Decals

[Train 284]

Is there something other than Dry Tranfer decals I can use? I posted a smiliar topid a while back and someone said they use vinyl stickers from Michaels or something? Can anyone clear this up for me?

[markn]

I have used the vinyl letters you refer to in several exterior situations and they have worked well. Probably the biggest limitation for model trains is the somewhat limited size, font, and color selection but if you can use what is available they are a good option.

[Train 284]

Where can I get them? At a craft store like Michaels?

[pimanjc]

I got a set of letters and numbers from Hobby Lobby. I have also used the decal kit that is available in the model car section of Walmart. I made some decals using waterproof mailing labels that I printed. Be sure on any of these methods to overspray with clear. All decals and lettering on this caboose were from the methods above.

JimC.

[kstrong]

You've got many, many options as alternatives to dry transfers, though they are still my favorite method of lettering.

Decals: You can print your own using ink jet printers. Some systems are better than others, and I've yet to hear anyone who was 100% satisfied with any of the systems out there, but it's definitely an option. The same goes for color laser printers. The trouble is that the inks are translucent, so they tend to disappear when applied to dark surfaces.

There are tricks, such as printing your artwork on white decal paper with a background to match the color of the equipment on which you're applying it. This works well on black, but matching other colors can be somewhat of a challenge.

If you've got an old ALPS printer, you can print your own, too. The ALPS printers have the advantage of being able to print white and metallic gold and silver. You can sometimes find them on ebay, though they're getting rarer every day. There's a Yahoo group (or three) for folks interested in producing decals with these printers.

There are a small number of custom decal artists who will happily do work for you. Two that come to mind are Shawmut Car Shops and Stan Cedarleaf. Both of these guys do excellent work.

Vinyl lettering - the stick-on lettering from Michaels and similar art stores will work well, but depending on the brand, they may be a bit thick, or if they're the old heat-stamped variety, have ridges around the edges of the letters. This may or may not be acceptable for your purposes. Take a look at what they have and judge for yourself.

You can also have custom vinyl lettering made up from a few sources. G Scale Graphics and Shawmut Cars Shops both do vinyl lettering. Their lettering is very thin, around the thickness of a sheet of paper. It's not as thin as a decal, but far easier to apply. G Scale Graphics also makes vinyl masks (stick-on stencils) so you can paint your lettering. The disadvantage of the vinyl is that it's not good for small lettering, as it's very tedious to apply, and far more trouble than any of the custom houses care to go through to make.

You may also try using the P-touch label writers. You can get them in various combinations of backgrounds and inks, including white or gold on a clear background. This would be great for lettering passenger cars. This is essentially a peel-and-stick sticker that you can apply to your equipment. You have to deal with a visible edge to the clear tape, but for certain applications such as passenger car letterboards, it can be very effective.

These (and other) techniques will be covered in upcoming Garden Railways Basics columns, so stay tuned...

Later,

K

[Anonymous]

I used the inkjet printer cecals and as kstrong says they have limitations . white and clear work ok but it needs practise and some thought as to what color is going on what background . Its worth buying some to trial , results vary tho and they only work well if used with something to give good adhesion - waterproof dilute pva works well for me.

[dwbeckett]

Thanks for all the info This is going in my refferance book