Consulta questa pagina in Italiano
Custom Decals Print Service
for Railroads, Trucks, Cars, Aircraft and all sorts of scale models


click thumbnails to see what other modelers did by mean of our products 
and services







For any further information write us at alpsdecals@iol.it

What is an "Alps Decal"?

Alps Decals are water slide decals, just like those commonly included with commercial scale models, but are made from custom design of your choice.
They are made by mean of a special Micro-Dry© technology, patented by Alps Electronics Co., that is not marketed in Europe. Resulting emblems and lettering quality is similar to high quality dry transfer, but subjects are obtained from scanned pictures or made on custom design with a graphic package software.
Overall quality depends on the original drawing used, from 600x600 DPI up to 1200x600 DPI (dots per inch), full color, but true Gold, Silver and White color, as well as Deep Black, are allowed ,with unbelievable crisp details, such that N-gauge car license plates are still fully readable.!



Ready subjects

Some subjects are already finished. You just have to ask to have one or more copies printed on demand.
They are based on standard commercial kits: no need to modifiy or scratchbuild.
All are in 1:72 scale. Upon request they can be scaled in any other modelling scale.
Available subjects are as follows (click to see more):

1/24 SCALE
 Supermarine Spitfire - serial numbers for the prototype F.37/34 - K5054 
for any Spitfire Mk.I kit  €15

1/32 SCALE
Agusta-Bell AB412SP Guardia Costiera     NEW!
for the Panda Models UH-1N kit   € 15

1/200 SCALE
  Douglas DC-3 Dakota "Alitalia"   for the Hasegawa kit  - € 5   NEW!

  Sud Aviation Caravelle  "Alitalia"   for the Heller-Cadet kit  - € 8   NEW!

NOTICE  THAT € 1.- = US$ 1.30

For any question on these products please ask us at alpsdecals@iol.it. Asking is free!!!



Custom Decals Service
Send some pictures of the subjet you need (color images are best), be it rail cars, locomotives, coaches, heavy trucks, lorries, cars, aircraft or whathever you like, from your own car's license plate in 1/43 scale to your firm's logo to set on HO or N scale model trucks...
Even those old, yellowed but unique decal subjects that you kept in a humid basement for years can be revitalized by a "clonation" made with this technique.

Charges for a single sheet are:

CUSTOM DECALS 
(ON CLEAR CARRIER FILM)

Maximum size of the printable area

3 x 20 cm

6 x 20 cm

12 x 20 cm

25 x 20 cm
1 Only Black  [example] € 5 € 8 € 15 € 28
2 Only White or metalized Gold or Silver [example ]
[example ]		 € 7 € 12 € 18 € 32
3 Full base colours (CMYK) [example] € 10 € 16 € 25 €40 
4  Full base colour (CMYK) plus White or metalized Gold or Silver [example] € 15 € 25 € 36 € 50

Ask for details at alpsdecals@iol.it

You can also order a custom drawing made on purpose, upon agreement.  Contact us at alpsdecals@iol.it and explain your custom decal problem.



Some technical notes

The carrier film used is intentionally very thin. To avoid unwanted curling, don't allow the wet decal to leave the backing sheet. It is better to soak the decal with water for 5-10 seconds, then put it on the model, together with the backing sheet, and let it there for 30-60 seconds,until the glue is loosened. Let the decal slide from the backing sheet and position it, adding water if needed. Once positioned, remove excess water with a lint free clothe and use a decal setting agent of your choice.
When dry, the decal must be coated with one hand of clear varnish, gloss or matt, to seal its surface. An alternative is to use Microscale Superfilm liquid clear before applying the decals.
In any case, the printed subject can result fragile, so handle the decal with care, avoiding to rub or scratch it with nails or sharp tools like files or tweezers, before coating it with the transparent finish.
Resistance to fading due to UV light is the best among available commercial printers. In fact, the printer heat-transfers microscopic plastic particles on the clear decal film.
Decals to be applied on white surfaces don't need special tricks, while on coloured backgrounds a white backing layer must be planned under the actual subject.

In short...  Colour saturation of "Alps Decals" is slightly below that of commercial screen-printed decals. Colour opacity does not match industrial products like Microscale or Aeromaster, but the flexibility of this process is astonishing!

For further details write us at alpsdecals@iol.it