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.