gorby
To be honest your best option is buy a cheap printer, although the downside of cheap printers is expensive ink. I suspect even that option would work out cheaper in the long run than having custom decals made, particularly if it's something which you intend to do frequently.
The method I use is to print them a couple of weeks beforehand on either white or clear decal paper (remember that you can't print white unless you have a specialist printer). I use this paper: https://ebay.co.uk/itm/232322269621?var=531574309335

20 mins or more before I intended to apply them, I give them a single brush of Microscale Liquid Decal Film. When dry, cut as close the the decal as possible. Then use as you would a normal a decal.

J4Juliet Author
Thanks for the advice. I'm not sure it would be something I would do frequently enough to make getting a printer work. The reason I ditched my printer in the first places was I used it so infrequently that when I did use it, it would not print cleanly and I just burn through ink cartridges trying to get the heads clean. From the rest of your advice I'm feeling a bit more confident about being able to get them printed at the local print shop. I could try that the first few times and then if it is something I end up doing frequently I could look at printers.

bughunter
Be careful with the kind of decal paper: there are different types for inkjet or laser printers. My guess is for the print shop you will need the type for laser. As the laser fixes the toner with heat the wrong type will may be ruin the printer!

J4Juliet Author
Thanks for the warning, I certainly don't want to make an enemy of them 😄 I'll have to check with them what type of printer they have before I buy the paper.

Alec K
I am not sure what kind of decal you are after, but if it's simple enough you may be able to paint it yourself on the decal paper. I have done this myself in the past, it works.

J4Juliet Author
Oh thanks, that's an idea I hadn't considered. I'm after alternate liveries for rally cars. So it might work for some parts but the finer logos would require printing.

Alec K
Hmm, so for that my suggestion may not be very applicable. In regards to printing, keep in mind you still need to create the artwork, I,e. know how to work with vector and/or bitmap editing software. Great if you like to do that sort of thing, but certainly a separate skill.

I personally lean toward drawing my own design and, if no white printing is needed, using my own laser printer, and having a third party do the printing if there is need for white print. Often the need for white printing can be avoided if white decal paper can be used.

Spanjaard
i got a laser printer because i was tired of ink getting dry due to lack of use. that is not a problem with laser, and the prices today are not that expensive. if you have the skills (as mentioned above) you can create very nice decals, using white or trasparent decal paper for laser printers. it works quite well. external companies, can go from making the design, to just print your design. the more they do, more expensive. but the result will be better since they know better, and have better printers. and they can print white color, which you can not do at some (you can print on white paper, but you need to cut it very precisely). if you make your design, and send to a profesional printer, it is not that expensieve. i have done it a couple of times (for example to print white letters) and i had very good results, but i did use companies based in Germany, not in UK, so i can not recommend there.

Spanjaard
ah, forgot to mention, if you buy a laser printer, they usually come with the toner included, so you do not need to buy that from day one. but be aware that some brands (all?) sell the machines with toner cartridges that contain much less toner that the ones that you will buy later, obviously to ensure you buy some soon 😉

J4Juliet Author
Thanks for all the detailed info. I'll probably start on an older car, that only requires a few decals, to see how it goes. Then I can see if I want get a printer or research companies that will do it for me 😄.