Getting Decals made problem...

[goscrewyourselves]

Hey all,

I am trying to get decals made for my passenger cars. I spoke to one guy who said he can do the decals BUT can't print white, which doesn't get what I want done.

Does anyone know of anyone, who is good, that can make custom decals AND print white lettering?

Here is what I am wanting:

 

[tootnkumin]

If you painted it red Tony, you could say the Red Coats are coming. Royal Pacific??

 

[Iron Horseman]

I am trying to get decals made for my passenger cars. I spoke to one guy who said he can do the decals BUT can't print white, which doesn't get what I want done.

Does anyone know of anyone, who is good, that can make custom decals AND print white lettering?

Yeah, you don't want "printed" decals, you want silk screened decals. I always used Rail Graphics - http://www.railgraphicsdecals.com/home.html. Looks like they are going out of business at the end of this year.

 

[goscrewyourselves]

If you painted it red Tony, you could say the Red Coats are coming. Royal Pacific??

Yeah, your right and why Royal Pacific, well - it just sounds posh Aside from that, the Royal part sort of attaches the thing to Oz and the monarchy stuff. The Pacific part, probably should have made that Atlantic as we are closer to the Atlantic than the Pacific.

Yeah, you don't want "printed" decals, you want silk screened decals. I always used Rail Graphics - http://www.railgraphicsdecals.com/home.html. Looks like they are going out of business at the end of this year.

Thanks Horseman and can I ask why silk screened instead of printed?

 

[tootnkumin]

probably should have made that Atlantic as we are closer to the Atlantic than the Pacific.

Closer to the Royals than Australia too, Although the story goes that once the Queen departs this Vale, the push to be a Republic will really be on. Me for Pres

 

[IronBeltKen]

... Does anyone know of anyone, who is good, that can make custom decals AND print white lettering?

Tony, I think these guys could handle your request [using ALPS printer] and I don't think they'll be going out of business anytime soon!
https://kadee.com/htmbord/alpscustom.htm

 

[goscrewyourselves]

Closer to the Royals than Australia too, Although the story goes that once the Queen departs this Vale, the push to be a Republic will really be on. Me for Pres

No no no ... pick ME for Pres .... I need more enemies and an early heart attack

Tony, I think these guys could handle your request [using ALPS printer] and I don't think they'll be going out of business anytime soon!
https://kadee.com/htmbord/alpscustom.htm

Thanks Ken, I'll get in touch with them as well.

 

[wright2626]

circusdecals.com also looks like they can do them if you want to give them a shout. havent used their custom service, but have purchased some of their decals.

 

[goscrewyourselves]

Thanks mate. I'll talk to anyone. At the end of the day it will come down to who can do them and then down to price and how long.

 

[montanan]

If you check out MR magazine there is usually ads for custom decals. I had these made over 25 years ago. No problem with the white color, but they can be expensive. The guy who made these has unfortunately passed away. Greg happened to know him personally.



We had these made up for a friend of mine and I did quite a few pieces of rolling stoce and locomotives.

Sure beats doing it letter by letter like I did for my own railroad.

 

[goscrewyourselves]

Chet,

Thanks but I don't the magazine.

 

[montanan]

Here are a few links

https://www.myhotrains.com/decals/custom-decals/

http://wabashcustomdecals.com/

http://shawmutcarshops.com/custom-decals-custom-vinyl-lettering/

http://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=custom

http://www.petescustomdecals.com/

Hope these can help you.

 

[goscrewyourselves]

Chet,

Thanks mate appreciate your effort. I have just emailed circusdecals and they have responded already with prices and everything so at this stage I will go with them. If anything changes though, I'll definitely contact the ones in your list.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

So what exactly are you getting and for how much?

 

[goscrewyourselves]

Oh okay yeah ... I am getting a full letter sized sheet of this:

ONLY the white lettering and gold scroll - the blue background is so you can see the decal. Have been quoted a set cost of $40 which I think is exceptionally good when compared to other places.

 

[tootnkumin]

So....no murders on that train then? No ticket for Agatha.

 

[goscrewyourselves]

None on it, but the way things are going, there may be one getting to it! As for Agatha, she gets to ride for free

 

[Iron Horseman]

Thanks Horseman and can I ask why silk screened instead of printed?

Silk screened decals are made of real paint that has been put on a film. The film will release from its paper in water and the glue will dissolve. When placed onto the models painted surface the film sill suck the decal paint down onto the other. By applying decal solvents such as Solva-set, the film will actually dissolve in a chemical reaction and weld the decal paint into the model paint.

Printed decals are just that, ink or magnetic toner applied to decal "paper/film". It is possible but I don't know of any company that has developed a decal solvent specifically for a ink or toner based image.

Usually the easy way to tell is that the printed ones can't do white.

 

[Iron Horseman]

Have been quoted a set cost of $40 which I think is exceptionally good when compared to other places.

I think that is a phenomenal price. I seem to recall paying up to $150 just for the art work. Of course we had custom logos. But pretty certain after volume discounts (quantity 100) it still came out to about $6 per decal sheet. At the time the decals cost three times more than the Athearn box cars we were applying them to.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Thanks for the info, Both Tony and Horseman! Especially about the silk screen process.

Tony - Do I understand that $40 is your total cost - or, is that just for the setup?
How many of the "names" will fit on the page?