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