ToneLoungeMatt wrote:I would love to hear about the how.
also love your translation of Cabronita and the V crest. Imaginary or not, your company is going places.
They're pretty easy to make. I just got some decal paper from the local model (i.e. model and RC cars, planes, etc) shop. It's the inkjet kind as I just have a pretty basic inkjet printer that usually gets used for printing uni work! You can get decal paper suitable for laser printers too which, as I understand it, doesn't require sealing like the inkjet paper does (for obvious reasons).
So after a bit of photoshop designing and testing on plain paper, I printed them on the real thing and sealed with some flat clear lacquer also from the model shop. You can get special 'decal bonder' but lacquer is basically the same and works equally well if not better, I think. I used some Tamiya brand stuff in a rattle can. I've used Testors in the past but it seemed to make the ink bleed. I sprayed three light coats. It dries quickly so you can spray each coat within about half an hour. Could probably have done more coats, but I wanted to keep the decals nice and thin. Obviously, they sit on top of the neck finish (like vintage Fenders, incidentally), so I didn't want the edges to be too obvious.
I let that dry overnight. To apply I dissolved two drops of PVA in 1 cup of water. Dunk the decals in for a couple of seconds and then let them sit for about a minute. Slide them off the backing. Tweezers are useful to position them. Soak the excess water up with a paper towel. Job done!
Settled on one of my favourite words (meaning, basically, 'guts') and a sort of tattoo/western style font. Fired up the printer and here are the results:
