If you're happy with your first stencil, you can use the other one to make a stencil to put your railroad logo on T shirts (cool!)
Phil, I'm not a rocket scientist; they are my students.
Try this link http://www.3dtrains.com/guides/msts_colors/railroad_colors_na_index.shtml its agood reference for color for making decals.
There is only one right way to do this. The same way the decal makers do t. SILK SCREEN it.
Go to Aaaron Brothers or similar artists supply store and buy a small silk screen kit. An 8 x 10 frame would do. Use your computer to make a full page of the decals you will need, or at least a half page.
Buy some white screen printing ink and follow the simple directions.
It is really a very simple process
Use the clear decal paper, of course.
If you have a lot of small type, use the finest mesh screen available.
I think I'd go with white decal paper, and try to print the red color.
If you have a scanner, put the locomotive shell on it and scan it. That will give you a digitized image that you can use to capture the color (look for an eyedropper icon in whatever image editor you're using) and get a more accurate background color. You might try grabbing an area of the scan and reproducing that over your background, rather than a single color. On a scan, every pixel is just a bit different, and using a bunch of them will make the color more natural.
Try to size the decals so that the edges fall on natural seams on the engine body, like doors or grillwork. This will help to disguise the transitions. And you're right, weathering can be used to blend the colors in.
Before you print on expensive decal paper, print on plain white paper to get the sizes and colors as close as you can. Hopefully, the colors will come out the same on decal paper as they do on plain white paper.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Yes, white is a big issue. I had thought about the red square, but discarded it as the colors probably wouldn't match. Maybe weathering would cover up the seam? I hadn't thought about a white border though, that would probably work. I don't know about the rest of the lettering though, unless I used a commercial lettering set.
Custom decals from someone with a printer that can do white seems to be a good option, but $100 is quite a lot of money for me; it will take me easily 6 months to raise that kind of funds. The previous decals came from a member of these forums with an Alps printer, maybe I'll do that to get them.
Your thoughts?
Tyler,
White is the big issue with model railroad decals. The only printers that can do white are no longer made, or are quite expensive! Using white decal paper and printing a matching locomotive red might work(if you can match the printer ink to the model paint). Trying to hand cut around the letters will be frustrating, and I suspect you will have a rather poor looking decal. You can 'buy' white letters/numbers from several commercial decal makers - why bother to try?
That WRS logo could be done on white decal paper with a red 'square' around it(with a white border, sort of like the EMD demo's). Since everything you need is white, why not contact one of the custom decal printers. If you supply the artwork, I suspect you could get 25 sets for a little over $100 - that is only $4/set for a decal that will not run!
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
BUMP... I still need answers...
I'm getting ready to start my first custom painting/decaling project, and I'm stuck on the decal part. I can figure out how to use them easily enough, but printing them will be an issue.
My design calls for white lettering, which my printer can't do. I was thinking of using white decal paper and cutting carefully around the letters, but I don't know what brand of decal paper to use. Could someone reccomend a good brand (and if possible a place to get it cheaply) of decal paper?
This photo illustrates the scheme I'll be painting the locomotive in. (It was done by a friend, but I'd like to learn to do it myself to spare him the work)
Thanks in advance,