tips for painting markings?

[lunarhighway]

As usually like to build a speciffic aircraft, usually one i have some photographes off, it's often not easy to find the right markings. while it's sometimes possible to mixmatch (aftermarket)decals, i find post war black letters on belgian aircraft to be a mightmare. they're fairly plane looking black or white letters, but they don't match any font i can find, usually they're rather slim and have curves, wich makes them hard to cut out from maskin tape

I've also tried hand painting or using a fine permanent marker with mixed results (things get tiny in 1/72) but it's never as tight as i'd like

Should i design these on the computer and have custom decals made, wich is pricy and takes time, or does anyone know of alternative methods of applying such markings?

thanks for any advice on the matter

[Greenshirt]

Some options:

1) design the artwork by hand, to the right scale. Scan it in, confirm it is scanned to scale properly. Then print on decal film.

1a) after scanning, send to a professional decal printer

1b) after scanning, print to a mask cutter, like a Sihouette Portrait, mask and paint the markings

1c) after scanning, send to a professional mask maker, mask and paint the markings

2) design the artwork on a computer. Print on decal film.

Same three sub options as above.

I've done 2c) myself, for a Frog Blackburn Shark back in 2011. ?Adastra masks? Came out very nice.

Tim

[lunarhighway]

thanks for the reply.

Designing the artwork on a computer is possible,I have made several designs, but up untill now haven't been able to use it. i experimented with printing decals, but the decal paper i got of ebay was rather useless, i tried many different types of sealer and even tried painting on the decal paper, but once in contact with water the design the inkjet ink would bleed or shatter.

i'm considdering having some of my designs "profisionally" i guess compared wit aftermarket decals it would work out acceptable so perhaps i should go that route... precut custom masks might also be interesting for some options, never considdered the possibility, thanks for the tip!

[PhantomBigStu]

lunarhighway spray the decals with humbrol gloss varnish spray can, seals it like a treat and doesn't bleed

[lunarhighway]

lunarhighway spray the decals with humbrol gloss varnish spray can, seals it like a treat and doesn't bleed

thanks for the tip,

since my last gloss coat i tried to airbrush didn't exactly turn out stellar i guess investing in some gloss spray can is a good idea.

[Giorgio N]

If you can find a professional printing service in your area, then you may design say a whole A4 sheet of letters and numbers, have this printed and get the individual markings when you need them. Would be cheaper than having a smaller set printed every time.

If you prefer to print yourself, get some good paper first. I recommend Bare Metal Expert Choice's sheet, available for both laser and inkjet printers in clear and white. Of course if white is included in your artwork you'll not be able to print this on the clear sheet...

Personally I've stopped using inkjets for decals and use a laser, however the best solution to seal an artwork printed with an inkjet is to use Microscale's Decal Film, a product that works perfectly.

Tim's suggestion of using masks is also a good one. I am experimenting with a Silhouette printer and I have to say this seems to have some limitations for very small markings, however the results with larger bits are encouraging