Custom Waterslide Decals

The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
When making decals, you have to set up your printer differently than for everyday printing:

On the HP printer, Access the "Properties" tab to make adjustments.
Set your printer for "PHOTO PRINT BORDERLESS" or "BEST" resolution printing. This uses much more ink, but it's necessary to get you an opaque covering.
Double check your page size and orientation (Portrait or Landscape)
Set the paper setting to "HP ADVANCED PHOTO PAPER".
Print Quality: BEST
Print In Grayscale: OFF
Orientation: PORTRAIT
Different printers may have their own names under the "Properties" button, this is for the HP printers.

This should print out a darker, more opaque ink.
Follow with three coats of UV resistant clear acrylic.
Soak times will vary. Print extras and experiment.
This is what works for me. Everybody has their own methods.
 
When making decals, you have to set up your printer differently than for everyday printing:

On the HP printer, Access the "Properties" tab to make adjustments.
Set your printer for "PHOTO PRINT BORDERLESS" or "BEST" resolution printing. This uses much more ink, but it's necessary to get you an opaque covering.
Double check your page size and orientation (Portrait or Landscape)
Set the paper setting to "HP ADVANCED PHOTO PAPER".
Print Quality: BEST
Print In Grayscale: OFF
Orientation: PORTRAIT
Different printers may have their own names under the "Properties" button, this is for the HP printers.

This should print out a darker, more opaque ink.
Follow with three coats of UV resistant clear acrylic.
Soak times will vary. Print extras and experiment.
This is what works for me. Everybody has their own methods.

That was nearly exactly the same setup I used, I will have to get more paper to try with again now that I'm out, maybe a different brand of paper will work better, mine also did not seem to be coated like some papers are, could also be the age of the paper.
 
I've purchased from decalpaper.com in the past. If I recall I got clear on white backing. Prints well in my laser printer as long as you print 'cold' - decal must be the first thing you print after the printer powers on.
 
One of our club members had made some templates of roll patterns, etc for different body tube sizes, but unfortunately I can't find that link anymore. Sorry. I use Adobe Illustrator for all my design work but even simple programs like Microsoft's PowerPoint can be used to make roll patterns, checkers, lines, etc.
 
I could make some templates for you and save them as PDF files. Is there anything in particular you are looking for?
 
Revival of an old thread. Sandman was gone. Then he was back. Is he gone again?
 
He's not gone but he's not doing decals anymore as the specific printer he used finally died and could not be revived.

Glenn
 
Tom Prestia (Tango Papa Decals) is still making decals. I have used his decals and they are excellent. His website is getting updated so prices are old. He is also known for his large Mars Lander kit.
 
I checked out Tango Papa. He doesn't list the decals I need.

If Sandman is out of the game, I wonder if he'd do the community a favor. It would be great if he'd share his decal images with us. Especially since he has many that aren't available on the plans sites. Not to mention that his have been cleaned up or built from scratch.
 
Well, I'm pretty sure that the decal artwork was something that he paid for as part of that business. I wouldn't think he'd simply share them with everyone. Just out of curiosity, are there no other printers that can print that type of ink on the market now? Or are they just large, commercial units that aren't reasonable for a small business?
 
Well, I'm pretty sure that the decal artwork was something that he paid for as part of that business. I wouldn't think he'd simply share them with everyone. Just out of curiosity, are there no other printers that can print that type of ink on the market now? Or are they just large, commercial units that aren't reasonable for a small business?

The problem is white. Printers generally don't print in white ink. Many of our old Estes decals have white in them (even the ones you don't think would have white), but they were silkscreened. Printers that can print white generally are very large commercial units, and/or are prohibitively expensive, and the ALPS printers that could do it have been out of production for some time. Parts, and expertise in fixing them has become very hard to find (and prohibitively expensive).

As many people have discovered to their disappointment is that strong colors can show through standard printed decals. The solution is to have an underlayment of white to act as an opaque block to prevent the paint's color showing through.
 
Last edited:
I guess I'm surprised that no other printer manufacturer has taken up the mantle and offered something that had the same capabilities. I would think that the whole "maker" scene would eat up a printer that could do white, truly opaque colors, as well as metallics like silver and gold.
 
Okidata has printers with optional white toner cartridges. But not metallics.

Opaques and metallics can be done on small scale with toner reactive foils and multiple print passes. But not on waterslide substrate.
 
I've inquired at several decal printing business's.
They all want a minimum of 250 sheet run, not really feasible.
I was referred to a place in Florida that does 1 off custom decals.
I sent Gordy the info with my last order.
Unfortunately, I mistakenly deleted the emails with the info.
I do not know of Gordy kept the contact info or not, you'll have email him or pm on YORK.
 
Well, I'm pretty sure that the decal artwork was something that he paid for as part of that business. I wouldn't think he'd simply share them with everyone.

I was under the assumption he was drawing them himself. If that were the case, then it would just be a donation to the community. If he had to pay to get them drawn for the printer, someone or someones would need to compensate him for their license.

Technically, I could reproduce most decals in photoshop. All I need for most of them is an image with a scale. Ruler, one inch block, or dimensions that the printed image should be.

Sandman mentioned the Oki printers once. Said it wasn't cost effective. I came up with an idea for white, but it's iffy. Print on white paper, give the letters a background that matches your model's paint, the printer will leave the white letters blank and outline them in the color match for your model. Just the start of an idea.
 
I think attempting to print match the user's paint color is a wild goose chase - you'd have to do it different for every customer, and you'll never match the colors close enough to satisfy the majority of them. In any case, in a phone conversation with Gordon a while back, he mentioned that some errors in the artwork where that way when he acquired the files, which he got when he bought the business. He may well have added some, but I think the bulk of them were purchased from whomever created them originally. Maybe he could still donate them if he owns them outright, but if he simply had rights to use them its a different story. Even if he owned them, he paid for them, and maybe would (fairly) think that he ought to be paid for them in turn. Either way, its a bit of moot point unless someone wants to talk to him about it.
 
Back
Top