I am building a 1/600 scale kit of the Cunard passenger liner Queen Elizabeth, and am seeking help to create white deck game markings. The kit came with a decal set, but a couple of mishaps ocurred:
I applied the deck markings to the painted deck (despite the fact they were a little bolder than the correct scale) and overcoated them with matte varnish. However, I used a water based varnish and subsequent masking removed the decals (doh!)
Water level mark decals for the bow were supplied, but floating them off the backing revealed they were completely clear with no white markings (excellent!)
Have you any other ideas about creating white decals on a transparent background other than using the now unavailable ALPS printer, which seems the only one which ever printed a white ink?
Alternatively, am I barking up the wrong tree with attempting to do this with decals, and is there another technique I could use?
Well, I’m no expert at it, but I have airbrushed enamel paint onto clear decal film to use as the frames for aircraft canopies. If all your lines are straight, you can use a ruler and a knife and cut out thin strips of the painted film, then just put them on the model like you ordinarily would.
I had thought of masking and painting, as you suggest, but while this would work for some designs, others include circles and curves, and at this scale it is hard to get any precision.
I am thinking of using circuit board etching techniques to create a fine detailed stencil, by printing the design onto copper foil, then etching it out to creat the stencil. The design could then be painted using an airbrush.
It occurred to me that if this solves my present problem, it could be extended to painting other windows and portholes on the blank faces usually supplied on these models. Rectangles are no real problem, but masking circles or rectangles with rounded corners is tough with masking tape, especially if they are 1mm square or smaller! It would certainly help precision alignment. Also, the finest masking tape I have found (from Japan) is 0.4mm wide, and on this model I have ideally required tape 1/2 that width.
I have pondered this for a long time and came up with this idea. To get white anything, lettering or symbols you create your artwork and print the background color on white decal sheet leaving the lettering or symbol in white.
It’s funny how separate individuals trying to solve the same problem end up at the same place…
I had re-thought my etching idea (too small to be practical) and arrived at the solution you suggest, although I haven’t had time to try it yet.
We had an issue at the helicopter forum with decals last year. We had to make olive drab stencils to place on a black helo (Blackhawk). Using clear decal film the stenciling was not visible. So our solution was print the decals as OD writings on black background on white paper!!!
Tyamada’s right about using white decal paper. The only problem here would be decal edges which would also be white… The trick now is to cut them real close so the “white” doesn’t show. We’ve tried this before and had acceptable results. It’s still easier than masking. Just make sure your X-Acto’s really sharp!