All This Talk of Trucks . . .

[Wes Bischel]

I just got this done tonight. It’s a birthday present for my son - he’ll be 2 on Sunday. It’s a little mail truck caricature sort of based on the old Zip Vans made by Studebaker in the early ‘60's. I made it from stock sized poplar available from HD etc. (FWIW Lee and gang, I didn’t use the MDF even though The Expert said it was "safe" - I figured there must be some other reason, like work ability, why it isn’t used.) The tires are Rubba-riders from Rockler. The graphics I made up are applied via water transfer decals printed on my HP inkjet printer. This is the first unit off the line - learned a lot about how the transfers work - so this one is a 3 footer (looks good from 3 feet away). I’m hoping the other truck works out a little better on the finishing front. If my little guy likes them, and they hold up reasonably I’m planning on making a few different “models”.

Wes

[Cliff Newton]

That's a neat little truck Wes. I'm sure the little guy will like it. How big is it?

[Noah Alkinburgh]

Wes,

I think it came out great. The decals were a super idea. Thanks for posting. (oh looks a bit top heavy so tell him to take it easy in the corners ;) )

Noah

[Bob Lasley]

Wes,

Super job! Tell me more about the decals. Where do you get the stock to print them on? Any special program required?

I'm betting your little guy is going to love this mail buggy.

Bob

[Rob Littleton]

what a wonderful mail truck.

This takes me back to my youth, growing up in England, we had a kids show called Postman Pat. Its kinda like the little truck he drove.

They did away with the show and put poor Postman Pat out of work, so now they call him Pat :-)

Nice truck. I'd be interested in learning about the decals.

[Kent Cori]

Wes,

Great idea! I bet your son will love it. Considering how slow the snail mail is these days, it probably moves faster than the one my mail delivery person uses. :p

[Dick Parr]

Looks great Wes, came out very nice.

[Wes Bischel]

The truck is 6"H x 4"W x 7.25"L - the wheels are 1.5" dia.

As far as the decals go, I ordered the blank paper from a site online called water-decals.com . Most hobby shops that carry plastic models and RC cars carry it as well, but be forewarned, it isn’t cheap. This site had the best price I found for good paper. They have clear and white paper (white for use on the colored background). I picked up the combo pack - white and clear to play with. The quality of their paper is good and the prices OK. You can print anything normally printed on your printer (paper is different for ink-jet and laser printers). The ink-jet paper needs a coat of Krylon Krystal Clear after printing to seal the ink - laser paper is ready out of the printer. Then, just like the plastic
models of old, cut out, soak in water for a minute and slide into place. I did find that the surface needs to be really smooth and glossy otherwise air bubbles show up as a lighter color in the low spots. I found there is a good deal of finesse needed in processing the decals - printer set to lay
down the right amount of ink, just the right amount of sealer, a really smooth surface, etc. My second effort looks better, but still can use some improvement. Oh, I used Adobe Illustrator for the graphics, but any program will work.

The pictures below show the second truck in progress - same shape, different graphics. The real benefit of the decals is making the toy personal - guess who will own this truck. ;)
The “S” in Sam’s is 3/4" high for reference. The picture online will not show how crisp the printing is though. The detail depends on how detailed your original file is, and how well your printer can lay down the ink. I was able to download the vintage logos, clean them up in Photoshop and scale them down - they are a nominal 1/8" high and can be easily read. I was amazed to say the least.

One bugger is the outline of the clear decals still shows as a bump with three coats of clear - two coats, then block sanded, then another coat. I think one more round with the block and it may be pretty good. Then again after a few days of use by Sam I may find this point is moot. :p I suspect the laser decals wouldn’t need as much clear coating because they don’t need the seal coats which make the ink-jet decals thicker. Anyhow, thanks for the interest.
Wes

[John Weber]

WOW! I love them, super, great design, the paint and decals make them look awesome. I'm sure your 2 year old will love it.

John

[Ian Barley]

what a wonderful mail truck.

This takes me back to my youth, growing up in England, we had a kids show called Postman Pat. Its kinda like the little truck he drove.

They did away with the show and put poor Postman Pat out of work, so now they call him Pat :-)

Rob - Trust me - Pat is still going strong on DVD, Video and TV re-runs.

Wes - Beautiful work for the best possible audience.

[Todd Burch]

Wes, that is REALLY neat! Thanks for posting the information about the decals. I like being able to incorporate items like that in my work. Now, I know water-decals can be done too! Todd