Homemade Decals
Posted: Fri Mar 17, 2023 9:27 pm
I wish to (attempt to) build a fendered delivery van (or two) that is taller than a single block. This is beyond my usual experience, but I have seen enough posts from Whoda, Andy Holzer, and other great builders over the years to at least know how to approach such a project...
I'd like to be able to just give away the result to a local business that owns the vehicle I am imitating after the derby. The result needs to look like a specific vehicle which happens to have very large logos on it.
My thought was to take a high resolution picture of each side of the vehicle with a long focal-length lens to capture all of its decal work, then photo-edit those pictures to capture logos. Then I could print out them out and apply them like decals. Questions:
1. What are the caveats, challenges, pitfalls, techniques, etc. of taking pictures of vehicle artwork and trying to transfer it to a scale model?
2. What might folks recommend now for making homemade decals or transfers (say, a couple of inches across)? I can comb some of the historic threads to discover what others have used in the past, but I have also found that products evolve over time and past products and materials may no longer be readily available.
I have access to a color laser printer to help me with this. Because I expect to give this away, I prefer that the decal work look nice, but I have no experience with homemade stickers or decals...
Thanks in advance for any help or advice!
I'd like to be able to just give away the result to a local business that owns the vehicle I am imitating after the derby. The result needs to look like a specific vehicle which happens to have very large logos on it.
My thought was to take a high resolution picture of each side of the vehicle with a long focal-length lens to capture all of its decal work, then photo-edit those pictures to capture logos. Then I could print out them out and apply them like decals. Questions:
1. What are the caveats, challenges, pitfalls, techniques, etc. of taking pictures of vehicle artwork and trying to transfer it to a scale model?
2. What might folks recommend now for making homemade decals or transfers (say, a couple of inches across)? I can comb some of the historic threads to discover what others have used in the past, but I have also found that products evolve over time and past products and materials may no longer be readily available.
I have access to a color laser printer to help me with this. Because I expect to give this away, I prefer that the decal work look nice, but I have no experience with homemade stickers or decals...
Thanks in advance for any help or advice!