Custom Decal work

[jmlaboda]

Have seen recommedations from modelers about Dan's Resin Casting custom decals.  His prices are reasonable (I have checked in the past about some but haven't actually ordered any yet)...
http://www.dansresincasting.com/

[jimmo]

http://www.decalpaper.com/

After printing, I spray the sheet with Krylon flat clear.

David, I use decalpaper.com papers with an HP Laserjet printer, have you ever tried Testors decal bonder spray? I have tried several sprays including the one you mentioned but none seem to work as well as the Testors product.

[DKS]

David, I use decalpaper.com papers with an HP Laserjet printer, have you ever tried Testors decal bonder spray? I have tried several sprays including the one you mentioned but none seem to work as well as the Testors product.

Never tried the Testors spray, but the Krylon seems to work fine for me. I'll have to try the Testors spray, tho.

[peteski]

Not that Alps is being considered here but (as a person who has been intimately familiar with Alps printing for about 10 years), I have to protest the statement that it does not do good on text under 8 points in size.  It is a 600 dpi printer and it can easily print serifs on much smaller text.  TiVoPrince: give me a font name and I can print you a sample of what Alps can print.

[DKS]

Many laserjets are 1200 dpi, and some have software that will push it even higher. As it happens, I have an alps, and my laserjet dances rings around it.

[peteski]

Many laserjets are 1200 dpi, and some have software that will push it even higher. As it happens, I have an alps, and my laserjet dances rings around it.

Pushing the printers resolution over its physical resolution can result in fuzzy edges of the images. One important feature of Alps is that it can print very sharp images. As an Alps owner, you most likely know thate.

If course a 1200 dpi printer can print finer lines and smaller fonts that a 600 dpi printer but, even at 1200 dpi, neither ink jet or a laser printer will produce images with sharpness of the Alps printouts.

[DKS]

No argument about the sharpness of the alps; however, the fuzziness of a good laserjet image is only visible under high magnification. As for rendering fonts, at 3 points the alps starts to fall apart, and at 2 points it fails completely. And of course the alps can do nothing with a grayscale except print halftone dots which are easily seen with the naked eye.



Some dimi data is in the 3 and 2 point range; most of the lettering for the DB4 containers is 2 points, and looks awful (unfortunately, there's no choice but to use the alps since it must be white).



And the school bus decals would suffer on the alps given some text is 2 points, and the colored areas would be dithered (unless one goes to the trouble of obtaining the required spot colors). Under normal viewing, and indeed even under macro photography, the laserjet image looks good and crisp, with no objectionable fuzziness. (White specs are reflections, not flaws.)



If it were me, I'd have experimented with finding ways to reliably register an inkjet image over an alps white background print for the graf decals, because the inkjet would have rendered the color image without visible halftoning. That would look seriously impressive, IMO.

[Chris333]

I know Robert Ray has printed some insanely tiny lettering for Z scale cars that was still readable. I don't know what ALPs he uses, but it is 2 of them mounted back-to-back

[DKS]

One trick Robert Ray uses to help maintain font integrity is to convert it to curves before printing (I do the same thing). For some reason the alps can render curves better than fonts; I think it has to do with the font engine not being able to generate hinting at such small sizes.

[Leggy]

Should I change the title of this thread?

[TiVoPrince]

Meant
to say 4 point, apologies for any confusion.  Although under Nscale photography level magnification some of my oddball Open Type fonts break up at 8 point.  This has more to do with the nature of these fonts that were intended for use as headlines are being 'microprinted' instead.  These are a notable exception, but in a quest for improved accuracy sometimes means using something way outside of the basic font selection that is included with Windows or even the extensive collection that comes with CorelDRAW!. 

True Type fonts seem less prone to breakup although the raster of 600dpi vs. laser 1200dpi (2400dpi RET) is a fact of life. Several of my absolute favourite stencil fonts must be saved as curves otherwise several letters  print out reversed on ALPS MD1000.  Saving an editable version and a seperate version for printing is a small price to pay to get lettering that comes out reliably correct.

Anyone have a 'shopping list' of what to look for in an inkjet for printing colour decals...

[cnw mike]

Inkjet black is pretty darn black. I made these Bombardier builder plates with an older HP photosmart inkjet printer. It's not the best picture, but it shows how much blacker it is than the weathered black trucks. The "Bombardier" along the top is readable.

[SkipGear]

And the school bus decals would suffer on the alps given some text is 2 points, and the colored areas would be dithered (unless one goes to the trouble of obtaining the required spot colors). Under normal viewing, and indeed even under macro photography, the laserjet image looks good and crisp, with no objectionable fuzziness. (White specs are reflections, not flaws.)

There is nothing on that sheet that would need to be printed in half tone. Orange is the only questionable color and it can be done with layering, maybe not that exact orange but good enough for an amber tail light.

I do N scale 2 and 3" high lettering without any issues with my Alps.


As far as the original poster, the only issue with using an inkjet that I have ran into is bleeding. Even with a sealer over the decals, the colors tend to soften and blur when you apply them.

[TiVoPrince]

I do N scale 2 and 3" high lettering without any issues with my Alps.

Unaided
I think that I see:

KY
illegible (maybe a 9 on second/third look)
-C5
112

Knowing what I should be seeing would probably help.  While the letters are fairly formed the dropouts (raster or otherwise) make it difficult to see them for certain.

In no way is this a critcisim of the work, just an observation of what is in the photo.  This is very much like the results I get from my MD1000 in microprint sizes.  So I'm comfortable that what we are seeing is a fundamental limitation of the machine, software and fonts. 

I will continue to consider an inkjet for my tiny lettering and grafitti needs.  Someday I would hope for a white ink refill (either DIY kit or that refill machine) available at Fry's or Micro Center, that would really coax Mr. Wallet into immediate action...

[SkipGear]

You almost read it correctly.

KY
9
45
I 12

The handrail in the picture is .010 wire w/ paint thickness on it. Assuming .015" thickness with paint, that is equal to 2.4" in N scale. The "WITH THE NATION" letters in the B&O roundel are 3". The total height of the service data is just under 10 scale inches and that was done as a font. The lettering in the roundel is a line drawing which accounts for the better quality.

They way I look at it, if I have to get a magnifying glass out to read it in the first place, it's probably not important to the overall scheme of things.

Another, not as close up, but as close as I normally view a car. Lettering ranges from 1" to 7" on this one.