decals - I dabbled with that once
There is no witchcraft, main issue is to fix the decals appropriately - to much fixing and the decals melt away on the foil, not enough fixing and they melt away in the water. I needed some tries to obtain satisfying results.
Yeah… I don’t believe in witchcraft. In regard to dabbling with decals - I meant the home-printed ones, I’ve worked with others for about 20 years or so…
Love your paint schemes - and it looks like you got a little artsy with some U.S. artillery in your pics, nice.
How did you do the flight deck decals? Did you paint any of the flight deck, or is it all decal?
How did you do the flight deck decals? Did you paint any of the flight deck, or is it all decal?
Concerning the japanese carriers the whole flightdeck is a decal. Internet research made it possible: I found some japanese flightdeck drawings in *.jpg format. I modified them pixel by pixel with ms-paint and scaled them to the sizes of the japanese oob-carrier. Then I painted the flightdeck of the unit in white (for a better luminance of the decal). After drying of the colour I applied the decals on the flightdeck, soften the decals and varnished them with a clear acrylic paint.
Very cool. Esp. Japanese carriers and German aircraft.
Metabaron,
––Excellent work on the paint jobs!
----I especially like your method of decals for attaining your ultra-detailed carrier decks,…Wow! :-o
“Tall Paul”
Metabaron,
You consider selling your landing deck decals? I bet they’d be popular…
Ill be interested on buying them too M.
would you mind emailing me that file? Did you print them onto Labels so they would stick?
Johnson73,
@Johnson73:
Did you print them onto Labels so they would stick?
I believe he stated at the start of this thread that he made DECALS from the files, not stick-on labels.
“Tall Paul”
Just the file could work though… I’ve used thin paper glued down in some instances and it looks good. Uhh… yeah, I’d like to get a hold of that file as well… 8-)
Did you print them onto Labels so they would stick?
No, I printed them on a clear decal film, they are decals. It is possible to print them on a sticker film, too, I’ve tried this once, but to apply the sticker on a flight deck is tricky and sometimes it is affilliated with some frustration (e.g. air bubbles, only one try). I recommend a decal.
You consider selling your landing deck decals? I bet they’d be popular…
I never thought about selling, I don’t want to earn any money with the decals. If there were only a few people in the community interested in the decals I would ship the decals to them just for shipping and material costs (all in all ~ € 1,50, decals will be send in a letter from Germany to the US).
Just the file could work though… I’ve used thin paper glued down in some instances and it looks good. Uhh… yeah, I’d like to get a hold of that file as well…
would you mind emailing me that file?
No problem with the file, I could mail you by PM. If you want to make DIY decals, here is the advice:
1. you need some decal film, order for example at www.bare-metal.com (american company, as far as I know). There are films for inkjet and laserjet printers. You need “clear” decal films (there are also “white” films, but you don’t need those)
2. order a fine spray for coating the decals, I took “TopCoat gloss” from Mr.Hobby. Coating will protect the image from smudging and it will strengthen the film.
3. additionally, you need a decalcote/softener, (e.g. “Mr.MarkSofter” from Mr.Hobby), some white colour, and a clear acryl varnish.
4. print out a sample of the grafic on plain white paper
5. adjust the grafic in size if required
6. proceed with printing on the decal film
7. cut of the printed decals form the the sheet accurately
8. apply the topcoat (tricky, not too much spray, otherwise there will be an ink bleeding and you can start over again with a new decal….). It’s is better to give another thin coat after the first one dried (20 min).
9. paint the flight deck in white colour, let the colour dry (20 min)
10. moisten the decal in water, moisten the flight deck with water
11. apply the decal to the flight deck, use a tooth stick or something like this for adjusting the decal to the flightdeck. Make sure, that there is sufficient moisture on the flightdeck when adjusting the decal.
12. When the decal is fixed on the flight deck take off excess liquid with a cotton swab carefully.
13. apply the decalcote/softener, let the softener dry (10 min)
14. apply with a brush a clear acryl varnish, let the acryl varnish dry (10 min).
15. Ready!
Right now I’m thinking about developing a complete set of flight decks for all relevant carriers in the game.
One issue I didn’t mention yet:
By designing the flight deck decals, it is important to decide which basic carrier modell you take; for example: my basic carrier modell (bcm) is the Akagi (AA1941), not the Shinano (all other newer AA sets). I adjusted the decals I made to the bcm of the Akagi. If you want decals for the bcm of the Shinano I have to convert the decals a little bit.
Dedo,
––I might suggest that you make an on-going list of the decals that you’ve already ‘customized’ and to what A&A CV units they’re customized to.
----I believe it would also be very useful to many if you’d consider modifying the file(s) for other A&A CV units.
----I know that I would definately be interested in buying some of your CV deck decals. If you’d consider selling some of them to me just send me a personal message via A&A.Org or simply reply here on your thread. I imagine several people would also like to buy some, too. Thanks for the time that you’ve already invested in this project.
“Tall Paul”
Ok, I started to conduct some research for carrier flight decks. First of all I need some drawings and plans of flight decks, then I 'm going to modify the flight decks. I will open a new thread to let you know about the status of the project.
Wow - thanks for the excellent advice Metabaron! My experiences with making my own decals were junk - so perhaps I could paypal you post and handling for some print-outs? Sounds like you’re working on others - is it ok if I wait to see if you create other decks? I’ll look around for flight deck images and send them your way - cool?
Wow, all your pieces look great. Lots of ideas while I continue to paint all my Global pieces.
so perhaps I could paypal you post and handling for some print-outs?
Sounds good, I’m open for anything reducing costs.
Sounds like you’re working on others
Yes, I’m working on some others. Meanwhile I’ve got roundabout 30 highly detailled flightdeck drawings (Wasp Class, Essex-Class, Ark Royal Class, Illustrious Class, all japanese carriers, Graf Zeppelin etc.) and I commenced, modifying them.
is it ok if I wait to see if you create other decks?
Yes, it’s ok. Please give me some time to produce the decals in an adequate manner. If you are used to produce and receive quality, you are supposed to do things in some peace and quiet, otherwise it would be without rhyme or reason. The drawings have to be modified pixel by pixel.
I’ll look around for flight deck images and send them your way - cool?
Please, wait a little bit, this weekend I’m going to release in the forum a list of flight deck drawings I already researched and acquired. Additionally there will be some flight deck drawings I haven`t got yet. It would be nice, if some of us might research in the net or use personal or private sources to accomplish the list.
Dedo… sounds awesome, you’re a legend. :-D
