Karpav's Painting Blog (renamed)

Success! I've had the first stage of the decal experiment done for a month & change, but didn't make time to post. School's going back this week, so I expect phase 2 of the decal endeavor to be on track soon. I already have the Inkscape files ready to print.

The first thing I had to do was learn how to use Inkscape. Wasn't too hard, there are a lot of youtube videos on it. I mostly used Logos By Nick and SimpleTutorials.net to get a grasp of how to vectorize my images. Then printed them out on the Micro-Mark white paper. I then allowed for them dry for a day just out of caution -even though my printer seemed to have printed them pretty dry anyway, but I wasn't taking any chances.[/color][/color]

My printer is a Canon Pixma TS8322 that I just picked up this spring for taxes -little did the wife know at the time what I was really sizing it up for heh-heh-heh. I also used Micro Sol and Micro Set decal softening solutions. It seemed to work pretty well at letting the decals lay on top of bumps and panel lines for the UNW ships below.

I sliced off the top of the sheet to miserly use the rest of it later and promptly gave it 3 light coats of Testor's Dullcoat after reading on TMP that works (edit: Make sure to give it an hour to dry between each coat -seemed like overkill on the warm day I sprayed, but I just followed the advice I had read as close as I could). Here's a pictorial rundown of the rest
1. The haphazardly planned-out sheet is printed. I applied the large UNW & Colos images in the upper right on my force boxes as a way to test them out with the Micro Sol/Micro Set.
2. Hacking around the design to get as close as I could.
3. Design cut & ready for application.
4. Design applied with decal setting solutions.
5. White border painted over with base black color, then dirtied up a bit with some heavily thinned down Army Painter Strong Tone to knock the white of the skulls down a bit as the contrast was a bit jarring.

That was it! No smearing, or anything. A breeze. Couldn't recommend the paper from Micro-Mark more. Between that, the printer, and/or the Dullcoat, it just worked. Watch some vids on how to use Micro Sol/Set if you are unfamiliar (it had been 20 years since I used it on a 1/72 scale Me 109, so I brushed up on it). Here are the other couple decals I applied for the same day:
On the left, my UNW fleet got the roundel on top of the Equalizer NW (most of the emblems were a bit too large, so I have since shrunk them down further) but it was nice to still be able to see the lettering at this scale. The Praying Mantis NW got the Flying Monkey Squadron emblem, and the right is of course the Totenkoph II that still has 4-5 small decals yet to be put on for part 2 (squadron numbers & Maltese crosses).

So far the process has been a complete success and I am ecstatic to be able to experiment around with this new dimension of modeling where I can dictate exactly what I want on the ships. Big thanks for our own Admiral Karelian Suomi -Leland's immaculate decal detailing has been a long-time inspiration to strive to get to this next tier of our hobby. His work stands on its own & I'm always uncovering new haunts he's visited over the years in my poking around.
Planning what to put on the sheet is definitely the most time-consuming aspect. Next time I hope to have completed the Totenkoph, a Sigurdian Longboat, a convoy of Ushas, and more...

Well, it's been over a year. Here's my only update since my last post: a triple convoy of Ushas with a few decals. Oh, the scheme is ripped right off the cover of the Kashmere book --the lovely painting by Alan Gutierrez.

They are just sitting on the bases, I have some shorter clear pegs and double hex acrylic to attach them to once I get a few more escorts painted.



A pair of container decals. Most are just black/white line freehand.

Glamour shots to close...

...Ushas are part of a balanced gaming breakfast --just add pirates!

Finished the Longboat yay!


Concept (a big boy in that drawing!)      /    Final w/adjustments (missing #23 decals)


In the storage box with a blacklight reflecting off the Bifrost cannon and Laztubes.


Profile decals. Fun project. Hounds and Strella next...

WOW

Just....  WOW!!!!

The decals in particular is something I've always wanted to do.  I've looked all over for some, so I understand you making them yourself.  GREAT WORK!!!!

Thanks thevraad,  I'm glad you liked it. Yes, I just started recently experimenting with making the decals,  having great luck with them, and encouraging anyone to give them a try. I can start a new thread in Techniques with tips on how to get started if there is interest.

Here's the current sheet I'm preparing now in the Inkscape vector program (free). Most of the Sigurd squadron numbers will get copy-pasted to print on transparent film sheets that I haven't tried yet.

With a week to go, I have a few more ships to paint up for my game. I'm not sure how many players will sign up and with what familiarity they have with the game, so I'm following Mr. Erickson's advice and bringing Night Hawks and Sharks for a tutorial primer if needed...

The Night Hawks are my first Data Sphere color scheme paint:  black on metal with neon green accents. The Sharks will be my first painted Luches Utopia designs. The rust primer coat has dried for a day and is ready for a coat of chipping medium and paint. It will be my first try at that technique too:  Luches ships take a beating in Utopia's wet acidic atmosphere. Will post more later this week maybe.

Maybe I missed it (and please point me to where it is if I did), but if you have any tips for starting decals, I'm all ears!!