Post by The Jade Fog, formerly: Dave on Mar 31, 2019 15:30:42 GMT -5
Since Sandy asked for a tutorial on decal making, I thought I'd post some photos and the "roadmap" for a project that is a mix and mingle project for the Stiegel Valley Historical Society layout. Randy rehabbed and painted two locos and a freight for a fictitious rail line, TK's going to add all the grabirons (hope your up for that!) and I'm doing the decals. What follows is a DIY project for home office inkjet or laser printer. There are many well-established decal printing companies for model custom work who can design and screen print water slide decals, but the price can be pretty steep.
So the starting point for this project was fairly easily defined as we agreed on a maroon and gray scheme which Randy expertly laid down on some good old Blue Boxes
I asked Randy to paint a lighter gray band so that the decals would have a light background so they would work. Therein lies the great challenge. Inkjet and laser printers lay down four transparent ink or toner colors to reproduce full color reproduction- cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK). Generally CMYK printing is done on white paper plastic, etc. However, if the background color is light enough on the model, decent results can still be produced.
I won't go into software except to say any illustration program, Word and to some degree, Photoshop and similar photo manipulation programs may be used for the art component. What is critical is that you can control type sizes going down to 2 or 3 points. Points are a measurement scale unique originally to printing- there are 72 points in an inch... If you use photo editing software you will want to set your document resolution to 400 dpi as you start your work so you will have sharp output.
Many computer system fonts don't look right for scale signs and decals, especially for older periods of railroading so two websites of fonts that are free for home use and projects are
dafont.com and
fontsquirrel.com
I work in design so I am using an older version of Adobe Illustrator at home, which is an illustration program with all the bells and whistles for color, type and and design magic.
As you work on the graphics, keep a model and ruler handy so you can determine the working area for each decal you need to make. Illustrator allows me to bring in drawings to overlay the designs (top) or I can simply draw boxes to mark out dimensions in which I can work
That and the creative process can take a long time to get a final theme or design worked out, so don't stop till you're happy with what you've created.
Waterslide decal material is not cheap so when it's time to print, move all your elements together to jam as many decal elements as you can into a small area.
Printing the decals. For inkjet printing, I always do a three step process
1. Do a print head cleaning and a nozzle check to make sure your print quality is as good as the printer can do
2. Print on standard paper to make sure everything looks right and that printing is clean. The paper print is on the top and the decal sheet is below it
3. Set all your printing options for glossy paper and the highest resolution and print away
A closeup of the car data. This is 4 point type, just a little bigger than 1/32". Not too shabby
After printing, allow the decal to dry for 30-60 minutes, then cut them free from the sheet. Use a straightedge and square so you have a good lead edge for the next time you run the sheet through the printer.
Use a clear sealant to top coat the decal and let it dry. Some decal people say to trim every decal and seal the edge of every decal to keep the water out when you soak them. I simply float the decal- paper side down and immediately remove and set on table so the water can't work its way under the sealant.
Make sure your decaling surface is clean and glossy and follow good decaling procedures and have fun.
So the starting point for this project was fairly easily defined as we agreed on a maroon and gray scheme which Randy expertly laid down on some good old Blue Boxes
I asked Randy to paint a lighter gray band so that the decals would have a light background so they would work. Therein lies the great challenge. Inkjet and laser printers lay down four transparent ink or toner colors to reproduce full color reproduction- cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK). Generally CMYK printing is done on white paper plastic, etc. However, if the background color is light enough on the model, decent results can still be produced.
I won't go into software except to say any illustration program, Word and to some degree, Photoshop and similar photo manipulation programs may be used for the art component. What is critical is that you can control type sizes going down to 2 or 3 points. Points are a measurement scale unique originally to printing- there are 72 points in an inch... If you use photo editing software you will want to set your document resolution to 400 dpi as you start your work so you will have sharp output.
Many computer system fonts don't look right for scale signs and decals, especially for older periods of railroading so two websites of fonts that are free for home use and projects are
dafont.com and
fontsquirrel.com
I work in design so I am using an older version of Adobe Illustrator at home, which is an illustration program with all the bells and whistles for color, type and and design magic.
As you work on the graphics, keep a model and ruler handy so you can determine the working area for each decal you need to make. Illustrator allows me to bring in drawings to overlay the designs (top) or I can simply draw boxes to mark out dimensions in which I can work
That and the creative process can take a long time to get a final theme or design worked out, so don't stop till you're happy with what you've created.
Waterslide decal material is not cheap so when it's time to print, move all your elements together to jam as many decal elements as you can into a small area.
Printing the decals. For inkjet printing, I always do a three step process
1. Do a print head cleaning and a nozzle check to make sure your print quality is as good as the printer can do
2. Print on standard paper to make sure everything looks right and that printing is clean. The paper print is on the top and the decal sheet is below it
3. Set all your printing options for glossy paper and the highest resolution and print away
A closeup of the car data. This is 4 point type, just a little bigger than 1/32". Not too shabby
After printing, allow the decal to dry for 30-60 minutes, then cut them free from the sheet. Use a straightedge and square so you have a good lead edge for the next time you run the sheet through the printer.
Use a clear sealant to top coat the decal and let it dry. Some decal people say to trim every decal and seal the edge of every decal to keep the water out when you soak them. I simply float the decal- paper side down and immediately remove and set on table so the water can't work its way under the sealant.
Make sure your decaling surface is clean and glossy and follow good decaling procedures and have fun.
