Steadfast Models - digitally designed waterslide decals

[Steadfast]

Hi everyone.

First of all, I'll start by saying thanks to Andy York for allowing me to start this thread.

Welcome to Steadfast Models, a new name aiming to deliver something a little different in the model railway world. To begin with, I’ll be introducing a small range of digitally designed, professionally printed decals for customising ready to run models.

I’m not aiming to target the big players already operating in this market. I simply plan to market things I want to model myself, as once I’ve drawn the artwork up for myself it’s easy to get more produced to sell to other people with similar interests.

Of course there’s the assumption that others have similar interests…

The first product I have designed and would like to offer to the world are a set of blanking patches to cover the Cemex logos on the recently released Revolution Trains N scale HOA hoppers. As well as this, there is graffiti for one of the wagons. Both the patches and graffiti are designed using photos of the actual wagons as reference, including variations between each wagon that are present on the prototype.

 

More details can be found on my website at https://steadfastmodels.wordpress.com/

The Cemex blanking patches are split into three packs, split the same as the Revolution Trains models so if you haven't ordered every wagon from them, you don't need to order decals you don't need. Additionally, if you all seven models, you can save money by ordering the bumper pack that contains all seven wagons worth of blanking patches.

Logo blanking packs available are:

N-HOA1 £2 (320000- suits Revolution Single Wagon)

N-HOA2 £5 (320002, 320037, 320055 – suits Revolution Triple Pack A)

N-HOA3 £5 (320001, 320018, 320067- suits Revolution Triple Pack B)

N-HOABP1 £10 (Bumper pack, contains all of N-HOA1, N-HOA2 and N-HOA3)

 

Graffiti packs are sold separately:

N-HOAGR067 £3 (320067 – graffiti decals for both sides).

 

UK Postage and packing on all orders £1.50.

 

Orders can be placed either by Private Message on RMweb, the contact me page of my website. I'm reluctant to post it here due to spam etc, but I'm also happy to accept orders by email, if you have my email address already. If ordering by PM, please include your email address.

 

*** If you have already emailed me before 5th April 2020 regarding these decals, I will be in touch. No need to put in a second order.***

 

As this is my first item, I am wanting to gauge interest before I place the order with the printers. Please note, this is not a crowd funded product, I am just being cautious with order numbers so I don't have loads of decals I can't sell!

 

How the order system works:

 

1) Use the contact form on the website, PM on RMweb or email to send me a message stating which products you require and your preferred method of payment.

2) I will reply to confirm receipt of your order

3) Once the decals are in production I will send a second message with payment instructions.

4) Sit back, relax and wait for the postman!

 

PayPal, Bank Transfers and Cheque all accepted. Cash by prior arrangement only.

 

This is a pre order to build up sufficient orders to send for a print run and stock should be available 3 – 4 weeks from when orders for this initial run close. I anticipate closing orders for the initial run late April 2020. Times may fluctuate slightly due to circumstances beyond my control but I will keep all customers up to speed on orders and any potential delays.

 

Future products I have pencilled in and have begun researching include graffiti packs for the forthcoming Farish HKA hoppers, Farish and NGS RMC hoppers, Revolution Mendip HOAs as well as several decal packs for kit and 3D print wagons. Again I'd like to reiterate, these are all projects that I am doing for myself and am offering them to the wider community. Progress may not always be rapid due to the day job, but each product is designed with care, love and an eye for the details. Any questions, suggestions or other thoughts, please leave a comment below!

 

I am starting small and not promoting things too heavily, but if you have any friends who are not on RMweb and think they would be interested, please do direct them to the site and feel free to spread the word on other forums, social media etc.

 

All the best

 

Jo

Edited July 1, 2022 by Steadfast

[Jack374]

All the best with this venture Jo, good on you for marketing products which others may find useful too.

 

I wish you every success!

 

Jack.

[Steadfast]

Thanks Jack, and everyone who has posted a like etc. Once the artwork is drawn it's easy to rescale, so if suitable products appear in other scales I may look into catering for these too.

Attached below I've included sample artwork of both the branding blanking patches and the graffiti that is currently being offered.

As mentioned previously, the blanking patches are divided into three sets, but are available as a complete set at a discount in the Bumper Pack.

 

I'll also included the instructions / info pack for these decals here.

 

 

If anyone is umming and ahhing about these decals, hopefully this extra info helps convince you it's a good thing 

 

Jo

[Revolution Ben]

 

Hi Jo,

 

Great job - I will email you.

 

Cheers

 

Ben A.

[Steadfast]

Thanks Ben. All sorted.

 

Jo

[Steadfast]

Morning!

A massive thanks to everyone who has preordered to give me the confidence in numbers to press ahead with ordering from the printers.

I'll be finalising numbers and sending invoices very shortly, from that point (Coronavirus allowing) it should be about 3 weeks until I have the decals from the printers. 

A small quantity will be available from stock, but if you'd like to be among the first then there's still time to get in touch and express your interest. There's no commitment to buy until you have paid.

 

I have several other designs in the works, the next items ready should, all being well, be a graffiti pack for the EWS HOAs.

 

Jo

[Steadfast]

Hi guys.

Here's a quick preview of what's in the works.

First up, the aforementioned EWS HOA graffiti. This is a first draft, the artwork will be sent for a test print at the same time as the production batch of Cemex blanking patches. If I'm happy with this, I'll get some ordered up and list them for sale. 320027 (left hand brake wheel) is in two parts, the lower strip is for the solebar.

 

Closer to production, and something I forgot to mention on my previous post, the production order for the Cemex blanking decals will also include a small quantity of the following two items.

 

These are a set of decals for Inspection Saloon 975025 'Caroline' after it lost its high level brake pipes (suitable for the Shapeways 3D printed model) and a set of decals to detail the interior of the Graham Farish class 60. Each set provides enough to do three locos.

You may be reading this thinking "what's the point?", but the grey and red is something I've painted on my previous class 60s and really does lift the model, as the red stands out through the windscreens. The difference is, these decals take seconds to apply! I'll get a photo of a 60 equipped with decals, to show the effect, as soon as I can get the interior into one of my finished locos.

Once they're ready to order I'll get these listed on the website for sale.

All the best

 

Jo

Edited April 25, 2020 by Steadfast

[njee20]

Great job Jo, very well thought out being wagon specific! Look forward to watching the range expand, I didn't buy any Cemex HOAs, but would definitely be interested in similar products in future.

[Steadfast]

Evening njee20,

Cheers for the interest, hopefully the future developments will tickle your fancy!

I found a finished 60 lurking in a box earlier and dropped the decalled cab interior in.

It definitely makes I difference, I hope everyone agrees!

It should be roughly a month until I get a small quantity of both the Caroline and class 60 decals into stock.

 

Jo

[Steadfast]

A quick one before I head off to work.

 

Project update: The HOA Cemex logo blanking decals and associated graffiti decals are getting close to production.

 

Thursday 30th April will be the last day to pre order these decals. Order numbers for this initial batch will be based on how many pre orders have been received at 18.00 UK time Thursday 30th April. A small number of extra sets will be ordered, but once these are sold out it will be necessary to wait for a second run from the printers.

 

Thank you to all the people who have ordered so far, invoices will be sent out for payment in your chosen method on Thursday evening or Friday morning. Covid-19 permitting, delivery should be around 3 weeks after this.

 

Jo

[Steadfast]

Afternoon everyone!

Six o'clock is fast approaching. Once that has passed, I'll get invoices sent either this evening, or more likely tomorrow, by your chosen payment method.

A massive thank you to everyone who has got involved so far, for supporting this new venture and having the faith in my product! This has given me the numbers to press ahead so I know how many to order.

There will be a very small number of spare sets available if you want some but miss the 18.00 deadline, as I'll be producing a small handful of extra sets, but these will be strictly first come first served. 

Thanks again everyone

 

Jo

[Steadfast]

Hi everyone.

The good news is that the decals for Caroline and the class 60 interiors are nearly with me (and the really good news is that the CEMEX bits are in the same shipment!) so here's a taster of what's coming in the Caroline pack. You've already seen the artwork for this pack, so none of this should come as a great surprise, but here's the artwork for the placement guide that will come with the decals. For every pack (unless they're really simple) I will aim to produce one of these, or something similar. 

The full colour info sheets will be on the website, those included with your order will be black and white, but exactly the same content. 

 

I have a small stock of the Caroline and Class 60 packs still available, these will be despatched at the same time as the CEMEX packs. Both packs are £2.50 each. Caroline will do one model, plus spares. The class 60 pack will do three locos.

If you would like to order either of these, please drop me a line! 

All the best

 

Jo

Edited May 9, 2020 by Steadfast

[Steadfast]

Hi all,

First up, a massive thank you to everyone who has been in touch, either purchasing products, suggesting future ideas or just being generally interested. It's all appreciated! A thank you too to the guys at Revolution for the mentions, really very kind and has been a fantastic boost.

I have put a new blog post up here detailing some new and forthcoming releases.

The short of it is: 

Additional Cemex blanking packs available to order, these are printed to order. £5 per three wagon pack plus postage, two packs available, N-HOA4 and N-HOA5.

Cheeky comment, it might also help Ben and Mike decide on running numbers if they do a second run of wagons 

 

Infrastructure wagon markings pack. Nearly 60 decals to apply to Falcons, Coalfish, Lobsters etc.  Small quantity in stock early July, £5 per pack plus postage. N-Misc001

A pack of graffiti and more specific site markings for the Dapol JNA Falcon model. Covers five wagons, includes an instruction sheet highlighting placement and also patches of yellow to be painted before the decals go on. Small quantity in stock early July, £5 per pack plus postage. N-JNAGR001

These Falcons that I have done show a combination of the two packs used together. As usual, all decals are traced from photographs of the real thing.

 

Finally, I will be putting together a pack for HTA coal hoppers. This will include multiple graffiti decals, numbers for those wagons, as well as lots of the green squares that are applied to one end of the wagons. These are to signify modified brakes and have been applied to all wagons since 2006 (perhaps earlier, but that's the oldest I've seen). The pack contents are subject to change, this picture of my HTAs is to provide a taster. For example, I doubt Garfield will make the cut, as it is a one piece decal and a horrific one to apply! 

 

More updates to come soon.

If you want to be kept up to speed on news and posts, you can subscribe to the blog at the bottom of the page on https://steadfastmodels.wordpress.com/blog-2/ . This will notify you of a new post being made and send it out in an email, newsletter style, pictures and all!

 

Jo

 

[jonas]

Jo, these look stunning - congratulations on putting together what looks to be a quality catalogue of useful transfers! Can’t wait to see what you come up with next.

[Steadfast]

Cheers Steve, getting there a step at a time. My trouble is I keep spotting new inspirations!

 

Jo

[Steadfast]

The Falcon packs are in stock now! Those who have ordered they are packed and will be dispatched tomorrow, there's a follow on of extra stock due in a week or so. I still have a small stock of the engineer's wagon markings available in stock to buy now, pack N-Misc001.

 

When the weather cheers up I'll get some photos of the graffiti on my EWS HOAs. I'm happy with the test prints so will work to get this into a retail ready pack soon. One pack will do all the EWS HOAs Revolution have released, the graffiti isn't as easy to split up as the Cemex blanking patches.

 

Jo

Edited July 8, 2020 by Steadfast

[Steadfast]

Evening everyone from a hot and sticky BS30!

Something I've been fiddling about with lately with a few test iterations are the graffiti decals for the EWS HOAs, to accompany the earlier Cemex wagon packs. The good news is, they are finally ready to order! I will give people a few weeks to show an interest by getting in touch, either via the website Contact Me page or by email. Like the Cemex packs, once I send the decals to the printers, I'll be in touch with payment requests. Until this point, there is no obligation to commit. The pack of decals for the six wagons (two of which cover both sides) is £10 plus postage.

For the full details, please click here to go to the product page: https://steadfastmodels.wordpress.com/n-1148-ews-hoa-graffiti-decals/

 

If you want to be kept up to date on all product developments, please visit the blog section of my site here: https://steadfastmodels.wordpress.com/blog-2  

To be fully up to speed on the production schedule of this, and any other upcoming products, please consider scrolling to the bottom of the blog and clicking the ‘Follow’ option. You’ll have two options, one that will email you automatically when a new post appears, and a second (really cool I think!) that sends you the entire blog post direct to your inbox. This is all managed by WordPress, so your data is safe and secure.

 

That's all for now folks!

 

Jo

Edited August 11, 2020 by Steadfast

[Steadfast]

Hi everyone,

I have put together a quick insight into what is involved in the production of a set of decals. Hopefully this is of interest if you've ever wondered how it's done. The research and design are the time consuming phases, but seeing the results when a new sheet arrives from the printers is the most exciting part!

I have been spending a lot of time lately working on custom projects for a few people. There's not a section on the website for this service yet, but it will be added in due course as time allows. Lead times can vary and are weeks rather than days, but the attention to detail, care and effort put in is rewarded in the results, hopefully you will agree. If you're interested in some custom decals, drop me a message and I may be able to help - prices vary depending on size and complexity, but start from just £5 plus postage.

All the best

 

Jo

Edited October 2, 2020 by Steadfast

[Steadfast]

I thought I'd post this as an example of real Vs reality. Excuse the pixelation, I've literally just taken a pic of the screen on my phone.

This is a personal project for some 3D printed JHAs I obtained from @njee20here on RMweb. There's still a few details to add, such as the cobweb, and some tweaking but hopefully you can see where it's going.

Although this is a personal project, if anyone else has some wagons from Nick and wants either the graffiti or numbers and solebar details, send me a message and I can always get some extra sets printed.

Any comments or questions, please do fire away and I'll do my best to answer!

 

Jo

[njee20]

Wow, Jo! That looks awesome. Definitely look forward to some of those!

[Steadfast]

Thanks Nick, I reckon I'm a out 50% through the JHAs, in between custom bits and pieces for people, a couple of more "mainstream" ideas and the day job! 

Something I was pondering the other day is a pack to provide the scrapes and scratches that are such a distinctive part of the weathering in the Network Rail IOA 'Mussel' wagons.

As the ribs don't have the scratches, some decals that neatly fill the gaps could be worth doing. Anyone interested, or any ideas? This is something that could easily be scaled to suit the 4mm model too if the demand is there.

 

Jo

[Steadfast]

Hi guys,

Another update, there's more details on the blog (link at the end of the post), but here's a brief run through.

First up, the EWS HOA graffiti announced previously is available to order here. There's also a standalone extra graffiti pack for the HOA in the works, I'll post a picture and more details once I've had a play with the test decal.

 

Also available to order are the HTA graffiti and accompanying 'green squares' packs, which can be found here

 

I've recently introduced a pack for Autoballaster wagons, to easily blank out the Railtrack branding on the N Gauge Society and Graham Farish HQA and JJA wagons. More detail here

The decals are sized to take a loco sized (roughly 7mm wide) pre 2009 Network Rail logo, available from various decal suppliers. There are two shades of blue, as the NGS and Farish wagons use different shades. Let me know when ordering which type you need and the decals will be printed to give a contrast from the model's base shade.  Autoballaster graffiti is at the research stage.

 

I have also started to offer a custom decal service, I have not yet finished to we page for this yet but will provide a link when I do. If you have something needing decals and you're struggling to source them, please drop me a line either on here, or to steadfastmodels@outlook.com

 

I've had the test prints back of the 4mm scale HTA and JNA Falcon pieces, so far so good, once I've fully checked them and worked out the packs I'll post an update. These will encompass graffiti for the HTA and both graffiti and the engineer's marking packs for the JNAs.

 

The last thing before I go, if you are on Instagram why not head over and take a look at the Steadfast Models page. It can found at instagram.com/steadfastmodels/

 

The full update on the blog can be found here: https://steadfastmodels.wordpress.com/2020/11/18/november-2020-update/ and if you'd like to be kept up to date at the bottom there is an option to subscribe to the blog. There are two options, one notifies you of updates, the second (rather cleverly I think!) sends you the blog post as an email, pictures and all!

 

Cheers

 

Jo

 

Edited November 18, 2020 by Steadfast

[Steadfast]

Hi 4mm-ers!

I've posted an update over at

instagram.com/steadfastmodels

showing progress on the testing of the enlarged decals. Basically - I'm happy!

The top one looks crinkly, but that's textures on the wood it's been applied to, including some Tamiya masking tape showing how the decals bed down once dry. The lower has poor print quality and washed out colours due to a printing issues, but shows the decal on a smooth surface.

I'll get updating the packs and work out a price then get in touch with the people who have expressed interest already. If you like them, please get in touch at steadfastmodels@outlook.com

Here's some reminders what the packs include (N scale artwork shown)

HTA graffiti

JNA Graffiti

Engineer's markings

 

Jo

Edited December 10, 2020 by Steadfast

[Steadfast]

Hello people who model bigger trains than I!

The first 4mm packs are now available to order!

Please note, due to the physical size of the HTA graffiti, I've had to split it over two packs, Part A and Part B. This also means if you're only modelling a few wagons then you can order what suits you best. 

4-JNAGR001 £6.50

4-JNAMisc001 £7.50

4-HTAGR001a £11.00

4-HTAGR001b £11.00

4-HTAGR001 (both packs A and B - eight wagons) £20.00

 

Please let me know if you would be interested in ordering any decals, I will be submitting an order to the printers in a few days time. When I submit the order, I will be in touch for payment (PayPal or bank transfer preferred) and lead time is generally around a month, Covid and Brexit allowing.

Any questions please get in touch!

 

My apologies for these "simple" upscalings taking longer than I initially expected - additional research and the day job both slowing things down a bit!

 

Finally - a huge thank you to those of you who have helped me in getting the 4mm decals sized, as there are some subtle differences between the N and 4mm model proportions.

 

Thanks for your support

 

Jo

[Steadfast]

Hi all,

It's been a bit quiet for a bit, keeping stock up and drawing up a few new designs.

The good news is some packs are available from stock now - HTA, JNA and HOA I've got a few of each in.

Going back in time and out of my comfort zone now, for a work in progress. Thanks to a customer request, I've got a range of packs for BR era BBA decals in development. Designed for the Chivers kit, these cover the wagons from introduction in the 1970s to the 1990s. There will be six packs, each covering five wagons. Highlights include the prototype wagon, several styles for BR brown / bauxite, several styles for BR Railfreight and a couple of Trainload Metals Sector wagons too. I've also got a smaller pack covering 21st century BBAs for my own modelling period, but these are a bit further behind  in development.

Those who've been following the 3D printed vehicles thread in the Road Vehicles section will see I'm also in the process of developing some decals for the unpainted printed trucks from Osborn's Models. I'd say the first test decals are about 85% there - once I'm happy with them I'll be listing them for sale. I'm also looking at a similar set for repainting Oxford Diecast models. 

The other night at work I managed to photograph virtually a whole set of HIAs, so hopefully if I can get my mitts on some Dapol HIAs that'll be a product for the future, as I'd like a rake.

 

Jo

Edited March 24, 2021 by Steadfast