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                        Problem with making my own decals....

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                        22 replies
                        1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
                        Jeeves
                        • Member since
                          February 2003
                        • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
                        Problem with making my own decals....
                        Posted by Jeeves on Thursday, July 17, 2003 12:50 AM
                        OK... I am just finishing up my Red Ball Express GMC deuce and a half and have found an appropriate font called "Gunplay" that shows the stenciled letters pretty well.

                        Here's the problem-- I am creating the decals in Microsoft Word and am trying to make them white in color. Unfortunately-- they are notshowing up on the decal paper. Is there some setting somewhere I am missing for printing in white? The yellow "Prestone 44" decal shows up fine-- but no white :(
                        Mike
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                        fuzzy
                        • Member since
                          May 2003
                        • From: Lewisburg , Tenn
                        Posted by fuzzy on Thursday, July 17, 2003 2:46 AM
                        Jeeves,
                        What kind of printer are you using ? Only ALP's
                        printers will print white, gold,silver etc. . Don't believe
                        they are made any more, but I could be wrong.Unfortunately other printers will not print these colors Sad [:(]
                        Fuzzy
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                        Jeeves
                        • Member since
                          February 2003
                        • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
                        Posted by Jeeves on Thursday, July 17, 2003 7:35 AM
                        I have a Hewlett Packard Deskjet :( I wonder why that is....and I wonder what I am going to do to get these decals printed :( Do copy shops have the ability to do this??
                        Mike
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                        jridge
                        • Member since
                          April 2003
                        • From: West Des Moines, IA USA
                        Posted by jridge on Thursday, July 17, 2003 9:17 AM
                        Fuzzy is correct. Most printers don't print white and ALPS printers are no longer available new, Depending on the font size, you may be able to use a black outline on the characters/numbers and print them on white decal paper. You could then trim them very closely to get rid of the black outline. Other options are to find the correct stencils and paint the numbers/characters or find some railroad transfer stencils that are the correct size.

                        Jim
                        Jim The fate of the Chambermaid http://30thbg.1hwy.com/38thBS.html
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                        shermanfreak
                        • Member since
                          January 2003
                        Posted by shermanfreak on Thursday, July 17, 2003 7:58 PM
                        Some copy shops may have the capability but you will have to do some serious checking around. Jim is bang on the money if what you need is a stenciled lettering, check out your local Railroad Hobby Store and see if they carry a product such as C-D-S Lettering. They have a wide selection of dry transfer lettering in different sizes, styles, and even colours. Very reasonable in cost too.
                        Happy Modelling and God Bless Robert
                        Report Abuse
                        Jeeves
                        • Member since
                          February 2003
                        • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
                        Posted by Jeeves on Thursday, July 17, 2003 8:12 PM
                        Hmm... would they have 1:35 scale I wonder?? Might be worth a shot.....it really sucks though as I found a perfect match with this font and the font size.....worse comes to worse, I suppose I could use the light gray :(
                        Mike
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                        Anonymous
                        • Member since
                          November 2005
                        Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, July 17, 2003 8:21 PM
                        If you go with stencil try printing what you already have in black letters on white paper or card stock, trim the letters out with an Xacto Knife and spray away.. A little over spray won't hurt either.
                        Report Abuse
                        Jeeves
                        • Member since
                          February 2003
                        • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
                        Posted by Jeeves on Thursday, July 17, 2003 8:23 PM
                        Problem is-- this lettering is for thefront and rear bumpers of the 1:35 scale GMC 6X6-- and these decals I am trying to create in particular are really quite small-- so making my own stencils is out-- do they sell 1:35 scale stencils?
                        Mike
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                        shermanfreak
                        • Member since
                          January 2003
                        Posted by shermanfreak on Thursday, July 17, 2003 8:36 PM
                        They won't list these letters as 1/35 scale. What you need to do is determine the height of the font that you want to use such as 3/32 inch. And then go and see if you can get them. On the side of my M4A2 E8 Sherman in the Armour Forum (Sherman Under Glass), the DND #'s are done with 3/32 Roman lettering.
                        Happy Modelling and God Bless Robert
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                        Jeeves
                        • Member since
                          February 2003
                        • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
                        Posted by Jeeves on Friday, July 18, 2003 1:20 AM
                        3/32 inch?? Do you measure the decal itself?? OK-- so I am thinking this is the best route....but am unsure of how to do it. If you can tell me what to measure, I will see how it goes. Do these decals have that "stenciled" on look?
                        Mike
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                        shermanfreak
                        • Member since
                          January 2003
                        Posted by shermanfreak on Friday, July 18, 2003 9:06 AM
                        If you've ever used a product called Letra-set before, these are basically the same thing. They are a dry transfer letter that you apply one letter at at time. You place the transfer sheet where you want the letter and burnish the letter onto the model. For a burnisher you can use a dull toothpick or even a pencil. They do indeed have that "stencilled" look to them. I would measure the height of the bumpers and use that to get the size of lettering you need.
                        Happy Modelling and God Bless Robert
                        Report Abuse
                        Jeeves
                        • Member since
                          February 2003
                        • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
                        Posted by Jeeves on Friday, July 18, 2003 10:52 AM
                        Well-- the bumper itself is 4/16 of an inch wide...but the font size I matched pretty exactly to the standard Tamiya decals was 1/16th exactly. I'll look for Letra-set and see what I can find....
                        Mike
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                        shermanfreak
                        • Member since
                          January 2003
                        Posted by shermanfreak on Friday, July 18, 2003 11:00 AM
                        If you check out a good Railroad Hobby Store you should be able to find what you need. They should carry 1/16 lettering, if not, 3/32 will make for a pretty reasonable size. Best of luck and keep us posted on your search. And don't forget to post some pics of this truck when you're done.
                        Happy Modelling and God Bless Robert
                        Report Abuse
                        Jeeves
                        • Member since
                          February 2003
                        • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
                        Posted by Jeeves on Friday, July 18, 2003 11:38 AM
                        Thanks! Well-- I found a pic of the 1/16th size C-D-S lettering online and it looks nothing at all like what was used on the trucks in WWII-- so hopefully I will find something with Letra-set...although an online search found nothing as far as pictures go-- just a lot of descriptions of the history of Letra-set *sigh*
                        Mike
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                        Jeeves
                        • Member since
                          February 2003
                        • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
                        Posted by Jeeves on Friday, July 18, 2003 2:19 PM
                        I give up LOL I went to the local railroad shop and they had nothing of the kind there....he said maybe Kinkos might have the ALPs printer....but what are the chances of them having the font I need?

                        I finally went into Photoshop and printed the lightest gray the program had and that shows up on the decal paper, so I may just go with that. It is only slightly gray...and as small as it is, it is hard to tell the difference. Thanks again guys!
                        Mike
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                        Jeeves
                        • Member since
                          February 2003
                        • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
                        Posted by Jeeves on Friday, July 18, 2003 3:52 PM
                        Grr......

                        Well---- that didn't work! The text was too light to even show up...so I guess I'll be calling Kinkos to see if they have an ALPs printer........wish me luck ;)
                        Mike
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                        shermanfreak
                        • Member since
                          January 2003
                        Posted by shermanfreak on Friday, July 18, 2003 9:21 PM
                        What font are you looking for Jeeves ? Which was the closest computer font to what you need ?
                        Happy Modelling and God Bless Robert
                        Report Abuse
                        Jeeves
                        • Member since
                          February 2003
                        • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
                        Posted by Jeeves on Friday, July 18, 2003 9:44 PM
                        The one I am using is Gunplay....it is a perfect match....but needs to be white...
                        Mike
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                        shermanfreak
                        • Member since
                          January 2003
                        Posted by shermanfreak on Friday, July 18, 2003 10:19 PM
                        Ok ...... have you tried getting any products from Archer Transfers.

                        Here's a link to the page that you may be looking for

                        http://www.archertransfers.com/AR35020W.html

                        And here's their home site

                        http://www.archertransfers.com
                        Happy Modelling and God Bless Robert
                        Report Abuse
                        Jeeves
                        • Member since
                          February 2003
                        • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
                        Posted by Jeeves on Saturday, July 19, 2003 10:44 AM
                        That's the stuff!!! Thanks!!

                        I actually didn't order the registration codes as my uncle didn't remember what his was....but he did remember his bumper codes and I ordered those instead as they had the stenciled version available.

                        I have a new favorite decal company! My only complaint is that the pics of the decal sheets are too small to see what they offer. For instance, on the hood of the GMC 6X6's were in letters "Prestone 44" or whatever the appropriate year that denoted when the antifreeze was added. I was looking for a decal of that if available-- but the decal sheets that might've provided this were too small to gaze at.

                        I'll have to look through each of their downloadable catalog pages to see if they are bigger there.....

                        Thanks again shermanfreak-- I owe you one!
                        Mike
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                        shermanfreak
                        • Member since
                          January 2003
                        Posted by shermanfreak on Saturday, July 19, 2003 12:10 PM
                        Whew ...... finally got it.

                        I'm very glad that I was able to help ....... but like everything else in life it comes at a cost ..... pics, we want pics !
                        Happy Modelling and God Bless Robert
                        Report Abuse
                        Jeeves
                        • Member since
                          February 2003
                        • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
                        Posted by Jeeves on Saturday, July 19, 2003 12:47 PM
                        Patience young grasshopper....

                        ;)

                        I am still waiting for the base so I can mount it in some good wholesome mud!! Then the decals and I'll take some pics-- I promise ;)
                        Mike
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                        Jeeves
                        • Member since
                          February 2003
                        • From: Saratoga Springs, NY
                        Posted by Jeeves on Monday, July 21, 2003 10:07 PM
                        Man o man...I keep finding good stuff for this scene :) Just found a Custom Dioramics road sign package online that had the Red Ball Express sign in it!!!
                        Mike
                        Report Abuse
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