Custom N Scale Decals?

[spookshow]

I need decals for some C&NW passenger cars. Anybody have a decal maker they like working with? My go-to guy (Highball Graphics) doesn't seem to be responding to emails anymore, and the Rail Graphics guy didn't think he would be able to make them legible enough.



Thanks,
-Mark

[jmlaboda - RIP]

I have seen work by Dan's Resin Casting here on the Railwire Forum as well as elsewhere... give him a try...
http://www.dansresincasting.com/

[TrainCat2]

Sending PM later tonight Mark.

[CBQ Fan]

I need decals for some C&NW passenger cars. Anybody have a decal maker they like working with? My go-to guy (Highball Graphics) doesn't seem to be responding to emails anymore, and the Rail Graphics guy didn't think he would be able to make them legible enough.



Thanks,
-Mark

That is a cool car!!!

[LIRR]

I also need some. Has anyone had success printing with a laser printer?

[pnolan48]

I need a large quantity of decals for my N scale ships, especially white lettering on clear.

With clear paper on inkjets, I've had good luck with dark color lettering on light backgrounds, i.e., black on gray or light blue, and have been matching the dark backgrounds with white decal paper with fairly good success, but would like to offload this process entirely. Also need someone who can take Illustrator or pdf files.

The major problem with inkjets or laser printers is light colors on dark backgrounds, as neither technology seems to deposit enough ink or toner to be opaque. Pennsy "gold" lettering on BLE green just disappears, for example, even when I apply two layers of decals, which of course leads to registration problems. Most printers do not print white.

I've been so busy building ships that I haven't had time to research this properly.

[peteski]

This subject has been raised lots of times on many forums. The old and obsolete Alps MD-series printer is the only viable way to print white (and white undercoat for transparent CYM inks), gold, and silver decals on clear film.  Some members (like me) are still holding onto their Alps printers (and accumulated spare printers and spare ink cartridges to last for a while).  There are also couple of active Yahoo groups (with about 4000 members each), dedicated to Alps printers. Well, since Yahoo NEO-sized the groups, the amount of traffic has died down quite a bit. 

There are other alternatives for printing white on clear (like http://www.pulsarprofx.com/decalpro/ ), but those are quite cumbersome to work with.

For an overview of Alps printing see http://robdebie.home.xs4all.nl/models/decals.htm . That tutorial also includes a list of worldwide customer decal manufacturers (who use Alps printing).

[spookshow]

Sending PM later tonight Mark.

Thanks, Bob. I'll try contacting Ted Freeman and see if he can't hook me up.

Cheers,
-Mark

[fredmoehrle]

Another printer is Solid Design here in Fenton Michigan.
His adds appear in MR & RMC every so often.
Gotten nice Ann Arbor/Michigan Interstate ferry in the fog decals from him.
(Very fine black & white strips on clear)
His equipment is a bunch of the heavy duty Kodak printers made by Alps in the late '90s early '00s.