barryt Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 The tail of my lockdown Puppeteer (serial L2020) is looking quite bare. How would I go about reproducing the Sopwith logo on it? I suppose vinyl would be easiest. Could someone direct me to a better quality image that could be used by the vinyl cutters? The rest of the model is painted, so vinyl might look a little out of place..Are there other methods I could use to get a more realistic result? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Yes, you can get low tack paint mask vinyl such as Oramask 810, so it is possible to create artwork just as you would to produce a set of vinyl letters but cut the "negative" image to produce a mask that you can airbrush through, giving a more realistic finish than shiny stuck on vinyl. I created all the artwork and masks for many of my models such as this PSS Hurricane: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Ogden Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 **LINK** does Sopwith logos in various sizes. Should be worth a look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Yes, but it's vinyl and the definition of the printing is not very good. I bought some and wasn't impressed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy48 Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 I managed to achieve that on mine by using ink-jet printable water slide decal paper, and a word processor or desk top publisher. Took a bit of time to find the correct fonts, but looks good now. Edited By Andy48 on 26/05/2020 13:36:49 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted May 26, 2020 Share Posted May 26, 2020 Barry if you get stuck and would like to try some masks I can make you some and post them. Here are some masks I made for an F-86 Sabre: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryt Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 Excellent ideas guys. Just what I was looking for. Thank you for responding so quickly. Alan, I have found a local signage company that has some Oramask and is willing to help. I just need to supply them with the artwork. Busy with that now. One thing I didn't ask was are the masks reuseable to any degree? What is your experience? Many thanks for your kind offer to post some examples but I should be ok for now. Just as well really because I am not resident in the UK and we have no lockdown postal service at the moment! Andy, great picture and an interesting solution which i would also like to experiment with. I'm not sure if I could obtain the water slide paper locally so I'll have to track some down on ebay first. I can't recall any RCM&E articles on either of these finishing detail methods. Have I missed something? Here is a trial assembly of L2020 before covering. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 Model looking fabulous Barry! Yes, if you are careful you can reuse masks, but to a certain extent it depends on the shapes cut into the mask. If you very gently peel a used mask away from the painted surface and mask off a new area straight away then the adhesive will still be good and the mask won't deform. For example, I have painted the CAA operator ID on six of my current flying models and I reused a single mask to do all six aircraft. Going the route you have however, the vast majority of the time and costs will be in preparation of the artwork ready for cutting. Since you are doing that yourself and it's essentially free, I'd look to buy 3 masks. One for each side of the fin and one spare either to practise on or as a just-in-case. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 By the way, a word on how I would go about making up cutting artwork from the image you have supplied.... I would import the image you have into a CAD or drawing package. I use AutoCAD. Put the image on it's own layer and make a new layer onto which you trace the outlines of all the text you want to make into a mask. This can be time consuming, especially when tracing characters with many curves such as the letter S. As a tip, where letters are repeated at different sizes, I only trace the larger one and use the software to scale it down. My vinyl cutter software allows me to import dxf files which is what AutoCAD can produce. I'm assuming your local shop will advise on their preferences. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Gorham_ Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 PS - no postal service?! Wow.... This is a picture of some artwork in AutoCAD ready to be saved and sent for cutting. I thought I had a pic of the actual tracing out over the image but I haven't. Hope this is still of interest though. As a shortcut, if you can find a font that is "close enough" for your purposes then obviously you can just type this text into your artwork, but I like the challenge of tracing and it does help with character spacing and the like as well. Edited By Alan Gorham_ on 27/05/2020 09:47:23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWflyer Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 I used this method last week after considering all the same options, thermal printed black onto clear super grip vinyl, then contour cut the text to leave a clear border which should prevent damage when cleaning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 I have a related problem with my Pup. I'm trying to get a text image I can manipulate with either (say) Photoshop or Paint so I can print the registration number on the fin (no Sopwith logo on my example) as well as the name (KIWI). The only way I can think of is to print from Word and then photocopy to get a jpeg that I can then play with. Surely there must be some software that allows text to be used as an image. I suppose KIWI could be drawn and cut out but my manual dexterity doesn't extend to C215 Geoff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy48 Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 Microsoft Publisher will allow you to save a page as a Jpeg file. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
McG 6969 Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 ... +1 for MS Publisher. It' a very versatile piece of software. You can output in almost any graphic format or even export to make a .pdf of your creation. No need at all to use Photoshop or Paint afterwards if using Publisher. You build your subject at the definitive size you want, create a .pdf and print it right away on photopaper, thermal transfers , water transfers or whatever support you need. Cheers Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryt Posted May 27, 2020 Author Share Posted May 27, 2020 Geoff. I think you can create text directly in Paint. Select the A on the menu bar and you have a choice of fonts to use. AWflyer, well that was a coincidence! Looks like an excellent result. What covering material have you used? Mine is fabric, which is why I have painted everything. By the way I like your pilot figure. That is going to be another challenge for me. Leaving it for last! Alan, thanks again for the very detailed info. Much appreciated. I am going to try to create something myself using vintage fonts but I can see how useful autocad would be to get a perfect result. I would also need to create some 'LIFT HERE' masks and associated arrows. Luckily I know an autocad fundi so I'll try to get some lessons from him! Yes lockdown has been tough around here. No post, no alcohol, no tobacco, no exercise etc. The tobacco doesn't bother me but some have been trying to smoke the contents of their compost heaps. Well that's what it smells like anyway. The lack of alcohol has been another issue and people have been getting quite creative. My personal favorite has been hand sanitiser and tonic, with ice and a twist of lemon. Interesting times! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AWflyer Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 barryt Thank you for that, the pup is covered in Oratex antique very good shrinkage and adhesion the pilot is the original Flair albert vac formed, not an easy fit you can still see the join not many of these around now, please see images of cockpit and wheels. Which material did you use for the forward fuselage Aluminium? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff S Posted May 27, 2020 Share Posted May 27, 2020 Posted by barryt on 27/05/2020 13:23:02: Geoff. I think you can create text directly in Paint. Select the A on the menu bar and you have a choice of fonts to use. Ah, so you can! I haven't used Paint very often and so I'm not very familiar with its quirks or capabilities. Thanks very much. I must admit, I found it strange it wasn't possible but ... AW, your Puppeteer control panel looks stunning as does the whole model. I agree that Oratex is at least the equal of Solartex (in fact it may stick better) but it's pretty expensive. I'm using some on my Pup but it's getting hard to find any in stock of the colour I want. Geoff Edited By Geoff S on 27/05/2020 14:46:10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.