Not standard gauge then?

[MickT]

Thanks Stephen, I'll have a look at that one. It's 4 times the price I normally pay every 5 years or so for a printer, but if it is 4 times better then it's worth considering!!

Mick

[Stephen Rainsbury]

The setup instructions were awful. 3 multi-language sheets in no specified order, one that says you have bought a printer, one what's in the box and one that shows you how to fit ink. 
The main manual was on the DVD but that didn't help, much.
Unfortunately when I thought it was ready it just sat there turning the motor on and off and with the ink light flashing.  I rang Epson and apparently it is supposed to do that for 5-15 minutes while the first lot of ink is drawn through by repeating the head cleaning sequence.
The scanner software had to be downloaded and then spent ages updating itself.
All in all it probably only took 45 minutes to get it up and running, but most of that was trying to work out what to do next.

[engerth399]

Have you tried a laser printer to make transfers?  It has the advantage, apparently, that no protective varnish is needed after printing.

[Hugh Norwood]

Have you tried a laser printer to make transfers?  It has the advantage, apparently, that no protective varnish is needed after printing.

I have used a laser printer to produce transfers and they are a lot less hassle to make - because as you say, there is no need to seal them to stop the ink running. The downside was that I used an office machine (I asked first!)

[Graeme Dunbar]

Yes, it is straight forward and really no different to printing on labels or overhead transparencies (who remembers them?  :D ). The main issue though is the density or opacity of the image if printing on a clear substrate/backing and using the transfer on a dark background.

My solution was to print on a white backing and print a border of the same colour as the surface the transfer was being placed on so I did not have to cut the transfer out exactly - however it was only on a black surface. I imagine with enough experimentation it might be possible to get a good match to other colours.

I've heard of people making effectively complete 'vinyls' for covering an entire surface such as a tank or cab side but not tried it as I think it might need the transfer softening fluid  and so on.

[Stephen Rainsbury]

Have you tried a laser printer to make transfers?  It has the advantage, apparently, that no protective varnish is needed after printing.

Yes, my last printer was a monochrome laser and I used to make decal for music projects and it worked really well.

Having said that I was often lettering on polished aluminium so used to spray the surface first with Games Workshop gloss 'Ardcote, then over spray afterwards with matt or silk. This gave a much harder wearing surface and went a long way to covering the decal edge.

The other issue was that it could only do black lettering.

[Stephen Rainsbury]

I've heard of people making effectively complete 'vinyls' for covering an entire surface such as a tank or cab side but not tried it as I think it might need the transfer softening fluid  and so on.

Yes, I have done guitar "stomp boxes" by painting the box white, sticking down a mainly playing card sized decal with gaps for the white to show though.
Blending this into the rest of the box took a bit of planning but normal worked well.
Mind you it was easier in the old days to use white Letraset.
I am planning to experiment with loco lining at some point  ;)

[Graeme Dunbar]

Another thing I've been meaning to try (it needs a completed and painted model to try it on  :) is to get a reasonable match between coloured surround on a transfer printed on a white carrier and then try 'feathering' in the painted colour by 'tickling' the edges. The brush work need only get close to, but not right up to the lettering

The theory is that the eye is not particularly good at detecting small changes in colour especially when next to strong contrasts such as might be found in lettering. I think it is why the cheap and crude colour printing of old comics worked. Often the registration of he colours was pretty poor compared to the black outlines but the reader had to look quite closely to see that the colouring was not within the lines.

Some paints my affect the transfer so it may only work with (say) water-based ones.

[Stephen Rainsbury]

Another thing I've been meaning to try (it needs a completed and painted model to try it on  :) is to get a reasonable match between coloured surround on a transfer printed on a white carrier and then try 'feathering' in the painted colour by 'tickling' the edges. The brush work need only get close to, but not right up to the lettering
...
Some paints my affect the transfer so it may only work with (say) water-based ones.

That would be a very useful trick.  On the stomp boxes (effects pedals) I would start by painting them black (or another dark colour from the Games Workshop range) print the decal to match, then mask off a spray a white area just smaller than the decal. Fix that in place, spray it with 'Ardcote and let that dry*. Next day I suspend a piece of card slightly smaller than the decal area above the decal using blue tack and then mist another coat of the spray over the whole thing so it blends the edges of the decal.
* The 'Ardcote is to stop the blue tack damaging the decal, and if there is a little overspray you can normally get it off with meths on a cotton bud.
Of course this is 3 or 4 times bigger than trying to do the same thing on a loco, and nobody really looks at them that closely.