Minmay Guard stickers/decals

[Anasazi37]

I've received a bunch of PMs about this since the thread was resurrected, so I thought I'd chime in. I don't have any plans currently on making these decals for the newer 1/60s. My general rule of thumb when I was producing sets was to only produce decals for valks that I owned. Otherwise, I didn't see much point since I wouldn't be able to enjoy the decals myself. Since I already have the entire original 1/60 line, and my wife would kill me if I started collecting what look like the same valks all over again, I don't think I'll be getting any of the newer ones.

In the past, there were occasions where I'd make decals for valks that I didn't own, as long as I had one of them to work with during the design process. Many of you were kind enough to lend me rare/obscure valks over the years so that I could do this. If things were lined up correctly, I'd probably do that in this case, too, but they aren't. Between the fact that I don't have a lot of free time and the fact that ALPS stopped supporting the printer that I use, I'm stuck. If my printer breaks or I run out of ink (both will happen sooner rather than later), well, you see my problem. I've investigated lots of alternatives, too:

- Letting someone else print them (never works out well, tried several times)

- Using a different kind of printer (no other prints white)

- Using an ALPS printer from Asia that is still supported (too expensive and impractical)

- Doing screen-printed versions (way too expensive for such a small order volume)

I recognize that there is a lot of pent-up demand for custom decals and stickers, and I'd like to help, but it's been almost two years and I *still* haven't found a good solution....

ok, I'm digging this out. Anyone is producing these decals V2 1/60?

[pondo]

where did this whole "minmay guard" thing originate?

[BeyondTheGrave]

YOu ever think of using those do it your self decal sheets that can be used in a regular printer?

[Anasazi37]

Yes. You can't print white decals or opaque colors on a clear background, so it's useless for most customization projects unless you're putting everything on top of white paint. When I first started printing decals about nine(!) years ago, I tried using inkjet and laserjet paper. Didn't work very well.

YOu ever think of using those do it your self decal sheets that can be used in a regular printer?

[Mog]

If you've got a white or light-colored background, you could cheat with those do-it-yourself sticker/decal sheets. But that's only if the decal or sticker has some color in it.

However, whether it's a colorful or all-white decal, it's a PITA if you're trying to put any kind of sticker or decal on a dark-colored spot.

Even something as simple as a red NO STEP sticker needs white under it to really pop out and become legible.

I've cheated a little bit with using a white-out/correction tape strip and then printing over it to make white decals (think a pilot's name on a black background). But it's tricky to get the sticker's printed color to match the background (unless the background's black). And it doesn't look all that great the larger the sticker size becomes.