Scanning decals?

TiVoPrince Jul 14, 2003

  1. TiVoPrince

    TiVoPrince TrainBoard Member

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    I have a set of Herald King Decals that I would like to use but they were not well stored. I found them running free in the garage today [​IMG]

    I was thinking about adding several coats of MicroScale film to the over all decal and applying it complete to a .020 white styrene panel. This would create the "original" for scanning into a file.

    I ran the naked set through my HP V40 scanner and although the images were poor due to a WinXP hiccup the method allowed me to open the resulting image in CorelDRAW and even allowed some tracing of the bitmap. I just need to take the set to the office and use the better flatbed scanner there next time if this method works out.

    Fortunately all lettering on the set is burnt-orange and yellow. From this point I could scan the image to produce a "new" decal that could be made with current methods. I fear that once several layers of film are on the decal it will not behave correctly on a deep ribside car. My recollections of HK decals was that there was limited stretch in them to begin with.

    Has anyone else done such a thing with irreplacable or poorly maintained decals?
     
  2. Coaltrain

    Coaltrain TrainBoard Member

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    I have never tried to doing what your doing but I do remember trying to coat HK decals and they did not want to settle around the details. What is the set you are trying to repair?
     
  3. TiVoPrince

    TiVoPrince TrainBoard Member

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    Coaltrain,
    Set is HK B-841 Sierra RR 50' staggered FMC double door. Cannot recall this set being available after 1990 or so. I cannot even find a single photo of the car. This may turn out to be a "fantasy" scheme, but one I like.

    Colours are very similar to the cream/orange Lousiana Pacific car recently offered by Atlas. This Color scheme may have something to do with the mill at Standard, CA being owned by Louisana Pacific at that time.
     
  4. ChrisDante

    ChrisDante TrainBoard Member

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    TiVoPrince;

    Microscale makes two products that soften decals. One is for smooth surfaces and the other is for rough surfaces. I am at my office so I don't have the exact names.

    I make my own decals and use the softeners to meld them into whatever I'm appling them to. It has worked very well on DPM bricks, scribed wood and boxcars.

    One thing to note is when you weather the decal. My weathering solution is alcohol based and it tends to disolve the decal completely. BE CAREFUL.
     

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