Decal paper

[Marsh33]

Hey All..
I finally finished my Stearman!you can tell that it was a rookie build. I screwed up on the struts and a few other things. I am still happy with the way it turned out though I guess my Dad was more because it is now hanging in his office. But, what is he gonna say "This stinks" . Thank you all for all your help. I learned a lot. I have begun the B-25 Mitchell... I'd like to use different nose art and I did find decal paper for my printer on line, but he shipping is the same cost for the amount of paper I need. I looked around at office supply companies and they don't carry it. Is my best bet to just eat the shipping charges and get it or are their any other ideas?
Thanks again,
MARSH

[John G. Jedinak]

Marsh33..........I found decal paper at Hobby Lobby..which leads me to believe that Micheals and Office Depot probabley carry it...Luck, JGJ

[Geoffrito]

FINALLY, my account is activated! phew.

anyway, another good way is to print on tissue. I printed some markings for my Grumman Avenger on tissue with my inkjet printer. Just use a re-stickable glue stick or spray mount adhesive to attach a piece of tissue big enough for your markings to a piece of standard 'computer' paper, and just print out the noseart and whatever markings. then just separate the sheets, and discard the backing. You might want to use chalk pastels on the back of the tissue to make the markings more opaque. I attach them using dope, but you have to be careful because dope can do weird things to some paints. Also, watch out, because the inkjet-tissue isn't waterproof unless you coat it in something.

[prototypesplus]

Hi Marsh,
I recently tried Testors decal kit and had somewhat poor results. The kit comes with a clear and white piece of decal paper, a can of spray sealer, and some worthless software. I followed the directions: print graphic on paper, allow to dry, spray with sealer, allow to dry, and then you can apply. It says to allow no more than 5 seconds in water and then wait (doesn't say how long) and remove and put on model. I could not get the decal off the backer paper, so waited some more and still couldn't get off, so soaked more. Finally got it off with minor damage, and it adhered well to the model. The other wing rondel, however did not want to come off the paper and was ruined in the attempt. Maybe it was my technique and need more experimentation, but the paper is somewhat expensive to play with. I do like the idea of making my own decals, so will try again. Maybe another brand. If you have good success, please advise your results.

mo

[cdwheatley]

I had poor results when I tried using decal paper too, that's what led me to try using tissue on my Hurricane instead. I found the decal paper to be too thin and it seemed to prefer sticking to itself too much, almost like cling-film. After several attempts I gave up. The only decal I've actually successfully made using it was the red 'BE500' at the rear of the fuselage of my Hurricane (it was the only way I could do it), and I'm sure that was because it was so small and manageable.

[JOhn M Oshust]

The secret I learned with printed decals is patience. First at least 24 hrs to let the print dry. Then spray with a sealer Krylon works OK but the paint Companies also sell decal sealer. After 48 hrs the decals can be cut and applied. I used decals that I printed on my Scratch built Mig-3 You can see the results under Mig-3 in my hanger at
http://virtualaerodrome.com/

[kittyfritters]

I've been doing very well with printing my markings on tissue.

Draw up your "decal sheet" using any drawing program you prefer. I have even scanned complicated markings from reference books, enlarged or reduced them to the size for the model and printed them on tissue. Stick a piece of white Japanese tissue to a standard sheet of paper used as a carrier sheet for printing. Put tissue on the carrier sheet, shiny side up, using repositionable glue spray or a repositionable glue stick to keep it from buckling when going through the printer. (Both are similar to Post-It note glue.) Print your "decal sheet",

After the "decal sheet" has had a day to dry spray it with Krylon or any other clear fixative to keep it from running and to make the tissue easier to cut with a blade. It's a good idea to rub white pastel chalk (dry, not oil pastel) into the back of your tissue decal sheet, at this point, to keep the colors, especially the whites, bright against whatever base color is on the model. Then cut the markings out with a sharp Xacto knife and glue them to the model with Uhu glue stick.

If you are really planning ahead you can mask under where the decal goes when you paint the base color on the model to leave a bare spot in the base color under the tissue decal.

Speaking of masking, don't throw away the domestic tissue that comes in the Guillow's kits. Stretch it in a frame and give it a couple of mistings of Krylon to seal it, then , by sticking it on with the repositionable glue, you can use it as ultra-low tack masking tape or friskit when air brushing. It cuts very cleanly and conforms to curved surfaces better than masking tape or friskit because it is thinner. You can do some amazingly fine work with it.