# How do you make dry transfers?



## rreiffer (Jan 14, 2009)

I just received the train that is making it's way around the country and I noticed that several of you (Biblegrove and Jackson & Burke) have very nice logo's that were on the box car with no apparent decal's. I have tried using a couple of dry transfers (by Grafix - called Rub-Onz) and they seem very close but not a nice. Any ideas?


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

For dry transfers, your choices are a bit limited. The EPA decided the chemicals used in the process were particularly nasty, so very few (I found only two) print shops in the US make them anymore. I use a printer in Vancouver, called All-Out Graphics for mine. They're not cheap--C$25 for the negative, then I think C$40 per sheet for basic colors, an additional C$20 for custom colors. And that's just single-color artwork. Multiple colors are more. The trick is to cram as many cars onto a sheet (9 x 12) as possible, to bring your per-car cost down. For one-offs like locomotives, it's really not cost effective. 

There's a system that uses a laser printer and special film so you can produce them at home. http://www.pulsarprofx.com/ I've not used it myself, so I can't vouch for it. 

Later, 

K


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## Ted_Roy (Jan 2, 2008)

I have used this product with success. I used it to do the pinstriping and lettering on a Bachmann Open car. 

http://www.beldecal.com/rubon-paper.html 

The only advise is to follow the instructions closely and to "burn" a sheet understanding how the process works. But hte product works great and any film left can be hidden with any flat clear coat. And with all decals it works best ona gloss surface. 

Ted.


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## Bruce Chandler (Jan 2, 2008)

Rich,
That's just a decal that I applied...I get mine done by Stan Cedarleaf. I have always been happy with his work.


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## rreiffer (Jan 14, 2009)

Bruce, 

How do you get it so the underlayment does not show up?


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## Bruce Chandler (Jan 2, 2008)

Rich,
Typically, I first give the decal a good shiny base - usually Krylon satin, or even gloss. I put down the decal and apply Solvaset and let it dry. I will sometimes take a sharp knife and cut along the wood siding lines for any parts that did not settle in and re-apply the Solvaset. Finally, a coat of flat on top.










Some folks use Future - an acrylic floor wax (http://www.ndrr.com/rmr_faq/Models/Future-Floor-Wax.htm) - that's what I used on this because I didn't want to be spraying the car.


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Rich... Just sent you a PM...


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## rreiffer (Jan 14, 2009)

All,

It appears that most of the dry transfers include a medium on which they base the transfer. I create one using "Rub-onz" by Grafix. I found mine at a local art supply but I also found them at a scapbooking location. It is a system that allows you to create a dry transfer just by printing it on your local ink jet printer. Mine seemed to turn out very nice and the background disappeared after I put a mat coat on top of it. The Grafix solution is very cheap (about $8 for 4 - 8 1/2 X 11 sheets and $16 for 10) which includes the printing medium and the sticky adhesive film.

This might be a way of saving big $$ on making them. For the few dollars it is definately worth the test.

One thing to note. READ THE DIRECTIONS! You must print them in reverse. In order to do that I create my original in MS Word (that's where the text wrap is available) and then I use a screen capture program (called snagit) that captures an area of my screen and I save it as a GIF (you must use GIF as JPEG's do not support tranparency). I then use Adobe Photoshop (or any similar graphics package would work) to do two things, 1) reverse the image and 2) I use the "magic eraser" to set all white background (where I would like the background to be seen) to transparent.  In this way when you print you do not print "white". All in all it took me about two hours the first time (which included deleoping the logo and putting it on the first time). By the way, my Adobe is an OLD version (6.0) but it still works great! You can pick them up on eBay for around $30-$50. 

I can now make these dry transfers in about 10 minutes and have them ready to apply. (On the MLS car that is going around I even added our signatures to the dry transfer). 

It takes some serious rubbing to make sure it applies correctly. Be patient and it will come out clean.


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Rich, if I'm reading things correctly, you're still limited to the colors of the printer, though, so no white, gold, or silver lettering. Is that the case? 

Later, 

K


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## rreiffer (Jan 14, 2009)

K, 

If your printer can print it, you can create the dry transfer. My logo has white in it and that came out fine. I have not tried gold or silver yet but I do not see why they could not. They say to set your printer like it is printing on photo paper so I guess if you can take a picture of a pile of gold (dont' I wish I had that!) and then print out a likeness you should be able to print those colors.


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## rreiffer (Jan 14, 2009)

K, 

One more thing, if you are looking for that "reflective" gold or silver look, you are right, it will not do that (neither does a picture).


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Printers can't "print" white, you get white by not printing anything on white paper. That would indicate to me that the carrier in this is white, but from what I'm seeing from the examples, it doesn't look to be the case. Can you post a photo of your logo on a train? I'm confuzzed. (And know better than to send my wife to the craft store to investigate for me...) 

Later, 

K


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## rreiffer (Jan 14, 2009)

K, 
You know, I never thought about that. I went and printed one and sure enough, mine is NOT white but clear in that area. I understand that there are printers that can print white. I tried printing on a color sheet and you were right, the colors rely on the background being white in order to print correctly. I will test on the transfer sheet to see what comes out as far as the grey's etc. Kind of looks like I would need to prepaint the area white under neath in order to have it come out right.


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