Andy Green Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 I'm always in need of one off vinyl stickers, and one offs can be quite expensive. I wanted a vinyl sticker 15" wide and was quoted £40. So I've taken the plunge and bought my own vinyl cutter. Not cheap at £240, but should pay for itself in a few years, and its gonna make me best buddies with the guys at the patch. Using the supplied software you create your design - you import your graphic ( I'm lucky I can use Photoshop to get these just right.) and trace around it to produce the cutting file. Text is done in the software using any installed fonts so aircraft registrations are going to be easy from now on. The design can be resized and you get the size in mm while you resize. Then you print it to the cutter. The results are supurb Andy Edited By Andy Green on 13/09/2012 14:07:45 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shane Sunday Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Hello Andy. Yes Vynil cutting can be amazing and it sure takes a lot of the guess work out of what you do. I do the exact same thing but boaught one ages ago to help with my paint business. Couple tips fer ya... Photoshop is good but these things need vector graphics as you know. Illustrator is your friend. Just copy and past from illustrator into your prefered cutting program then weld, punch through and you're almost ready to cut. Make sure all paths are solid and without open breaks. Otherwise you'll miss cuts. Choose a fine line weight as well as solid fill. ( programs will notice if it's not there) If making paint masks use sign makers low tack tape or low tack vynil. The slower the cut, the finer the detail. Different surfaces require lighter / heavier cutting pressure. Guess what? Your cutter is also a compitent artist as well.... Yes if you replace the blade with a pen or pencil it will draw for you and draw it precisely as you want it to. I hope this helps and above all else have fun... CHeers Shane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Green Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 Thanks Shane - I dont use Illustrator, but with the supplied software you dont need it. You import rasters and trace them to produce the vector. So easy. The other tips will be useful as I'm now thinking of spray masks. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindsay Todd Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 The Cameo is an excellent bit of kit, I reviewed one for 'another mag' really useful,I also found the optical reader a great feature for stencils. I have had mine now for about a year and still on the first blade and have had no problems at all with it. Lindsay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Chadwick Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 I also looked at the Cameo recently, but decided not to buy because I couldn't source any self-adhesive vinyl of the correct width for the unit. Would you know of a good source, as I would very much like to give this a go for better graphics on my somewhat boring models ! Cheers, Trevor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindsay Todd Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Hi Trevor MDP Supplies, stock and supply a vast range for the Cameo, available on line or direct from several stores around the uk. Lindsay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Chadwick Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 That's very good, thanks Lindsay, MDP do indeed have a very large range of vinyls. Unfortunately, the minimum roll width you can buy from MDP is 610 mm (just over 2 foot), and the Cameo takes material 300 mm wide, I believe. Do you cut the 610 mm rolls down to 300 mm wide, and is it very critical to be accurate? Advice much appreciated. Trevor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Green Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 I've got some film from MDS supplies as Todd says they have loads of colours and finishes. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Green Posted September 13, 2012 Author Share Posted September 13, 2012 Trevor It doesn't have to be that accurate, I bought some sparkley stuff from them and just cut off 12" strips. You can change the position of the clamping rollers too and will I think take A4 as a size.. Andy PS you can download the software for free from here. I did and had a good play, so when it arrived I already had some designs ready to cut. Edited By Andy Green on 13/09/2012 17:33:03 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Chadwick Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 Thanks very much Andy. Your web link to MDS Supplies took me direct to their Cameo page, and I notice that further down the page on the LHS is a link to Cameo vinyl supplies of the correct width of 300mm. Brill. It's also good to hear that accuracy is not too critical when cutting from bulk material. Many thanks to both you and Lindsay - I'll let you know how I get on once my Cameo arrives ! Trevor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lindsay Todd Posted September 13, 2012 Share Posted September 13, 2012 hi Trevor glad yu found the info Linds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Green Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 How about a file pool. I have a Futaba, Fasst & OS ones to share. I also have my name but I gues there will be limited market for those. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Green Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 And a JR Propo one too. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phill @ Elite Workwear UK Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 Hi Everyone - I cut vinyls for a living. If anyone wants any vector artwork making up just let me know and I will draw if for you. If you want it cutting I can do it and will do for modelling folk at cost + postage. Just for comprison I buy 3-5yr signage vinyl for around £6 for 5m (plus VAT) I would never dare charge £40. Phill Edited By Phill Emerson on 14/09/2012 16:56:44 Edited By Phill Emerson on 14/09/2012 16:57:07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu knowles Posted September 14, 2012 Share Posted September 14, 2012 I too have just bought a vinyl cutter, this time a s/h robocutter 200-20. So far I have only used the 'Robomaster' cutting software but it seems to do most everything that I have thouyght of so far. My main interest is in cutting spray masks. I have done a test cut on letters down to 4mm but found that this is too small really - in the weeding process, the centre of 'D's and 'P's is so small that it is difficult to keep it in place. Larger letters bigger than 10mm seems to be OK (All this based on the massive experience of cutting one single A4 sheet) I have been working out how many masks would be needed for say a three colour RAF roundel, blue, while and red centre. I'm thinking two?? One for the outer perimeter. spray the centre all white, then drop in a mask to cover what will be the white ring. Mask over the centre hole with tape and paint the blue. Let that dry and mask over everthing except the centre circle and spray red. How does that sound?? anyone see a flaw? stu k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Green Posted September 14, 2012 Author Share Posted September 14, 2012 Hi Stu Flightline Graphics sell paint masks, and have a useful ho to on their website. You might get some ideas there. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu knowles Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Hi Andy, Very useful link. Perhaps not as easy as first thought. Found some fonts by googling 'free military fonts' which are useful stencil type fonts which look promising. Thanks for the pointer regards stu k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Green Posted December 20, 2012 Author Share Posted December 20, 2012 Hi Does anyone have a cutting file for the Keil Kraft logo? Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allan Bennett Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Posted by stu knowles on 14/09/2012 18:15:36: ... I have been working out how many masks would be needed for say a three colour RAF roundel, blue, while and red centre. I'm thinking two?? One for the outer perimeter. spray the centre all white, then drop in a mask to cover what will be the white ring. Mask over the centre hole with tape and paint the blue. Let that dry and mask over everthing except the centre circle and spray red. How does that sound?? anyone see a flaw? stu k I don't have a computerised cutter, though it's been on my wish list for a few months now. But the way I mask a standard roundel is to do overall white first, then a mask for the blue, including the bit in the middle that's going to be red. Finally a mask for the red, which is sprayed over blue. The only problem I can see with your suggested sequence is getting the alignment of your final red mask exactly right, so that you don't get any fine white line showing through at the red/blue interface, or a fine line of darker red where it's overlapped the blue a little. My sequence sprays the red over blue, instead of over white, but it's guaranteed to be a consistent colour. Edited By Allan Bennett on 21/12/2012 08:11:08 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim C Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Any, I have a pdf of the various KK logos, I can cut directly from this, I can convert it if your cutter will not take pdfs. PM me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stu knowles Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 roundels I have completed this model now. I had a couple of failures in that I started with two reference marks 'outside ' the roundel which didn't work. I them moved on to a marked centre spot on the masks and on the model. Using this method I masked the outer perimetre and sprayed it all white. I then masked out the white circle and using paper tape masked off the red centre and painted the outer blue, let that dry and then peeled off the mask on the red, covered everything else and sprayed in the red. It all worked pretty well. I'll take a pic later and post it here. I've a feeling that one of the american forums has an ongoing thread of vynil cutting files although I can't find it at the moment My next project is a 1/6th Luftwaffe subject so I'll be working out how to do balkencruz next stu k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martyn K Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 That is now on my wish list. That looks so useful. I could also use it for making masks for PCB's as well. Brilliant! Thanks Martyn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Green Posted December 21, 2012 Author Share Posted December 21, 2012 I can praise the Cameo enough, its simply amazing the quality of the results it produces. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Green Posted January 17, 2013 Author Share Posted January 17, 2013 Sorry for the delay Tim, thanks for your help. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Green Posted January 23, 2013 Author Share Posted January 23, 2013 Thanks to Tim I have a cutting file for Keil Kraft for any Silhouette owners. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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