Micro-Trains has a new (but not better) method for decorating billboard reefers

[SkipGear]

I honestly think the only problem with the car was trying to use the inkjet to print the white background. The whole side of the car would have to be printed white so the other colors would register on the white background. I don't see any increased rastering where the colors are printed so I don't think the colors have as much of a problem with it.  I have seen numerous reports of inkjets than can print white and the issue with all of them is the white is thicker and harder to deal with than other colors. Most of these printers are intended for printing either directly to a T-shirt or for an iron on transfer. Spraying or pad printing the white and then using the inkjet for the rest probably would have had a much better result.

[Sokramiketes]

Who cares about the poor uses of this technology?  Imagine the awesomeness when a manufacture does a run of 300 cars and they all have an individual road number!

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I'm thinking the same thing. If they painted the car the blue and white portions, then paint-jetted the triangles and graphics, I bet the finish would be as good as their normal pad printing.

The Kato samples... yikes! I wonder if they used the paint jet because of the fluting?

On a totally unrelated note. Could the jet-printing be grained up to make one of those Santa Fe insulated Centerflows?

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Who cares about the poor uses of this technology?  Imagine the awesomeness when a manufacture does a run of 300 cars and they all have an individual road number!

Can you imagine BLMA making an entire run of Top-Gons without a single number repeating?

[VonRyan]

'Tis a shame that MT's latest meat reefer didn't have the same quality paint-job as the others, but the livery is quite nice and I'll plunk down my duckets at MBK soon enough.

I also cannot wait for the brewery reefers (I fancy the Beer Line in the 40s-50s) as I do like most woodside reefers for my reefer block (soon to force me to add a forth case to go back and forth to shows), though just a simple suggestion would be to perhaps do some more railroad-owned schemes, not too many of those in MT's past if I recall.

-Cody F.

[nkalanaga]

daniel_leavitt2000:  "ATSF"  If it could, it could just as well make the NP's version, and I'd buy at least one of those.  So there's two schemes to try it one.

[Alwyn Cutmore]

Now, back to choppin' wood and daydreaming about that mega layout I want to build some day

Hi Joe,

I have heard about the process and would like to know more about it. Can I contact you off line for more info. Now back to dreaming I think I saw a D78 Dining Car  in the bubble above my head.

Regards

Al

[peteski]

The Kato samples... yikes! I wonder if they used the paint jet because of the fluting?

I suspect that this is exactly the reason they didn't use pad printing on that car.

[up1950s]

I will take pictures of various angles to lighting , and distances tomorrow and post them Lou .

Ok these are at 3 different distances about 12 inches macro , about 6 inches macro , and about 3 inches super macro .I have only rotated a 3 shots to correct slight droop , I have cropped all , and resized all to 1024 . All here at 800 . The 1024s are in my Picasa "odd ball" files should you want to use them . I did not adjust anything else , nothing , had I the white would be bright white to reflect the true white of the model . ( Would have liked it more if the white of the model looked like what my camera made it to be  , but that's another story ) ! Lighting was changed through shots .

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[Chris333]

I still see the yellow hanging out and that makes me want to know how the whole process works. Registration problems means that each color is done separately so it doesn't work like a regular printer.

[Scottl]

Peteski,  your posts about the Kato paint job remind me of something.  when I was stripping a Kato CSX SD70ACe loco, I found the CSX herald withstood the alcohol incredibly well, and required 5 days to soften enough to remove.  I noticed during the process that the logo had a faint raster texture to it.  So perhaps this is the explanation- it was not pad printed, but they were using a inkjet type application.

[up1950s]

Had this been a steel side car the horizontal lines would have been even more irritating to caring eye . Those car boards and the raster reminds me of some burnt wood I have seen , ( to coin a phrase " Devils Checkerboard " ).

[DKS]

Well, heck, based on the photos, I'd say it looks pretty decent...

*runs for cover*

[Philip H]

Well, heck, based on the photos, I'd say it looks pretty decent...

*runs for cover*

Plus 1 and right behind you David.

[Puddington]

Well, heck, based on the photos, I'd say it looks pretty decent...

*runs for cover*

+ 2 ( and dives in behind David and Philip)