Craftycomputerpaper.co.uk

[justin1985]

On 18/05/2020 at 20:30, njee20 said:

You can’t get white inkjet ink. Hence the discussion about Ghost, who have a near monopoly on white laser toner, allowing you to print white at home. OKI do similar, but I think all of their products are now obsolete, so tracking them down is harder. 
 

 

Damn! I always buy through their website (you get 15% off with code MDP15), but I didn’t actually see that listed. Oh well guess I’ll try the clear and see what happens!

 

Edit: it was on page 2, whilst clear and white are on page 1, that'll teach me to not actually look! Still, will give the clear a go, if I buy the blue I'll have almost spent as much on paper as I did on the printer today!

 

How does the Mr Decal Paper stock look in terms of thickness? The sheets I got from Ghost when I ordered the toner seem much thinner than the old CraftyComputerPaper sheet I still had left, so I was kind of resigned to it being worth getting new stocks from Ghost in future. 

 

Ghost's delivery charges for anywhere other than Germany are just ridiculous. I did try using the address of a good friend who lives in Austria, and getting him to re-send by normal post, or bring when he next visits, but even that was really quite expensive. So I had cooked up a plan to get some delivered to a colleague's office I was going to be visiting in Münster - but then lockdown happened!

 

Many German businesses have a cheaper rate for Austria and Switzerland compared to the rest of Europe, but with Ghost this was only a marginal difference. I don't see why they are so wedded to what is clearly a bad deal with Fedex, which is losing them business! I noticed they even had a page on their FAQs explaining that other businesses advertising "free delivery" pass on costs in other ways, but that doesn't explain why their rates so exorbitant. DM Toys, amongst others, manage to do very quick and efficient courier delivery to the UK for models for €9.99 with DHL and/or Deutsche Post, so it's clearly not impossible to get decent prices for overseas delivery from German couriers!

 

Justin

[njee20]

I actually emailed Ghost to clarify their order charges. They've reverted and said that yes, that is the basic rate, because they use FedEx, who do indeed appear to be exorbitant. I've suggested they look at DHL in future, as like you I've ordered loads from various German retailers and it's usually €5-10, not €50!

 

They've since come back and asked what I was thinking of ordering, because they'll see what they can do on the postage. Now... I've obviously procured everything I need elsewhere, but I'm not averse to ordering a spare cartridge if they seem to work (I'll need it at some point after all!), would anyone else be interested in anything!? Can obviously post within the UK easily. Particularly if anyone wants any foils or anything.

 

I've been happy with the thickness of Mr Decal Paper (markedly better than the stuff I had in stock before, unsure of it's provenance), these wagons use a combination of clear backed (for the Drax/Powering Tomorrow logos) and white backed (for the coloured swooshes and the data labels as a single decals.

 

Untitled by njee20, on Flickr

 

There is a slight edge on the white-backed ones, but I'm happy with the results. I do find I get a bit of bleed on the black, with a purple hazing, even after several coats of varnish prior to application. Hoping the laser deals with that.

Edited May 20, 2020 by njee20

[Albion47509]

Hi Meld, 

Sorry for late reply - not logged in for a while. 

I use various fonts found in word to get as close as possible to what I desire, then print them quite large on glossy paper. I then scan them back into Photoshop to enable gaps to be changed and everything to be shrunk down to to appropriate sizes - the important thing is to get all components to the correct size in relationship with each other. Obtaining the correct print out size can then be done in final scaling at the printing stage - I check everything first using normal black toner on normal paper.

 

On the subject of fonts - I haven't found any way of replicating rail alphabet in word, but a PDF of New Rail Alphabet is available on line - I printed this off and scanned various letters / numbers into Photoshop to create a template from which the components can be cloned - it takes a bit more care ensuring everything is aligned, but it doesn't take as long as you'd imagine. As I'm working in such a small scale many of the small differences in font are lost, so I can get away with some degree of inaccuracy - might not work in 7mm though!!

[Albion47509]

Thanks Lantavian, I'll bear that in mind, although I'm using a very old version of Photoshop, so all of the functions may not be available.

[simonmcp]

12 hours ago, Albion47509 said:

Thanks Lantavian, I'll bear that in mind, although I'm using a very old version of Photoshop, so all of the functions may not be available.

I think even Photoshop 2 had most of those options, if not something like Gimp will do similar.

[justin1985]

I just noticed that Mr Decal Paper seem to have bought the CraftyComputerPaper web address. I wonder if the businesses are connected? Their "about us" page mentions being a family business based in Leicestershire, and my old Crafty packet had an address in Leicester on it. They do seem to do the full range: https://mrdecalpaper.com/collections/mr-decal-paper-water-slide-transfer-film 

 

Has anyone actually tried these out? The old sheet I still have left from Crafty has a noticeably thicker film than the stuff I bought from Ghost (which they specify it as 7µm), so I'd love to find something as fine as the Ghost film with more reasonable shipping!

 

The other UK source I happened across is Craftovator, who seem to specialise in candle and perfume making, and have clear waterslide film : https://www.craftovator.co.uk/waterslide-decal-paper/clear-laser-waterslide-decal-paper/ 

 

I'm tempted to buy a sheet or two from each to test out, but I'd love to hear if anyone else has tried either?

 

Justin

 

 

Edited August 15, 2020 by justin1985

[ianmaccormac]

I have just been using the MrDecalPaper laser transfer paper and a ghost toner to produce Terrier names etc. This first image shows the white underlayer, printed with the Ghost toner. Then swap to the normal black toner and print the rest

 

as CMYK . There is a gloss Vallejo varnish under and between the layers but it does seem to be okay. This is a Dapol 7mm Terrier.  See also www.ianmaccormacmodels.com

 

 

Edited April 27, 2022 by ianmaccormac

[Albion47509]

Got an Email today from Ghost - They are currently offering free shipping on some items including Decal Foil using the discount code FREE21.

Just successfully completed an order for 15 A4 sheets of there excellent blue backed decal sheet for £41.

Certainly takes the sting out!!!

 

https://www.ghost-white-toner.com/?goal=0_eea6303cc1-9b98112862-222006897&mc_cid=9b98112862&mc_eid=56042ba68a

[Albion47509]

Ghost are offering free shipping again for January 2023 using promo code free4u.

I'd highly recommend trying their 7 micron blue backed waterslide clear decal foil (transfer paper) - especially with free shipping as the normal shipping fees are very expensive.

No connection - just a satisfied customer.

DECAL Foil, with blue background • Ghost Webshop (ghost-white-toner.com)

 

Edited January 4, 2023 by Albion47509
information clarified