Where is the best place or the best way to get a minimal number of decals produced? I would like to take a logo off a business card, for example, and have just enough decals for a car or two or three. This would be way below the minimums of most commercial decal producers.
Get some decal paper and print your own. Get the right paper for your printer (inkjet or laser) and create your own page of decals. You’ll need a decal sealer, at least for inkjet, to keep the ink on the paper. Once you’ve done a few of them, they get very easy.
You can do simple lettering, and apply it to a smooth surface for a fresh-from-the-shop look:
Or you can import images from the web and apply the decals to weathered wood for a sign that’s been out in the weather for a while:
We have a company here called Romisco Signs that primarily deals in billboards and business signage, but they also make peel and stick decals for us using logos, artwork, and text of our choosing. For a full sheet of custom made HO scale decals they charge $8. If you have a similar business in your area, check with them.
Are these water slide decals, or some sort of stickers?
Also, there have been several replies in this thread and others concerning do-it-yourself with an inkjet printer decals. But with the demise of the ALPS printer, has anyone come up with a way to make decals with white print?
I have had very good luck using the Evan Designs inkjet decal paper. This paper only comes in a white background but works exactly as advertized without needing any sealer. Work up your design, print it out, let it set for 30 minutes, then apply to your model. I have done several decals of white lettering on colored backgrounds. I just did an EMD F7A in Southern Pacific Black Widow scheme. I printed the “white” text (actually clear) over a black background. The result is a barely noticable decal edge with crisp white lettering. Evan Designs claims that appyling DulCote will make their white decal paper background turn permanently clear. I have found that it becomes somewhat translucent but not quite clear.
So you have a black background that prints out as part of the decal with white lettering?
That’s a start, but what I’m talking about is just white letters and numbers. Anyone found a way to do that? (yes, I know that there are number/letter sets available in white, but they don’t come in the font I need)
There is a way to print white letters on clear decals. You use a process called photo screen printing. The supplies cost about 35 dollars and you start with a negative print from your computer (black lettering on white paper). This place sells supplies and kits: http://ezscreenprint.com/photoezstarterkits.aspx
Rail graphics did a decal set and the minimum was 25 sets. Microscale did a run for me and it was 125 sets. I saved 20 for me and sold the rest to a hobby shop in Iowa.
I have not tried the Evans product, but most inkjet inks are not waterproof. They will run unless a sealer like Krylon Acrylic Clear is sprayed on the decal. This is the case with the MicroMark clear and white inkjet decal papers that I have used.
Maxman,
You are correct that printing “white” lettering over a colored background means that no ink is applied in the areas of the text, leaving the white background of the decal paper to show through. It may take a few tries to get the printed backgound color to match the paint color of the rolling stock. So far I’ve done this with several oxide colored cabooses and a pair of black locomotives. Since DulCote will cause the white decal background to turn somewhat transparent (the white will disappear), I shoot my models with Testors Model Master Acrylic Flat Clear. I did need to print black numbers on a clear background for the SP Black Widow scheme loco I did (SP painted the loco number just below the headlight on the silver background). I tried dabbing this decal with DulCote to turn it clear. However, the decal only became translucent although this looked OK on the silver background. I will have to experiment more with this technique.
Oh yeah, don’t panic when you get these decals wet. The background turns clear when wet but will become opaque and white again as it dries.
G Paine,
The Evan Designs product is supposed to have some type of special coating that absorbs the inkjet ink. I have not used any sealer on the decals I have printed with standard Epson color ink cartridges and even Walthers Solvaset will not cause these decals to run. A package of five 8 1/2" by 11" sheets cost me $15 at last year’s NMRA Convention. These decals are a little thicker than some commercially produced decals but the Solvaset does a pretty good job of getting them to sink into the surface details. Oddly enough, Evan Designs recommends using lighter fluid instead of Solvaset. Not having any lighter fluid on hand, I still have yet to try this.
John of JN Decals http://www.trainweb.org/jndecals/ , a fellow member of the Diesel Detailers website will do small quantity runs, the more of the art work you have ready the cheaper the price. He has either an Alps or Kodak printer as he does print white. Send him an email.