Topgun decals - white or clear paper?

[Parabat]

Hi,

I'm going to be taking the plunge and printing my own decals, the Topgun decals designed by Jared Bishop. http://www.bishopart.com/?p=1157

Now, my question is, should I use white or clear decal paper? I have both, bought from Crafty Computer Paper.

I have a HP inkjet.

Cheers,

Parabat

[Giorgio N]

A mix of both: serials and call numbers can be printed on clear paper. The black numbers will be fine over any background while the grey serials should be ok over the light ghost grey of the Tomcat bottom.

The unit markings however should better be printed on white decal paper. Even on a light grey background, colours like red and yellow will not look good if printed on clear paper. On the other hand cutting the markings might be quite tricky, especially as there's plenty of circles there

An alternative is to first print the markings over sticky paper, then cut these to make masks. The process wil be: paint the tail white first - add the masks - paint the tail grey and weather to taste - print the markings on clear paper - remove the mask - add the markings over the white background.

Some touchup with the paint used on the tail might be needed, but that should not be a problem.

Another alternative is to print the markings and a bit of grey surround on white decal paper. This will make it easier to cut around the insignia, however you have the added problem of matching the grey paint on your insignia. Some trial and error might solve this though

Edited January 25, 2013 by Giorgio N

[Parabat]

Hmmm, makes sense, thanks Giorgio!

[ben_m]

If you go the masking route, with clear decals, you can print some blurred background- grey in this case- edges around them, then you won't have to touch up the paint. Make the masks a tiny bit larger than the marking size.

[Flying Badger]

The papers I've tried printing out so far have all been quite thick once they slid off the backing sheet (I'm using laser printer US letter sized clear and white decal papers).

On the one hand that's not too bad as they were fairly strong so would take a bit of maneuvering around and repositioning without tearing, but on the other hand the thickness is obvious if you are not using both microsol and microset. Using them helps as that makes the decals soften a lot and conform to the shape of the underlying model's surface which helps hide the thickness.

Just thought I'd warn you.

TFB