Hi guys... I've bought some clear and white decal film to try printing my own decals. I made the graphic in CorelDraw and tried printing the white stenciling of M18 smoke grenades:



OK, so I found out printers don't print white (doh!) and the way to go is reverse printing on white decal film, meaning printing green and thus outlining white color from the film itself. However that doesn't look quite convincing, so I would prefer printing white... Now I know this is highly unlikely, but does any of you guys have a printer that can print white and would be able to help me out here?

Thanks,
Mario.

You need to find someone with an 'ALPS' printer. Alas, sorry I do not own one but wish I did at times.

cheers
Cliff

How about a very light grey tone? The markings on the grenades aren't exactly sparkling white...

Kris

I tried it... gray is too weak and doesn't even show trough the green background.

Mario.

Have them made...

http://www.letraset.com/eu/info/support/custom-transfers.asp#transfer_designs

Kris

I am a bit surprised that the reverse printing didn't work though. That was a good idea. What were you not happy with the color of the green? I work in the printing/graphics industry, I would be glad to work with you if you would like. I don't work with Corel, but work rather with all top of the line Mac software.

A trick you might try, one that I was going to expiriment with just haven't got around to it yet. Try creating your green box, reverse the type, color the type none (so it is clear), Paint the piece you are trying to stencil, white. Lay the film over the piece.

Are you doing this for 1/35th or larger scale?

Thanks for the suggestions guys...

Kris; I think Letraset could be a bit tricky to apply. I'll try to see how much would it cost anyway. Thanks... Do you know anyone who makes custom decals?

Paul; I tried printing grey on clear film... however after applying the decal, the grey was not even visible on green grenade background. Perhaps it is because grey isn't a solid color, but printed as white with small ammount of black. I may be wrong though... Anyway, I figured reverse printing on white decal film is the only way to go (other than actually find a printer who can print white). The problem with reverse printing... well, I didn't like the uneven green coverage. I printed the decals on high quality laser color printer but I still wasn't happy with the color coverage. Thanks for the offer; do you have a printer that does print white? This is 120mm scale.

Oh, I didn't quite understand the trick you mentioned.

Mario.

What about using White decal paper and printing the Green onto it?

That's what I called reverse printing... Yes, tried it but wasn't satisfied with the results...

Mario.

Try another graphic design program. I only use Photoshop, and decals turn out just fine.

Cheers
Erik

How would that make a difference? As I see it (and I might be wrong), it isn't the problem in the program and the graphic itself but in printer... Am I wrong?

Erik, have you printed gray decals and applied them to dark surface? Do they work that way?

Mario.

Just forget using clear decal film. Only black graphics will turn out good. A revers print on white paper should work, and a greytone will probably work as well. My suggestion will be to make a "label" for the grenade which covers 360. Anyway, since NATO 308 works with graphic design I would contact him for further advice. As a soldier I'm only good at destroying stuff, not create it :-) :-) :-)

Cheers
Erik

:-)

I found some on-line custom decal makers and will let you guys know of the quotation when I got it.

Mario.

Mario,
I have a solution to your problem. Instead of a M18 Smoke grenade, paint it as a AN-M8 HC Smoke Grenade.
The canister is light green in color, almost the same color as an iterior of a Bradley. The top is white and the lettering is black.


Or an Incendiary grenade, AN-M14 TH. Body is red in color with black markings. "The grenade is gray in color with purple markings and a single purple band (current grenades). Under the standard color-coding system, incendiary grenades are light red with black markings."


Or an AN-M83 White Smoke Grendae. "The grenade has a forest green body with light green markings, a blue band, and a white top."

Pete, I was considering this... However, I'd like to make M18s. I'm waiting for the quotations from decal making companies and will try some more "reverse printings"... if that doesn't work I'll take your suggestion.

Thanks,
Mario.

Hold up, I got it!!!!!!
Woodland Scenics makes Gray letter and number dry transfers. have you thought about that?

Thanks Epi, I'll check it out... I noticed you made smoke grenades for your 101st OIF figure; what kind of smokes are those?

Mario.

They are supposed to be the M8 Smoke Grenades. I need to go back and remove the black band around them. I don't know why I put those there.

I happen to be in the printing business and I actually get asked this quite often. The ALPS printer Cliff mentioned is one of the very few printers I know of that can print on white. I understand there is also one high end Okidata machine that can do it. I think the ALPS has been discontinued for a while, and the OKI is very expensive. Neither is an option for most people.

Your best bet is to continue with the reverse method you've tried, and just keep experimenting until you can find one you can live with.

Thanks for the explanation... I did print some more using reverse method and it looks much better. Hope it will turn out good this time.

Mario.

OK, here are finished decals... They turned out real nice IMO.



Mario.

Hi Mario!

I agree with you, the decals (and the whole dio in fact) are looking very convincing... and now can you tell us how you did finally! :-)

Jean-Luc

Reverse printing...

Mario.