Custom Decals

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Has anyone had any experience with these? If so who do you suggest? Cost?

Dave

2

I have gotten a few different runs of custom decals for my free-lance RR. Most are good but I use Rail Graphics. You really have to plan well what you want on them or it’s easy to miss something that you wanted on them but forgot, and there are no free do-overs. I have gotten custom decals and custom dry transfers. I now prefer decals, since I finally slowed down and learned how to apply them properly. You could be looking at 75 to 100 sets per run, and they are not cheap, but they are not out of sight either. You should contact at least three custom decal manufacturers. You will get a feeling for who you like best depending on how they reply and answer your questions. If you are looking for a special herald or logo, the cheapest is to provide your own artwork. Otherwise, artwork services can add up in a hurry. I don’t know if anyone takes artwork in a computer file, but that may be one thing to look for, if you can draw your own. It has been several years since I ordered some, but the minimum was $75 as I recall.

3

Gandydancer19. Thanks for the info. How many cars can you do with each sheet? I have a small narrow gauge line and dont need huge numbers of decals

Dave

4

It depends on the size of the sheet that is offered, and the company you deal with. Some will provide large sheets that you have to cut apart, and others will cut the sheets so ther is one set per small sheet. Sorry i can’t be more specific.

5

I print my own on my computer, using a generic inkjet printer. This works well for advertising signs I put on building walls, but for lettering and artwork on trains you have to be aware of its limitations.

Mostly, you want dark lettering and logos on a light surface for these to be effective. You can use white-backed decal paper, but then you need to very carefully trim the edges, which is pretty much impossible when you get down to lettering. There was a thread a week or so ago where one modeller did an exceptional job of color-matching his paint, so that might be an option for you.

6

I reccomend MS Word and MS Paint if you know anything about computers. For the more advanced, there’s Adobe Photoshop, which can do as much or a s little as you want or know how. You can print from your own color printer, but you should avoid pure white if you do. Computers default white to no ink at all, since the paper is white. On a decal, that’s no good.

Now, if you decide to do your own, then her’es the basics:

Word is useful in making pieces. You can do textures, wordart, patterns, and even use the rulers to get pieces to the size needed to fit your engine or rolling stock. Once the pieces are made, I suggest copying them to paint to be assembled, as Word moves pieces by a space, and sometimes it won’t line up. Paint will let you drag it to the spot you desire. Then copy it back to wprd, make sure it;s the right size, and ciopy paste it as many times as you will need. Make sure to fill a page, decal paper is a one time run thing.But also a tad cheaper.

-Or-

save the designs, e-mail them to a professional, even a normal printing shop, and have them run it off on their fancy machine.

I did a sorta helpful tutorial a while back, but need to be going, you might be able to find it and use it.

7

Thanks for your input. I was trying not to purchase another printer. I need white lettering and as I recall that was a problem for some printers.

Dave

8

Pretty much the only printer that ever did white ink was the Alps. They are no longer being made, and I understand that even the cartridges are now becoming hard to find.

We’ve got a Cartridge World in town. Next time I’m in there, I’ll ask if they can fill a new, empty black-ink cartridge with white ink. If they could do that, then I could print “black” on the computer, and it would come out white on the decal sheet. The question is, can they get a “virgin” cartridge (they’re a re-filler, after all,) or would putting white ink into an “empty” black cartridge give acceptable results. Also, is white ink available? I dunno, but I’ll ask next time I’m by there.

9

Probably. I would be stuperfied if it isn’t, for professionals to use. You might need to “rinse” the ink cartridge.

Would an off grey work?

EDIT: Or not. Mom the computer whiz says they don’t have white ink. You might check anyway, to be doubly sure,