jmb Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 I think I have the artwork finished so that I can actually read everything on the dial - even the T SWISS T at the bottom! I am soliciting feedback as to the dials accuracy and layout from those in the know. It should be very close as I made a tracing of a gen pic. The black looks rather washed out and other flaws but I think a lot of this is due to printing it on a "peel 'n' stick" material and the water-slide decal should be much crisper. I can only imagine what this would look like at 1200 or 2400 dpi! Unfortunately while printing white I can only get 600 dpi out of this printer. But, still, this is only a decal and there is no way it would ever be able to withstand close scrutiny. I think it could be helped immensely if the lettering was "went over" with white paint (a dot at a time) by someone with an extremely steady hand and a good 'scope. This opens up a whole new world of possibilities due to widely varying dial and case sizes. I was going to show this one in a Sub case but it's to large but it would be fairly simple to turn a brass blank the proper diameter and scale the dial graphic accordingly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woof* Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Yes the possibities are amazing. You will be able to match dial to case..it's really cool! Well done J! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turnipz Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 (edited) Heres a pretty straight one I found if it helps, text is kind of covered a bit though. One thing I notice is the markers beside the indices are pretty thick, even for a non-crisp image. Edited July 27, 2011 by turnipz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhooq Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Looks like an 8-bit dial, J! Congratulations for getting this far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 I just noticed something which hadn't occurred to me before... You said you were actually printing white ink... On the ones Slartibartfast produced, they were black onto transparent decal, with the 'white areas' simply sans ink entirely. Might a similar printing procedure produce slightly different results to where you've literally printed black and white ink? As on the other thread, I think a yellow dial with black writing would look really sharp (best do Doxa orange as well, to keep Nanuq happy ) Other than that, I can't see any other detail differences to change Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
praetor Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 so you finally got that old printer back together huh? I don't know if it's the camera or the printing, but the font looks fuzzy. otherwise, good job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted July 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 The problem I am having is that to print in white I have to print at 600 dpi plus I'm printing onto clear vinyl peel 'n' stick material. I should get some regular waterslide decal material next week and I can make a decision. Worse come to worse I can re-do the artwork as a negative and go the two decal method ala slarti. This would, however, probably need someone else doing the printing as I don't have anything with high enough resolution. I bought this printer (to specifically do projects like this) on advertised specs and they don't tell the whole truth. I'll have to see how the minute "tics" look on the decal paper as I think I have the line weight set as light as Acad has a selection for but it's just the minimum dot size of the printer make's 'em print fatter... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanuq Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 An additional detail, the "S" in SUBMARINER should look like a backwards "Z". Looking good but you need to back way off on the "weight" of the fonts and minute tics. Check the font sizes too. The "R" in "TUDOR" should end its tail between the letters "N" and "C" in "PRINCE". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 The problem I am having is that to print in white I have to print at 600 dpi plus I'm printing onto clear vinyl peel 'n' stick material. I should get some regular waterslide decal material next week and I can make a decision. Worse come to worse I can re-do the artwork as a negative and go the two decal method ala slarti. This would, however, probably need someone else doing the printing as I don't have anything with high enough resolution. I bought this printer (to specifically do projects like this) on advertised specs and they don't tell the whole truth. I'll have to see how the minute "tics" look on the decal paper as I think I have the line weight set as light as Acad has a selection for but it's just the minimum dot size of the printer make's 'em print fatter... How about if you were to just print in black, and leave the text and markers blank? Would that allow better resolution? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted July 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Nanuq - I made the requested changes, I'm glad some of you guys have an eye for minute details like this - I don't! I'm going to print out another dial on clear and see how it looks! TeeJay - I would need to do it on a different printer as this old Alps (they have not been made for quite a while) does not do very well on large solid black area fills as sometimes "banding" is present. I am going to maybe give it a whirl, though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Ahh, I think I can visualize the kind of effect you mean, I hope it works out though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mastergod Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 A dimension of further interest just occurred as I was reading this topic. Decals can make perfect dials, especially perhaps if relumed in an old skool way on top of the decal. However is not made to industrial standards - and because a photograph always fades (even fixated ones?) - maybe our decal dials age faster and become even better looking over time? Just a thought, and if we are lucky this kind of dial projects can go from great to greater over time! Thoughts or experiences with this? mg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 These dial decals are from late 2009... Sorry for the poor quality pics, to the eye, the black is rather stable, and the lume is a nice vintage off-white Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blix Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Good job J. I'm looking into having a few sheets of dial decals professionally printed. I (prolly) know someone who'll be willing to do so - anyone here with a good template that I can use as a trial dial? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ephry73 Posted July 27, 2011 Report Share Posted July 27, 2011 Sounds like great news. E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted August 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 I have the artwork finalized for this particular decal and I think once I get some decal stock my printer likes it might be a go. There are zig-zaggy lines through some of the markers (printer issue) but they will be covered by the lume. I also misplaced my squeegee so it also has some bubbles under it but I think this might me turned into a "real" dial... I have ordered some different decal paper so we shall see what happens. This printed like crap the first time so I took a half sheet of the paper, sprayed it with Dull Cote, then printed and the print was much better. If I print this on clear acetate it is razor sharp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted August 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 This is a decal made with the same artwork but as a "negative" and the dial blank painted white. This is with my new 1200 x 6000 dpi printer but the "black" ink leaves a lot to be desired. But, this does look like something that has had a lot of sun and weather exposure so maybe it's perfectly "vintagized"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhooq Posted August 4, 2011 Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 There's real progress in those pictures. Great work! Those zig-zag lines remind me of Charlie Brown's shirt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woof* Posted August 4, 2011 Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 Enjoying watching this evolve! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ephry73 Posted August 4, 2011 Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 looks pretty decent JMB. The lines are not from the printer jets saturating? The end result is pretty decent, considering that you only see it in areas that will be lumed. I like it. Maybe do a test print using a photo printer on high grade photo paper to see how it comes out and isolate the issue to a particular printer, or the image itself. This is great progress. E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmb Posted August 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 The Alps MD printers actually melt resin from a ribbon onto the printed surface. It's my fear that the zig-zag is trying to tell me something is going wrong with the printhead, who knows... I printed some "negative" decals and it was there, too. Funny thing, though, with the same identical printer settings I get a perfect image on clear acetate but that wouldn't make much of a dial. Here are two printed on the plastic, absolutely perfect... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhooq Posted August 4, 2011 Report Share Posted August 4, 2011 Hmm... "Skeleton" Submariner? Too bad the front of an ETA movement isn't really something worth seeing! Both of those dial designs look really good, J. I know you'll find a way to get them onto metal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woof* Posted August 5, 2011 Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 WoW! I love the rose dial! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ephry73 Posted August 5, 2011 Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 That is awesome.You can just paint the backside with flat black and call it good. Of course, one can always get one of those fancy movements and slap that in. I think the acetate with back side painted flat black will not look bad and it will add a depth to the dial that the originals never had. On a different topic, JMB, did you get my PM about the crystal retainer? E Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TeeJay Posted August 5, 2011 Report Share Posted August 5, 2011 Excellent work, my friend Put me down for one of those rose dials Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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