Transfer Your Skills!
Scale Aircraft Modelling|December 2020
Andy McCabe describes how he makes his own decals at home.
Andy McCabe
Transfer Your Skills!

Sometimes there are either no decals available for your project, or you just can’t get that vintage sheet anymore. At this point making your own decals becomes an option. To do this you need some form of graphics programme on your computer. I use Corel Draw and have done for many years, but there other similar programmes available that can be used to do the same job.

Vector and PIxel-Based Graphics: A Bluffer's Guide

Corel Draw is a vector graphics programme. Put simply, it uses measurements to create artwork, which means they can be scaled to any size without a loss of detail. If you import photos to these you need to ‘vectorise’ the details you want by drawing around them. Programmes such as Adobe Photoshop use pixels. These are fixed at a certain size when you create them (the ‘resolution’ or ‘dpi’ - ‘dots per inch’) so scaling them up can lead to a loss of quality. If you don’t use a vector based programme, you should try to work at the final size you want the decals, at a minimum of 300 dpi to ensure you don’t have jagged ‘lo-res’ results.

Simple decals such as roundels or national insignia are easier to create as there is plenty of historical data and dimensions available online. The same goes with their colours, so if you are new to home-made decals then roundels are a good place to start practicing. Colour photos of roundels and the like can be copied and pasted into your workspace as a guide and, using the programme’s eyedropper tool, their colours can be sampled and matched quite closely, although you may need to tweak these when printing to get an acceptable result.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 2020-Ausgabe von Scale Aircraft Modelling.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

Diese Geschichte stammt aus der December 2020-Ausgabe von Scale Aircraft Modelling.

Starten Sie Ihre 7-tägige kostenlose Testversion von Magzter GOLD, um auf Tausende kuratierte Premium-Storys sowie über 8.000 Zeitschriften und Zeitungen zuzugreifen.

WEITERE ARTIKEL AUS SCALE AIRCRAFT MODELLINGAlle anzeigen
Mustard
Scale Aircraft Modelling

Mustard

BAC's Low Speed Research Vehicle

time-read
2 Minuten  |
April 2023
KOVOZAVODY PROSTEJOV (KP) 1 Was Monty's Triple'
Scale Aircraft Modelling

KOVOZAVODY PROSTEJOV (KP) 1 Was Monty's Triple'

Brian Derbyshire

time-read
5 Minuten  |
November 2022
SPECIAL HOBBY SAAB J-21A Review
Scale Aircraft Modelling

SPECIAL HOBBY SAAB J-21A Review

From the late 1930s and early 1940s, with thewar in Europe raging around them andedging ever closer to its borders, the Flygvapnet had ordered Seversky P-35A aircraft, alongside Vultee Vanguards, but only sixty of the former and none of the latter were received.

time-read
8 Minuten  |
November 2022
VFR MODELS Beagle B.121 Pup
Scale Aircraft Modelling

VFR MODELS Beagle B.121 Pup

This is the first 3D printed kit I have come across and it is really rather fine.

time-read
3 Minuten  |
November 2022
Hearts in the sky RIAT RETURNS
Scale Aircraft Modelling

Hearts in the sky RIAT RETURNS

After a nearly three-year hiatus RIAT returned to our skies with a hot show in every sense of the word. SAM’s Mike Verier and Ray Ball were there.

time-read
2 Minuten  |
November 2022
Colour Conundrum
Scale Aircraft Modelling

Colour Conundrum

A Cancellation Conundrum - The RAF F-111s That Might Have Been Part 1

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
November 2022
COPPER CAUDRON Caudron G.Ill in 1/32
Scale Aircraft Modelling

COPPER CAUDRON Caudron G.Ill in 1/32

Copper State Models have carved a name for themselves in the last few years producing high quality plastic kits of  World War One subjects.

time-read
10 Minuten  |
November 2022
Academy RF-8A Crusader Conversion in 1/72
Scale Aircraft Modelling

Academy RF-8A Crusader Conversion in 1/72

USMC squadron VMCJ-2 used six RF-8As during the Crisis (designation F8U-1P until September 1962), with others held in reserve, two flying out of Guantanamo Bay, and four out of NAS Key West.

time-read
10+ Minuten  |
November 2022
The Cuban Missile Crisis
Scale Aircraft Modelling

The Cuban Missile Crisis

Modelling US reconnaissance assets in 1/72 Part 2: The Nuclear Confrontation

time-read
9 Minuten  |
November 2022
UKRAINIAT striker
Scale Aircraft Modelling

UKRAINIAT striker

The Sukhoi Su-24 is an all-weather attack aircraft capable of supersonic speeds and characterised by its side-by-side pilot/navigator seating and its variable geometry wing.

time-read
4 Minuten  |
November 2022