Printing RM advertisements and blinds
I have been
quoted between £50 and a £100 a square metre for getting vinyl backed
advertisements printed from original artwork. I don’t know how much blinds cost
commercially. I’ve had some useful information from other Routemaster owners as
follows
RM 467
These
adverts were produced by a relative who is in the vinyl signs business and were
all copied from photographs in books of RMs in the 1960s. Sizes are slightly
different from those posted on this website as we measured the bus and produced
what looked right.
Anyone
wanting quotes for supply should contact O'Neill Signs 0192 859 2393. They are
based in Runcorn.
Doing it yourself.
You can do
this with a large format printer such as a HP Designjet which are available in
two models, 24 inch and 42 inch. The 24 inch would be OK for all the blinds and
all the adverts but if you want to print on adhesive vinyl for the adverts and
Tyvek® for the blinds you will need the 42 inch as these products only come in
36 inch wide rolls
HP only
guarantees water resistance and colour fastness outdoors for 3 months if you
use UV ink.
The
cheapest 42inch printer that can print with UV ink is the HP Designjet 5500UV
which costs £5,170 inc vat.
The UV ink
costs £216 a colour (there are six colours) The Tyvek® is £102 for a 50 foot
roll and the vinyl is £69 for a 40 foot roll.
So it is an
expensive business, not for the faint-hearted! And I’m a little concerned that
the colour is only guaranteed for 3 months.
I feel
there is a market for adverts for preserved buses of all types because they
look better with well chosen adverts from the period. But then there is the
question of obtaining the original artwork …and the copyright!
I
nevertheless think is a sensible business proposition for someone to take on if
they have the time, inclination, skill and contacts.
Commercial Blind Manufacturers
McKenna make most of the
blinds used in buses and have done for years. They are used to dealing with bus
companies but will accept orders from individuals. David
has discovered exactly what information is required when ordering blinds. If 12
sets of blinds are ordered at the same time, the price drops to half the cost
of a single set, so there is a lot of sense in getting together. Please email David
if you are interested in getting involved in a bulk order.
If anyone has a wish list of route numbers, destinations and vias (as
well as things like Wedding, Rail Replacement Service etc.) that they would be
interested in buying a set of please also let me know.
I will put this information on this site and if there is enough interest it may
be possible to put together a very large order, with consequent cost savings.
Can you contribute any more information?
I’d welcome
comments from anyone with expert knowledge about getting adverts and blinds
made. Email me