I'm looking to make labels for a few glass bottles and I was wondering if anyone had ideas or materials. At least one of them is going to be clear other than the labeling while the other is going to be a beer bottle. I'd prefer to do painted on like the old coke bottles but i'm not that artistic lol. I know cooking shows make generic labels when they don't want to show brands but i'm not sure how to do it. Any help is appreciated.
making repro bottle labels
- Thread starter Wes R
- Start date
robstyle
Master Member
Check ebay for clear inkjet sticker and similar items. If you want more than a sheet or two, major office supply stores should carry it as well but they sell by the box. I use the glossy version when doing clear bottle or such labels/stickers.
Short of cutting the printed letters and logo out, you could cover the entire bottle with the sticker. It will just take some patience when applying it.
There is also the water slide decal the same as used with scale models. Its also sold in sheets and can be done on an inkjet printer.
Regardless, have an extra sheet of label ready incase you muff up the first one. I always try a very small version in a corner before doing the regular sized one that way I dont waste an entire sheet. Some auctions have a fool proof instruction sheet to read. If not, let me know. I have it saved on an external drive somewhere. Its easier than you may think.
Short of cutting the printed letters and logo out, you could cover the entire bottle with the sticker. It will just take some patience when applying it.
There is also the water slide decal the same as used with scale models. Its also sold in sheets and can be done on an inkjet printer.
Regardless, have an extra sheet of label ready incase you muff up the first one. I always try a very small version in a corner before doing the regular sized one that way I dont waste an entire sheet. Some auctions have a fool proof instruction sheet to read. If not, let me know. I have it saved on an external drive somewhere. Its easier than you may think.
That's what I was thinking. I was looking at decal sheets from micromark. It never hurts to have extra anyhow. I need to make at least 4 labels for my fallout display then comes the fun part of coming up with the right colors for the contents and getting the caps back on.
robstyle
Master Member
When doing the colors, its going to be fun finding a proper formula that will not separate, discolor, mildew or spawn some oddity since it wont be vacuum sealed. Im wondering if you can so some sort of stained glass effect on the inside. Something along the lines of painting Easter eggs with the dye in paper cups. You dump the dye out and the inside of the cup is colored. That way you dont need anything in the bottle but maybe some distilled water.
Either that or find some some glow in the dark paints and fill the bottles with that. I know the consistency won't be right or find a way to color liquid resin. I'd say colored glue sticks but man that would take forever. I'm still tracking down the right bottles for the nuka bottles. I want to use old school glass coke bottles, my buddy says they're in stores around him. I have one for beer, one for water, one for sarsaparilla but i'm going to a place with specialty sodas to look for other bottles.
Mouthwash works nicely. Bit of food colouring in it if you need to alter the colour, though you can get mouthwash in half a dozen different hues (including clear) to start.
the clear would be good to use as a base, the quantum could be a problem since it is supposed to glow slightly unless you mix a water based glowing paint in it. Heck they probably have most of the colors already. I have to make lables for the biomed gel from fallout 2 and a bunch for various items from in game but those will be easier since they're all solid backgrounds. Finding the art for the nuka and sunset sasparilla could be a problem as it is never shown totally flat where you can just copy and print it.
Jannix Quinn
Sr Member
exoray
Master Member
For the filling just use distilled water (or glycerin if you want it to have some body) and cannibalize water based markers for the pigment... Highlighters will get you the 'glowing' look...
Antifreeze is another option for a green glow base...
Fore the bottle lettering you can get vinyl graphics cut for the silkscreen directly on the bottle look...
As for getting the caps back on the bottles, hit up the phone book and drop a call to the local 'brewing supply' store and see if you can't talk them into letting you purchase a few blank caps and use a press to put them back on... They likely have a display unit cap press on the floor you could appropriate for a few bottles, or if it's like my local shop everyone that works there brews their own beer and has access to a cap press somewhere...
Heck you can purchase used bottle cap presses on eBay for cheap, and heck new ones are only about $20 delivered and come with caps...
Just and example no endorsement or anything as there are dozens of bottle cappers on eBay, just browse...
Homebrew Beer Bottle Capper and Caps - eBay (item 250606138930 end time Nov-24-10 05:49:50 PST)
Antifreeze is another option for a green glow base...
Fore the bottle lettering you can get vinyl graphics cut for the silkscreen directly on the bottle look...
As for getting the caps back on the bottles, hit up the phone book and drop a call to the local 'brewing supply' store and see if you can't talk them into letting you purchase a few blank caps and use a press to put them back on... They likely have a display unit cap press on the floor you could appropriate for a few bottles, or if it's like my local shop everyone that works there brews their own beer and has access to a cap press somewhere...
Heck you can purchase used bottle cap presses on eBay for cheap, and heck new ones are only about $20 delivered and come with caps...
Just and example no endorsement or anything as there are dozens of bottle cappers on eBay, just browse...
Homebrew Beer Bottle Capper and Caps - eBay (item 250606138930 end time Nov-24-10 05:49:50 PST)
Jannix Quinn
Sr Member
I'm a PC.
GrenadeKing
Sr Member
The repro glass coke bottles don't have twist off caps. You'll need a press to re-cap that Nuca-Cola.
I figured. i was just figuring on using the caps from the twist off bottles if i can find them since they're intact. I have to find the bottles first. I know i'm trying to collect old and beat up bottle caps so i can have a handful to rust up and paint up. i bought some nice repro ones of nuka cola on ebay. they look really good.
division 6
Master Member
Sigma-LS
Sr Member
Best bet for the Nuka Cola bottles would be the modern glass coke bottles either native or mexican for the bigger/better scale stuff. All my real oldies I have laying around don't have a flat middle surface, but instead are embossed with the logo so that makes it a big problem.
The thing that really gets me is that caps in the game are just plain so I'm conflicted over whether to leave mine alone or give them a quick trip to the acetone vat and strip them down. Or maybe even print on top of that to match the poster art.
You gotta admit the cap from the homebrew beer really seems lackluster when compared to it's contemporaries.
I've been saving caps with a good Nuka base color since a couple of months before fallout 3 came out. That way I could at least pass them off in a display at arms length....I hope. Anyway I have a few that I need to figure out.
As another question to anyone out there. Has anyone ever commissioned or sourced the original nuka cola bottles? I've just never seen a replica and they were very stylized compared to the F3 and onward versions.
EDIT: I read my post again and I don't think I communicate subtlety too well on the internet. What I was saying with the box of caps is "I got lots and don't really need them all (past the 500 count last time I bothered counting). If you need a handful or two, just PM me and I can send them to you gratis."
The thing that really gets me is that caps in the game are just plain so I'm conflicted over whether to leave mine alone or give them a quick trip to the acetone vat and strip them down. Or maybe even print on top of that to match the poster art.
You gotta admit the cap from the homebrew beer really seems lackluster when compared to it's contemporaries.
I've been saving caps with a good Nuka base color since a couple of months before fallout 3 came out. That way I could at least pass them off in a display at arms length....I hope. Anyway I have a few that I need to figure out.
As another question to anyone out there. Has anyone ever commissioned or sourced the original nuka cola bottles? I've just never seen a replica and they were very stylized compared to the F3 and onward versions.
EDIT: I read my post again and I don't think I communicate subtlety too well on the internet. What I was saying with the box of caps is "I got lots and don't really need them all (past the 500 count last time I bothered counting). If you need a handful or two, just PM me and I can send them to you gratis."
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I thought the originals were just modified models of the old Coke bottles. This is the one time my dad being a pack rat would have paid off, we had a ton of bottles from sodas of the 70s and 80s and when i need them he at some point tossed them. I think I have a 6 pack from 1997 when coke put out glass bottles but god knows where. I see someone is an IBC rootbeer fan lol.
Sigma-LS
Sr Member
IBC, case of 36 for $10 at Sam's club.....try to blame me. 
For the original Nuka bottles, the way it muffin tops out at the upper half is uncoke-like and the bottom pattern only correlates to some coke bottles like the Big Chief Coke bottle I posted earlier, actually the shrooming look can be found on some varieties of Big Chief...interesting.
I actually grew up on a big ranch in Oklahoma and we picked up the really old Coke/Dr Pepper/ and Pepsi bottles all the time just washing out of riverbanks and stuff. That Big Chief bottle in the pic came out of a sandbar. We have at least a few hundred bottles altogether out in the main barn up by the old ranch house just from me and my dad picking stuff up over a few decades not including liquor and medicine and perfume stuff.
And I'll say the real old (teens-50's ?) coke bottles are not flat but have the coke emblem sticking out as part of the glass mold. They didn't switch to the flat middle bit until somewhat later on (Still decades before I was born being "later on")
The more modern guys like the one on the right I posted (bought it just to get a drink of real coke with sugar in Ft Worth last year) are actually better for the bigger scale of the Fallout 3+ Nuka bottles. I don't know about availability where you're at but the .5 liter mexican glass coke bottles can be found pretty commonly in local run convenience stores around here for about $1.25 and you get half a liter of ice cold coke. That's a better deal than trying to hunt down semi-older bottles that are essentially the same IMO.
My 2 cents anyway. It seems like a lot of the really awesome replicas I've seen people make use the too-small 8.5/12 oz american coke bottles or even plastics. Would be nice to see one done in the bigger size.
Hell I'm watching this thread closely just to see how yours turns out so I can get a clue on what to do with mine.:lol
For the original Nuka bottles, the way it muffin tops out at the upper half is uncoke-like and the bottom pattern only correlates to some coke bottles like the Big Chief Coke bottle I posted earlier, actually the shrooming look can be found on some varieties of Big Chief...interesting.
I actually grew up on a big ranch in Oklahoma and we picked up the really old Coke/Dr Pepper/ and Pepsi bottles all the time just washing out of riverbanks and stuff. That Big Chief bottle in the pic came out of a sandbar. We have at least a few hundred bottles altogether out in the main barn up by the old ranch house just from me and my dad picking stuff up over a few decades not including liquor and medicine and perfume stuff.
And I'll say the real old (teens-50's ?) coke bottles are not flat but have the coke emblem sticking out as part of the glass mold. They didn't switch to the flat middle bit until somewhat later on (Still decades before I was born being "later on")
The more modern guys like the one on the right I posted (bought it just to get a drink of real coke with sugar in Ft Worth last year) are actually better for the bigger scale of the Fallout 3+ Nuka bottles. I don't know about availability where you're at but the .5 liter mexican glass coke bottles can be found pretty commonly in local run convenience stores around here for about $1.25 and you get half a liter of ice cold coke. That's a better deal than trying to hunt down semi-older bottles that are essentially the same IMO.
My 2 cents anyway. It seems like a lot of the really awesome replicas I've seen people make use the too-small 8.5/12 oz american coke bottles or even plastics. Would be nice to see one done in the bigger size.
Hell I'm watching this thread closely just to see how yours turns out so I can get a clue on what to do with mine.:lol
