When I first wanted to make decals I thought it was some sort of voodoo at work but after researching it (google), it turns out to be pretty simple. Printers don't print white so either avoid white in your decal our you will have to use the white decal paper and match the non white portion to the color of your car. Or you paint the area you want white and conceal the transition with your decal but that makes the colored area look funky. Buy the decal paper for the type of printer your using either ink jet (most common) or laser jet. Buy some decal bonder spray. Most clears will supposedly work as well but I have only used the Testors decal bonder. Lay out your decal sheet in the program of your choice. I use a combination of Paint Shop Pro and MS Paint but I'm sure there are many programs that will work. I save mine as a JPEG file. Print a test sheet. If I am happy with the test sheet I tape the decal paper over the printed area and print it again after changing the settings to other photo paper. A couple of thing to keep in mind: if you print it as a JPEG (I do) then print it from your normal photo viewing/printing program, un-select fit to screen, that can throw off your size. Most drawing programs (word also) have an option for a ruler and a grid, use them. I try to fill up an entire decal sheet every time I print by adding license plates, inspection stickers, under-hood decals, racing decals, gauge panels, pin stripes, etc. Once you've printed your decals let them sit for an hour or 2 for the ink to dry a bit. I've seen people recommend to let it sit longer but an hour works well for me. Give the sheet a couple of mist coats of the decal bonder. After awhile (10 minutes works for me) give it another couple of mist coats. Let dry for at least a few hours, a day would be better. I have used mine within an hour of spraying them but I prefer to wait a day or so. If you can see finger prints in the clear areas of the decal sheet, its not ready yet. Cut close to the decal with good, sharp scissors. Unlike kit decals these will not easily slice with a xacto blade on door gaps so plan accordingly. I have not used micro-sol but I have used the Testors decal setting solution and it works fine. Here is a link with info about the testers kit, I haven't used it so I can't speak for the software. -catalog/testors-brands/testors/tools/decals/ I think the software is in addition to the kit. Next to detailing engines, making decals has become one of my favorite things to do in this hobby. Good luck, and don't forget to post your work, I'm looking forward to seeing it. If you don't have a printer that will work for you, some people make a disk with their decals and go to a print shop and have them printed for them.
Here's a few thoughts... most of us will be making an occasional decal with a inkjet printer. I have been using BMF brand decal paper. It comes in 8.5" x 11" sheets. I have a Canon brand inkjet printer. I build light commercial primarily so I produce company logos and lettering. I will find images on the Internet, photograph images and create simple graphics like lettering. I use Microsoft Word to set up my decal sheets. It's easy to use, and easy to import and resize jpg images. It comes with a large quantity of lettering fonts and you can download more fonts if needed. In Word you can scale your images up and down by exact measurements or you can play if you don't know exactly the size you need. I'll sometimes print a row of the same image, incrementally smaller. I'll then print a copy on paper, cut the images out and place against my model body to get the right look. Then I'll go back and print the images I need at the size I need.
Testors Sure Thing Decal Maker 11 ((LINK))
Download Zip: https://tinurli.com/2vBWR6
Once you are satisfied, save your project so you don't lose your work. I have a folder with all my old deal sheets in it, so I can go back and print more at any time. I then will do a sample print on regular white paper. Measure off how far down the page your images go, then cut your decal sheet to match this. I typically use a 1/3rd page. Then tape the cut decal sheet to the white paper so that it covers the images. I put one piece of tape across the entire top edge (the edge that feeds first) so that it's attached and will go through the printer smoothly. I don't tape the sides or bottom of the sheet so it can flex with the paper as it prints. As said above, don't touch your newly printed images! I generally put mine aside overnight. The next day I will give it several to many light coats of the "Testors Decal Bonder Spray". Then I'll wait another day to apply the decals.
The Sea Witch model by Lindberg that I am working on was purchased many years ago at a yard sale. I am only now beginning to work on it and fortunately all the parts are there. When I attempted to remove the decals from the backing paper by soaking them in water, there was no loosening from the paper. I suspect they have been around too long. If that is the case, does anyone have a suggestion? Can something be added to the water to encourage separation or is it a lost cause?
Unfortunately i have no English or American source for that but i am sure u will find. If you manage to separate your decals from the paper i can advice to stick them on parts that you have sprayed with glossy clear varnish before and after to avoid the glitter effects of the edges of the decals. Hope i could help
you could use dry transfers........I haven't used them too much, so I don't have much experience with them. I have been using a decal maker put out by 'Sure Thing' sold by Testor's. they have what is called the 'decal it decal maker' program standard edition. they have an updated program for it......I need to get it still, but it has worked well for me.
there are a few thing you can get away with though. Jack's right about the paint, but I've found on most flat enamel surfaces, the decal can be a bit finicky and not adhere properly. I've heard folks using floor finishing products with good results. flat lacquers works well too. I hardly use the decal setting solutions with these decals. the bonder makes the existing film more elastic, so they lay down fairly well. have you experimented with the importing part of the program. go online and look at images......I did shamrocks. I saved them to my computer and imported them into the decal maker...very nice
I do it that way as well, although I believe you can change the font in the decal maker. I just thumb through them till I saw one I likes. the cool thing is that the font can be bent to a half round or slant, and can be manipulated any way you want. make sure the DPI is adjusted all the way up before you proceed.
another way to create it, is to produce the decal using photo shop, and then import it into the decal maker....I've gotten better results getting over the transparency issue. where your placing your decal over a darker background, you may want to use white decal paper and give it a border.
I bought some clear decal film from bare-metal.com to print some custom decals on my inkjet printer. Their instructions suggests airbrushing Microscale liquid decal film to protect and seal the printed decal. So I try to airbrush the liquid decal film, but nothing comes out. It's quite thick (thicker than future), do I need to thin it? If so, what do I thin it with? 99% rubbing alcohol?
You can use a gloss clear that dries in a state that is impervious to water, such as a spraycan of Testors lacquer Glosscote (I'm pretty sure that Testors Decal Bonder is the same thing in a different wrapping). That might be better than brushing something liquid on water soluble ink jet inks. I usually use two coats.
You will want to make sure to use permanent vinyl on your wreath. If you will be using it outdoors, be sure to seal the entire thing with a few coats of sealer. Something like Polycrylic works well. This will protect your wreath from the elements and make it last as long as possible.
Because TDS/ppm is an aggregate measure of charged compounds in water, uncharged things like motor oil, gasoline, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides do not contribute to a TDS/ppm measurement. Most relevant to current nationwide water quality problems, TDS/ppm meters do not detect PFAS in drinking water. For example, the glass on the left in the picture above contains deionized water with Malathion (an organophosphate pesticide) dissolved into it at 100 times high concentration than allowed by the EPA for drinking water, and the TDS/ppm probe reads 000.
A TDS tester is not sensitive enough to measure toxic levels of lead, chromium 6, or arsenic, even if they are present in a sample. This is because the reading displayed on an inexpensive TDS meter is in parts per million, while things like lead, chromium 6, and arsenic are toxic at part per billion concentrations (1000 times lower). Using a TDS meter to measure ppb lead concentrations in tap water is like trying to use a car's odometer to measure a child's height... it's the wrong tool for the job. For example, the water sample shown on the right hand side of this article's header image has levels that are 100x the EPA limit, and the TDS reading teetered between 000 and 001.
Hi Will, I have been painting for a few years now and discovering new ideas and learning on my own. I recently started painting portraits with acrylics but since I dont feel comfortable using acrylics on the face I have used oil paint(Burnt Umber) for the face and skin.For the ornaments and clothing I used acrylics. I have done this on a 30inch by 36inch canvas. I am not sure how to give it a finish now as I used both mediums. I request you to help me on the fininshing. Thanks alot for all your articles they really help me. regards Abhati 2ff7e9595c
Comments