bibliobob

I just bought some Rauler decals from him. Shipped quickly, and look great. I haven't applied them yet, but will post photos when she's done. Impressed so far, though.

Oldpeddaller

I've bought quite a few decals from Greg, both sets and singles and have to say I'm delighted with all of them. In my opinion the quality is superb, the instructions are clear and the accuracy is also good - especially since in many cases there is probably no "new" condition original to base the design on. In respect of coating the decal to protect it, I've never bothered but the instructions do explain how clear coat may be applied to avoid deterioration. As other have said, it's a fast, efficient service and reasonably priced if you consider the work involved in producing these.

dbakl

Right on my brotha; nobody is getting rich supplying these things, more a labor of love. At least they're available...

deez

I got a full set of Raleigh Super Course Decals from Greg and they look good. I havent put em on yet but he was really accommodating with the TT decals. He didn't have them listed on eBay yet but had just created them for another customer recently. He threw those in and only charged me 10 bux, plus I got some freebie stickers from him...a Reynolds 531 sticker and a Campagnolo sticker

took about a week to get it to NJ from Oz.

dudeona3V

Perhaps it depends on the finish. I used a set on my smoke chrome Austro Daimler and was not happy with the result. The outline of the decals were quite visible and there was a noticeable film against the chrome (not unlike Scotch tape). I ended up removing it and going nude, which actually looks quite elegant. Wish someone still did waterslides.

manofsteel

Doesn't BF member JRrestore do waterslides? I thought about having him do them for my Raleigh Superbe, but ordered vinyls instead, thinking they would be closer to the originals. I was concerned with the same thing you mentioned about the decals being too thick(noticeable film line). He just finished them so I'll be getting them soon. Anyone else order from JR?

retrofit

I ordered decals from JR for my C'dale restoration and was very pleased with the results:

before:
Attachment 82209

after:
Attachment 82210

JR's application process involved peeling off the back cover of decal, spraying the decal with a weak soapy solution, placing the decal, then squeegeeing (burnishing, really) the excess water from under the decal, then removing the front vinyl cover from the front of the decal.

I chose only to apply one clear coat over the decal, so the edges of the decal are visible; however, if desired, additional clear coats could be applied, combined with wet sanding, to eliminate the visible edges.

stan
.

dudeona3V

I checked with JR on doing my DL-1. He used to do waterslides, but it is in vinyl these days. General consensus seems to be he does nice work but is hard to get a hold of.

dudeona3V

Oh and btw: That C'dale does look great!

unterhausen

cool, he has Viner decals. Mine are really beat up.

retrofit

Thanks!

stan
.

23skidoo

JR did the decals for my Trek TX300 and they came out super with a coat of clear to protect them; I'm waiting to hear from him on a set for an '84 model 500 that is one of my current restoration projects and keeping in mind that good things are worth waiting for.

Galoot

I'd love to be able to get a set of decals for my mid-70's era Coppi Campionissimo, but he doesn't seem to have those. Nor does he have decals for a 1983 Trek 520. Oh well.

dbakl

Waterslides are pretty obsolete, though still possible... expensive though; requires color separated film positives to size, burn a screen for every color and silkscreening of each plus 2 clears. Makes no sense for one or two like vinyl.

There was an ALPS printer that could make pretty nice waterslides from computer files, obsolete now too!

redneckwes

Not obsolete as much as unavailable.

Vinyl is great for most things, but nearly useless for small scale modeling, IE: Aircraft and train models.

I do my bicycle decals on waterslide, thats my comfort zone.

dbakl

[QUOTE=redneckwes;8031798I do my bicycle decals on waterslide, thats my comfort zone.[/QUOTE]

Where do you get them printed? What's the minimum order? How's the pricing? How long does it take?

redneckwes

Off my printer onto Testors decal paper. Don't know how they will hold up long-term, but after allmost a year the Decals I did for my Motobecane look fine.

mkeller234

I got decals from Cyclomondo for my Raleigh, I think they look great and they were easy to apply. If you buy a few different sets make sure to ask him to combine the shipping charges. He was also a very pleasant in communication.

Here are some of my decals:

Lazyass

Does the guy at Cyclomondo make those decals? He has a set for my Rossin that I want, but there are no decals for the seat stays and fork legs with it.

iab

I think my dad has that printer (it is an Alps), he has heard he can make decals with it but has never done it. How does it work?

dbakl

Its a thermal transfer to special decal paper. Originally it would only print from Photoshop, later they came out with some RIP software. It works pretty well, and can print white, silver, gold and cmyk. I did quite a bit of experimentation with mine, here's what I learned:

They're tough to get fully opaque, helps to run 2 hits of silver under 3 hits of white before dropping the colors.

The colors will be screened unless you run them as a solid, one at a time, fine for making basic colors of most decals as they're transparent; so, if you put solid magenta over solid yellow, you get a pretty good red; cyan over yellow, green etc.

They're very fragile. Even wax will destroy them, but they're fine under Imron. I took to coating them with arylic medium, which is plastic which seems to work ok.

I haven't used mine in a couple of years...

xpacpal1x

Redneckwes,

Many thanks for your tip-off regarding the availability of a Testors decal kit! You may have solved a nagging problem for me.

First an observation…I too purchased a Columbus seat tube decal from Cyclomondo…like the other posters here, my experience with him was first rate and I didn’t mind paying for his service. As one noted, he’s making stickers that nobody else is making. So, to some extent, he’s helping to “keep the dream alive”.

However, I’ve always wanted to modify the Columbus seat tube he had in stock as it has the black border and I always wanted a red border to match the Columbus stickers on each side of the fork. I even communicated with him afterwards, and he didn’t seem to want to run a custom batch. For that reason, I (thankfully) delayed mounting it.

Now, with the revelation that Testors makes a decal kit, my idea is to scan the Cyclomondo Columbus sticker and simply change the black border to red using a PaintShop program.

My question for you is regarding your statement that the Testors sticker has lasted a year and a half. Have you clear coated it after application? Do you recommend clear coating? I suppose if I always have the means to make another one, it doesn’t matter how it holds up, but I’d like to learn more about this process. Trial and error is a frustrating way to learn, especially on an irreplaceable bicycle frame.

In terms of coating the Testors sticker with a clearcoat…please advise what clearcoat would work best for me. If possible, I’d like to use a brand of spray paint available at a local hardware or automotive store. I’d simply mask the immediate area around the sticker after it’s applied and apply the clear coat in that manner. I’m not so anal that if upon close inspection someone could see this clearcoat layer. I don’t know so much about paint...please advise if you have experience in this respect. It seems like an enamel from an automotive store would be most appropriate, right?

redneckwes

I did clear coat it and I believe it's probably the only way to protect the decals long term, I used Duplicolor clear coat before application of the decal and after it cured to seal it it. You might need to visit a hobby shop for a bottle of decal solvent also, like Microscales Micro-sol.

For a Columbus Decal you might need two decals to get the needed opacity, you might need to double layer.

It's not difficult, once you are on to it. But it's sure not as easy a process as peeling and sticking a plastic transfer.

TampaRaleigh

Bringing back a zombie thread to say that Greg at Cyclomondo did a FABULOUS job on decals for me. Only 11 days from my order until they arrived at my house from Australia. I ordered them the day that I dropped my frame off for powdercoating, and my frame still isn't done yet.

Pictures to follow shortly.

randyjawa 

I installed Cyclomondo decals (stickers) on my Peugeot PX10. An excellent and easy to use product that looks jus great, in my opinion...