Can you make your own decals like the microscale ones? I want to take an image from a computer file and turn it into a decal that can be applied to the locomotive, is that possible?
John, it's possible, but you want to plan your decals ahead before you get to the actual printing. MicroMark and Testor's make decal sheets (the Testor's ones are clear backing, while *some* of the MicroMark ones have white backing - don't ask how I found out, too late...). If you want white in what you're printing, there used to be the ALPS printer which could print white, but I don't know that it's still being produced, and getting the ink cartridges is harder, as I recall (from others' accounts). Testor's I know makes a spray to seal the printed decals (so they aren't as prone to smearing), and I believe MicroMark also has a sealer spray as well. The Testor's sheets are (I think I remember correctly) a little smaller than a half-sheet of paper, possibly about 5" x 7", while the MicroMark ones (the white-backed ones I got by mistake) are about letter size.
I've hear that one thing you may want to do some tests for, is to make your artwork about twice the size you want to print your finished decals to fit, and set your (inkjet?) printer to print at 50 percent of original size. You want to test with the printer's highest resolution, plus some under that resolution (printer results can vary) to see what gives you the best results. If you have glossy photo paper for your printer, test on that.
Also, since it's the dickens to run the odd remainder of your sheet through the printer later, try to combine decal-printing jobs so you use most of the sheet at a time. Leave space for cutting the individual decals apart - *after* you have sprayed the printed sheets!
Hope that helps, and anyone else who's done more of this, jump in here with your experience (which might have been different than mine).
Jim in Cape Girardeau
You might look into having silk screens made. It would allow you to print any color, including white, on clear decal paper. (From what I understand, this is how the decal manufacturers and custom decal makers do it.)
As for the ALPS printer, it is no longer available in the US. I thought I heard the ALPS printer is still being made, and is still available outside of the US.
Dan
You can make your own on an inkjet printer. I've done it, with pretty good -- though not stellar -- results.
You can also order custom made ones from any of hundreds of printing places. Google "custom decals for model trains". Google is your friend.
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I've been using Testor's for a few years and will have to try your trick of designing larger and printing smaller. I've had pretty good luck with my EPSON but do immediately use the hair dryer (on low speed) to dry the ink otherwise it tends to spread in some colors. After drying I let it set for about 1/2 hour then spray with Testors or Tamiya clear. Clear, Matte or Glossy depending on the installation. Trick is to put on the first coat lightlly follwed by two more coats. I've never had a problem with color running using this method.
JimRCGMO I've hear that one thing you may want to do some tests for, is to make your artwork about twice the size you want to print your finished decals to fit, and set your (inkjet?) printer to print at 50 percent of original size. You want to test with the printer's highest resolution, plus some under that resolution (printer results can vary) to see what gives you the best results. If you have glossy photo paper for your printer, test on that.
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I have used scaled-down jpeg images on small signs, which worked fairly well- when applied on Avery clear (satin/flat finish) labels, then trimmed to fit HO billboard or structure signage. But when I look very closely, some images contain apparent pixellation. I print to my inkjet (HP Vivera ink) when doing so.
Now that I have finally designed my own logo for my railroad, I also would prefer a higher quality result that would be of "decal quality" in clarity and color fidelity, to apply to rolling stock and engines, as well as other uses.
What IS the best route to take- and the what costs are involved (generally speaking) with a custom decal job?
Cedarwoodron
cedarwoodron What IS the best route to take- and the what costs are involved (generally speaking) with a custom decal job? Cedarwoodron
Rail Graphics is one custom decal maker. They have artwork guidelines and pricing information on their website.
I find for my my tight budget road that Scotch tape and regular computer paper work well. Makes weathering easy.
Crap happens. When it does, stop, take a deep breath, and call the wreck train.
Find a service that will silk-screen your decals. Rail Graphics, as has already been mentioned, is one of the best sources for silk-screened decals. While Microscale offers even higher-quality custom-printing services using their offset presses, you'd need to order a minimum of 250 half-letter-size sheets. Rail Graphics will run as few as 25 sets.
I've used Rail Graphics' services in the past for single-color sets and been very pleased with them. The last time one of my buddies had him run a set, Ron at RG was not interested in running anything that required precise color registration in a multi-color set (such as a DT&I compass herald) as a single piece, so my buddy had the separate colors run as separate pieces to be overlaid by the modeler. Ron offers a very good product at reasonable prices-- I'm hoping that he doesn't decide to retire any time soon. It has been a number of years since I've had RG run a set, so I can't speak for his current price.
I'm currently putting together a package for a quote from Microscale on a couple of sets. They've been very helpful and responsive, but their artwork requirements are more precise (since I need a color overlaid on another as a border) and, of course, they require that you run at least 250 sets. At this point, I have no idea what the final cost will be.
In either case, don't expect good results using JPG-based graphics for your artwork. Decal artwork is best done as vector graphics ("line art"), using a .AI, .CDR or .EPS file. JPG will give you a smaller file, but since it is a "lossy" format, the compression comes at the expense of muddier artwork, the more compression you use.
When submitting artwork, I submit it as a CorelDRAW .CDR file with all of the text converted to curves. There are many more considerations to submitting a good quality file for custom printing, but that grows into a full-length article pretty quickly.
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B30-7CR I find for my my tight budget road that Scotch tape and regular computer paper work well. Makes weathering easy.
Depends. I have done this successfully for building signs and billboards, but for something that will go on a loco or rolling stock, it will look like a piece of paper taped on the side, not something that is painted on.
With care and careful planning, you can get very reasonable results at home, using an inexpensive ink-jet printer.
I chose my color scheme for this trolley so that I was printing the rust-red (a dark color) and applying it over a light background. I used MS Word to print the lettering. Of course, I used ink-jet decal paper. Note that it's not a matter of whether ink-jet or laser paper will work better with your printer. If you choose the wrong paper, it simply won't work at all.
I set the margins so that I printed the letters as close as possible to the top of the page. Print a sheet on regular paper first, to make sure you haven't "chopped" your artwork with the margins. Once they were printed, I let them dry, keeping the paper flat, and then cut just the decals off the top of the sheet with a paper cutter, leaving a nice clean, square edge so that I can re-use that sheet many times. I only print a few decals at a time, in general, and I like to get as many out of a sheet of this expensive paper as I can.
Next, again keep the paper flat (it wants to curl at this point) and seal your decals. Some people use spray. I prefer Microscale's Liquid Decal Film. Keeping the paper flat while it dries is important, as the decal may otherwise bleed and run. Give it two coats of the film.
After that, it's a decal. Apply to a clean, preferably glossy surface, like this trolley. I use Microset and Microsol to apply the decal for good adhesion and settling. It's a good idea to seal the surface after it's completely set and dried with a spray coat - glossy, flat or dull as you prefer.
You can apply a decal to a rough surface, and get "instant weathering." This surface was rough to begin with, and I gave it another spray of Dul-Coat after the decal was on.
For this one, I painted a white rectangle on the building, so that the colors had the appropriate background and came out correctly. You can't "print" white, so this is my way of getting around that.
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MisterBeasley For this one, I painted a white rectangle on the building, so that the colors had the appropriate background and came out correctly. You can't "print" white, so this is my way of getting around that.
Well, no, you can't print white, but you CAN use white decal paper.
The point is, there's no BEST. Commercial-quality decals will cost money (maybe a lot), and you may have a minimum order that will leave you with a lot of unused decals. However, they will most likely be high quality and easy to use.
Making them at home is much cheaper, and you make only what you need, but it requires a lot more effort on your part to get it right.
Whichever you chose, it can be done. It's up to you which way suits you best.