Sqn Prints...how to get one designed..any ideas?

[Hueymeister]

Help..want to get one started..any ideas?

[Spot 4]

Sqn Prints is a business: ....and therefore this link may be deleted by the corporate police:

[FJJP]

...or contact Terry Rumble (MAEOp) at

[Jackonicko]

or if you want to get the job done properly, and better, then drop me a PM and I'll put you in touch with an artist who'd do the job for you cheaper, better, quicker, and who would enable you to use the artwork for Squadron Christmas cards, etc. as well.

[SP1]

Why not contact me direct at
[email protected] and we will see what we can do for you - we are the ONLY company who own and produce Squadron Prints and own the name "Squadron Prints" - there still are some retailers but we try to discourage that now so that the Squadrons can look after the sales of their own prints - we do have a mail order catalogue but the Squadron always get them cheaper
As to your comments Jackonicko - we do not do Christmas Cards because they ARE so expensive for small runs and we happily tell the Squadron's that it is cheaper to go to their local printer to get them done.

[x-drive clutch]

'Squadron Prints' do an excellent job and they also give a lot of support to all of the RAF Display Teams, you won't go wrong with using them, I can guarantee it!

[The Swinging Monkey]

Have to agree with Jackonico on this one.
Sqn Prints are so expensive now, that it's just not worth it anymore. Yes, they probably do a lot for the Reds and em? other display teams but thats due to the massive publicity they get from it. On my last Sqn, the cost of doing a new print turned out to be too costly (and it was virtually identical to the original one, with some very minor changes!)

FJJP: Terry Rumble does not get involved with Sqn Prints anymore (see SP1 post) I do know him personally however, and I'm sure he will do all he can to help you ([email protected]) after all, he supplies the RAF/RN/FAA blah with just about everything else!!

SP1: Curious about your comment 'there still are some retailers but we try to discourage that now so that the Squadrons can look after the sales of their own prints' Question then; how come you retail them at the airshows????

Kind regards to all
The Swinging Monkey
'Caruthers, a glass of grouse for breakfast I think old man!'

[smartman]

Huey

And if you want a quality original aviatiion oil, at non-commercial price, I can point you to a decent source ---------

[Grob Driver]

I have to say, in my opinion, Squadron Prints isn’t want it used to be, and that change isn’t for the better. Since it changed ownership, things have deteriorated somewhat. At least when Terrane were selling the prints, you knew that if you placed an order you’d get your print within a couple of days… Oh no… Not now!

SP1 – You may have stopped many of the retailers selling your prints, but you really think that’s a good idea? After all, the ‘squadrons’ aren’t in the retail business… The fight war’s… That’s their job! So now, what you end up with is a whole load of collectors who cant get what they want because the reality is that Squadron Prints want a bigger slice of the cake. Why are there no more signed prints coming out? Ye I know what you’ll say and there are some still coming through, but I’m talking about the Limited edition of 20 type prints that you used to get what it was run from Lincoln? Oh how things change!

Anyway, enough said…
:ok:

[smartman]

C'mon fellas - I'm no agent for SP's, but £7.25 still seems quite a reasonable whack - and the quality is still spot-on

[Jackonicko]

SP have enjoyed a monopoly for years, and that cannot be good for prices and service.

Dugald is a good artist, but I don't think that side view profiles of aircraft are his strongest suit, to be honest. Many like his style, but others prefer something a bit more 'photo-realistic' - like the profiles used in the Osprey Aircraft of the Aces books, or in magazines like World Air Power Journal.

There are other artists out there (including those who work for the publishers referred to above) so there are alternatives to SP. No-one's forcing anyone to go down another route, but no-one should be too afraid of a bit of healthy competition, either.

I'm certainly not knocking or kicking Squadron Prints - and would be sad were they to stop - they've been around so long that they're something of a fixture!

[PPRuNe Pop]

Spot 4 and everyone else.

We are not corporate police.

We are a simple website that Danny et al is hard pushed to continually fund. The bandwidth is on a wildly increasing upward spiral whilst the revenue from ads is not. So we have a policy that there is just NO FREE ADS, and we are disappointed that you should have taken advantage of it 'while the "police" were not looking.' Very tacky.

I am therefore going to remove the links to the commercial sites but leave the links to e-mail addy's.

Get in touch by PM's if you want info but no more links on here or anywhere else please. Take Jacko's advice.

[SP1]

Thanks for all your comments and I will take them on board and try to help with the complaints

x-drive clutch - thank you for your comments I appreciate your support

The Swinging Monkey - we do not supply the Reds with Business Cards but yes we do supply the other RAF Display Teams and that started because some of the chaps were printing their own on the computer and we thought that it would be nice for each of them to have proper printed cards with their own jets on the back - there is a tiny url on them and a copyright for Dugalds artwork - and I would not say it was massive publicity. As for new prints - we are now using a new and cheaper printer and have reduced the prices accoringly and we feel that we offer a competative product considering that we pay artist fees, printing fees and someone to do all the setting up etc
Regarding the retailing side at airshows etc - as it is our product we retail at a price which we feel is realistic £5.00 at shows and £7.25 mail order - if the squadrons are selling at these shows, we do not sell that squadron's prints - some retailers (shops etc) were selling them at £15 to £20 without frames which I felt was excessive so therefore stopped selling to them.

Grob Driver - we have a policy that it is 28 day delivery but assuming that I am not out of the office ( this is a small 2 person company and we do everything ourselves) I try to dispatch within the week. We do not sell to retailers because of the overpricing policy and I am sorry that you feel that we want a bigger slice of the cake - as we have dropped the prices for the Squadrons we feel that our air shows should make up for it but are reviewing that again becuase of increase costs. As for signed prints - we have produced MANY new signed prints of small limited editions - you will see that on the website or you can call and ask for a catalogue to be sent. We still do signed prints because I collect them myself and we also have a collectors club.

Squadron Prints is a small business and we try to make a living from it - others do it as a hobby and yes can be cheaper, but should you have further complaints or comments please e-mail me direct and I will try to sort it out - [email protected]

PPrunePOP - sorry, my posting and yours have appeared to cross and I apologise for adding the text which has come up as a link

PPrunePOP - sorry, my posting and yours have appeared to cross and I apologise for adding the text which has come up as a link

...which is easily fixed by you editing your post (?) Ok, I'll do it instead.

[The Swinging Monkey]

SP1,

I don't want to harp on, but just a couple of things:

I didn't ever say that you produced business cards for the Reds, so I'm unsure what your point is??:hmm: :hmm:

Noboby is knocking the product - indeed, I think the product is good (I have lots from previous sqns) but I think the general thrust of the thread is the cost and the service.

I understand that prices go up, however, why can other people sell Sqn Prints infinately cheaper than you do, if you are Sqn Prints?? Presumable the likes of Terrane, CH Kelley etc all get them from you?

As for either of them selling for the prices you quote, I'm sorry, but I have yet to see a print for that amount at Mr Kelley's and to the best of my knowledge, Terrane have never sold Sqn Prints at shows. Of course, there is a well known character (who shall remain nameless) who sells Sqn prints on behalf of a major charity - maybe it's him that sells at those prices eh??

And lastly, as for Grob Drivers comment about delivery - I think you have answered that yourself. 4 weeks to receive something is a pretty poor service really, enough said.

But hey, keep up the good work. The product is faultless, just the service needs sorting.

Kind regards

The Swinging Monkey
'Caruthers, a large glass of 'you know what' please old boy'

[Jackonicko]

Please let's not be too hard on Squadron Prints - I happen to think that it's possible to do better, cheaper, quicker, but they're a good bunch with many satisfied customers behind them, and the links posted, such as they were, hardly amounted to naked advertising.

Could I use the word 'proportion' without it being taken as being offensive to the mods?

[RubiC Cube]

Jacko,

"better, cheaper, quicker"

Did you read the Smart Acquisition Handbook for breakfast?

(That doesn't work well either.)

[smartman]

Jacko

Agree your last. There's a clear difference twixt up-front advertising of a service/product and making what I suspect was meant to be a merely helpful response to Huey's plea. But then I'm not in the business, (well, sort of not), so what would I know --------

[PPRuNe Pop]

No offence taken at all Jacko.

Proportion, portion call it what you want. Advertising is a commodity which supports the life of PPRuNe, so that you and everyone else gets it for free.

There are many many sites that offer prints and all kinds of aviation exciters and we allow very very few through. There are exceptions but not when one link follows another - that's the point and the problem.

Sorry. Bandwidth is being discussed as we speak, and it will cost a LOT of money. If you want to get in touch with those at the links you made and get them to pay for a banner ad on PPRuNe feel free. That would be your contribution to PPRuNe if they accept!

[scroggs]

Actually, I like Squadron Prints! They've done a couple of specials for me in the past (all C130 stuff, so of no interest to you FJ heroes), and they've been done on time and on cost. Dugald's drawings are, to my uneducated eye, spot on, and I can't complain at the cost or the service. However, I have no doubt that others can do it just as well.

What I appreciate most (and this is of course not unique to SP) is the ability to be reminded in my own home of parts of my past of which I'm quite proud. That's a Good Thing, and I'm up for anyone who helps me feel that my life wasn't a total waste of oxygen!