What are Plastic Model Decals
Decals are perhaps the best way to add fine detail to any object. They are a little like a sticker, except they are printed on a thin, transparent medium that blends in with the surface where they are applied. This means they will look like part of the object, rather than something added to the object. Hobbyists like decals for this very reason, plastic model decals look like finely detailed paintwork on the model. They recreate colour detail that painting would never obtain.
Printable Plastic Model Decals
Model kits in plastic, or occasionally metal or wood, have been popular for many generations. Often these kits came with a set of decals. These pre-printed decals provided military insignia for tanks and planes, or the identifying marks on model railway trains. They were quite effective, especially when the model had already been well painted.
In the past the limitation of decals was that in they came premade. You were stuck with the decals that were included with the model kit. This was fine, until a few years ago when 3D printing became available. Hobbyists started to build their own models from scratch. They soon found that the physical shape of the model was achievable with the 3D printer, and that painting was not too much of a problem. But the fine details that need to be applied with decals were not so easy. At least, not until they discovered a way to make their own decals.
Printable Plastic Model Decals
It is actually quite easy to print decals. Any home computer and printer can create decals as long as we use decal paper in place of plain paper. As for what we print, basically anything that can be scanned into the computer, or created with a graphics programme, can be turned into a decal. Then it is usually just a matter of getting it to the right scale for the model.
One tricky issue with decals is printing white. Most printers cannot do this; there is no need as they print onto white paper. White areas are just left blank. But decals do use white on a semi-regular basis. So we must make some changes if we want white decals.
White Toner Cartridges
We can replace the black ink cartridge of many printers with White toner cartridges. This allows us to print white decals. The downside is that we cannot print black and white together. But it is often possible to over lay two decals, and include black on one with white on the other.
Plastic Model Decals
Print you own decals with our decal inkjet paper. Use our White toner cartridges to print white decals. Create any design.
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