Making your own Decals


M

Muskieman

Member
Does anyone do this? How is it done? I have a brewery in need of decaling, & then delivery trucks also. It would useful most everywhere else too.
 
You can buy decal paper for Inkjet and Laser printers to make your own decals. The only catch is, you can't print white.

A colour laser printer is the best option for making decals at home as the inks involved are more opaque. Inkjet printing works best for dark colours of ink.

For making signs you can buy white decal paper and print anything you want with a white background.
 
I bought a color laser printer some time ago, but have not tried decals yet. I haven't even tried to print a photo on photo paper, but an image onto regular copier paper came out pretty good.

I got a deal on a Color Laserjet 3550, it was a discontinued model and was 50% off at Office Depot. I had it stored for a long time until I used up the last of the toner for the laser printer I was previously using.

Kennedy
 
You can also pick up a beginners kit for about $11 at Walmart by Testors. It includes two sheets of decal paper, sealer, and a CD to give you some hints. I used it and it made good decals.
 
All the loco's and the emblems on the doors of the trucks , even the road signs in the last pix are all homemade decals. Once sealed they are like any other decal ,weather away.

U18-1.png

TMICF7.png

TMITRUCKFLEET.png

11signs.png
 
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Muskieman said:
do you have any shots of the work you did with them? Can you weather over them?
Click to expand...

This is a VIA Spiderman 2 F40PH-2 I did using White Bare Metal Foil paper:
http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4430&d=1160624454

This is my freelance road, the SWO's, MP15DC, the logo and cab number are printed on Clear Bare Metal Foil paper:
http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4431&d=1160624464

As long as you seal the model with clear coat after applying the decals, you can weather over them the same as any other decal. (You have to seal the decals before applying them too, or the ink will run)
 
Nice work cp9302 , how thin is their paper ? Micro Marks is pretty thin , thinner is better of course. BTW I hate you tag line(not really) I work at the GE loco works.
 
GAPPLEG said:
I work at the GE loco works.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry to hear that Jerry :D , I've always been an EMD fan myself. Maybe 'cause my dad works for GM. But GE is taking over the rail industry, especially my beloved CPR.

The Clear BMF paper is very thin. The white is thicker, but some solv-set makes it snug down over details quite well.

I have not used Micro Mark paper, so I can't compare the two.
 
Jerry, & Fred, are those decals you posted made with a color laser? My ink jet cannot shoot that precision! If so, I might have to invest in a new ink jet.
 
jbaakko said:
Jerry, & Fred, are those decals you posted made with a color laser? My ink jet cannot shoot that precision! If so, I might have to invest in a new ink jet.
Click to expand...

Mine are printed on an Epson Stylus Inkjet Printer/Scanner. I've also printed decals with an HP Inkjet. The Epson DuraBrite Ink is partially waterproof, so it doesn't bleed when spraying with sealer. I found the HP Ink would bleed some times.

I always print decals using photo quality on the printer.
 
Yeah, the HP I have bleeds like crazy, it takes about 20 minutes to dry on the paper labels I use to label the train boxes I have.

I'm hoping my wife remembers, and buys me the Cannon top-feed printed I have my eye on, for Christmas, the photo cartages were only $20 each. I'm not sure of the ink quality though, if its waterproof, ect. I need a quality, top-feed printer for business cards, as my all-in-one HP jobby eats the cards.
 
Several Questions here , Yes I too use an Epson photo printer. Also use photo quality level. To CP , yeah we have built a lot of units for CP , CN , and a couple short line up there. I support field service site all over Canada for CP mostly, Vancover , Edmonton, Montreal, Calgary, Tonto.
To Throughbreed , I'll go back in my archives and see if I can come up with the images. I'm sure I have them burnt to a CD somewhere. Will let you know.
I just loved the skunk trucks. CP ought to recognize the Mobile Cartage truck out of Hamilton ON. They deliver a lot of parts to us here in Erie , I took a pix of their truck , made decals and away I went.
 
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PC & Gappleg good work gotta try that thanks a lot to everyone. Cp9302 what model of Epson do you have? I have a CX4450. Gonna try it out
 
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I'm using an HP PhotoSmart 7550. I think a regular ink jet printer will still work but the decals will be a little fuzzy. I also print mine on the best quality, photo paper settings and even license plates come out clear and sharp. I will say I only use this for decals I can't get commercially. The cost of printing decals far exceeds anything you can buy from Microscale when you take into account paper and ink.
 
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