Reddit reviews Testors Decal Paper, Clear, Pack of 6 (9201)

If you have a printer, you can do anything!

Yeah, making your own at home is pretty easy to do. I've done it many times over the years. Requires a standard color printer, Decal paper, and a can of clear coat. $20 worth of materials will net you 6 pages of decals.

Water slide decals could also work in place of actually painting the image on. Water slide decals are used in a lot of industries to apply clean graphics to objects, i.e. Hotwheels, Guitar headstock logos.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_slide_decal

You can get this decal paper online: http://www.amazon.com/Testor-Corp-9201-Decal-Paper/dp/B000BLI6QS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1418242921&sr=8-2&keywords=waterslide+decal

There is waterslide decal printer paper. You can make any decal you want...

Here is a few links but there are plenty of brands.

Inkjet:

http://www.amazon.com/Lazertran-Waterslide-Decal-Paper-Inkjet/dp/B001LUF54E

http://www.amazon.com/Testors-Decal-Paper-Clear-Pack/dp/B000BLI6QS

Laser:

http://www.amazon.com/Papilio-Laser-Clear-Waterslide-sheets/dp/B005DFLVOG

Testors custom decal paper

Took a little playing around to get it right, but I'll use it again in the future. Took a while, but I like how it came out.

Looks good. For the badges and such, try waterslide decals https://www.amazon.com/Testors-Decal-Paper-Clear-Pack/dp/B000BLI6QS/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1466705607&sr=8-2&keywords=waterslide+decal

Fighting Piranha Graphics seem to be the go-to resource that people use though I've found these and ones off of eBay to be lacking in print quality and versatility. I like to have a bit more control over the size and prints (and online decals are too damned expensive).

I did a writeup on decals this week. This might help someone printing their own.

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Requirements:

decal print paper (Transparent if the decals are dark OR if the mech color is light OR if the design would be difficult to cut around. White paper if the decals have white or light colors OR if the mech is dark OR if the design would be easy to cut around.) Ink printers NOT print the color white and similar tints will be underwhelming!

picture editing software

color printer

decal film

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Recommended:

acrylic fixative art spray, matte

decal setting stuff

*decal solution stuff

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Steps:

1. Copy/paste stuff off the internet or create custom images in a graphics program. I recommend printing multiple sizes of the same graphic with a size reduction of 75% for each. (When in doubt go smaller than you think you'll need.) Just arrange the images very close together to make good use of the space.
   
   
2. Print out the document with the slick side receiving the ink. Use a test print of normal printer paper to conserve the specialized sheets.
   
   
3. Allow the ink several minutes to dry and then spray the whole thing with 2 coats of acrylic fixative spray. The purpose of this is to give a buffer so that the ink doesn't smear when applying the decal film. 5 minutes per coat ought to do it.
   
   
4. I've tried airbrushing the decal film directly but it gunked up my airbrush. Smear a decent layer of decal film with a fine brush or makeup sponge. 5 minutes between 2 layers ought to do it. Doing this correctly is super important since it keeps the ink from floating off the paper when submerged. Layers of decal film also gives the decal rigidity so it doesn't crumple like a tissue-thin taco when you pull it off the backing. I've gotten some decal paper that is more fragile than the Testors that I linked below. More film resolved my issues.
   
   
5. Now, just use your custom sheets as you would normal waterslide decals. Cut closely around images that are on white decal paper since it will have a white border. If you must use white paper, I'd recommend adding a background color of 50-75% gray so that any border you leave untrimmed will fade into most models better. (You could also make the surrounding color the same as the model it goes on if you're thinking that far ahead.) If you have transparent decals needed for a dark mech, consider painting a white spot in the shape of the decal to be applied.
   
   5a. Place a drop of decal setting stuff on the place the decal will go. This softens the decal and allows it to conform better since the medium is better than water. You'll still have a bit of give when sliding the decal around. Allow this to be visually dry.
   
   5b. Once the decal is perfectly in place, put a drop of decal solution to thoroughly wet it. This causes the decal to fill any irregular sections of the model that you placed it. It will get gummy, stretchy, and unable to move or remove afterwards. You might try this multiple times and use a fine brush to push it into recesses.
   
   5c. After the model is completed, seal the whole thing -including decal- with matte fixative spray or matte varnish that gets applied with a painting brush.
   
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   Notable products:
   
   https://www.amazon.com/Testors-Decal-Paper-Clear-Pack/dp/B000BLI6QS/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=testors+decal+paper&qid=1566236237&s=gateway&sr=8-1
   
   https://www.amazon.com/Microscale-MICRO-DECAL-3-Bottle-Combo/dp/B01BALXVQC/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=decal+solution&qid=1566234498&s=gateway&sr=8-4

Probably just made his own decal. There are sheets you can buy that work in regular printers. Typically they are waterslide decals.
http://www.amazon.com/Testors-Decal-Paper-Clear-Pack/dp/B000BLI6QS/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1464136661&sr=8-3&keywords=waterslide+decal+paper

It's possible, just very very difficult. If you want to take the easy approach, you can trace this image in Illustrator and then print it out on decal paper(https://www.amazon.com/Testors-Decal-Paper-Clear-Pack/dp/B000BLI6QS).

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BLI6QS/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00

This was the one I used I think. I may have had more luck with more expensive transfer decal paper, but the forgeworld ones were exactly what I needed so I stopped trying.

Yes

I used Illustrator to vectorize the images and to scale them. Then I used this to print the decals Clear Decal Paper. After that I clear coated the sheet with some clear coat spray(GW brand). Then I cut the sheet as close to the images as possible. Then I used decal set solution to make it look like it was painted. I then use brush on clear coat to seal the model up. Just let me know if you have anymore questions.

If you're looking to produce your own decals from an image, Testors has paper you can print directly on from an inkjet printer: https://www.amazon.com/Testors-Decal-Paper-Clear-Pack/dp/B000BLI6QS

It might not fit your need, but is worth looking into if you can get sheets for MSRP.

There are probably better options - but this exists.

You can paint standard space marines green and use these custom decals to make them Salamandry. Purchase some decal printer paper and print them on any standard printer and then you can apply them just like any other decal.