Replacing cheap ugly stickers with nice waterslide decals - Estes Bull Pup 12D

[MarkusXL]

Well as I found from TRF, all contemporary kits for Estes Bull Pup 12D were made in China.

Well, despite the package cover, the parts list, and the instructions, the Chinese manufacturer decided, "Hey, we can make more money if we substitute these cheap stickers in place of those nice decals. Those dumb kids will never know the diff!" Great. Thanks. Older kits made in the USA have decent water slide decals. You can still find them on eBay, BUT...

Well that is just aggravating since I wanted to make a nice and pretty scale model of this old AGM. Those cheap stickers simply are not acceptable. I shouldn't have to go shop on eBay and troll for an OOP kit that may not be there...

So I scanned in the cheap stickers that I was very disappointed to find in my kit, and made nice water slide decals using my company's color laser printer and special water slide decal paper from World of Papers.

The image was scanned in as a PDF, but a simple Google on "PDF to JPG" quickly revealed a free and easy web-based converter. I was then able to use Printshop Pro (or whatever) to clean up the JPG image.

The result was really quite nice decals!! I am pleased to have thwarted the Chinese manufacturer!! Boo yah!! Take that!!

(Insert all kinds of bannable heinous derogatory ranting about Chinese manufacturers HERE)

Attached is my cleaned JPG that is easy to use because it is high resolution and scaled for 8.5" x 11" paper. Just test print on plain paper before using the expensive water slide decal paper.

It should work just fine with ink jet water slide decal paper too. If you can't print in color, you will loose the sliver and orange highlights, but that can be worked around if needed.

Unfortunately, this forum will have down-converted this image to save size / space.

If you request it of me, I can email the original high resolution file directly to you. It's less than 340 KB.

 

[enderw88]

Did you clear over the decals? I am curious if that paper/dye will withstand some moisture.

 

[Micromeister]

Nice Job on the decal conversion MarkusXL.

enderw88:
If you use an Inkjet Printer you'll have to overcoat with something as any hint of moisture will turn inkjet inks into a nice brown mud color.
Personally I use Krylon 1306 workable fixatif as the first coat over freshly printed inkjet decals. Followed with a coat of Krylon UV Gloss Clear #1305.
Do not use Krylon 1300 or 1301 Crystal Clear as neither have any UV additive at all. ( that means they yellow very badly with very little exposure to sunlight or other UV sources.)

 

[Tonimus]

A little off topic, have you used the Krylon UV Gloss Clear #1305 on whole rockets?

 

[Gary Byrum]

The image was scanned in as a PDF, but a simple Google on "PDF to JPG" quickly revealed a free and easy web-based converter. I was then able to use Printshop Pro (or whatever) to clean up the JPG image.

The result was really quite nice decals!! I am pleased to have thwarted the Chinese manufacturer!! Boo yah!! Take that!!
(Insert all kinds of bannable heinous derogatory ranting about Chinese manufacturers HERE)

Interesting! I have Adobe Pro that will do this also, so I can convert the PDF to JPG, and import the JPG as a raster image in Autocad for tracing purposes. Just one of my job tools. Comes in real handy when I have to trace and scale a floor plan in Autocad.

Regarding the Chinese reference, why are we STILL doing business with them? I know our manufacturers are getting more for their money, but we are getting s**t in return. I give a HI-5 to GMA for their attempt to bring jobs back to America. And to further that note, It's a real bummer to have to buy something, and invest in quality products to finish the project. There was a time when you got everything in one package. Progress ain't what it used to be.

 

[soopirV]

This is interesting because I just built a bull pup with my middle son (bought it in march though), and although it was made in China, it had water slides included.

 

[Micromeister]

A little off topic, have you used the Krylon UV Gloss Clear #1305 on whole rockets?

I do not clear coat my entire rockets with any rattle can clears anymore...even the UV clears become brittle in short order.

Much better to apply a coat or two of Pledge w/ Future (for tile floors) or simply apply two coats of Nu-Finish Polymer over the finished paint & decals to Really protect them.

 

[Marc_G]

While we're on the topic of waterslide decals, I'll put in a plug for Excelsior Rocketry. Gordy makes Bullpup decals in a variety of sizes. And if he doesn't have the size you need in stock, he can scale it no problem.

I'm a very satisfied customer and have used Excelsior for many projects from stock repros to very custom birds.

Marc

 

[boomtube-mk2]

Me too with regards to Excelsior Decals. Just bought two sets for my Cosmodrome “Aerobe-Hi” and will be ordering a couple of sets for my Estes “Vanguard Eagle”.

I always by two sets because I know I’ll mess up at least once.