Custom transfers

[goat major]

What’s the best way to do them ? Self-print or are there suppliers who’ll do them bespoke?

[Paul]

I'd go the self print route. You need to seal the transfer paper after printing on an inkjet. You might have few teething problems but it's the cheapest and most flexible way.

[goat major]

Cheers Paul what do you seal with ?

[Paul]

Cheers Paul what do you seal with ?

Any waterproof spray sealant/varnish. If you're doing waterslide transfers it's essential you get a good coverage before you use them otherwise the ink will run. Most designs are best IIRC on the transparent transfer paper although if your design has white in it you might need the white background stuff.
I was going to do this for some 10mm Sub Roman shields and got tooled up, but never went through with the project.

[goat major]

Cheers. Did you actually make any in the end ?

[Paul]

Cheers. Did you actually make any in the end ?

I did some trial ones with good success, I followed a guide online but it was years ago so i'm afraid I don't remember where

The sheets are cheap as chips though so give it a go and if you decide that ultimately you want a Pro to produce them you'll still have the image files ready to go.

[grizzlymc]

If you have access to a colour laser printer, use that. Inkjet ink fades quite quickly.

[Timmo]

I've created them for myself, oh and I did a few for the Baronwreckedoften. I have them professionally printed. There are folks who will do them for you but it isn't cheap.

What are you trying to do?

[goat major]

i was wanting to renovate some old Lledo diecast trucks for VBCW and put some custom signage on them. I'm still undecided on whether to do it though - the learning curve/cost might be quite a lot for only 3 lorries.

[Etranger]

If you're mostly looking for lettering there is the option of using the Microscale decal range which has a lot of alternative fonts in varied colours and sizes. They're a bit fiddly as you have to cut out each letter individually and then arrange them, without disturbing the sequence and spacing. Gothic or Roman fonts are probably the most suitable for the 1930's/VBCW.

http://www.microscale.com/ They're US based but should be fairly widely available in model railway shops.