Has anyone used water slide decal sheets to make copies of decals???

[JeffB65]

Ive seen water slide decal sheets at Hobby Lobby to make your own decals but has anyone done this for model decals to make copies of them???

[LennyB]

This has been discussed here before. This was the most recent, there are other discussions if you look for them

[Deathgoblin]

Done home printed decals a few times.  Here's a couple.  I usually spray the decals with clearcoat after printing to hold the ink.  I'm working on a replacement set for the USS Reliant now.

[Tom Geiger]

Every model in this post was built by me using decals I made myself....

I restored this old custom 57 Ford. It was literally missing the roof so I added one from another body. I painted the roof gold because there was no way I could match the green. The decals on the body were all original, some of them peeling and flaking so I sealed that all in with clearcoat.

I wanted to match the theme on the roof so I found a scan of the decal sheet on-line. I copied this one piece of artwork, and made three copies so if I screwed up I had extras.  Always make a few copies, during the process the ink will run on one and you'll screw up applying another...

The Court Jester was a restaurant in NJ we used to frequent. I loved their jester logo so I made them the sponsor of this Valiant stocker. When you make decals on clear film on your inkjet printer, they are translucent like stained glass. So this car was planned so that all the decals went on areas painted white. You will soon learn the colors you can use on decals and what body colors you can successfully decal over! 

Again, the decal I made was applied on the white paint and not the blue! I hand lettered this very large and reduced it down to size

On this one the flag and St Thomas decals were printed on white decal paper. It's harder to work with than the clear. I believe I created the St Thomas ones in PowerPoint, and matched the body yellow good enuf!   

When creating decals, create your artwork and do your test prints on paper. Once you see what you want and you have the size correct, create a master with several to many of the decals you want.  As said above, some will screw up.  Once you print the sheet on decal paper, let it dry overnight.  The next day or later, seal it with Testors Decal Fixative. It's a spray can.  Do one light coat and let it dry. Repeat a few times.  If the decals start to run, and at least one will,  stop and let it dry!  

If I was doing any more decals with a white background, I would do a two part decal.  Cut out and apply just the white background. Print your decal on clear, and after doing the sealing process, apply that over the now dry white decal.  Let that all sit a day or more than do any clear coat you wish.