Help Making Screw Head Decals

[Bruiser]

I've been building scale rockets for a while now and I try to up my game a little with each one. I am currently building my largest rocket yet, a close to 1/7th scale Black Brant Vb. I have a thread on it here: https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/ps-ii-inspired-black-brant-v.156900/

I am in the final stages and am doing the finishing work now. I need to make a decals now and I can't seem to come up with a way to make screw heads. I've got the lettering and other decals sorted out but the screw heads are kicking my butt.

The circumference of the body is 7 7/8 inches. I need two rows of 16 screw heads and one with 32 screw heads. They are about 2mm in diameter. I have no info on the type of head or the color so I am think silver/light gray and Philips style.

Can anybody help me figure out how to make the graphic? I can do the printing ok, it's just getting the design done that I can't seem to figure out. For software I have Microsoft Office and Paint.net but I do not understand that program.

Thanks,
-Bob

 

[neil_w]

1) Do you have a picture you're trying to copy?
2) Are they protruding (and therefore would cast a shadow) or are they flush? Shadows might not actually be appropriate, but this still affects the design.
3) Are the screws arranged around the circumference of the body?

Initially, you need a good image of one screwhead, the rest is mechanical (and I'll explain how to do it in Paint.net if you like).

 

[teepot]

I get screw head and bolt head decals from Stickershock.

 

[Bruiser]

1) This is the only picture I have:


2) I think they are flush

3) I do believe they go all the way around the body

4) Like this?



I don't believe Stickershock has them this small. They are less than 1/8th inch in diameter.

Thanks,
-Bob

 

[neil_w]

I'll use that image and walk you through the process with Paint.net, hopefully tonight.

 

[neil_w]

OK, here's the first half. I post the rest later.

Paint.net instructions, part 1

There are many ways to do this. Here's how I'd do it in Paint.net. I encourage you to actually follow along and perform the steps as I describe them, to get a feel for how to do things.

CREATE BLANK DECAL IMAGE
I normally shoot for 300 dpi, but in this case that wouldn't end up with a number divisible by 32 (we'll have 32 evenly-spaced rivets). So I rounded up to the nearest multiple of 32 which just so happens to be 2400, and that works out to 305 DPI. Height of the image is arbitrary, just to get started.


After the image is created, select all (control-A) and "delete" to get rid of all the white. Should look like this:


CREATE SCREWHEAD IMAGE
We need a screwhead image of the appropriate size. We'll use the above philips screw as our source, but it could be anything. If the screwheads are to be 2mm in diameter, that works out to 24 pixels at our image DPI of 305.

1) Open the screwhead image in Paint.net. Using the Magic Wand tool, click in the background to select it:

Note I adjusted the Tolerance so that all pixels in the background were selected and none of the pixels in the screwhead (easy for this particular image, but not always the case).

2) Now hit "delete" to remove the background.


3) Now use the magic want again to select the background, then hit control-I (Edit -> Invert Selection) to invert the selection. Now just the screwhead is selected:


4) Now hit the "Crop" button to get rid of the extra space in the image. It will crop to the selection (or use menu Image -> Crop to Selection). Now you have this:

The image is not quite square, and there's a touch of blank space around the edges, but for this purpose it's close enough.

5) Now resize the image to 24 pixels, using Image -> Resize... (or control-R)

(resolution doesn't matter here, because this is just a temporary image). Click "OK" and here you are, a 24x24 screwhead (I've zoomed in):


6) Copy screwhead to decal image: Hit control-A and then control-C to select the whole screwhead image and copy it. Now switch back to the blank decal image and do control-V to paste. It puts the image in the upper left corner:


Continued next post.

 

[Bruiser]

This is fantastic. Paint.net is loaded on my laptop which is at home. I can't wait to give this a try tonight.

Thanks Neil,
-Bob

 

[teepot]

Stickershock decals are 3/16th.

 

[Bruiser]

That's pretty close and a reason to go to 4" tubes Are they actually decals or are they vinyl?

There's a company called MicroMark that makes some also but they are too small.

Still I enjoy making my parts when I can. I am going to start a "how to" booklet with all this info. Like last night when I was trying to figure out how to add the degree symbol (like in 108°F) to the decal I was working on. That symbol is not on the keyboard. I had to go back thru a lot of posts to find out how to do it because my memory is not so good. My quick reference book will help me a lot when I need the info in the future

-Bob

 

[Alan R]

to space them across a specific distance, you can use inkscape. Paste one image in, duplicate it 15 times, put last image in correct position, then use align and distribute tool to spread the rest evenly between first and last

 

[g.pitts]

I've been building scale rockets for a while now and I try to up my game a little with each one. I am currently building my largest rocket yet, a close to 1/7th scale Black Brant Vb. I have a thread on it here: https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/ps-ii-inspired-black-brant-v.156900/

I am in the final stages and am doing the finishing work now. I need to make a decals now and I can't seem to come up with a way to make screw heads. I've got the lettering and other decals sorted out but the screw heads are kicking my butt.

The circumference of the body is 7 7/8 inches. I need two rows of 16 screw heads and one with 32 screw heads. They are about 2mm in diameter. I have no info on the type of head or the color so I am think silver/light gray and Philips style.

Can anybody help me figure out how to make the graphic? I can do the printing ok, it's just getting the design done that I can't seem to figure out. For software I have Microsoft Office and Paint.net but I do not understand that program.

Thanks,
-Bob

It’s totally up to you, and what your objectives are. If you want to learn the process, then keep doing what you’re doing. If you need a solution to your problem so that you can keep building or printing or whatever, then talk with Mark Hayes at Stickershock and tell him what you want. He’s an incredibly talented graphics guy, and my “go to” person for decals - be they stock or custom.

 

[Bruiser]

Ok Neil,

I have made it to the end of part one. So far so good

I actually didn't know Mark makes decals. I thought it was all vinyl. Nice to know and I'll keep that in mind but I really do like making my own if I can. For me it's part of the building process. It's like the centering rings when building with 2.5 inch PSII tubes. Could I have someone custom cut them? Sure, but I get enjoyment out of using my drill press, dremel tool and disk sander. I like the building process more than the flying.

-Bob

 

[neil_w]

Paint.net Instructions, Part 2

Important note: Undo works for just about everything. If you accidentally do *anything* you didn't mean to, just control-Z as many times as necessary to get back to where you need to.

CREATE THE 32-SCREW WRAP

Our screw-screw spacing will be 2400/32 = 75 pixels. Let's zoom in so we can see what we're doing. Note that the pasted image is still selected, and at 0,0. If it's not selected for whatever reason, get busy with control-Z.

1) Do a copy/paste (control-C, control-V) to create a new copy of the screw right on top of the old one, and then use the right arrow to move it until its top left corner is at 75,0:

2) Now do control-A (select all), control-C and control-V. There is now a duplicate of the two-screw image on top. Use the arrow key(s) again until the top left corner is at 150,0:

You now have four screws.

3) Again: control-A, control-C, control-V. Move it until the top left corner is 300,0. You now have 8 screws.
4) Repeat, moving the top left corner to 600, 0. You now have 16 screws.
5) Repeat, moving the top left corner to 1200, 0. You now have 32 screws.


The 32-screw decal wrap is now complete.

CREATE THE 16-SCREW WRAPS

You could create the 16-screw wrap from scratch, the same way we did above, but using 150 pixel spacing instead of 75. But since we already have the 32-screw decal, we can do it much more easily.

1) Select the entire 32-screw decal using rectangle-select.

2) copy/paste, and then use the arrow keys to move it down so it's below the first image, leaving a bit of space in between for your scissors later.

3) Now delete every other screw, using rectangle select, and then delete. After you've deleted 16 of them, you have your 16-screw decal.

4) Now rectangle-select the 16-screw decal, copy/paste, and move it to a new position.


There's quite a bit of extra space; you could crop that down if desired, or keep it if you have more decals to put in.

5) If it were I, I would add at least one extra of each to the decal sheet, in case of mishaps. Use rectangle select and copy/paste as needed.

SAVE

You're now done. Save as PNG. If you don't have the ability to print a PNG at 100%, you can also save a JPG, which for sure you can print at 100% from MS Paint.

 

[neil_w]

I actually didn't know Mark makes decals. I thought it was all vinyl.

No, you had it right, it's all vinyl.

Mark does great work. Using him for custom one-offs can be expensive, though, especially compared to printing them yourself. If I had a large enough rocket with large enough area of decals, then I'd definitely use him. Or for anything he already has available.

 

[Rktman]

That's pretty close and a reason to go to 4" tubes Are they actually decals or are they vinyl?

There's a company called MicroMark that makes some also but they are too small.

Still I enjoy making my parts when I can. I am going to start a "how to" booklet with all this info. Like last night when I was trying to figure out how to add the degree symbol (like in 108°F) to the decal I was working on. That symbol is not on the keyboard. I had to go back thru a lot of posts to find out how to do it because my memory is not so good. My quick reference book will help me a lot when I need the info in the future

-Bob

Degree symbol (in case you didn't memorize or log it somewhere already):
PC: Press Alt 248
Mac: Press Option Shift 8

 

[Bruiser]

Step two completed. I saved the file as both a .png and a .jpg then I tried printing them out.

Paint.net wouldn't let me change to portrait so I tired a print in landscape mode. Plus it was only showing me a portion of the decal until I unchecked the "fit to picture frame block". Once I unchecked it I could see the whole decal so I printed it. It came out too long.

Then I tried Paint with the jpg file. It allowed me to change it to portrait and at first I was missing a couple of screws but I reset the margins and they all printed. The decal is just a bit too long and I can live with it but I was wondering how do I know if I am printing at 100 percent?

I think I am going to try to do this all over again with another screw head because you can't really tell that this is a screw. You can't see the crosshairs at all. It looks more like a rivet.



Thanks for the tutorial. I think I just need to figure out the printing and refine the screw head a little and I'll be ready to print some decals.

I had contact Mark when I build my Nike 10° Degree Nose Test Rocket about a wrap but the lettering on the Nike booster was too small. Seemed like and nice fella and was very helpful but his equipment couldn't go that small.

-Bob

 

[neil_w]

1) paint.net can’t print at 100%, don’t even try. Yes, it is a bizarre limitation. There is a technical reason for it but I don’t understand it.

2) to print at 100% in MS Paint,go to page setup and set it there. I can’t recall at the moment whether it says “print at 100%” or “print at actual size”.

 

[Bruiser]

Ha, that made it really large, lol! I was able to use the scaling though to adjust the size. I drew a screw and used it for this decal:

Not sure if I got the color just right. I did a print out and I'll hold it against the rocket tomorrow and adjust from there.

One other thing... If I wanted to make the screws a little larger, say 2.5 mm would I just save them at 36 pixels and not change anything else?

Darn, I just took another look at the picture up top and two rows of screws are very dark like they are black... Might have to do this all over again

Thank you,
-Bob

 

[Ez2cDave]

 

[Cape Byron]

Just a thought... It would be good to be able to get some random rotation into the screw heads. They look a little "uniform" to be real.

 

[neil_w]

Ha, that made it really large, lol! I was able to use the scaling though to adjust the size.

You shouldn't need to be adjusting the size. I apologize I should have done a third post on printing.

1) Remember you must use the JPG file to print from MS Paint
2) You can check that things are correct (from within Paint) by going to File -> Properties. It should say DPI=305, units=Inches, and width=7.87 (don't care about height). If DPI is not correct then it wasn't set correctly in Paint.net. You have to fix this in Paint.net, using Image -> Canvas Size. Change the DPI there, and save the JPG image again.
3) As previously mentioned, in MS Paint, set Scaling to "Adjust to 100% normal size" in the Print -> Page Setup dialog.
4) Print

If the above are done correctly, it *will* print at exactly 100%, and should be the right size for the rocket (assuming the original 7 7/8" circumference measurement is correct).

One other thing... If I wanted to make the screws a little larger, say 2.5 mm would I just save them at 36 pixels and not change anything else?

2.5 mm would translate to 30 pixels, not 36. Other than that, yes.

Darn, I just took another look at the picture up top and two rows of screws are very dark like they are black... Might have to do this all over again

If you just want to make them darker, you don't need to do it all over again. In Paint.net, rectangle-select the row of screwheads you want to make darker, and use Adjustments -> Brightness / Contrast... to make it darker as desired. Remember you can always undo, so just experiment until you get it how you like.

Just a thought... It would be good to be able to get some random rotation into the screw heads. They look a little "uniform" to be real.

If you want to do this, it's easy as well, although a bit tedious given the number of screws:
1) Zoom in so you can see what you're doing.
2) Rectangle-select a screw, precisely. Meaning, select a 24x24 square that exactly surrounds the screw:
a) First do a rough selection

b) now select the "Move Selection" tool (white cursor with outline, second down on the right of the tool palette).

c) You can now use the grab-handles on the selection rectangle to adjust its size precisely. You can also move it, rotate it... anything you could do with the "Move Selected Pixels" tool you can do here, except it will only affect the selection box, not the underlying pixels.

This is my favorite tool in Paint.net, I use it for all kinds of crazy things.
3) Select the "Move Selected Pixels" tool (the solid arrow, top right of the tool palette).

4) Move the mouse just a little outside the selection box. You should see the cursor change to a curvy arrow with a hand on top of it. Click and drag it around an you will rotate the selection as desired. If you hold down the shift key while doing it, it will quantize to 15-degree increments.
==> ==>

Note the little bulls-eye in the center of the selection. Initially, by default, rotation will be around the center of the selection, which is what you want here. However, if you want you can move the bulls-eye around that will always be the center of rotation.

5) Repeat for each screw as desired.

 

[neil_w]

BTW, my goal in documenting this process is not (just) to show how to make screwhead wraps. Rather, it is to show how easy it is to do stuff like this in Paint.net, once you become a bit acquainted with some of the tools, vs. "impossible" or "absurdly difficult" in MS Paint. I recommend Paint.net often, and very often the response I get back is a quick "I don't understand how to use it" and they go right back to Paint, which is tragic. Hopefully this mini-tutorial can get someone over the hump to start exploring what it can do.

Paint.net has its limitations but from my perspective it offers by far the best balance of ease of use and advanced capabilities. Those who are already comfortable with more powerful tools like the Gimp or Photoshop or whatever need not apply. Likewise, Inkscape is extremely useful but IMHO *far* less intuitive and accessible for someone just moving up from MS Paint or something like that.

 

[jqavins]

Degree symbol (in case you didn't memorize or log it somewhere already):
PC: Press Alt 248
Mac: Press Option Shift 8

I keep a cheat sheet of Alt codes by my desk at all times. The whole grid of 8 bit codes and selected four digit codes. The ones I use most often are

½ (Alt-171)​

° (Alt-248)​

² (Alt-253)​

± (Alt-241)​

÷ (Alt-246)​

× (Alt-0215)​

≈ (Alt-247)​

There's a huge wealth of characters using the four digit codes, far too many to include on a simple cheat sheet. Notably lacking are 'subscript n' and 'subscript i'.

BTW, my goal in documenting this process is not (just) to show how to make screwhead wraps. Rather, it is to show how easy it is to do stuff like this in Paint.net, once you become a bit acquainted with some of the tools, vs. "impossible" or "absurdly difficult" in MS Paint.

I really should acquire and learn paint.net. The quick sketches that some have seen me post here and there are usually done in MS Visio, which is darn useful, but damn expensive. (I have Visio 2003 bootleg at home, and up to date Visio at work that I didn't have to pay for either.)

 

[neil_w]

I really should acquire and learn paint.net. The quick sketches that some have seen me post here and there are usually done in MS Visio, which is darn useful, but damn expensive. (I have Visio 2003 bootleg at home, and up to date Visio at work that I didn't have to pay for either.)

It's free so no reason not to just go get it right now.

Useful to keep in mind that Paint.net is purely a pixel-based paint program. It doesn't do vector drawing and it doesn't retain object identities. You *can* use it for simple diagrams (I often do), which works OK as long as you don't need to modify the diagrams much afterwards.

 

[dhbarr]

Anyone ever done a stamp for screwheads?

 

[jqavins]

Useful to keep in mind that Paint.net is purely a pixel-based paint program. It doesn't do vector drawing and it doesn't retain object identities.

That's exactly why Visio is my first go-to. But there are some things it does not do well that paint.net would do better.

 

[Bruiser]

Mr Neil, Thanks for all your help with this. I had originally downloaded Paint.net because of your recommendation when I was working on another project. It does seem to be a powerful program and making the screw head decal was not hard to do once you laid it all out . I am pretty good at following directions My problem is that I am not intuitive with programs and I have a bad memory and that makes it hard. Once I'm shown I either have to keep doing it or write it down because if I don't do one or the other I'll forget it by next week

Now for you trouble makers, Mr. Dave and Mr. Byron... What are you trying to do to me? I already wrote I'm happy with sport scale. It must have been in the rocket build thread. Stop trying to turn me into a museum scale guy. Now you got my OCD kicking in and I'm actually thinking about turning freakin screw heads that are the size of a pin head to make it more realistic! Oh, and doing an oval around the screw head to simulate the openings for screws that go in at an angle. You guys are going to put me in the nut house! Next thing you know Mr. Dave with be sending pics of fingerprints on the fins or some such thing, lol!

-Bob

 

[jqavins]

My problem is that I am not intuitive with programs and I have a bad memory and that makes it hard. Once I'm shown I either have to keep doing it or write it down because if I don't do one or the other I'll forget it by next week

this time all you have to do is bookmark this thread.

You guys are going to put me in the nut house!

Nut house? Nah, they'll just drive you a little screwy. Have a drink or two, take some deep breaths, and repeat to yourself "I don't have to; sport scale is good. I don't have to; sport scale is good. I don't have to; sport scale is good."

 

[neil_w]

My philosophy on the IRIS-T (my first and only scale subject thus far) was simple: keep adding detail until it stops being fun. Or, monitor the frustration/fun ratio and stop when it gets too high. You're not entering this into a scale competition so whatever you do is purely for your own satisfaction.

 

[OKTurbo]

I used actual screws on my 1/3 scale (4in dia) IRIS. They are very realistic looking!

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/winter-build-1-3rd-scale-iris.156469/post-2015231