GHQ Models Forums

Has anyone ever tried these white decal sheet sets that I am seeing popping up all over the place at craft and hobby stores? Before I buy, I would like to know exactly how they work. It seems they are intended to solve the problem of laser and inkjet printers being unable to print in white. But how do these kits do it? Is it just a sheet of white and you cut it to shape? I cannot imagine how it is going to do it.

What I am trying to do is create my own aircraft carrier flightdeck decal sets, so obviously about 95% of the decal would have to be clear, and the rest white. Would these white decal sheets be able to do that, or would I have to cut the material down to 0.05 mm and so forth (which is impossible to do by hand)?

Thanks,
Chris

Chris,

Generally, there are two kinds of decal sheets -- clear and white. That is the "color" of the carrier which has been applied to the backing paper. Using the proper paper for your printer (inkjet or laser), you print the ink (or toner) onto the carrier of the decal sheet. After printing, I've seen it recommended that you spray on a clear protective finish -- and if I recall correctly, this is one place (at least for inkjet) that Dullcote does not work...

I have not done this, only read about it... but my impression is that you would draw the entire flight deck, in the colors you want your model finished in -- teak or gray or whatever, with all the stripes, markings, etc. in white, yellow, red, whatever... print the decal on a white decal sheet, and apply that decal to the entire flight deck.

Seems to me it would work -- and that could open up many possibilities for intricate markings, camouflaged decks, even tire markings from landings. Of course, you'd have to make careful measurements of the flight deck -- or maybe make it slightly over-sized, then trim the decal to fit afterwards. A possibility would be to make the decal in sections (for easier handling) -- but then you'd have to be much more precise in applying the sections, to make sure they line up properly... details, details!

My guess is that this might also work for other markings -- such as the air identification striping on WW II Italian ships.

There is also a decal company -- Microscale Industries -- click on the name I just entered, it should take you to their website; then look under Products, then Trim Film. These are solid color decal sheets, available in a variety of colors. I imagine that with the black and the white Trim film sheets, you could do the WW II German "stripe" markings on BISMARCK, PRINZ EUGEN, etc.

Actually, if one was really good enough... one could even do rather intricate camouflage patterns, and apply the decals to the sides of nearly any ship! Don't know if I'd try it... but I do see a potential here...

I've used white stripe decals in the past to do markings on carrier decks, funnel bands, etc. Microscale also makes these, as do many other decal manufacturers. But I have to confess -- for ships, my scale is 1:1200 / 1:1250, so I've never tried it on a 1:2400 scale model.

If you've got a good hobby shop locally, check out their model railroading section -- often, they have stripe decal sets there.

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Tom Stockton

Thanks for the info Tom - I was hoping to avoid having to make a decal for the precise measurements of the ship. But I did look through the website you listed and they do sell sheets of solid lines in various thicknesses and colors, some of which would work for ships that have solid lines going down the deck. Unfortunately, the USN carriers I'm looking at all have dashed white lines going down the length of the deck and surprisingly they don't sell a set of dashed lines. They did sell some really cool looking decal sets for 1/285th American, German and Soviet armor. The German turret numbers even had the white outline around the number, very good stuff.

I'll do some more checking around and experimenting. I'm just planning on building a large number of US carriers and my process for painting these lines on the deck is very time consuming, and time I don't have a lot of.

Thanks,
Chris

Chris,

Dashed lines are, uh, easy (?)

1. Paint flight deck, preferably with a glossy finish, so that the decals adhere properly
2. Apply solid decal stripe; let dry
3. Paint the "gaps between the dashes" with the flight deck color
4. Final protective coat of clear finish

See, easy -- right? Uh, isn't it??

I have to admit, I haven't done this myself. But this is a rather common practice in the 1:1200 / 1:1250 community, and from the pictures I've seen, it really looks good. To me, the "trick" seems to be getting the "gaps" even. But seeing is believing -- and I've seen some magnificent paint jobs on some of those models.

Hope this helps!

Regards,
Tom