It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
I used MS Excel to make the signs and decals on my layout. The spreadsheet grid helped get the sizes consistent.
The decals and signs in the pictures below were made using the Word Art feature in Excel and some images imported from the internet.
I fine tuned the images with a photo editting program. In Excel, you can resize the images to fit the area you intend for them.
Excel lets you put borders and background color on the decals.
I have a related question. Can you use sticky label instead of decal paper?
Thanks
Mike Dickinson
MichaelWD wrote: I have a related question. Can you use sticky label instead of decal paper?ThanksMike Dickinson
Mike,
In the first picture, in my previous post, I wanted the appearance of a sign painted directly on the suface of the building. Notice how the decal has drawn into the texture of the building surface.
In the second picture, the decal didn't quite conform the way I hoped it would, but I was happy with the way it appeared like an old sign. The buliding behind and to the left has a billboard on the roof that was made by printing on 32# paper and adhering it with double stick tape to the billboard.
The third picture shows the ice house and water tower, the signs are also paper and attached with double stick tape.
It all depends on the final effect you're looking for, but you could certainly print on paper. The decal paper is expensive, plus, if you're using an inkjet printer as I am, you need to let the ink dry thoroughly. I waited 24 hours before spraying with sealer. After another 24 hours, the decals can be applied.
You should have seen the look on my face the first time I tried applying decals without having sealed them. The ink slid off the decals before the decals slid off the backing.
Decal paper is available for both inkjet and laser printer, if you ddecide to make your own decals, be sure to get the correct type for your printer.
What I am trying to do is use mini labels for the sides and ends of stacks of lumber. I do not trust "my" homemade decals. So I am trying to do it this way.
mls1621 wrote: You should have seen the look on my face the first time I tried applying decals without having sealed them. The ink slid off the decals before the decals slid off the backing.
Thanks for that confession. I thought I was the only one who'd had that "Do'h!" experience.
When I put together a strip of decals, I put them at the top of the page in MS Word. I adjust the margins so the decals are as high on the page as possible, and use the left-to-right space most effectively, too. Then, I print the strip, generally only using the top inch or two of the paper. I use a paper cutter to get a clean edge about a quarter-inch below the decal strip. Then, I can take that same sheet of decal paper, now shorter, and feed it right through the printer again. The printer doesn't care if the page is short, as long as you're not printing a page that's longer than the available paper.
BigRusty wrote:On this same subject, I am looking for the source of RR type fonts that can be used to do my own decals. I recall seeing that once on this or another forum and I book marked it but that computer has crashed and I have lost all of my e-mail and favorites addresses, Your help would be much appreciated.
I go online and google. I picked up a few I liked with "old west fonts." "Railroad font" produced just over a million hits. I didn't have time to check them all.
Way cool!
I hadn't thought of my own decaling. I have some undecorated locos that I could match up with my favourite road equipment.
Where do I get the decaling paper/sheets?
It's an LHS item. MicroMark makes some, but when my LHS tried to order it, he couldn't get it. I bought some at my not-so-LHS a few towns further north. It's several dollars a sheet, which is why I'm so careful about how I use it, and how I can avoid wasting it.
Decals are great fun. This was my first project. It's also my first paint job, so I was pretty happy with the results. These photos blow up if you click on them, by the way.
But wait! There's more! If you put decals on a nice, smooth surface, you get a clean look like on the trolley. But, if you put it on a rough surface, it looks old and ratty.
These posters are decals on a coffee-stirrer fence. Note that I'm using CLEAR decal paper here, so I had to "whitewash" the fence with cheap acrylic white paint, so the background would appear white and not just "fence colored." I did that for Ted's Moxie ad, too. You can get WHITE decal paper, but then the whole background will be white and the background color won't show through. Note that only a small number of computer printers can print white. Most get white by not printing anything, assuming you're working on white paper, so you have to compensate for that with decals.
Thanks MRB. I found what I was looking for at Rail Fonts. They offer fonts, heralds and logos for hundreds of fallen flag and modern era railroads.
Also, I located what is touted to be a superior decal paper that doesn't have to be sealed after inkjet printing at http://www.railwayshop.com/
I ordered some and will post the results of my experiments. I have also ordered some new materials that allow using an inkjet printer to print on a negative material and produce high resolution silk screens that can be used to print WHITE lettering on clear decal paper. I have also ordered some of that. They also sell the inks. I will be experimenting with printing on the car sides instead of using a decal.
I googled every possibility I could think of but couldn't find the exact software you mentioned. However, I found an interesting web site on this subject at
http://oldriverbillzumwalt.members.ktis.net/decals.htm
He has a good discussion on printing decals, decal paper sources and the software he uses to design his own decals.
I looked at the decal paper described on the Railwayshop site. Maybe I'm misreading it but looks to me that the decal paper for laser printers doesn't have to be sealed but that the decal paper for inkjet printers still has to be sealed. They suggest buying the Krylon acrylic spray at Loews or Home Depot for the inkjet decal paper.
Mike B.
That may be true. Laser printing on regular paper is pretty waterproof, unlike inkjet printing.
I seal my decals with Microscale's Liquid Decal Film. It's a brush-on product, but for the small number of these I do, it works fine. After I apply the decal, I usually spray the whole thing with either satin or dull finish to protect it.