Custom waterslide decals

Thank you for the quick tutorial!  I had no idea it was that easy with a printer like most of us already have.

@Mark Boyce posted:

Thank you for the quick tutorial!  I had no idea it was that easy with a printer like most of us already have.

My pleasure Mark

@Lionelski posted:

... all I use is clear waterslide decal paper (readily available on the bay), ...

John ... which brand decal paper did you use?

Thanks, Jim

Thanks I am about ready to start adding labels and graphics to my box cars

@Lionelski posted:

My recent post about my 2024-25 custom rolling stock projects was deleted (I don't know why) but someone had a question about how I made the decals for my custom painted Texas Special passenger cars. I'll answer that question here.

These are really easy to make - all I use is clear waterslide decal paper (readily available on the bay), clear Krylon spray paint,  Excel (or similar program) and an Ink Jet printer.

All of the fonts used here were fonts that come with EXCEL - ya just have to scroll through them to find something close to what you want.

Just print your design on the decal paper with your ink jet printer, spray it with a thin coat of clear, let it dry and use like any other water slide decal (remember those that came with many of the model airplane that most of us used to make?).

After application I like to spray the entire project with DullCoat.

Notes:

You can't print white and light colors (like yellow) look fine on the clear decal paper but disappear when applied - apparently the ink is not opaque enough.

I use white water slide decal paper when needing these lighter, or white colors. Lettering is no good, however and you will need to cut out the design you printed.

Would a color laser printer work, that is all I have.  Might get too hot.

Just wanted to add...

You can use @Lionelski's process with any logo or graphic that you can find online.  Copy/paste it into the program of your choice and resize it to whatever you need.  (I use Word just because I'm familiar with it.)

@Mallard4468 posted:

Just wanted to add...

You can use @Lionelski's process with any logo or graphic that you can find online.  Copy/paste it into the program of your choice and resize it to whatever you need.  (I use Word just because I'm familiar with it.)

That sounds easy. I’ll give it a try after the holidays when I resume my winter rebuilding hobby. Thanks

@CNJ Jim posted:

 

John ... which brand decal paper did you use?

Thanks, Jim

Jim (and anybody else) PM me and I'll send the link to you

@Mallard4468 posted:

Just wanted to add...

You can use @Lionelski's process with any logo or graphic that you can find online.  Copy/paste it into the program of your choice and resize it to whatever you need.  (I use Word just because I'm familiar with it.)

That is exactly what I did with the logo's shown on the decal sheet I shared here.

These happened to be dark colors so clear paper worked fine. For light colors use white decal paper and cut out the logo

@Tony H posted:

Would a color laser printer work, that is all I have.  Might get too hot.

I think they sell decal paper for laser printers. Search the bay

Three other things:

Waterslide decals work best on a glossy finish - that is why I spray DullCoat over the finished model.

Solvaset (sp) may be needed to settle things down over rivets, etc.

Use a thin coat of clear on the freshly printed decals. Using a thick coat, or more than one coat, will make the decals curl when applying them or after they dry. Spray the clear with the sheet lying flat to avoid runs. Keep the spray quickly moving

White is not the only challenge.  Any light color on a dark surface can possibly be problematic.  For instance, yellow decal on a black hopper.  You really need to use the white paper and then be able to trim it well with a hobby knife.

Here is a sample of yellow on clear decal paper.

Here is an example of yellow on white decal paper.  The downside is I had to cut the Iowa logos with and xacto knife to remove all of the white.  I found yellow numbers and letter waterside decals and custom printed the Iowa State and seal logos.

This is very good information.   I wanted to repaint some locos in new jersey transit colors.   There are no commercial decals out there.  I was able to copy the logo from the net and adjust the size after much trial and error to obtain my desired result.  Absolutely spray the decals with clearcut else you end up learning the hard way.  I will need to practice with solvaset, ripped a few during application.

Now I'm making my own graffiti decals, this is a fun project.

@Tony H posted:

Would a color laser printer work, that is all I have.  Might get too hot.

I just purchased this MircoMart decal paper at my LHS.  This paper is made for Inkjet printers.  They do make paper for LaserJet printers.  On the instructions it says Inkjet paper may be used in LaserJet printers, but LaserJet paper can NOT be used in Inkjet printers.

@necrails posted:

This is very good information.   I wanted to repaint some locos in new jersey transit colors.   There are no commercial decals out there.  I was able to copy the logo from the net and adjust the size after much trial and error to obtain my desired result.  Absolutely spray the decals with clearcut else you end up learning the hard way.  I will need to practice with solvaset, ripped a few during application.

Now I'm making my own graffiti decals, this is a fun project.

When adjusting the size, print several variations on non-decal paper to see what fits best.  Be sure of the size before using the decal paper.  Re the ripped decals, this is what's great about printing your own - you can make as many extras / spares as you want.  There's less pressure to get it right the first time compared to using commercial decals.

Also make sure there's plenty of ink in the printer before you use the expensive decal paper.  Don't ask how I learned this.

@Mallard4468 posted:

When adjusting the size, print several variations on non-decal paper to see what fits best.  Be sure of the size before using the decal paper.  Re the ripped decals, this is what's great about printing your own - you can make as many extras / spares as you want.  There's less pressure to get it right the first time compared to using commercial decals.

Also make sure there's plenty of ink in the printer before you use the expensive decal paper.  Don't ask how I learned this.

Fortunately I did use paper first both for sizing and color saturation.  All good stuff. 

To get white I sent my artwork to fusion scale graphics fsdecals.com. What is different is they print on clear film but they print a layer of white first, then put the color on top. That way you can see the yellow on black or the white letters on red. I am not associated with them but I am very pleased with their service and quality. For $12 they print a 1/4 sheet.

I found that Solvaset was a little too harsh for the custom water slide decals I did for a Williams 40th anniversary Amtrak Genesis before anyone else came out with one.  Microset and Microsol are a little less hard on the decals.  Either that or perhaps thin the Solvaset a bit which I didn't think of at the time.  In the case of this model, I didn't use any setting solution since the surface didn't have details to snug the decals over.  This is an old project so perhaps there are better decal papers out on the market now.

I do my graphics work in AutoCAD since I use it professionally and I find it easy to manipulate vector graphics at multiple scales.

All good info ....

1. Repeat several copies of the decal you want on the same sheet of decal paper - that way you'll have extras in case you make a mistake somewhere down the line or you'll have spares for another project w/o having to waste another decal sheet.

2. Let the ink dry thoroughly before applying the Krylon clear as a sealer.

3. Apply the Krylon clear in several very light coats to prevent the ink from running and let dry thoroughly between each coat.

4. You can use a hair dryer to help speed up the drying process, but don't let it get too hot.

5. I use an Exacto knife on a self-healing mat to cut out the decals. Laborious, but I think you get a cleaner cut and can cut closer to curved edges.