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I've recently come out of my Lego "dark age" and started rebuilding some of my old sets. I was never one to keep sets together very long, so naturally i've lost a lot of stickers. One of my other hobbies is classic bicycles, which often share the dilema of missing or damaged art. This method for producing decals was taught to me by a clever artist on a popular bicycle forum, so he really deserves any and all credit. This method is simple and inexpensive and much of the materials are common. I assume the trickiest part for most people will be producing the art. I happen to have Adobe Illustrator at home, so I am able to create my own vector art files. I believe other cheap, maybe even free software exists. Sometimes high quality art can also be found as images on the web. On to the step-by-step: 1) Produce the art. Use a laser printer and any cheap printer paper. Laser printing is key... if you don't have one, you could try any of the copy shops around. As mentioned, I used Adobe Illustrator. I am replacing the decals for 6594 Gas Transit. DSC04389 by mkeller234, on Flickr 2) Cover the art with packaging tape. DSC04390 by mkeller234, on Flickr 3) Burnish the tape onto the image. I use scissor handles and rub over the tape surface. You will be able to see which areas have bonded well. It doesn't take much effort. DSC04391 by mkeller234, on Flickr 4) Cut the decals out. The closer, the better. I usually follow the shape of the art, but it doesn't really matter. DSC04392 by mkeller234, on Flickr 5) Submerge in water DSC04393 by mkeller234, on Flickr 6) Once the paper is saturated, it can be rubbed away with light pressure from your thumb. Remove as much paper as possible. DSC04394 by mkeller234, on Flickr As you can see, the decals are clear. This is both a blessing and a curse. I happen to be positioning these over white bricks, so the colors will look nice. For use with dark bricks, you will need to either paint the back with white paint, or find a printer that can print white (ALPS). DSC04395 by mkeller234, on Flickr 7) Place the decals on your model. These decals are very forgiving and can be slid around easily. They stick on their own without glue. Make sure you allow them to dry completely before really handling them. 8) Admire your work! DSC04399 by mkeller234, on Flickr DSC04398 by mkeller234, on Flickr Ahhh... the teeth marks of my youth. DSC04400 by mkeller234, on Flickr Lego trucks sure have changed since I was young. I love the detail in these new models! DSC04401 by mkeller234, on Flickr
