Decals library

[Slave IV]

Yeah, I suck at this but it's still better than nothing.

I'll try to stick to straight edge decals from now on.

[Dobber]

On 6/15/2018 at 6:25 PM, kajnrig said:

tl;dr - Get your image DPI to match your printer DPI.

DPI and PPI are different things. DPI is an analog measurement, literally how many dots a printer can lay down over an inch. PPI, which is what scanners really mean when they say DPI, is sort of an arbitrary conversion ratio. It helps programs scale an image to a ruler or other measuring tool (like GIMP or Photoshop), or scanners determine how much time to spend scanning a document, etc.

If the DPI of your printer matches the PPI of your image, then each dot will be exactly one pixel of your image (a 1:1 ratio). If the DPI of your printer is 600 and your image PPI is 1200, you'll have to manually scale down your image to half its resolution and PPI (to get that 1:1 ratio) or adjust the print settings. The below image shows GIMP's print settings where you can adjust the image on the paper to print at the correct size.

Appreciate the effort but I totally don’t get it.

I’m totally lost when it comes to computers and printing decals. I don’t even have a computer at home anymore so I don’t know what I was expecting to accomplish here.

i really want to print out Lolicon’s decals for the HMR line but am hopeless lost and stuck using a work printer and computer. Also is there a particular type of decal paper I need to use and will any printer do?

Chris

[kajnrig]

2 hours ago, Dobber said:

i really want to print out Lolicon’s decals for the HMR line but am hopeless lost and stuck using a work printer and computer.

You could try the trusted "do it 'til it works" method. Print out a test decal at a bunch of different sizes and see which one fits best. Use regular printing paper (and maybe print in black and white). Then once you figure out which size fits best, you can scale the entire decal sheet to that size.

Something like this:

 

2 hours ago, Dobber said:

Also is there a particular type of decal paper I need to use and will any printer do?

Chris

Type of decal paper depends on what kind of printer you have. There are different ones specifically for inkjet printers and laser printers.

There's also "white decal paper" and "clear decal paper." Both are white in appearance (usually), but the difference is in how the decal turns out. Since printers typically don't have white ink, white decal paper reproduces it by adding an extra layer of white to the entire sheet. Clear decal paper doesn't.

In the above example, printing onto white decal paper means the skulls would be accurately white, but you'll have to trim the decal as close to the edge of the black circles as possible. Printing onto clear decal paper means the skulls would be transparent, but you don't have to worry as much about trimming the decal.

I did a bit of Youtubing and this shows the difference between the two pretty well. Ignore the text, just focus on the decals themselves.

Hope that helps.

[Dobber]

Thanks Kajnrig. 

[Convectuoso]

Thanks. I was wondering the same

[Anasazi37]

It's been a very long time since I've weighed in on anything decal-related here on MW, but I was browsing the forums today, saw this thread, and noticed that you're going down the same road I was on about 17(!) years ago.

I started making decals for 1/55 valks back in early 2002. I began with exactly the same methods and materials that you've tried, because that's what was (and still is) readily available, and wasn't at all happy with the results. The designs on inkjet-printed decals disintegrate when placed in water because the ink is water-based. You can try using that spray fixative stuff, or a clear coat of some sort, but it's a crap shoot as to how well they will work. The designs on laserjet-printed decals tend to look faded and chip away at the edges when you cut them out unless you use a clear coat. When the designs are printed on clear paper, they are semi-transparent (except for black), so they don't look good unless you put them on a surface with light coloring. The alternative is to use white paper, but then you have to trim your designs perfectly when you cut them out and you're limited to basic shapes. Raster-based designs generally don't look as good as vector-based ones, but the latter requires you to draw everything in an application like Illustrator, which is something a lot of people aren't comfortable with when compared to editing images in Photoshop. It took about a solid year of experimentation for me to get a good process down. Within a few years, I was cranking out all kinds of decals for Macross collectors. I don't remember the exact total, but it was somewhere in the neighborhood of 90 different sets. You can see samples of many of them on this *very* basic website I put together several years ago as an archive: https://sites.google.com/site/tridentdesignworksdecals/.

So, at this point you're probably wondering what process I ended up with after all of that experimentation:

1. Vector-based graphics, drawn in Illustrator, are the way to go unless a design is so complex that keeping it in raster form makes more sense (unless you want to spend a lot of time reproducing it)
2. Use an ALPS dry resin printer like the MD-5000. There really is no substitute for substrate-based printing (except screen printing) if you want decent-looking decals that can sit on even the darkest surface, plus it prints white. The company no longer exists, I don't think the ink cartridges are made anymore, it broke down on a regular basis, and the latest printer driver for it runs on Windows XP. I still have mine, plus a backup that I've never used, with a small stockpile of ink for my own projects. I have to run XP in a virtual machine with old versions of Photoshop and Illustrator (CS3) and connect the printer using a Parallel-to-USB cable, but it works. Mastering the MD-5000 and its ability to handle complex color layering tasks at different resolutions took me months, but it's a powerful printer. You can still find them on eBay and there is something similar to it that is now offered by OKI, but it will set you back $4000: https://www.oki.com/us/printing/products/textile-transfer-printers/c711WT/index.html.
3. The decal paper you use matters A LOT. There are many crappy options out there, produced in bulk, and you gamble every time you place an order. Bel Decal was especially unreliable. I settled on two providers who consistently produced good stock that wouldn't separate from the backing during printing and that the resin would adhere to: Tango Papa Decals and Papilio, in that order.
4. To protect the designs after printing, brush on Microscale's Liquid Decal Film. It was designed to protect old screen-printed decals and it's specially-formulated to stand up to water and more caustic setting solutions (even Micro Sol). LDF will help with the flaking effect on laserjet-printed designs and, if you wait until the ink is completely dry, you can use it on inkjet-printed designs, too.

If you want to see some examples of what the above process made possible, here are two of my favorites:

• 1/48 Yamato VF-1S Blue Roses 002. Note extensive use of white designs on a very dark background.
• 1/48 Yamato Minmay Guard VF-1S Strike. All of the designs are decals--including the large geometric ones that wrap around armor, legs, missiles, etc.

[Convectuoso]

WAVE Decals Set volume 1. Contains decals for YF-19, VF-19 Kai, VF-11MAXL and other 1/100 scale valkyries

 

[Convectuoso]

Bandai 1:72 VF-1S Battroid Valkyrie (2008 reissue)

[Pontus]

1/3000 SDF1 Robotech TV version by Matchbox/Bandai (not the Takatoku version).  600x600 DPI scan.  Box for reference courtesy of @jenius and Anymoon.com where he also has a scan of the stickers and instructions (the stickers here are mine) so thank you!

 

Edited July 25, 2019 by Pontus

[Negotiator]

Can someone please scan the stickers for yamato 1:3000 sdf-1?

[MechTech]

For those of you that are hardcore, they now have a printer and white toner combo up at Micro Mark. It's only $789.95 for the combo, also sold separately.

HP Laserjet and Ghost White Toner

In case the link breaks, check out the HP Color Laserjet Pro M452dw and Ghost White Toner when doing searches. - MT

[Bolt]

On the wish list..

[tekering]

The long-awaited Max Factory PLAMAX "minimum factory" VF-1 decal sheet ("normal" version) has proven too big to upload to this site...  

Instead, I'm hosting it here.

On 7/28/2019 at 3:33 AM, Negotiator said:

Can someone please scan the stickers for yamato 1:3000 sdf-1?

I don't think it came with stickers.  

[Negotiator]

On 8/31/2019 at 11:52 PM, tekering said:

 

I don't think it came with stickers.  

did the sdf-1 kit come with one?

Edited September 13, 2019 by Negotiator

[wmkjr]

On 9/12/2019 at 9:01 PM, Negotiator said:

did the sdf-1 kit come with one?

Yes. Unfortunately my copy has some damage on some of the decals so the scan might not be worth using.

Edit: You can try and clean it up.

1-3000 SDF-1 assembly.pdf

Edited September 18, 2019 by wmkjr

[Negotiator]

bummer.  it sucks those of us that bought the yamato version first didn't have any decals.  

[wmkjr]

I just added it above. You can try to clean it up. The jpg must've been too large as it throws a code. Had to download it as a pdf.

Edited September 18, 2019 by wmkjr

[Negotiator]

On 9/18/2019 at 12:54 AM, wmkjr said:

I just added it above. You can try to clean it up. The jpg must've been too large as it throws a code. Had to download it as a pdf.

great!  thank you!

[Convectuoso]

Wave Macross Decals vol. 2

[Convectuoso]

Hasegawa 1:72 VF-22S

[pengbuzz]

On 9/13/2019 at 3:57 AM, wmkjr said:

Yes. Unfortunately my copy has some damage on some of the decals so the scan might not be worth using.

Edit: You can try and clean it up.

1-3000 SDF-1 assembly.pdf 2.63 MB · 13 downloads

Okay, I wanted to gove back to the forums for everyone's kindness here, so I did some clean-up:

1-3000 SDF-1 assembly.pdf 2

Hopefully, this will open; if not, i'll post the jpeg of it.

Edited April 26, 2020 by pengbuzz

[DYRL VF-1S]

Here are the Battlepod (Regult) sheets. There is the Matchbox one and the Playmates (Exo Squad) one. Both at 600 DPI.

 Would be great if someone could add the Harmony Gold one too.

Matchbox Zentraedi Tactical Battlepod Sheet.pdf Playmates Zentraedi Tactical Battlepod Sheet 1.pdf

[DYRL VF-1S]

And while @Pontus provided SDF-1 in image format, here is a PDF version with vectors at 600 DPI.

 

SDF-1 Sheet 2.pdf SDF-1 Sheet 1.pdf

[DYRL VF-1S]

Anyone super good at vectors on images that would be interested in adding cut lines on my 1/55 VF-1S Strike sticker sheets? I’d pay for the work. I have friends in design or could outsource on Fiverr but would rather keep it in the fam. I put out the message to a couple people already so DM me if interested.

[EvelBollweevil]

On 5/2/2020 at 4:47 PM, DYRL VF-1S said:

Anyone super good at vectors on images that would be interested in adding cut lines on my 1/55 VF-1S Strike sticker sheets? I’d pay for the work. I have friends in design or could outsource on Fiverr but would rather keep it in the fam. I put out the message to a couple people already so DM me if interested.

I'll take care of it for you.

[DYRL VF-1S]

2 hours ago, EvelBollweevil said:

I'll take care of it for you.

Thanks much appreciated! I actually connected with someone on it. Will post here when I have stuff to share.

Edited May 10, 2020 by DYRL VF-1S

[Convectuoso]

Bandai 1:100 Glaug

[Convectuoso]

Several Zentraedi decals in small scale. I bought this on eBay, seem to be for a tabletop game

[Convectuoso]

Bandai 1/72 VF-25F Tornado Messiah

[Ranger565]

I have a truck load, I will just have to scan them. Many are not in here.  Give me a few days I will have it for you all. 

[DYRL VF-1S]

When y’all can, try to scan at 600 DPI in PDF.

I actually have a 1/55 VF-1S Strike to show you guys soon.

[Convectuoso]

10 hours ago, Ranger565 said:

I have a truck load, I will just have to scan them. Many are not in here.  Give me a few days I will have it for you all. 

Thanks

[Ranger565]

tomahawk cross.bmp

[Ranger565]

My own personal Made decals are here. you can use them.  Some are BMP you will just have to download them  "Alaska Base"

I have more, Lots more, Just need to find a way to scan them again. 

 

 

kit decals.bmp fighter_pod1.bmp Alaska Bas2.bmp Alaska Base circle.bmp Alaska Base circle1.bmp Alaska Base circle2.bmp destroid kite2.1.bmp

[Anasazi37]

2 hours ago, Ranger565 said:

All of these are sets that I designed and printed for this community. My entire catalog is posted on this site:

https://sites.google.com/site/tridentdesignworksdecals/