Railtec Transfers

[Silverfox17]

Some more TT scale 3D numberplates, thanks Steve.

[Silverfox17]

Isambard Kingdom Brunel finished with Railtec 3D transfers for cabside and smokebox numbers, Kings X nameplates, proper copper chimney and metal bogie and tender wheels fitted.

[D6775]

Latest off the WB, this can't be more than six months out of the Paint Shops. DB's Freight Belongs On Rail HRA Wagon. Steve's excellent decal's as usual, lots & lots of tiny details were bad enough on this let alone the 4mm one I am doing along side. Top job as always Steve.

 

 

 

[Enterprisingwestern]

On 27/12/2021 at 11:39, railtec-models said:

On the topic of 3d plates, here are some of the more ornate examples that people have asked for over the past few months. Quite a cruel close-up and even I have utmost difficulty trying to photo the 3d bits in such a way that they appear on camera as they do to the naked eye (& I haven't particularly succeeded here either), but I'm pretty happy with how these have just come out - to the naked eye at least!

 

 

Disclaimer - embellishments such as crests and plaques can, in some cases, take a huge amount of design work and testing to get looking right in each scale - up to several hours each in some cases - at least if you want them to look authentic rather than an approximation or a blob of colour that might look "ok at a distance". So whilst I'm happy to continue to try to help as many people as I possibly can, it won't always be possible to consider every unique embellishment either due to lack of suitably detailed images or lack of resource, so please just bear that in mind. Other 3d items such as bog standard 3d plates (i.e. plates like "The Commonwealth Spirit"), 3d shed codes, 3d smokeboxes and 3d GWR cabside plates of your choice all continue to be available as templates for those already exist.

 

Hope you're all enjoying a peaceful Christmas.

 

Are carriage door bumpstops do-able via this method Steve?

 

Mike.

[Robert Shrives]

9 hours ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

 

Are carriage door bumpstops do-able via this method Steve?

 

Mike.

Check out Archer rivet transfers from DCC supplies.

Robert   

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

2 hours ago, Robert Shrives said:

Check out Archer rivet transfers from DCC supplies.

Robert   

 

 

Like these Robert, which sheet?

 

Mike.

[Robert Shrives]

https://www.dccsupplies.com/shop/ar88127-rivets-hopper-car/

 

Was what I had in mind - sorry to hijack thread.. 

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Whilst hijacking!.

Has anyone got a dimensioned drawing of a bump stop, or a photo of one with a tape measure adjacent?

Failing that, if anyone is going to be near one this weekend, any chance of some dimensioned pics/drawings?

 

TIA.

 

Mike.

[Winter123]

Advice required please. Novice transfer person here......

 

I recently applied a railtec transfer to my Hornby Colas Class 60. Idiotically I used Humbrol Gloss Enamel instead of Clear Gloss which of course is a treacle colour. I wrongly assumed it would dry clear. The transfer has gone on lovely but has discoloured.

 

Is there any way I can remove the transfer AND the gloss area underneath without damaging the paintwork of the loco underneath that. I haven't sprayed with matt varnish yet as to further avoid any cock ups!

 

Obviously I'd have to then re-order the transfer and reapply. If this is too difficult, I can get away with imagining the sun has faded the livery as it doesn't look disastrous from a distance.

 

Any help experts out there can impart would be greatly received. Thanks

[Hal Nail]

8 hours ago, Winter123 said:

Advice required please. Novice transfer person here......

 

I recently applied a railtec transfer to my Hornby Colas Class 60. Idiotically I used Humbrol Gloss Enamel instead of Clear Gloss which of course is a treacle colour. I wrongly assumed it would dry clear. The transfer has gone on lovely but has discoloured.

 

Is there any way I can remove the transfer AND the gloss area underneath without damaging the paintwork of the loco underneath that. I haven't sprayed with matt varnish yet as to further avoid any cock ups!

 

Obviously I'd have to then re-order the transfer and reapply. If this is too difficult, I can get away with imagining the sun has faded the livery as it doesn't look disastrous from a distance.

 

Any help experts out there can impart would be greatly received. Thanks

You can actually rework enamels with thinners or IPA used sparingly on a bit of tissue or a cotton bud. Ultra-fine wet and dry, say 2000 grade (which feels smooth but obviously isnt), used wet would also gently work away the varnished area but none of these are foolproof and the action will inevitably polish the area even if it doesn't damage the paintwork.

Edited February 14, 2022 by Hal Nail

[rob D2]

Carefully use enamel thinners , or T cut which will take a while.

[Hal Nail]

At risk of stating the obvious, varnish something else and try whatever method you decide on that first!

[murphaph]

Is the railtecmodels(ät)gmail.com email address actually working? I have sent a couple of emails that have gone unanswered. The first one wasn't that important and was several months ago but I have a more important query this time and have had no response to a mail sent a couple of days ago so I'm wondering do I have a current email address. If @railtec-models could confirm that would be great. Or an answer here would also suffice.  I'm wondering two things:

1) Any idea if/when the NIR 111 class transfer will be available again? That's this guy: https://www.railtec-models.com/showitem.php?id=1067

2) Said transfer appears not to include the straight 113 set of numbers, only the later 8113 (with the bolder, more closely spaced font which prevents me just trimming the leading '8'). Would it be possible to update the artwork before the next run to include these?

3) Would it be possible to update the artwork to include the small GM/EMD builder's plate?

 

Edit: ok that was three things lol.

 

Appreciate any feedback,

 

Phil.

Edited February 17, 2022 by murphaph

[Silverfox17]

57 minutes ago, murphaph said:

Is the railtecmodels(ät)gmail.com email address actually working? I have sent a couple of emails that have gone unanswered. The first one wasn't that important and was several months ago but I have a more important query this time and have had no response to a mail sent a couple of days ago so I'm wondering do I have a current email address. If @railtec-models could confirm that would be great. Or an answer here would also suffice.  I'm wondering two things:

1) Any idea if/when the NIR 111 class transfer will be available again? That's this guy: https://www.railtec-models.com/showitem.php?id=1067

2) Said transfer appears not to include the straight 113 set of numbers, only the later 8113 (with the bolder, more closely spaced font which prevents me just trimming the leading '8'). Would it be possible to update the artwork before the next run to include these?

3) Would it be possible to update the artwork to include the small GM/EMD builder's plate?

 

Appreciate any feedback,

 

Phil.

This is the email I use and got a reply about an hour later, Steve is very good at replying.

 

Railtec Transfers <railtecmodels@gmail.com>

 

Garry

[murphaph]

Thanks Garry. Yeah my mails seem to be landing in Steve's spam folder or something. That's the email I have been using. @railtec-models Steve maybe you could check your spam for an email from murphaph@xxxx. Cheers!

[railtec-models]

51 minutes ago, murphaph said:

Thanks Garry. Yeah my mails seem to be landing in Steve's spam folder or something. That's the email I have been using. @railtec-models Steve maybe you could check your spam for an email from murphaph@xxxx. Cheers!

 

Hi Phil, I've just looked and can see one from 48hrs ago, so please bear with me.

 

Whilst here it's probably a useful juncture at which to reiterate and help raise awareness of some of the constraints of running just one hugely niche supplier which helps the hobby grow (because I get that unless you've done it, it's probably not obvious). Other niche suppliers may recognise some elements of this but I absolutely can't speak on others' behalves. The aim is simply to share knowledge and help folks better understand their hobby from the other side of the table perspective, hopefully to ultimately help them, because although this may only be "toy trains", small scale and a topic considered by some as "a bit geeky", many suppliers who support the hobby still require the same amount of applied skill, education, dedication and craftsmanship as is required in other industries.

 

It's true that I get an immense number of emails, forum tags/IMs (here, Instagram, FB, other forums), SMS, Whatsapps, phone calls and sometimes even knocks at the door - which is humbling, because it means there's demand for what I create. The inevitable flip side is that it's often a huge challenge trying to keep on top of just all the inbound comms, as much as it pains me to close the laptop lid at 2am and still not had opportunity to get to everything. That doesn't sit comfortably with me but, I do as much as I physically can; I love to create and I love to help people enjoy their hobby (not jobby, thanks not-so-fat-fingers). So how does that happen and why might someone not get a response to their email when they expect?

 

1. What I myself didn't realise when I embarked on Railtec - which began purely as a hobby - was the sheer enormity in breadth and depth of subject matter. Obvious in hindsight but if you stop and think about the variety of rolling stock and markings on them over the last 150 years, even with some pretty intense train-spotter-esque knowledge, you're going to have to put in some hard graft to figure out all the areas you don't know.

 

2. The very nature of what Railtec does means reproducing very, very specific detail - much of which before t'interweb can be pretty hard-going to research. Often people send grainy b/w images scanned from a book taken at a 3/4 angle and ask me to recreate the markings (much of which you can't even see). The kicker is - having to recreate something very specific is often more challenging than creating something from scratch, because people already have a reference point and expect something to look a very particular way and right in context on the model. And you'd be surprised how much of the railway is non-standard, even within the same loco livery and operator. One recent example is all that small bodyside detail on 60s (fuel tank drain, screen wash filler etc). There are at least 7 different variants, and they even vary from one (e.g.) GBRf 60 to another when you would probably expect them all to follow the same template. And then the typefaces of the numbers may look the same, but they're not. Many modellers may be ok with generic markings and a font that looks close enough, but it won't be right, and (a) if you're going to expend the effort to craft something then you may as well nail it, and (b) it's your model - so you're probably going to be looking at it for the rest of your days and it'd be nice if it were bang on, no? I aim for "Wow, look at the detail on that" rather than "Yeah it looks fine". The topic of reproducing number spacing, wonky digits and colour matching would be another para on its own.

 

3. Once you've done all the painstaking research and figured out what all those markings are exactly (large and small) - and what their dimensions were in 1:1, you need to figure out if they'll fit the model they're supposed to go on. Because we all know that every model is a perfect scaled down replica of the real thing...

 

4. Time to make the graphic design. For complex elements like crests and other obscure detail, time can evaporate on this one. Remember "wow" not "fine", not just so people will come back for more, but because they get a visible e-buzz when they email in to say just how much they love it.

 

5. You've done the research, figured out all the markings, made them fit the model and done the graphic design. Now for testing. So that beautiful looking crest you recreated looks epic on the laptop but when printed at 2mm, ends up looking like a dark blob. Not good. Making things look good in 1:1 is easy. Making them look "right" in each scale is much more of a challenge. Cue what can be hours of tedious trial-and-error.

 

Jumping into machine code and bending the hardware to do things it wasn't designed to do in order to tweak the quality of the print would again be another para. (The print method is constantly evolving and is different now to what it was just 3 months ago, and very significantly different to what it was when the newer tech came online).

 

6. Finally a bit more time spent researching what would make a useful pack. It needs to be relevant and strike a balance between someone having to buy multiple packs to complete a single model, or having to buy a huge pack and only want a small part of it multiple times over. This fable seems relevant! Despite now having a catalog of ~3500 items, hopefully I get it right most of the time.

 

Obviously there are other elements which hamper the ability to be everywhere for everybody in a way I would like, (HMRC/VAT compliancy, web site code, replenishing stock, working with govt & other orgs who are kind enough to grant permission to reproduce trademarks so that you can have them for your models & various other predictable admin type tasks), but hopefully this gives some flavour and insight into why things may not always unfold as you might hope or expect, and if you don't hear from me when you would expect, it's not because I'm sipping a negroni on Copacabana Beach, but instead neck-deep in one of the above . But the wait for quality of research, quality of artwork and quality of print in new and existing designs will be worth it.

 

 

[Mallard60022]

7 minutes ago, railtec-models said:

 

Hi Phil, I've just looked and can see one from 48hrs ago, so please bear with me.

 

Whilst here it's probably a useful juncture at which to reiterate and help raise awareness of some of the constraints of running just one hugely niche supplier which helps the hobby grow (because I get that unless you've done it, it's probably not obvious). Other niche suppliers may recognise some elements of this but I absolutely can't speak on others' behalves. The aim is simply to share knowledge and help folks better understand their hobby from the other side of the table perspective, hopefully to ultimately help them, because although this may only be "toy trains", small scale and a topic considered by some as "a bit geeky", many suppliers who support the hobby still require the same amount of applied skill, education, dedication and craftsmanship as is required in other industries.

 

It's true that I get an immense number of emails, forum tags/IMs (here, Instagram, FB, other forums), SMS, Whatsapps, phone calls and sometimes even knocks at the door - which is humbling, because it means there's demand for what I create. The inevitable flip side is that it's often a huge challenge trying to keep on top of just all the inbound comms, as much as it pains me to close the laptop lid at 2am and still not had opportunity to get to everything. That doesn't sit comfortably with me but, I do as much as I physically can; I love to create and I love to help people enjoy their hobby (not jobby, thanks not-so-fat-fingers). So how does that happen and why might someone not get a response to their email when they expect?

 

1. What I myself didn't realise when I embarked on Railtec - which began purely as a hobby - was the sheer enormity in breadth and depth of subject matter. Obvious in hindsight but if you stop and think about the variety of rolling stock and markings on them over the last 150 years, even with some pretty intense train-spotter-esque knowledge, you're going to have to put in some hard graft to figure out all the areas you don't know.

 

2. The very nature of what Railtec does means reproducing very, very specific detail - much of which before t'interweb can be pretty hard-going to research. Often people send grainy b/w images scanned from a book taken at a 3/4 angle and ask me to recreate the markings (much of which you can't even see). The kicker is - having to recreate something very specific is often more challenging than creating something from scratch, because people already have a reference point and expect something to look a very particular way and right in context on the model. And you'd be surprised how much of the railway is non-standard, even within the same loco livery and operator. One recent example is all that small bodyside detail on 60s (fuel tank drain, screen wash filler etc). There are at least 7 different variants, and they even vary from one (e.g.) GBRf 60 to another when you would probably expect them all to follow the same template. And then the typefaces of the numbers may look the same, but they're not. Many modellers may be ok with generic markings and a font that looks close enough, but it won't be right, and (a) if you're going to expend the effort to craft something then you may as well nail it, and (b) it's your model - so you're probably going to be looking at it for the rest of your days and it'd be nice if it were bang on, no? I aim for "Wow, look at the detail on that" rather than "Yeah it looks fine". The topic of reproducing number spacing, wonky digits and colour matching would be another para on its own.

 

3. Once you've done all the painstaking research and figured out what all those markings are exactly (large and small) - and what their dimensions were in 1:1, you need to figure out if they'll fit the model they're supposed to go on. Because we all know that every model is a perfect scaled down replica of the real thing...

 

4. Time to make the graphic design. For complex elements like crests and other obscure detail, time can evaporate on this one. Remember "wow" not "fine", not just so people will come back for more, but because they get a visible e-buzz when they email in to say just how much they love it.

 

5. You've done the research, figured out all the markings, made them fit the model and done the graphic design. Now for testing. So that beautiful looking crest you recreated looks epic on the laptop but when printed at 2mm, ends up looking like a dark blob. Not good. Making things look good in 1:1 is easy. Making them look "right" in each scale is much more of a challenge. Cue what can be hours of tedious trial-and-error.

 

Jumping into machine code and bending the hardware to do things it wasn't designed to do in order to tweak the quality of the print would again be another para. (The print method is constantly evolving and is different now to what it was just 3 months ago, and very significantly different to what it was when the newer tech came online).

 

6. Finally a bit more time spent researching what would make a useful pack. It needs to be relevant and strike a balance between someone having to buy multiple packs to complete a single model, or having to buy a huge pack and only want a small part of it multiple times over. This fable seems relevant! Despite now having a catalog of ~3500 items, hopefully I get it right most of the time.

 

Obviously there are other elements which hamper the ability to be everywhere for everybody in a way I would like, (HMRC/VAT compliancy, web site code, replenishing stock, working with govt & other orgs who are kind enough to grant permission to reproduce trademarks so that you can have them for your models & various other predictable admin type tasks), but hopefully this gives some flavour and insight into why things may not always unfold as you might hope or expect, and if you don't hear from me when you would expect, it's not because I'm sipping a negroni on Copacabana Beach, but instead neck-deep in one of the above . But the wait for quality of research, quality of artwork and quality of print in new and existing designs will be worth it.

 

 

Well said. It may also help to quell the oft outpourings of some, about the services of other Traders. Sadly some live in an I want it yesterday world. The World isn't like that unless you are Amazon and even they can't travel in time.

Keep up your excellent work and rest assured there are plenty who are very grateful indedd.

P

[The Fatadder]

Thanks again for the quick turn around, especially adding the Tilcon logos to go with the Swinden Dalesman plates.  

Given that I can never buy one set of transfers at a time, I also added a set of Mainline logos for 37065, I had already added the silver stripe on this loco so carefully cut the transfer in two to remove the strip from the centre of the transfer.

I also had a delivery a week or two back with transfers for my single Cargowaggon (I think I am right in saying that this is the first finished example)  I had some issues painting the yellow stripe so on the second build I am going to paint the whole thing yellow and then spray the silver which I think will help with the masking.) 

 

Finally this Railtrack JNA has been waiting for transfers for an absolute age, I still have 3 more sets on the sheet so have drawn up the wagon to 3d print some more... 

Edited February 17, 2022 by The Fatadder

[cctransuk]

2 hours ago, railtec-models said:

 

Other niche suppliers may recognise some elements of this.......

 

Don't I just !!!!!!

 

Back in 1999, having just discovered Alps printing technology, I set out to provide a service akin to your current operation.

 

Within less than a year, it became abundantly clear that my goal was impossible.

 

Admittedly, I had a demanding fulltime career in another field, but the level of research and design expected by customers was incredible - way beyond what they were prepared to pay for; as some of them made clear!

 

So, I radically scaled-back my offering to the point where I produce transfers that I need, and offer them at little above cost to other modellers.

 

I do not envy you - 2am. bedtimes are simply not an option at my age. Good luck with Railtec!

 

John Isherwood.

Edited February 17, 2022 by cctransuk

[rob D2]

You’ve definitely developed a great niche Steve, and obviously set high standards for what you produce !

 

All we need do now is clone you …

[Marcus-Jay]

Hello.

 

Having not trawled the 24 pages of this thread... I'm curious could one supply there own artwork for printing, and if so what formats would be required? .ai/.psd/.pgn or something else? For example I am thinking on renumbering a batch of HAA wagons and it would be easy enough to whip up a sheet or two and send it on.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Marcus

[Silverfox17]

I am very impressed with what Steve does, and the timescales. I model in TT (3mm) which itself is a lot smaller market than 00 or N but Steve has excelled.  Initially I used the standard excellent cabside numbers but then started to enquire about having his 3D transfers and MT lining reduced for 3mm. Steve worked on this and for a few months the 3D plates have now been available and arriving within a few days, today the lining has also appeared and looks to be another excellent product.  Most of these all have variations like the smokebox numbers with 3 different coloured backgrounds and lined/unlined.

 

You cannot fault this service.

 

Garry

Edited February 17, 2022 by Silverfox17

[murphaph]

Thanks for your feedback @railtec-models Steve. I hope nobody thinks I was having a go or anything. I have been nothing but extremely happy with Railtec transfers. They are pure quality and always arrive promptly :-)

[Wellyboots]

2 hours ago, Marcus-Jay said:

Hello.

 

Having not trawled the 24 pages of this thread... I'm curious could one supply there own artwork for printing, and if so what formats would be required? .ai/.psd/.pgn or something else? For example I am thinking on renumbering a batch of HAA wagons and it would be easy enough to whip up a sheet or two and send it on.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Marcus

 

Railtec already have a number of transfers for HAA wagons which might be what you're looking for;

 

https://www.railtec-models.com/catalog.php?search_str=HAA

 

There's a page on the website about artwork;

 

https://www.railtec-models.com/faq.php

Edited February 17, 2022 by Wellyboots
To add additional info

[Andy7]

Steve not pestering but:

Are you any closer to releasing the OO gauge transfers for 66769 in the latest GBRF black livery?

 

Thanks and I know you are busy.