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Making your own decals (courtesy David Cotgreave)

Step 1
Buy a sheet of decal paper, suitable for your printer, either inkjet, colour laser or Alps printer. You can purchase decal paper from most good hobby shops or online from Bel Decal.com. There are generally
three colours.

Clear - for printers that can print solid white. e.g. the Alps 5000

White - for printers that cannot produce solid white

Blue - for printers like the Alps 5000 that can produce solid white it makes the decals easier to see.

Step 2
Create your artwork, or download ours.

This can be done using your word processing software or any number of graphics and CAD programs. eg. Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand, Deneba Canvas, or CorelDRAW. There are also a number of smaller drawing programs that are part of a windows or Mac operating system.

Step 3
Print your decals.

As mentioned you can use one of three types of printers, or take your artwork and a decal sheet to a local copy centre and have them copy it for you.

Step 4
Apply the decals.
 

A few tips for working with decals:

• Always use a sharp hobby knife - put in a new blade when you start.

• Trim the decals as close to the image as possible

• Apply setting solution BEFORE and AFTER the decals have been placed
  (Outlined under applying Deck decals, below.)

• To place extremely small decals use a toothpick.

Bruce's advice for applying window decals:

The modeler will achieve the best results by first removing the model's original window mullions and then replacing them with the decals.  If high-quality decal paper is used, acetate backing should not be required for the smaller windows (although optional). If you are not using acetate for the larger windows, it is recommended that the you fill them in with white glue or a window modeling product like Krystal Klear. This gives the decal a bit more backing and once applied no decal setting agent should be necessary.

Art's advice for cutting deck planking decals:

Using white copy paper and and sharp, pointed hobby knife, cut decal templates.  These should be cut to match the deck sections exactly.  The deck sections themselves can be used with a knife to cut the outer borders.  Then align the paper over the deck section and press down gently but firmly to lightly emboss the outline of the hatch trunks, deckhouse wall edges, etc onto the paper.  Cut them out carefully.  The holes for the raised circular crane posts can be cut with a standard hole punch.  If you cut away too much from a particular area, wait until you're done, then fit the template over the deck and cut & tape a small piece of paper to bridge the gap.  When your template has a perfect fit, transfer the shape to the deck planking decal and cut. 

The photo below shows the aft B-deck piece, masked and painted, with the decal template next to it:

Click for larger size

For deck sections large enough to require multiple decal pieces, plan ahead.  Try to butt your decal pieces where the joint will be least visible.  On the Boat Deck, expansion joints are good places.  Otherwise, choose an area under a railing, where the deck narrows, or any other convenient area.  In all cases, make sure that your plank length is correct so that the joints repeat themselves at the proper distances across the butted pieces.

Bruce's advice for applying his deck planking decals:

The plastic decks need to be pre-coated with a wood color of the modeler's choice. I feel that a lighter color is more appropriate for realism.  Also, the black lines of the decal will cause the finished deck to appear darker than the color without the decal, so allow for this.

The modeler has to follow all of the usual water-slide decal application rules on this project because the decals are so big: Apply a clear coat of gloss finish over the painted deck sections.  (Decals adhere better to a gloss finish, and are also easier to shift when wet.)   Brush Microscale's "MicroSet" over the area where the decal will be placed.   Apply the decal.  Use a decal applicator tool (shown at right) or a moistened Q-Tip (small cotton swab on a stick) to shift it as necessary and press out all air bubbles.   If the area being decalled is large enough to require multiple decals butted together, apply the next section as above.

• When all contiguous decals have been applied, brush Microscale's "Micro Sol" to the decals to ensure proper setting. (Do NOT touch the decals after applying MicroSol - it softens and weakens the decal film and you can easily ruin your work!)
   

• 24 hours after all decals have dried and set, apply a flat spray finish to protect the decals and remove the glossy appearance.

Copyright 2005 TRMA. May not be reproduced in any form except single copies for a modeler's personal use