. . oh and custom stickers . . .

[Morlock]

I am looking for some more advice please.

What are the choices here as far as techniques for custom stickers? I have a decent HP 2550L Laser color printer I use for work , but it does not print white. Is there a nice system that prints (and preferably cuts) stickers including prinitng white? Any url links?

If you have not guessed . . .I am just getting back into the hobby. The last 4wd I built prior was (clears throat) a Kyosho Turbo Optima. So now I have a xxx4 and an x5 conversion (2 cars).

I am also about to build (for fun really) a Tamiya Dark Impact (its already in the post on the way to the house) so I want to do some original paint schemes for all 3 cars.

By the way, did I mention I love this site? I especially enjoy the car reviews - and this particular smiley ------------>:flower:

[jimmy]

There used to be a cheap thermal printer which printed white, I cant remember the name though, ill have a think about it, I dont think its in production any longer though.
The other option is an EDGE and they are rather expensive but do a great job.

[ApexSpeed]

Jimmy, you're thinking of an Alps printer. You can still find them and the print supplies on eBay. A friend of mine just bought one for his train modeling habit. They will print white and also have the abilities to print metallics and fluorescents with the proper ink cartidges. The caveat is that this printer is a wet transfer decal like you used to use when you built models. Not good for RC stuff.

You are pretty much left with cut vinyl plotters. Small ones can be had pretty cheap, and they do great work for RC but you are limited with the type of logo or art you can cut with it. It's tough to do small stuff, and scripts and spindly type are almost impossible, and you can forget about doing anything with any detail to it. I use a larger than most 15" Graphtec CE3000-40 for all of my vinyl work. I bought it as a side business opportunity, but the labor, materials and time needed to make it work are tough to provide. I use mine now as a really expensive toy.

There are machines that will print & cut (known in the industry as "print & cut" for some reason) decals, but the prices of the printers make it completely unreasonable for home and hobby usage. If you see some really cool graphics made and applied to racer's chargers, power supplies, Ott lights and soldering irons, that is the technology used to produce those pieces. Most guys I know that do it are using the machines of the companies they work at 9 to 5 and do it as a side business. The decals do have a tendency to be a bit thick or plasticy though, and again, don't translate well to RC cars.


These were all made on a vinyl plotter (except the Jconcept, protoform and detail decals)...

[jimmy]

Yea I use a 24" Graphtec cutter myself.. certainly for doing things for yourself you can do loads of cool stuff like apex mentions.. but doing stuff for other people quickly gets tiring when you are having to make loads of stickers with it, as its really labour intensive and time consuming.

The print and cut machines are the best but mega expensive..

I didnt realise the Alps was a water slide type of machine, ah well, not so good then..

[ApexSpeed]

Originally Posted by jimmy

but doing stuff for other people quickly gets tiring when you are having to make loads of stickers with it, as its really labour intensive and time consuming.

Oh boy, yeah. I started Corsa Graphics with the idea that I could do decal work in my spare time for RC, cycling and full size motorsports and start a side business that I could potentially build into a full time business. I quickly found out that A) people are cheap and don't ever want to pay for decal work, and B) it takes a LOT of work and labor to do the art and design, weed, layer and create custom decal art. It's totally not worth it.

I only do vinyl decal stuff for myself or friends on special request, because it's such a time hog, for little cash.


doug

[Morlock]

Hmmm,

Looks like there is no good inexpensive approach to stickers. Also, in general I have found tha tit is rarely good to make your hobby a job. I did used to sell a lot of Carbon Fibre parts when I used to race nitro - in fact I ahd them made in England. The effort in selling, posting, returns etc. was not worth it at all.

Thanks again for the info. Its great to know there are responsive knowledgable people I can ask now.

I'll probably need to do a few shells before I ahve the guts to post a picture though:smile: .

[DCM]

post a pic and we can help you out with maybe stuff you could be doing wrong.

With shell painting, detail is in the prep work, clean shell, degreased hands and if using the tape, paying lots of attentio to getting to follow the profile of the shell where your mask patterns end. Worse shell are the JConcepts, as they tend to have tight corners.

[Will Olpin]

Originally Posted by ApexSpeed

Jimmy, you're thinking of an Alps printer. You can still find them and the print supplies on eBay. A friend of mine just bought one for his train modeling habit. They will print white and also have the abilities to print metallics and fluorescents with the proper ink cartidges. The caveat is that this printer is a wet transfer decal like you used to use when you built models. Not good for RC stuff.

You are pretty much left with cut vinyl plotters. Small ones can be had pretty cheap, and they do great work for RC but you are limited with the type of logo or art you can cut with it. It's tough to do small stuff, and scripts and spindly type are almost impossible, and you can forget about doing anything with any detail to it. I use a larger than most 15" Graphtec CE3000-40 for all of my vinyl work. I bought it as a side business opportunity, but the labor, materials and time needed to make it work are tough to provide. I use mine now as a really expensive toy.

There are machines that will print & cut (known in the industry as "print & cut" for some reason) decals, but the prices of the printers make it completely unreasonable for home and hobby usage. If you see some really cool graphics made and applied to racer's chargers, power supplies, Ott lights and soldering irons, that is the technology used to produce those pieces. Most guys I know that do it are using the machines of the companies they work at 9 to 5 and do it as a side business. The decals do have a tendency to be a bit thick or plasticy though, and again, don't translate well to RC cars.


These were all made on a vinyl plotter (except the Jconcept, protoform and detail decals)...

Can you do those Team Corally ones? I mite be intrested in a few. Can you do diffrent colours?

Will

[ApexSpeed]

Hi Will, yes, I have done Corally decals and in different colors, but currently, I am not taking orders for outside work. I can't catch up to the jobs I have in-house, I can't take on any more jobs, sorry.