Has anyone used the paper designed for making your own waterslide decals. It come in Laser or Inkjet types and you supposedly just print onto it and voila! you have your own decals. It sounds too good to be true.

Hello Mike:

Testors printer decal sheet is the brand most readily avilable. It comes in two types that I am aware of, Clear, and White. There is a sealant spray that must be used after printing to make sure your decal does not dissapear when wetting the paper. I personaly have used them both with good results. I used Microsoft Word and an HP inkjet printer to make dark red lettering on the clear sheet for a night fighter version of a Spitfire Vb, the white sheet for the roundels and fin flashes. Just make sure to follow the directions on printing and sealing the decal. Warning: the decals are very thin, first make sure there is water on the model so as to help with positioning of the decal. If you try to put the decals on a dry surface they will rip, I had to use a good pair of tweezers. I did not need to use any decal solvent they conformed perfectly over a coat of future. After another coat of future over the decals I could not tell that they were not painted on. I hope this helps.


go to this thread to read more.

https://armorama.kitmaker.net/forums/149354&page=1

Robert

Do you only use it from Microsoft Word or can you use it by just printing off pictures you already have?

I have scanned a picture of some old decals that I had and then printed them, just be careful that your copy has no discoloration. The printer will print that also.

Robert

Hey thanks for the info Robert. I've been wanting to try homemade decals for some time but I've been too chicken.
One question if you don't mind. If I have a photo scanned that I'd like to make into a decal, how would I size it to make it work for say a 1/48 scale plane? I could probably play around and come close but I don't want to waste a thousand dollars worth of paper and ink. BTW, I usually work with Paint.net.

Again, thanks for the info and link.

Hermon

Herman all I do is play with the percentage and print out on paper then use a scale to size the print and find out how close I am. I then either print with the decal sheet or resize and try again on paper before using the decal sheet. Yep it is a lot of trial and error but when you finally get it the next time is not so hard.

You can use this scale but first you need to know what is on your paper/word.

To Reduce:
1:35 to 1:48 = 73 %
1:35 to 1:76 = 46 %
1:35 to 1:72 = 49 %
1:35 to 1:87 = 41 %
1:48 to 1:76 = 63 %
1:48 to 1:72 = 66%
1:48 to 1:87 = 55%
1:72 to 1:76 = 95 %

This chart is from WORLD WAR II AFV PLANS by George Bradford.

Robert

To Enlarge:
1:35 to 1:32 = 109%
1:35 to 1:16 = 218%
1:48 to 1:35 = 138%
1:48 to 1:32 = 150%
1:48 to 1:16 = 300%
1:72 to 1:35 = 207%
1:72 to 1:48 = 150%
1:72 to 1:16 = 450%



Robert

Robert, much obliged my friend. This'll come in handy when I attempt making my own nose art.

Thanks,
Hermon

I'd like to add something...maybe it's my scanner{HP C6180} but I've found all too often the scanned sheet, say 5"x6" for example gets scanned and when I transfer it to MS paint it blows way up thru no apparent reason...measure your sheet to be scanned, scan it, then after scanning and transfering to the program of choice hit "properties" and see what you get now ...in inches....just to be safe.

Bob, great heads up information.

Robert