decalling

You can't print white on clear decal film with a domestic inkjet printer.

Generally speaking, you can get decal paper which has a clear film or white film. 

Your only real option is to print on white decal film. Anything you print on white decal film must be trimmed very closely otherwise your printed designs will have a white outline.

I know you can print white on clear decal paper,ive actually seen it on models in mags but could never understand how to do it?Do you know  of any particullar software that could be used as well? 

What you saw was probably printed on a dye sublimation printer, not a home-grade inkjet.

An average inkjet printer only uses black, cyan, magenta and yellow inks. White in an image is represented by not printing in that particular area.

Back when, some decal sets came with a white decal to use as the first layer. That was an outline printed on white fils, or whiter silkscreened on clear.

I've made my own from white film. If the decal design is symmetrical, print the color art on the back of the paper. Cut out.

GMorrison

Back when, some decal sets came with a white decal to use as the first layer. That was an outline printed on white fils, or whiter silkscreened on clear.

I've made my own from white film. If the decal design is symmetrical, print the color art on the back of the paper. Cut out.

 

How do you keep register between the printing on the front and on the back?  I assume you need to print exactly in the middle of the page, too.

What I usually do with white decals, if the outline of the decal has white in it, is to set the background color of my drawing to the color of the paint the decal will be put down over.  That way, if your trimming is not perfect, and you leave a slight colored edge, the fine line at the edge is not noticable.  Decals over camouflage, however, are way too demanding.

To answer the first question: if I have a decal with a lot of white that is to go on a dark color or an irregular background like camouflage as you mentioned; I put it down over a white background. Two ways to get the background, well three if you count just doing a double decal.

If the graphic is regular, such as a US national insignia, I'll mask the exact or slightly smaller area with tape over white primer. Remove tape after all painting, before decal application.

If the graphic isn't regular or is otherwise difficult to mask, I will print the decal  backwards on the back of the paper of white decal film. Carefully cut out, the result is a white blank decal.

My current Boeing project uses a decal sheet that comes with white underlayer decals for some of the color decals, which include a light cream background color.

I hope that helps.

GMorrison

To answer the first question: if I have a decal with a lot of white that is to go on a dark color or an irregular background like camouflage as you mentioned; I put it down over a white background. Two ways to get the background, well three if you count just doing a double decal.

If the graphic is regular, such as a US national insignia, I'll mask the exact or slightly smaller area with tape over white primer. Remove tape after all painting, before decal application.

If the graphic isn't regular or is otherwise difficult to mask, I will print the decal  backwards on the back of the paper of white decal film. Carefully cut out, the result is a white blank decal.

My current Boeing project uses a decal sheet that comes with white underlayer decals for some of the color decals, which include a light cream background color.

I hope that helps.

 

Ah!  Now I understand.

MMMM??So what printer should i use if a normal inkjet printer wont print white?

Screen printing is what most decal mfgs use. It is a lot of work to set up for screen printing, but it is not impossible for home hobbyist to set up a system.  Then you can use any ink you can get.

The only computer printers I know of for printing white are the old dye sub printers, but I don't know any still available. Even if you find a used one for sale, you'd have to assure yourself of a source of the color tapes/ribbons.

It is not impossible for an inkjet to print white.  You would just need a white cartridge and software to re-interpret the color.  One could try to refill an old cartridge with homebrew white ink.  You would need to be very knowledgable about inks, however, to formulate the chemistry, and a good hacker to modify the printer driver.

I keep hoping that some third party sees enough of a market with hobbyists to put the money up front and supply white cartridges and driver software for some popular but cheap printer.

wazza

MMMM??So what printer should i use if a normal inkjet printer wont print white?

 

Worse case scenario is do a search on "custom waterslide decals". There are quite a few but be prepare to pay the cost of them.

This one based in Australia:

http://customhobbydecals.com/

Wilson Custom Water Slide Decals in the United States via Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/wilsoncustomWSD

Do a search. You'll be surprised what you can find.

Draw Decals will occasionally do a custom job.  You have to plead with him nicely.

There is one other guy that does it but for the life of me I can't remember who it was. I inquired about possibly doing a decal of a particular P-47 Thunderbolt called "Junior" with a machine gun Panda on the nose. He did get back to me and told me he can do it along with a quote (can't remember the quote though). All I had to do was provide him a copy of the actual kit piece so he can do an accurate size (basically put the fuselage half and nose profile scanning it on the copier).

Thanks for your help guys