After reading several posts, it seems like the Alps MD 1300 or MD 5000 is the best decal printer out there, however I understand Alps no longer makes them. Does onyone know a good source? I found several on ebay, but they are all sold “as is” with no return policy. I would be willing to shell out a few hundred bucks, but I want to make sure the thing will work when I get it.
So, does anyone know a source for these printers? Does anyone have a working one for sale?
Just curious…
Mike
I bought mine about five years ago for $100 dollars. If you want decals it is probably easier to make artwork and have a custom house do the work. E-bay is about the only place that has printers.
Just a thought
Harold
Depends on how bad you want to be able to make your own custom decals. I took a chance, and wasn’t disappointed. If the seller has a good rating on eBay, then it’s probably worth the risk.
If the printer has a problem, ALPS will fix it … for a price, I’m sure.
But one big advantage of the ALPS printer over sending off to have custom decals made is you can make “just in time” decals for just about any project.
For example, I decided I wanted car number decals for the ends of several of my cars. All I had to do was key in the reporting marks and car numbers exactly as I wanted them to appear in a font that looked right, then print them out on decal paper, and voila!
The problem with sending off for custom decals is if you want it to be affordable, you have to make lots of the same thing (logos, etc). A one-off run of something for your current project just isn’t feasible.
If you want the ultimate flexibility to make decals as you need them for your projects, then the ALPS is hard to beat.
Why not use something like iron-on transfer kits made my Epson, HP, and Avery? They offer both clear and White background transfers.
Will the iron-ins allow you to create white lettering on a clear background?
That’s what I mainly use my ALPS printer for, and it works like a champ for that application.
You would have to use White Iron On transfers (designed for colored t-shirts), and carefully trim around the letters. It’s not a perfect solution, but it’s a cheap alternative. Just be sure not to melt the plastic!
CD Label kits work well also. But their paper is thicker.
has anyone tried a photo printer yet? I think they might do white as well… not sure though.
I don’t know of any standard ink jet photo printers that will print white. They’ll do colors easy enough and the latest crop of printers include some that will take colorfast ink, so the colors don’t run if you get them wet.
But white, and metallic colors are the trick. And the ALPS printer does them all marvelously for a reasonable price.
A word of caution, Mike. There are no retail outlets for the ALPS printers you list in the USA that I am aware of. The items for sale on eBay may be new in some cases, or they may be second hand (check the seller’s rating and wording).
These machines are rather delicate, primative and clunky (mine sound like it’s grinding rocks when it runs!) and improper shipping can result in a broken machine. To my knowledge, ALPS will not fix a broken MD1000 or MD1300 but will only replace them with an MD5000 or something like it…for a considerable fee.
Unless you intend to do a lot of special custom decals with multiple heralds and slogans for your road, you are probably better of having your work done commercially.
CNJ831
Make sure you locate a source for supplies before buying one of these printers.
I have an idea… We could make a list of who has them and is willing to se them for the group… of course we would have to have set prices and set image types.
just an idea.
Here’s the link to ALPS USA.
http://www.alpsusa.com/zcSite/alpsPublic/public/retailPrinters/index.html
They do repair MD-1000 and MD-1300s, for a price. They replace your printer with one they have that has been refurbished and works.
And they provide downloadable drivers for Windows and Mac machines.
Plus if you Google for ALPS printer ribbons, you will get several sites come up that still sell the ribbons.
I just recently bought an ALPS 1000 from ebay.
MD2010, 2300 and 4000 printers are first generation ALPS printers with lower resolution and a limited ability to print some of the later color inks. If water slide decals are your main goal then the 2nd generation printers will be what you want. The MD-1000, MD-1300 and MD-5000 are the only ones with the ability to print with the white inks. The 5000 is the only one that will print foil inks.
No, you cannot buy direct from them but here is the deal on exchanges. On the ALPS site:
MD-5000 & MD-1300 $350.00
All other MD Series printers $250.00
Now here is the real deal, via communication from ALPS. On the exchange program, they currently have the 4000 in inventory, so if you return that, you will most likely get that in return. If you exchange anything else (2010, 2300, 1000, 1300 or 5000) you will get a 5000 in return. Now it will not have the electronic key installed, but that can be had via the internet and/or ebay.
Since buying on ebay is hit or miss, I suggest buying a known broken one and doing the exchange. The 5000, which is what you will end up with, goes for upwards of $500 - $600. You can pick up a broken one for less than $40 and contact them about the exchange. Even for the price of $350 for the refurbished, you are still coming out on top by a couple of bucks.
This is the only printer available that can print waterproof, waterslide decals. They are no longer made basically since when they were, there was not enough demand and they were not making ANY money on them. Even after several iterations, it still was not profitable enough for them so they stopped making them altogether.
you can use injet printers, but the decals will not come out nearly as good and you cannot print metallics or white.
http://www.alpsusa.com/zcSite/alpsPublic/public/retailPrinters/index.html?retail_product_repair.html
Excellent explanation of the current situation with the ALPS printer, Brian.
Thanks!
I know I really enjoy my MD-1300 (got it off ebay) and it does a marvelous job on the white decals I need! It’s really helpful to be able to do all the reporting marks and numbers for an entire car renumbering (plus the car ends) and I don’t have to piece little bitty numbers together by hand.
Everyone I know making their own decals is using an ALPs printer. Quick and easy. I sent a buddy of mine a word file and got back a buck of nice decals. To those who are thinking of cutting out letters: Try this in 5 point type and tell me how it works…Another huge advantage as Joe points out is to be able to do car and loco numbers without having to cut out individual numbers and decal them in a straight line next to each other. Example Car number 455465 is one decal, in the old method you would print out a bunch of 1s, 2s, etc and the car number would be six decals instead of one!! Invariably you would run out of certain letters and numbers. Ain’t technology great. BTW: narrow gauge guys consider this cheating.