Can someone recommend a good source for custom decals?
Also, are there any places that still make custom dry transfers?
Stan Cedarleaf does decals - http://gold.mylargescale.com/StanCedarleaf/WebPageDecals/CustomDecalsx.html
Del Tapporo does vinyl transfers - http://gold.mylargescale.com/DelTapparo/
-Brian
brian donovan said:
Stan Cedarleaf does decals - http://gold.mylargescale.com/StanCedarleaf/WebPageDecals/CustomDecalsx.htmlDel Tapporo does vinyl transfers - http://gold.mylargescale.com/DelTapparo/
-Brian
Both Men do GREAT work!
I could see your herald in the transfer/waterslide over the vinyl…?
cale
I also would recommend both. Great guys. Del did the transfer work for my box cab below in my sig. Stan will be doing some similar decals for other LS rolling stock. As for custom dry transfers…I don’t know off hand of anyone.
There are two or three print houses in the US that still do dry transfers, but be prepared to pay–on the order of $80 per sheet. It’s really not cost effective unless you’re lettering an entire fleet of cars. It’s far easier to have custom decals made. I don’t like decals quite as much as dry transfers, but for the price difference, I’m learning to grin and bear it.
Later,
K
Has anyone tried those ‘dry transfer’ kits that pop up on EBay from time to time? They claim that you print them on your printer, do some magic voodoo to them, and you have rub-on transfers.
Testors makes a decal print package, has anyone tried it? saw it at Wally World, wasn’t too sure about it
I’ve not tried the “home dry transfer” kit, but I’ve read some reviews of them. They seem to be fairly positive, but you’ve got to use them almost immediately, and I don’t recall if the sheets are reusable (i.e, if you only need a few numbers, do you have to waste an entire sheet?). I think you need a laser printer for those, not that they’re terribly expensive anymore.
As for the Testors ink-jet decal kits, they’re okay, but limited. You still can’t do white or metallics. Brian, didn’t you experiment with these?
Later,
K
Stan Cedarleaf has done all of my custom work.
Let’s hope and pray his Alps printer doesn’t go TU!
TOG
I have not used the Testor’s pack (someone did but I can’t remember who). I do print my own decals with the standard inkjet decal paper you can get at Micromark and other places. Back in my HO days I used to use the Woodland Scenic dry transfer letters but they don’t make a font size big enough for large scale. Bob Grosh was making his own dry transfers - http://www.fiberfire.biz/ally/03trains/worktrain/transfers/default.htm#printing
using paper he got from a UK source - http://www.craftycomputerpaper.co.uk/
-Brian
For making labels for use on homebrewed ham radio gear, I got hold of some sheets of decal material that can be put through a laser printer. There’s another version that works with ink jets, but I find it not as satisfactory (not as sharp an image). Interestingly, the stuff was in a model railroading tools catalog!
http://www.ares-server.com/Ares/Ares.asp?MerchantID=RET01229&Action=Catalog&Type=Department&ID=106
Photoshop and Microsoft WORD fulfilled my needs quite nicely for the layout work, along with snatching JPG images off of the internet for logos or whatever.
The results are pretty good, but I find a couple of problems with it.
First off… unless you make a LOT of decals at once, you’re gonna waste a lot of each sheet.
Next… it would be nice if I had access to a COLOR laser printer.
Finally… you have to get imaginative with layout if you want WHITE lettering; a lot of reverse image tricks, and placing the decal on a white surface.
Finally… they sell a kit of various coatings for the decals; I’d recommend it. The stuff makes the decal vanish and if you use it carfefully the finished product looks remarkably like silk screening.
Mr. T.
I put a sheetful of designs on a cd and take them down to my print shop. They have a color laser and can print it right off. I too found ink jet decals to be lacking, no matter how much I sealed them up, they would run some. Been VERY happy with the laser decal paper. GOt some on ebay. Jerry