Decals!!!!!

[The Riveteer]

Mitches Models posting of their new Drummer boy got me thinking.

Most responders reacted favorably to the etched drum detail (and I'm not knocking it) but the actual drum would be painted. I know that for many, one of the main challenges of the hobby is tackling intricate detail like this but for some of the lesser mortals among us I just thought; " what if somebody did decal sheets in various scales" for this sort of thing?.
Would there be a market for that? Or - would it just be considered bad form?

Aircraft and AFV modelers do some astounding paint jobs, including weathering and damage, but few hand paint their markings without feeling that the use of decals is cheating.

Just think of Flag decals that could be applied to all those awkwardly modelled folds and contours.

David

 

[tock24]

Great Idea!
Ian

 

[Nap]

Hi David

It's a good point , I like details and certainly 3D helps but then there are also traditional sculpts that look great , personally I wouldn't use decals ...mainly because they would be too fiddly and annoying for my banana fingers !

...the same goes for Photoetch as well for me

Think there would be a market for the decals though but not in my world !

Thanks for posting this be interesting to see others thoughts

Happy benchtime

Nap

PS Bugle Call 27/11 @ Nailsea if your interested

 

[valiant]

I, personally, dont have a problem with using decals if they do the job well. I have designed, printed and used my own for various projects in the past and, for flags, etc they work well. I am in awe of those people who choose to freehand - for me, life's too short to spend hours painting one detail or to mess about with photoetch..!! But thats just me!

 

[harrytheheid]

I, personally, dont have a problem with using decals if they do the job well. I have designed, printed and used my own for various projects in the past and, for flags, etc they work well. I am in awe of those people who choose to freehand - for me, life's too short to spend hours painting one detail or to mess about with photoetch..!! But thats just me!

Well, I guess it's just me as well...
After a life-long career in engineering the habit of "anything that makes things easier as long as it works" is kind of built into my DNA.
Kudo's to those who can pull off amazing examples of freehand; I can't, so decals are a useful option for certain jobs as far as I'm concerned...
It's each to their own, of course.

 

[Blind Pew]

Horses for courses. Our cousins in the AFV/aircraft fraternity use them to great effect. I admire their skill in decals. They are by no means an easy option, and I'm nowhere near skilful enough in their use. I use freehand myself.

 

[Bundook]

You do realize that merely by mentioning this on a public forum you are now on a watchlist from the Figure Police?

Seriously, though, isn't this widely done already? I'm sure I have seen Roman soldier kits that have shield decals. I have even seen decal sheets with 54mm camouflage clothing patterns. Toy soldiers and wargames figures often have "stickers" for flags and shields and such. Even the old Airfix multipose sets [I know coz I just bought one ] came with a sheet of decals for rank badges and battle insignia.

 

[The Riveteer]

I, personally, dont have a problem with using decals if they do the job well. I have designed, printed and used my own for various projects in the past and, for flags, etc they work well. I am in awe of those people who choose to freehand - for me, life's too short to spend hours painting one detail or to mess about with photoetch..!! But thats just me!

Hi valiant. I'm a bit too long in the tooth for any of this tech stuff myself but I might have a stab if I knew where to start.
Could you give any pointers on how to go about creating a decal sheet, what is needed and what materials are available?. My brother did produce a range of AFV decals for a while, some time back , so I know blank decal sheets could be obtained for use on a home PC computer printer then, but as technology has probably moved on, I wouldn't know where to start now.
Wouldn't it be a boon if some figure producers could find a collaborator, on specific models to produce decal sheets; in the same way decal and photo-etch companies produce sets for the aircraft/ship model hobbyists.
I know I'm probably asking for the earth here - but then again - if somebody, somewhere out there is listening?

David

 

[The Riveteer]

I just thought after that last post. With all this talk of decals, photo etch and 3D printing. We might end up with better, more accurate kits, but are we starting to lose the essence of what the hobby has all been about? Will any of us be doing any scratch building or converting in, say, ten years time?

David

 

[Bundook]

I just thought after that last post. With all this talk of decals, photo etch and 3D printing. We might end up with better, more accurate kits, but are we starting to lose the essence of what the hobby has all been about? Will any of us be doing any scratch building or converting in, say, ten years time?

David

In ten years they'll probably have scale accurate 3D colour texture printing too so you won't even have to paint them either. They'll probably even move about and talk to you!

 

[Ferris]

You can print decals quite well yourself using a photo printer. Calvin Tan explains his method here: https://zyclyon.blogspot.com/2012/02/diy-decals.html

You can also buy generic clear or white decal sheet and use a laser or inkjet printer. I’ve used this once to print name tags on US uniforms in 1:16 scale.

Third option is find a company that does custom decals to order. This is not incredibly expensive. Many examples can be found using Google.

I do not consider the use of decals to be cheating. Who would you be cheating? They are your models and you can do them in whatever way you like. If you like freehand, do freehand. The one thing I do not like about decals is they can be too sharp and out of sync with the rest of the paintwork. And it is difficult to implement consistent colour transitions and shading. And you have to spend time behind the computer, doing all the digital design stuff....whereas I like to paint to get away from the PC!
But then again, it’s possible, so why not try it out and see if you like it, or not...

Cheers,
Adrian

 

[valiant]

Hi valiant. I'm a bit too long in the tooth for any of this tech stuff myself but I might have a stab if I knew where to start.
Could you give any pointers on how to go about creating a decal sheet, what is needed and what materials are available?. My brother did produce a range of AFV decals for a while, some time back , so I know blank decal sheets could be obtained for use on a home PC computer printer then, but as technology has probably moved on, I wouldn't know where to start now.
Wouldn't it be a boon if some figure producers could find a collaborator, on specific models to produce decal sheets; in the same way decal and photo-etch companies produce sets for the aircraft/ship model hobbyists.
I know I'm probably asking for the earth here - but then again - if somebody, somewhere out there is listening?

David

its not that difficult to make your own decals on a standard inkjet, but you obviously cant print white! I use clear or white decal paper depending on what i need. I use a programme called Coreldraw which you can import and scale artwork from images, or draw your own designs. I know that Mick's Micks offered drum banner decals, cos i did the artwork and i did some divisional patches and shoulder flashes for Mookies' glider pilot bust which i sculpted, so there are makers out there who appreciate the tie up!