"Make My Own Decals - OGRE / GEV" Topic

Make My Own Decals – OGRE / GEV

Data 70 was mentioned to me at some point in the past as a good font for "ogre-inspired stuff" The style is the same old digital style from the film Rollerball

I was thinking of getting a font like this to make unit numbers on my plastic ogre minis. I heard one can buy decal / transfer paper, and print out your own decals / transfers [is there a difference?].

My stupid questions:

1) Is this still the best way to do this?

2) anyone have recommendations of where to get this font or a similar font? I assume one buys it and downloads it?

3) any recommendations for decal paper?

Thanks!

I do a lot of decals, but it's a little tricky – I would advise some research

Bare metal or testors (same stuff I think). Not cheap Amazon stuff

There are lots of sites that sell or have free fonts. Easy to download, follow OS instructions to install on computer – any editing program should then pick up the font

John

@jwebster

Thanks for reply.

"Bate Metal" and "Testors" are the paper?

The thing that makes me nervous about downloading free fonts would be that it is a scam spreading a virus. I'm hoping to get some specific recommendations from reliable sources.

Bare metal, sorry

Web designers are really into fonts and there are lots of people designing their own fonts so there are several respectable market places for fonts. Google has a lot of free fonts. I download fonts for web design all the time

The danger from downloads is for programs (executables). Font files have a specific file extension

John

I second @jwebster on paper choice as it definitely makes a difference. That said, if memory serves, OGRE is microscale, so these numbers you intend to print are small compared to turret numbers on a 28mm tank. In that case you may be able to get away with a cheaper decal paper.

You also need to consider the printer you are using. Most decals papers are designed to work with either inkjet or laser printers, so make sure you pick a paper based on your printer. If your printer can print decent looking photos, it is probably more than capable of doing decals. One last thing on this is that you need to spray varnish on the paper after printing. It seals the ink in and prevent a runny mess when the paper is placed in water.

There is no need for you to purchase the font as it's for personal use only. The Data 70 font is available on cufonfonts.com as a free download. It will download as a .zip file. Open that and you will see the True Type Font (.ttf) file. Installing a font is pretty simple on Mac or PC.

At this point, you may get the feeling this is all going to be too hard. Please don't be put off, as all it takes is a little time investment up front to get the hang of this and it surely beats hand painting those numbers!

Good luck,

You can also order custom decals from decal makers. There was a guy on eBay who made me some decals a few years ago (that I have yet to put on the models that needed them!).

I would do a search for "decals" on eBay or "science fiction decals" or something like that, and contact the sellers you find about making some decals to your specifications.