N Number decals

Thanks guys -  I guess I am fortunate that it is dark numbers on white background!  I think I'm going to take a stab at masking it... we'll see, as this will color match.  Of course, it will be kind of a pain to mask something that small, but I was also dreading the many posts I had to cut the size of a grain of rice from styrene on my last ship.

Already had to scratchbuild a compass on the glareshield, remove the headrests on the rear seats, and attempt to pull off the sheepskin on the left seat with flocking.  Here's the progress so far:

Kyle

Don is right - You are fortunate that you have dark numbers on a simple white background. 

I would follow exactly what he says and you will have some really excellent, perfectly replicated N-Numbers.

I am working on a 172 as well, and mine are the other way around - white N-number on a metallic green background. Fortunately, I was able to find a decal sheet that had the correct N-Numbers in white, as the ones on mine were simple - same font as yours but nothing special, just plain numbers.

Do let me know if you want some help making the image file to print your decals with.

You are lucky.  Making dark number decals is the easiest type of inkjet decal to make.  White and light colored numbers are a real pain in the butt.  Finding the right font might sometimes be a problem, but in your case you should be able to photograph the numbers.  Shoot them from straight on, then import into a photo editing program.  Crop to just the number, and resize to fit.  The remaining problem in your case will be to match the decal color to the paint.  You may need to mix paint to get the shade you want.

I'd try to mix up some paint, paint a sample, scan it or photograph the sample, then use your graphics program to sample that color and use it for the color of your decals.

I use the decal paper sold by Micro Mark.

Oh, remaining problem is overcoating decals without dissolving them.  They need to be overcoated with a clear, because most inkjet inks are not waterproof.  They are not proof against clear paints either!  I use Testors glosscoat or dullcoat.  I mist on the first coat VERY lightly.  When that is dry I put on a second light coat.  When that dries I can generally get a good final coat on without dissolving anything.

Because of the problems with making inkjet decals, I always duplicate the final artwork three or four times so I have a lot of samples to work with and make mistakes.  I print them out together, cut them apart, and use as many as I need to get the job done.

When I built my girlfirend a 1/24 Cessna 172 I made my own decals using Microsoft Word using wordart and sizing them on the testors software then copying them onto testors decal maker then print them on the decal paper and hit it with the decal sealer (as per instructions). word of warning on certain printers the decals can have a slight red tint to them.

Decals are definitely the way to go. If you'd like some help send me an email and I will help you make them. Pretty easy stuff, really :)

Mike made me a custom set for my Do217 build and they were excellent!

http://www.mikegrantdecals.com/

You might have make your own or have someone creat them for you.