I received the N-scale decals from K4 Supply today for my HO FTA/F2A shells. While the black herald w/white lettering is not very crisp, the clear herald w/white lettering looks pretty good and is spot-on size-wise.
Once I have a chance to try it out on a scrap piece of painted styrene, I'll post photos...
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
gmpullman[edit] I see there is an ebay store called K4 Supply that seems to have a large selection of NYC decals that they made or had made for them. I wonder if you might contact them and get them interested in making some sets of the "cat whisker" style? https://www.ebay.com/str/k4supplycompany Surely there are others, myself included, who would be interested in this NYC style of striping? Good Luck, Ed
https://www.ebay.com/str/k4supplycompany
Surely there are others, myself included, who would be interested in this NYC style of striping?
Good Luck, Ed
Ed,
K4 Supply is the same vendor I purchased the N-scale decals from. I inquired about the size of the HO-scale white oval heralds. Mike from K4 told me those were 0.56" wide, or 48.7" scale. (They're for the NYC 40' boxcars.) I was told the N-scale ovals were 0.30" wide - i.e. pretty much dead-on for the 26" scale ovals.
I think I'm going to see how these ovals look before contacting K4 to inquire about their possible interest in making any NYC red oval heralds or cat-whisker striping. I've also contacted someone with the NYCSHS Modeling Committee and the committee met recently and has expressed interested in the herald project. We'll see where there leads.
Wayne,
Thanks for the link for Circus City Decals. I'll look into that.
Tom, I have 20 NYC red heralds, but unfortunately all are the smaller size which you already have.
This refrigerator car has little to do with the Central...
...other than it was lettered using custom decals. A friend had them done by an outfit called Circus City Decals & Graphics. They'll do custom multi-colour work on as little as a single sheet. If you need custom artwork, obviously the price would be higher, but you might want to contact them to see if they can work from one of your small heralds. The lettering on the reefer was actually intended for a modern outside-post 50' boxcar, but even the dimensional data is crisp and legible, and the prices didn't seem too bad at all.
Wayne
Hello, Tom
tstage All I would need to do is to paint a red oval background onto the shell then slide the white oval herald over the top of that.
I have a "vintage 1979" set of Accu-Cals that happen to have red ovals on them, intended for the exact thing you are asking about except this set has the short-lived 1956-57 "Script" herald.
They measure .440 x .290 inches.
NYC_Accu-cal by Edmund, on Flickr
I'd be glad to send you a couple of the red ovals if you'd like. Might be easier than trying to paint?
I used this set to letter some Stewart F7s some years ago and they seemed to be OK then. As you can see there are some pretty neat lettering sets on this sheet, although, somewhat modern for your era.
[edit] I see there is an ebay store called K4 Supply that seems to have a large selection of NYC decals that they made or had made for them. I wonder if you might contact them and get them interested in making some sets of the "cat whisker" style?
I have shared in a few threads over the past few months about the lack of NYC red oval herald decals in HO-scale. The only one currently available is from Microscale but it's too narrow (22"). And I'm looking for one that is scale 26 x 19-1/4", similar to the one below:
These were used on the nose door of the NYC EMD E- and F-units.
Apart from paying for a custom decal print (I am looking into that), I've received a few ideas & suggestions from modelers about how to come up with a cost-effective solution. One idea is to print the red portion of the herald onto white decal paper and carefully cut it out. I'll need some sort of outline on the oval in order to maintain the proper width of the outer white border.
A variation on that is to print the red onto clear decal film and place it over a white oval painted onto the locomotive shell. However, this adds an additional step to the application process.
I found some boxcar white oval heralds printed on clear film on eBay. The HO-scale ovals were much too large but the N-scale was pretty much dead on. All I would need to do is to paint a red oval background onto the shell then slide the white oval herald over the top of that.
I already ordered the white decals. The red oval background doesn't have to be exact; only inside the outer white oval outline of the decal. I'm hoping that the custom decals might still work out. That way they can be available for other NYC modelers interested in painting undecorated shells.