Testors also makes Decal

Testors also makes Decal Paper the come in 5-1/2 X 8-1/2 inch sheets. If you going to make your own after the ink has dried spray the whole sheet with dull coat to make sure it sets and doesn't run once placed in water for transfering the decals to the models.

Micro Mark Sells Decal Paper made for Ink Jet printers and also for Laser printers they also sell White Decal Paper so you can make White decals without white Ink for both Laser and Ink Jet Printers. click on the direct link to their papers they work very well and very sharp just follow the directions.

http://www.micromark.com/SearchResult.aspx?deptIdFilter=0&searchPhrase=decal+paper

Dan

Thanks

Thanks, Dan, for the heads up on MicroMark.  It's always good to use MRH sponsors.  I always associate tools with MicroMark, so I didn't think to check them out for decal paper.

You are very welcome Don.

You are very welcome Don.                                                                                                                                               

Dan

+ +

I've been using the Testor decal paper and have to say  i'm not happy with it. Too thick seems to be the issue.

It refuse to lie flat even with decal solvant; ie Microscale Microsol. Rivet detail turns into little mounds. I've even had it curl up on me while it was  drying.  Maybe others have had succes,  but I have not.  It works well enough on erfect flat surface. but it will show an edge  border because of the thickness.

Can not comment on Micro-Mark decal paper.

Marc Fournier, Quebec

Yes Marc I`ll say your

Yes Marc I`ll say your correct about the Testors paper it`s fine for 1/25 Model Airplane Decals Never tried it on Model Railroads but the Micro-Mark Decal especially white works quite well as I have made a number of Rio Grande Southern decals using it and had great luck.

Dan

+ +

Thanks, that is good to know.  Anyone know of  other sources for decal paper

Marc Fournier, Quebec

Makeing your own Decals

There is another source other than decals and that's Dry Transfers. A year ago we had a sponsoring advertiser that called them self Decal Pro and they made a product that works quite well their site is at the following url,

http://decalprofx.com/

This may be of some help to you Marc and DF I hope it helps. I believe they specialize in Dry Transfers not decals but its a nice variety of do it yourself stuff that you may be able to use. I plane to order a bunch for signs for my towns and businesses and my turnout control labeling along the face of my railroad. They work great for right of way signs too

Dan

Dry transfers

Dan,

I've used dry transfers very successfully on fairly flat surfaces (freight car sides, buildings, electronic project labeling), but have not tried them on irregular surfaces and delicate parts of models.  I have used Letraset and Clover House brands.

Question about MicroMark:  I see they have white decals, that you mention in your response.  How do they work?   Is it merely a white background that you trim, or do they somehow generate a truly white face decal?  E.G.  White car side lettering for on a pullman green passenger car.

Thanks for the help.

Micro Mark carries both Make

Micro Mark carries both Make your own Dry transfer or Make your own typical soak and slide decals.

I could fill the page with the how to do instructions so click on this PDF url and get complete instructions on how to make your own Decals and Dry transfers using the two 2 sheet (1 clear 1 print) Decal system.

http://www.micromark.com/html_pages/instructions/decal-inst.pdf

This should answer your questions. also this is the basic directions for every manufactures decal making.

Dan

Dry transfers

I've also used dry transfer and have quite a few left over for box cars. As you say, over textured surface they will leave a void. Perfectly flat surfaces,  they work fine.

But I'm not aware of a system to create your own dry transfer .Create  your own decals, yes.

Marc Fournier, Quebec

Dry Transfers

 Marc,

Try our ex-sponsor Decal Pro FX you can make dry transfers but at a price!

Thanks

Thanks, Dan and Marc.

I'll be ordering blank decal paper from MicroMark, shortly.  I think I'll try the white, also, to see what I can do on dark-sided rolling stock, including a loco with a lot of louver and rivet detail.           

I guess I then must remember to take photos of the process and give a complete report back here on the forum.            OK, then.

Decal Paper

Another source of decal paper usable in laser printers is http://www.tangopapadecals.com.  A lot of people use this paper with ALPS printes.  Check it out.

NCOscaler

Decal Paper

EvanDesign also sells decal paper. They have some tips for using decals at:

http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/decalpaper.html

How do you use the white

White decal paper is limited in usefulness

It's exactly as difficult as you imagine it is to use white decal paper.  The more complex the shape of the object, the harder it would be to cut out.  Lettering is pretty much out of the question.  If the background is white, you can print more complex objects and hopefully the edge of the decal won't show too much.  For true white lettering on various background colors, you need to go to another method.

White paper is for white lettering

The only use I have for it is white lettering or logos on black.  I use a word processing program (such as MS Word, or Open Office (free from Sun MS:  openoffice.org).  I set the background as "black", then the font as "white".  The output decal is white (unprinted area on white decal paper) text, etc. with a black printed rectangle around it, that is easy to trim, then to apply to a black carside or black numberboard.

It is also possible to use other colors for backgrounds if you can color-match to your carside color, though I haven;t tried that yet.

I've also done yellow and orange lettering on black successfully.  You do have to have the printer setting to high quality rather that draft quality, so as to get a solid background.

I've wondered about that..

Don,

I've wondered how well that would work.  How does the printed black on the decal compare to painted black on the car?  Is it hard to disguise the transition from one to the other?

I've thought about doing entire car sides, so that one would not have to match the color.  Unfortunately, with the cost of white decal paper, it becomes a costly proposition for a fleet of cars in HO or larger.  Maybe you could paint the car white, and print a colored car side (minus the lettering) on clear film?

Not exactly true ...

Not exactly true - like many things, it depends.

For instance, if you want to do a relettered block on a car, white letters on a painted over spot, you could print a color block of the painted over color on the white decal, with the white decal showing through for white letters - then just cut out the block and apply it.

In some cases - like on a black car, you might be able to match the car color close enough by printing a black color block and leaving the white letters exposed that it will disappear into the weathering on the car.

So using white decals can be made practical after a fashion in some instances.

Lets see some examples

Well, I would certainly be willing to retract my statement if someone could produce a photo of something done this way with satisfactory results.  I think the theory is more optimistic than practical.  Yes, paint patches might work since the color doesn't need to match perfectly, but the edge of the film would be likely to show white sometimes.  I have thought about using this method to avoid more complicated methods for certain applications like making up COTS panels or ACI labels, but ruled it out for normal car lettering.

I am designing my numbers for

I think you would need some sort of clear coat.

As far as I know the ink used in printers is not waterproof.  I think most manufacturers of decal paper for use in a printer advise using some sort of coating over the decal before you attempt to transfer them to a model.

Decal Paper

I was considering my own decals and spent alot of time researching this. Doing white lettering is difficult because white is treated as the absence of color on white paper. You need to do what is called a reverse print where the color is printed everywhere except the lettering which will be clear on clear decal paper but white on white paper. Most printers do not print white but there is a printer called an ALPS printer which will print white lettering on clear paper. These are expensive and not common. I have done all of my lettering on a computer ( there are many programs) and I am searching for a graphics shop to print these.  You can also look over the web site for rail graphics. they will make your designs and make your decals depending on your needs.

Matching "car side" paint colors on white decal paper

Dear MRH team,

For some examples of "matching paint color" on white decal paper, check the cab-side murals on the locos about 1/2 way down this page

http://carendt.us/scrapbook/page87/index.html

There was no way I was going to try and cut out the individual "white bits" of this mural, Inc the little switcher and tugboat icons, and stick them onto a cabside area maeasureing less than 1" x 1" in size...

The solution was to:
- obtain a suitable image of the proto cabside mural
(thanks to the helpful members of the Rail-Marine Yahoogroup!)
- take an appropriately-lit digital shot of the model locos after they had recieved their "base coat" of paint
- Use Photoshop's "eyedropper" color-picker tool to match the color of the model cabside paint from the model pic
- and "fill" the areas of the proto mural image which should be "cab color"

- Scale the resulting image to match the cab side,
(basing the scaling off proto pics of the proto locos)

- print at "scale size" on MM white decal paper 
- seal using dullcote
- cut the "mural" out from the paper as a single large square piece
- apply to the loco
- and once happy and ensuring the decal was completely dry/set, apply weathering to the loco as per normal...

Just one example...

Happy Modelling,
Aim to Improve,
Prof Klyzlr