results.

The Only real tip here if you do it this way, don't try to enlarge or shrink drawings in paint as they will pixelate and become distorted...Copy the image and paste it into a word document...You can now scale it to size without Pixelation.

I do all my decal sheets between word and paint...the final decals get copied and pasted to a word doc and scaled to size until a full decal sheet is built up ready for printing. Save that doc with a suitable name and you have it ready for any number of reprints when needed.

It Really is that easy !!! and the best part is...it costs nothing extra apart from the decal paper....!!!

Regards......Mark.

Tailspin14 · 27-01-2007

I know I asked this before and I did get some good answers, but I can't find them. I need to find the font used by the US Navy. I need the numbers that are on the decks and sides of the ships. Also, I remember there also being a post about white decals and I am having trouble finding it. Can someone please remind me about how to get white decals made? Thanks and sorry I have to ask this again. I had the links but lost them on this PC. Thanks again.

Bob