Home made Bing cars

Look amazing. Been meaning to do that with some Pullmans, never have time though lol.

Outstanding! You really captured the flavor of the original cars. 50+ years from now the collectors will be scratching their heads!

Eric Hofberg

TCA, LCCA

Arne -  WOW!  that is impressive. Thank you for sharing the photos, inspires me to try to do better work!

d

AWESOME!

Very impressive.

   Can you elaborate on how you printed? (Ink type & printer brand) or did you out source the printing?

very nice work!

ADRIATIC,

the print is from a printing house for giftware. They print some different things like cups, T-shirts and this tin signs. It´s printed on the tin without film or similar.

Arne

Thank you, outsourcing printing leaves lots of options to be explored today too.

  The apparent thickness, durability, and flexibility of the print along the bends caught my eye having been in the trade myself. After years of apathy for it in general, lately I've found myself curious about many product changes and sourcing trends.  But it's all about the trains this round.

 Around the holidays, I always did a lot of custom gift production for extra cash. They paid well and were always "needed before" the holidays. (I'm drinking from an old mug Ford paid for, but wouldn't pick them all up). Summer, we really needed work! Most have a sign making frontage today, so I think a large chunk of their custom business was lost to the mall kiosks and "copy shops", but still a great local source of quality, deserving of support if you still have one local .

I own the mini-metal brake, and Whitney punch. I just keep balking on the printing.    

Would it be possible to pre form it from sheet metal, then glue card stock/paper printed with the design over the metal?

Yes, it is possible. The german manufacturer Zeuke had made a lot of cars with paper glued on the tin in the 50s.

But I like the Nurnberg style of the 20s, so I work with the printed tin.

Arne

Really impressive cars you have made, Arne! Great work! 

One of the processes for applying designs to metal is a process called dye sublimation.  The metal has a very thin coating of polyester and the printer used is just like your home DeskJet printer.  What's different is the ink used.  The dye sub ink is printed in reverse on a sheet of paper and the paper is placed face down on the metal substrate.  It is then put into a heat press just like the old heat transfer t-shirts were a while back.  The heat vaporizes the ink and fuses it into the polyester (sublimation) and makes it permanent and very durable.  

I had never thought of doing it for tin-plate trains but all I can say is WELL DONE!  In addition to the printing your skill as a tin smith is impressive, thanks for sharing.  Russ

I'll assume that is the same process as the made to order mugs wrapped in plastic?

  I thought about that too, but figured it would need marx style rounded corners and a thick gauge sheet of metal to avoid being crushed during the shrink or over time. It wouldn't be dishwasher safe either(I have a plain mug today )

  There was some paper wraps made for Marx, and some designs can be found for home printing if you hunt a bit. But those rounded corners make it easy.

They look good,...... this looks great.

I've thought simple stickers centered on nice "fat" enamel paint to frame each panel in color, might yield a good  look too..

Arne,

It took me all night to find this topic again. I should have liked it the first time I found it. Very interesting and you did a great job on the cars you showed, but I like the Heinz car the most.

Can you elaborate on how you went from photo #1 to #2 & #3...in other words, what did you use to cut the walls from the sheet steel and then fold/form the walls, roof, etc?

Tom 

That's awesome! 

MNCW posted:

Arne,

It took me all night to find this topic again. I should have liked it the first time I found it. Very interesting and you did a great job on the cars you showed, but I like the Heinz car the most.

Can you elaborate on how you went from photo #1 to #2 & #3...in other words, what did you use to cut the walls from the sheet steel and then fold/form the walls, roof, etc?

Tom 

 

Hello Tom,

hope, the translate is to understand.

you need only simple tools.

A few scissors for tin, left and right hand.

A nibbling tool to cut out the hole for the door and cut out the holder

A tool to bend ( I don´t knew the englisch name of them)

After the first bend I take a wire to bend the round

Round on the roof sides

Here a box car, made from a tin biscuit box. You see the rounded roof sides and the rounded part to slide the door.

A view of the holder.

Other tools are a elektric drill and a small maschine to grind

Arne

Arne,

 The more I see of your work, the better it gets. Very interesting!

Danke!

Tom

Arne posted:

Yes, it is possible. The german manufacturer Zeuke had made a lot of cars with paper glued on the tin in the 50s.

But I like the Nurnberg style of the 20s, so I work with the printed tin.

Arne

As I can see from the here published pictures the old fashion Nürnberg technique is perfect. Thanks for sharing with us this interesting and well documented manufacturing procedure and the final results. I use inkjet-printed adhesive photopaper or alternatively UV-resistant adhesive vinylfoil on a clinical clean surface of thin sheetmetal (Al or Fe), then punch few holes, cut with scissors and bend the body shape before mounting on the underframe. 

Hey Arne,

I happened to stumble back on your old topic by coincidence. Have you been able to churn out any more amazing looking cars? 

Tom 

Magnificent Arne

I wish I had 1/100  of your talent. 

Have you ever tried to repair lithographed cars and what kind results did you achieve?

Lew Schneider

Sehr schon!