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Reprinting from existing decal sheets


JohnT

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I am trying to work out how to approach a tricky problem both from the point of view of the practical aspects and also the moral side

I want to build a model of a particular aircraft and already have a relevant decal sheet but its in the wrong scale (1/72 instead of 1/48) and it is not available in the larger scale nor will it be.

I gather I can put the sheet through a colour copies onto decal paper and enlarge as required but am concerned about

a how to do this

and

b will it brass off the kit manufacturer? I wondered about writing and asking if they minded

Has anyone experience of this sort of problem. TBH I wouldn't mind even getting some sets printed and paying for it. For another model I am paying for masks to be made for a 1/24 Spitfire to get exactly the bird I am after and its not that expensive - to my surprise.

Also - just as an aside - how easy is it for decal printers to re-scale their art work onto bigger/smaller sheets? With modern pc's and printing I would have thought it was not a big problem but I know **** all about it really.

JohnT

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If you set up shop an start selling 1/48 sets of someone elses 1/72 that would be a big no no IMO, otherwise as a one off for a private project given you have already paid for the 1/72 set I cannot see a problem

It would be interesting to see waht a manufacturer's reply to such a request might be.

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I was hoping that the manufacturer would think it was not a big deal as

a I have bought their product so they are "in profit"

and

b its not in direct competition with them

I'll ask nicely and report the response back ! I won't mention any names so as not to cause any awkwardness

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As long as you just do a sheet for yourself, this should not be any problem.

Re c), I suppose all decal artists today make the artwork with vector graphics. It should more or less (in principle) just take a couple of key-ckicks to rescale the artwork into any other scale.

Nils

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I got an e-mail response from the manufacturer I contacted and I am pleased to say that they said that they could not see a problem with a one off for personal use but obviously would not be happy with someone producing sheets for re-sale, which given the substantial costs involved does sound like a very fair and reasonable position. I suspect that is likely to be the view of most manufacturers.

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I am trying to work out how to approach a tricky problem both from the point of view of the practical aspects and also the moral side

I want to build a model of a particular aircraft and already have a relevant decal sheet but its in the wrong scale (1/72 instead of 1/48) and it is not available in the larger scale nor will it be.

I gather I can put the sheet through a colour copies onto decal paper and enlarge as required but am concerned about

a how to do this

and

b will it brass off the kit manufacturer? I wondered about writing and asking if they minded

Has anyone experience of this sort of problem. TBH I wouldn't mind even getting some sets printed and paying for it. For another model I am paying for masks to be made for a 1/24 Spitfire to get exactly the bird I am after and its not that expensive - to my surprise.

Also - just as an aside - how easy is it for decal printers to re-scale their art work onto bigger/smaller sheets? With modern pc's and printing I would have thought it was not a big problem but I know **** all about it really.

JohnT

Hi John

Can i help,have a look at my section Parkes682Decals

I make one off custom decals to order.

Paul

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The manufacturer was very fair and reasonable ! Thumbs up to them !

Regarding scaling, I'm with Nils on this (well, I'm sure he knows better than me... :D ): using vector graphics it's very easy to rescale everything. However this also depends on the kind of artwork and the subject ! As long as we're talking codes, roundels and serial numbers there's no problem, when the artwork includes something that depends on the shape of the kit things change a lot. If a decal is designed for the tail of say the 1/72 italeri sea harrier, it's not necessarily said that simply by scaling it by 150% it will perfectly fit the 1/48 airfix kit of the same. So if you're rescaling your sheet, keep an eye for these things ! A way to find any problem is simply to print B/W on a sheet of paper first, cut the artworks and check on the parts of the kit you're using. This is something I always do with the decals I print myself, even if these are my own designs and therefore designed with the particular kit I'm using in mind.

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Hi John

Can i help,have a look at my section Parkes682Decals

I make one off custom decals to order.

Paul

Just a quick question while we are on this subject...

If say I was after a custom set of (to my knowledge) some non existant 1/24th decals would you (given a brief and examples of what was required) be able to create the vector graphics at a cost naturally as well as the decals or is that part down to me?

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Just a quick question while we are on this subject...

If say I was after a custom set of (to my knowledge) some non existant 1/24th decals would you (given a brief and examples of what was required) be able to create the vector graphics at a cost naturally as well as the decals or is that part down to me?

Séan,

I can't answer for Paul obviously, but what you describe is precisely how we do most of our custom mask and decal orders - the customer supplies their requirements, with a photo or two, and we design the vector artwork and then produce the masks and decals when the customer is happy with the artwork.

HTH,

Ian

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Aye

I have an order with Ian for a set of masks for a 1/24 and also a 1/32 Spitfire both of 603 which he is dealing with very nicely for me.

I confess I hadn't realised he can do decals as well though !

It strikes me that with Ian and Paul both able and willing to do custom markings then thats something we should support them in as that way we get individuality for our models and subjects that are dear to our hearts made that little bit easier !

JohnT

ps

Paul and Ian

pms on the way to you both !!

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