Weekly Photo Fun 911-9/9-17

[blownoutcylinder]

They are still being made for the Japan market and english drivers are available.

Then one ends up meandering all over the place getting the pieces together---we seem to have a printer ink lottery going on up here now---HMMMN

Why would they be discontinuing the ALPS anyhooo??

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 

[UP2CSX]

Jeffrey and Crandel, I'm not disputing that the Niagras had twin sealed beam headights, just that they don't look like the ones on the Bachmann model. The NYC light was a round piece of sheet steel that held the two sealed beams with the number boards mounted next to the the headlights, all on the former Pyle-National headlight bracket. Behind the headlight mount, there was nothing but air until you got to the boiler front. The Bachmann headlight is square, not round, the headlight lenses are much too small, and the whole thing is one solid hunk of plastic. As I said, it's much more similar to some late period Austrailian steam headlights.

 

[UP2CSX]

BOC, the ALPS MD printer was discontinued in North America about 2004 and ALPS announced that all retail support for the printer was ending on March 31, 2007. It is still made in Japan and there are still parts available but it's a scamble and ALPS gives you zero help if something breaks. It's a thermal ink printer, which is why it can print in white, but the demand apparently wasn't strong enouogh to justify continuing to sell it here. I would be inclined to wait for the printer Josh linked to, which should have the same capabilities as the ALSP at less money and have factory support.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

Jeffrey and Crandel, I'm not disputing that the Niagras had twin sealed beam headights, just that they don't look like the ones on the Bachmann model. The NYC light was a round piece of sheet steel that held the two sealed beams with the number boards mounted next to the the headlights, all on the former Pyle-National headlight bracket. Behind the headlight mount, there was nothing but air until you got to the boiler front. The Bachmann headlight is square, not round, the headlight lenses are much too small, and the whole thing is one solid hunk of plastic. As I said, it's much more similar to some late period Austrailian steam headlights.

I think Bachmann made theirs bigger so it would have the structural strength to take the double lens being shoved into it from inside the boiler (light is sandwiched in between frame halves right under smoke unit) without breaking. As for it not being mounted on a separate fixture it's likely because with the small amount of added on detail they made as much as possible molded in. The headlight fixture itself looks like a twin lens box mounted on the original headlight bracket. As for the number boards mine had the numbers on it before I painted them over.

 

[NC&StL]

MLW, great shots of course, but personally, you just gave me a big light bulb idea. I have to get autos and trucks to the rear of the layout, where the terminal is located, to do that you have to negotiate two tracks (including the main). I am tired of building at-grade crossings, so after seeing your beautiful layout, I am going to build an underpass! How simple, but what a neat feature to add to my "standard issue" layout. Thanks.
Nearby Birmingham (AL) terminal had an underpass under the whole deal, the terminal, parking and tracks. It was quite a sight.

 

[ST214]

Nice pictures to everyone that posted some!........I just found out about this site from another member at the club i belong to.

 

[NYSW F45]

Something different from my shops for a change. Still needs a few decals added to it.

WOW, that actually looks really cool.

 

[jbaakko]

Not true. Mark showed me a link last week in Europe that sells the printer and white cartridges. He'll have to chime in with the link.

BOC, the ALPS MD printer was discontinued in North America about 2004 and ALPS announced that all retail support for the printer was ending on March 31, 2007. It is still made in Japan and there are still parts available but it's a scamble and ALPS gives you zero help if something breaks. It's a thermal ink printer, which is why it can print in white, but the demand apparently wasn't strong enouogh to justify continuing to sell it here. I would be inclined to wait for the printer Josh linked to, which should have the same capabilities as the ALSP at less money and have factory support.

Jerome, Jim is speaking of what I've heard about.

The status of the printer, and its availability is something I cannot justify. The Pulsar system is 2 times better, and has the option for metallic prints (gold, silver).

After speaking with Pulsar, the printers they recommend (color laser) only weigh in a around $300, which is a decent price for a used ALPS printer , however, having warranty is favored...

In any case, I'm not saying ALPS is bad, just something I hate to invest in, only to have it completely cone in less then a year. Look at Highball, their decals are no longer ALPS, but rather screen printed (ala Microscale).

 

[MGWSY]

Jerome, Jim is speaking of what I've heard about.

The status of the printer, and its availability is something I cannot justify. The Pulsar system is 2 times better, and has the option for metallic prints (gold, silver).

After speaking with Pulsar, the printers they recommend (color laser) only weigh in a around $300, which is a decent price for a used ALPS printer , however, having warranty is favored...

In any case, I'm not saying ALPS is bad, just something I hate to invest in, only to have it completely cone in less then a year. Look at Highball, their decals are no longer ALPS, but rather screen printed (ala Microscale).

Well according from what I read is that the Alps printers are still being produced in Japan and by their laws the parts and service has to be available for 7 years after production ceases.

The FX Dry transfer system is more dated then the Alps technology and you will spend 4 times more work with mediocre results. Dry transfers are ok for small details and smooth surfaces but once you make it to big you will run into many problems trying to burnish a large decal on a loco.

As for Highball, Jim made the choice to have the more popular decals be screen printed and the lower sale items are still being made on an alps to this day so he hasn't quit using the alps system just yet. I was thinking about getting the alps but at around $1500 to get started with the 5500 and inks I will pass for now as decals are not something I want to get into at this time. Kodak makes printers to but now your looking at $5000 - $12000 which is out of reach for 99.98% of people here.

 

[Larry]

Why would anyone even think of printing their own decals or dry transfers unless you were thinking of a wide distribution in retail or have tooo much money to throw away.
At the prices of decals in the market & getting them real easy why would a person buy their own system. It would take forever to recoup the initial cost of your own printer just using the decals yourself. I've always wanted a computer operated plasma cutter to do all of my steel art work, but the cost of the item to do this is way out of my reach & the customer base doesn't make it possible. It would probably sit unused most of the time.

 

[blownoutcylinder]

I'm thinking about doing some decals--maybe on clear--the printer I have has done decals on white though probs not quite the level these ones mentioned will. Reason? I'm operating a freelance layout--OK, protolance--most of my decaling will be custom work---

And besides---I like mucking around with the dang things

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 

[UP2CSX]

Mark, the ALPS thermal printer is still being made in Japan and they will service your printer and provide parts - assuming you want to send it to Japan. Since any new ALPS printer you might be able to pick up in the US is "gray market" and ALPS has no service facility in North America, you're out of luck getting any kind of warranty service. They make about the best thermal printer around but it's hard to justify spending between $300 and $1,000 for a used model that has no factory support in the US. In addition, the ALPS thermal printers did not have a good reputation for reliability and some breakdown in the first year was almost inevitable, thus making a warranty vital. One of the reasons why ALPS exited the North American market is they were never able to shake their poor QC reputation, especially with the first lines they sold here. That, and the backruptcy of their major distributor for both printers and ink, pretty well finished them off.

 

[adurbin]

Finished up the brick store front for the convention this afternoon. Mostly adding signs and such, did use the fading technique on one of the signs on the right side which looks good with smaller newer signs covering part of it.

Matt Dillow
MD Custom Models

There is a German Resturaunt in the Downtown section of the town that I live in, that I SWEAR you modeled that building after! it looks identical...bring on the Bratwurst.

 

[phillip]

sorry to chip in but...this guy I know of did printing with a plain injet on this special paper for his decals,then he paints over the printed area with clear nail polish ,it comes off paper like a wet transfer. Only you cant print in white,but its very cheap and gives good results.

He made the decals for south african railways as we dont have on the shelf.

 

[UP2CSX]

Phillip, that's a well known technology over here that's used with an inkjet printer and decal paper. You can coat the paper with dullcote, fingernail pollish, or a special spray that fixes the decal so it doesn't fall apart in water. Testors has a beginners kit you can buy to test the proces and you can print any color but white directly. If you can match the backgtound color exactly you can simulate white letters. It's a little fiddly and a lot easier if it's something like white letters on a black background but I've done it with a number of different background colors. One thing about this process is it goes through ink like crazy. I use an HP photo printer for decals and, at $75 USD for three ink cartridges, it's fine for small runs but way too expensive for more than a sheet or two.

 

[UP2CSX]

Now let's get back to some pictures.

The crowds is starting to gather at the Hillside Church, waiting for the bride to show up.

In the meantime, Lester keeps forgetting that we have train that runs in the street and keeps getting a bumper knocked off the pickup when that big thing right next to him merges into his lane. His repeated complaints to Mayor Bubba resulted in some safety striping being added and a warning light about where to stop if a train is next to you. The folks over at the courthouse are still betting Lester looses another bumper on the pickup. Here, #638 tests the new warning lights.

And here's all the striping and warning light that the mayor hopes even Lester can see:

The UP local is coming into town for a pickup and drop off so I'll have to run over there and see if there are any good shots.

 

[jeffrey-wimberly]

 

[jbaakko]

The FX Dry transfer system is more dated then the Alps technology and you will spend 4 times more work with mediocre results. Dry transfers are ok for small details and smooth surfaces but once you make it to big you will run into many problems trying to burnish a large decal on a loco.

There's not much burnishing involved, have you watched their videos?

Why would anyone even think of printing their own decals or dry transfers unless you were thinking of a wide distribution in retail or have tooo much money to throw away.
At the prices of decals in the market & getting them real easy why would a person buy their own system. It would take forever to recoup the initial cost of your own printer just using the decals yourself. I've always wanted a computer operated plasma cutter to do all of my steel art work, but the cost of the item to do this is way out of my reach & the customer base doesn't make it possible. It would probably sit unused most of the time.

The problem is, the decals made only cover about 1/4, or less of what is out there. Try to buy Iowa Chicago & Eastern locomotive decals. The point is not to compete with Microscale, ect, but rather to allow yourself to get the decals you need that are not made.

Also, since I mentioned that my Epson could print decals, I've gotten a few dozen requests, only to realize the inks are WAY to transparent to do much besides black decals.

Anyways, back to trains... Reviews posted this past weekend, of the two following items. River Point Station Ford Explorer, and ExactRail FBOX.