# HO Scale Quality Custom Decals?



## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

Who can recommend a good quality HO scale custom decal maker with reasonable rates? I've seen some on eBay but their quality isn't all that good and their pricing is far from reasonable.

Do any of you do custom HO scale decal work at reasonable prices? It doesn't have to be a well known company or retailer to have good quality products and I'd much rather pay the local guy than these big corporate yahoos when I can. Thanks, Bo.

I'm looking for some nice HO scale decals for my new passenger train I'm putting together. It's just about finished and ready to roll as soon as my new wheel-sets arrive and it's now time to begin shopping for some nice decals if I can find them reasonably enough.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

Not a fan of decals, mostly because I do an awful job with them.
I prefer quality dry transfers, which I'm having trouble finding at reasonable prices as well.
Good luck in the search.


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## DonR (Oct 18, 2012)

Walther's has a very large selection of decals and
dry transfers. 

Don


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

There is a way to make your own, but you need the decal paper and a good printer.....here is a video on how to do that......


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

Hobo old buddy, you just reminded me that I believe I bought a Testors Decal Kit a while back when I bought a bunch of stuff at that local mom & pop hobby shop that went out of business here in town a few years back. I'm going to have to go thru my train closet and see if I can locate that kit cuz I don't recall selling it?

The only problem would be if I did locate it, my printer is on the blink at the moment so I would be right back at square one, lol. As for dry transfers? Yes, those are pretty expensive but then, what isn't expensive in this hobby anymore these days???


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

I have looked at both Rail Graphics (www.railgraphicsdecals.com) and Highball Graphics (www.highballgraphics.com), but ultimately decided both were too expensive.

A word of caution on the term "reasonable rates". If you think you're going to get a set of custom decals for anywhere near the $8-ish that a standard production set costs, then put down the crack pipe. Set-Up and artwork fees are going to run in the roughly $50-100 range, no matter what you do. It takes subsequent runs of a fair number of sheets to amortize these costs down to anywhere near that level.


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## lajrmdlr (Apr 25, 2014)

A few years back had Rail Graphics make some HO decals for Los Angeles Junction Ry ALCOs. Cost $40.00 for 25 sets. They did the lettering & numbers but they couldn't do zebra stripes. They did a very good job though!


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

CTValleyRR said:


> I have looked at both Rail Graphics (www.railgraphicsdecals.com) and Highball Graphics (www.highballgraphics.com), but ultimately decided both were too expensive.
> 
> A word of caution on the term "reasonable rates". If you think you're going to get a set of custom decals for anywhere near the $8-ish that a standard production set costs, then put down the crack pipe. Set-Up and artwork fees are going to run in the roughly $50-100 range, no matter what you do. It takes subsequent runs of a fair number of sheets to amortize these costs down to anywhere near that level.


You know, if they were printing life size decals or T-shirts or those vinyl signs that would be one thing but, to charge that kind of fee to set-up some lettering for non-graphical HO scale decals... those prices are insane!!!

I guess I'm going to have to get the printer going again and start playing with this Testors Decal Kit I bought. I did locate it in my train closet and it's everything needed to make complete model decals in several scales.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Texas Hi-Railer said:


> You know, if they were printing life size decals or T-shirts or those vinyl signs that would be one thing but, to charge that kind of fee to set-up some lettering for non-graphical HO scale decals... those prices are insane!!!
> 
> I guess I'm going to have to get the printer going again and start playing with this Testors Decal Kit I bought. I did locate it in my train closet and it's everything needed to make complete model decals in several scales.


I kind of thought you would react that way. The prices really aren't insane. The only fundamental difference between the life size decal and the sheet of HO ones is the amount of material and ink required to make them, which when all is said and done is a very small component of the cost. It's the development of the art, scaling, cleanup, and mapping to the printing equipment that takes the time, and therefore costs money.

That's why you have to be realistic about the pricing. Try putting a dollar value on your own time as you get your do-it-yourself decals set up, and I think you will find that those set-up fees aren't out of the ballpark.


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## LateStarter (Mar 12, 2016)

Some years (decades) ago, I saw an article on making your own Dry Transfers in an artist's magazine. It involved using ordinary waxed paper and photo negatives.
I wish I'd saved it.


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

CTValleyRR said:


> I kind of thought you would react that way. The prices really aren't insane. The only fundamental difference between the life size decal and the sheet of HO ones is the amount of material and ink required to make them, which when all is said and done is a very small component of the cost. It's the development of the art, scaling, cleanup, and mapping to the printing equipment that takes the time, and therefore costs money.
> 
> That's why you have to be realistic about the pricing. Try putting a dollar value on your own time as you get your do-it-yourself decals set up, and I think you will find that those set-up fees aren't out of the ballpark.


It's funny you would think that since just three comments above you too thought they were too expensive? When I said "at a reasonable price", I had a figure of $15 to $20 in mind for a single sheet of decals since we're not talking about any art graphics and just simple lettering. I use to make signs myself as a side-line so I know what's involved in setting things up.

With today's technology using high speed software programs, I don't see the set up for simple lettering all that involved and for someone to require a single customer (not a retailer) to order a minimum of 25 sheets of decals is simply unrealistic. It all boils down to the same old thing I've been complaining about for the past decade at least, and that's how greed has taken over in today's society.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

Apparently it is now possible to set up and create your own dry-transfer pages. Has anyone seen this company?

I only skimmed through it so far, but it appears that for printing black or white decals, you just need a black laser printer. If you want color decals, you'll need a color laser printer. Once you have your page printed out, you need their kit ($89), a laminator ($127), and a heat gun to complete the process of creating the dry-transfer decals. 

So it's a bit of money to get started, but I assume the hardware is the most expensive part. It would be nice to see a breakout on their site of cost per page because I'm sure there are supplies needed to make each sheet... however even if it cost $20 to make an 8.5x11 page full of the exact decals you need for your line, you would still be way ahead when compared to buying a bunch of individual sheets in varying font sizes to label each car.

Anyway, I thought it looked interesting. Considering I've already bought around $30 worth of decals just to get the labeling on my first car, and many of those sheets are are only good for two cars... yeah I can see this saving a lot of money for anyone needing a lot of decals.


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

Shdwdrgn said:


> Apparently it is now possible to set up and create your own dry-transfer pages. Has anyone seen this company?
> 
> I only skimmed through it so far, but it appears that for printing black or white decals, you just need a black laser printer. If you want color decals, you'll need a color laser printer. Once you have your page printed out, you need their kit ($89), a laminator ($127), and a heat gun to complete the process of creating the dry-transfer decals.
> 
> ...


Now this DOES look quite interesting indeed and definitely worth looking into if one was going to get into making & selling decals and dry transfers but for my "one-time" project it wouldn't be worth the investment to me. That is an interesting looking product though. Thanks for sharing this.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Texas Hi-Railer said:


> It's funny you would think that since just three comments above you too thought they were too expensive? When I said "at a reasonable price", I had a figure of $15 to $20 in mind for a single sheet of decals since we're not talking about any art graphics and just simple lettering. I use to make signs myself as a side-line so I know what's involved in setting things up.
> 
> With today's technology using high speed software programs, I don't see the set up for simple lettering all that involved and for someone to require a single customer (not a retailer) to order a minimum of 25 sheets of decals is simply unrealistic. It all boils down to the same old thing I've been complaining about for the past decade at least, and that's how greed has taken over in today's society.


I should have been clearer. "Too expensive" meant "more than I could afford to pay", not "unreasonably priced".

Call it greed if you like. It's a nature consequence of wage and price growth. These companies aren't making huge profits.


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## lajrmdlr (Apr 25, 2014)

Here's a decal set for the LAJ Ry from Rail Graphics. All the letters & numbers are white. The black text tells where they each go on the loco. Actually received 25 sets from Rail Graphics for $40.00.
Still have 18 left after doing No. 1 in the original scheme sans zebra stripes & selling five. Plan on doing the five S-2s (#1-5) & two S-4s (#5-6). Will also have No. 1-4 in pre zebra stripe versions. Have attached pix of my Bachmann #1 & the ALCO builders photo. Note there's no stack in the builders photo. The one on the Bachmann was an extension made by Shapeways as all the LAJ ALCOS had 3' stacks.


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

See, here's an example of what I was talking about. The man spent $40 for decals and they look great on the photos mounted on his locomotive but, they sent him 25 sets and he has 18 left. What's he going to do with all of those?

What I need done can be printed on one single sheet 8.5" x 11" which is a typical sheet of print paper and that's just not worth $40 to me, sorry. It looks like after reading the instructions that came with this Testors Decal Kit that once I get my printer back online I'm looking at approximately 15 minutes from beginning to end and for me to charge someone $40 for that I would feel like I was ripping someone off. That's just me.


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## lajrmdlr (Apr 25, 2014)

Texas Hi-Railer said:


> See, here's an example of what I was talking about. The man spent $40 for decals and they look great on the photos mounted on his locomotive but, they sent him 25 sets and he has 18 left. What's he going to do with all of those?QUOTE]
> 
> The LAJ had 7 ALCO switchers in 3 different paint schemes. Will use 12 sets to do 2 versions. So can sell the remainder or give them to my LAJ modeler friends.


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## CTValleyRR (Jul 26, 2014)

Texas Hi-Railer said:


> See, here's an example of what I was talking about. The man spent $40 for decals and they look great on the photos mounted on his locomotive but, they sent him 25 sets and he has 18 left. What's he going to do with all of those?
> 
> What I need done can be printed on one single sheet 8.5" x 11" which is a typical sheet of print paper and that's just not worth $40 to me, sorry. It looks like after reading the instructions that came with this Testors Decal Kit that once I get my printer back online I'm looking at approximately 15 minutes from beginning to end and for me to charge someone $40 for that I would feel like I was ripping someone off. That's just me[\Quote]
> 
> It may not be just you, but it displays a complete ignorance of how the printing industry works. Only you can say whether it's worth it to you, but to a small company trying to stay afloat, they charge what they need to to cover their production costs plus a small profit.


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

CTValleyRR said:


> Texas Hi-Railer said:
> 
> 
> > See, here's an example of what I was talking about. The man spent $40 for decals and they look great on the photos mounted on his locomotive but, they sent him 25 sets and he has 18 left. What's he going to do with all of those?
> ...


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

lajrmdlr said:


> Texas Hi-Railer said:
> 
> 
> > See, here's an example of what I was talking about. The man spent $40 for decals and they look great on the photos mounted on his locomotive but, they sent him 25 sets and he has 18 left. What's he going to do with all of those?QUOTE]
> ...


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## lajrmdlr (Apr 25, 2014)

Tex
You only need to give your views one time. After that you're just beating a dead horse.


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

lajrmdlr said:


> Tex
> You only need to give your views one time. After that you're just beating a dead horse.


Well I reckon that's how we do things here in the Lone Star State pard. Sometimes you gotta beat a few dead horses to get your point across. Some folks take longer than others to get the meaning.


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## lajrmdlr (Apr 25, 2014)

But it does get *VERY BORING!* especially when there's nothing constructive about reading the same old thing over & over again!


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

lajrmdlr said:


> But it does get *VERY BORING!* especially when there's nothing constructive about reading the same old thing over & over again!


Well I thought I made my point early on in the thread and was perfectly happy with the way things were going until a certain individual kept pushing the issue so I thought I would keep the momentum going. Is it the $40 that bugs everyone or is it the fact I don't like wasting my hard earned money on something I believe should be half that cost or less? 

You know, I simply asked if anyone knew anyone who had some reasonably priced custom decals and then I'm forced to listen to how the cost of living has gone up where folks don't make a decent profit (which we all know is bull) and how the printing business works or doesn't work and I didn't ask for all that crap!


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

i have used the testors set, worked out well for me ... printed yellow letters / numbers with a black background on white paper .. only used one sheet so far ...
cost me the kit cost plus 40 bucks for black and yellow cartridges for an old inkjet ...
the old carts were dried up, and the new ones are probably dried up as well, didn't use the printer for anything else
took me maybe an hour in total, grab fonts that i liked , type in what I needed, a few different sizes, and a couple of test prints on ordinary paper before the testors decal paper
not cheap, but i got what i wanted . spent more money on sillier stuff .. not counting bar or girlfriend


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## Texas Hi-Railer (Jan 28, 2015)

wvgca said:


> i have used the testors set, worked out well for me ... printed yellow letters / numbers with a black background on white paper .. only used one sheet so far ...
> cost me the kit cost plus 40 bucks for black and yellow cartridges for an old inkjet ...
> the old carts were dried up, and the new ones are probably dried up as well, didn't use the printer for anything else
> took me maybe an hour in total, grab fonts that i liked , type in what I needed, a few different sizes, and a couple of test prints on ordinary paper before the testors decal paper
> not cheap, but i got what i wanted . spent more money on sillier stuff .. not counting bar or girlfriend


Now the bar and girlfriend part was truly funny my friend. Been there, done that myself long ago. This is actually why I was looking for some reasonably priced decals because it's going to cost me around $70 to get the printer going again and I just don't use it enough to invest that kind of money.

The Testors kit I've had for a while and I'm thinking that was actually a Christmas gift from some years back but I don't want to swear to that. I want to say the late wife got me the Testors Decal Kit and her oldest daughter got me the Testors Decal Paper set that goes along with it. I have no idea the cost because the price tags have been removed which makes me think they were gifts because I never take the time to remove price tags from anything.

So when it's all said and done I'll probably shell out a hundred bucks or something and all of this was for not.


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## wvgca (Jan 21, 2013)

might be easier to find a friend with a decent inkjet or color laser, and buy him a beer or two later .. kind of wish I had thought of that then .. I used Krylon satin clear to seal the testors decal paper after it had dried an hour or two ...


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