I'm modeling a section of the Great Northern mainline between Spokane and Newport, WA circa 1929. About halfway between those two points is the town of Elk, which at the time was a bustling logging town servicing the sprawling Edwards & Bradford lumber mill. Alas, there is no room on the layout for the mill itself, which occupied several square blocks, not counting a half-mile lot of stacked lumber and logs. The mill even operated its own narrow gauge railroad, with three Shay locos.
Elk's most distinctive building, apart from the mill, was the Elk Hotel, which burned down sometime in the 1970s.
I'm scratch-building that hotel. Notice the flagpole and flag on the porch roof. I searched eBay and the usual suspects for suitable HO scale American flags, but all I could find were solid plastic rectangles and decals. I wanted a cloth flag that would drape like the one in the photo. So I made one. Here's the how-to:
1. Cut a square of suitable white cloth and tape it to a sheet of printer paper. I used a section cut from an old cotton handkerchief. It had been at the bottom of a drawer for years, and had yellowed some, so I soaked it in pure bleach for a couple of hours, rinsed it, let it dry, and pressed it. Be sure to use to use a cloth that will absorb ink, such as cotton or linen; some synthetics may not.
2. Find a good hi-rez flag image with Google. I needed a 48-star flag; found several, saved the best one, opened it with Paint Shop Pro, and printed it on the cloth taped to the sheet of printer paper.
Be sure to tape the cloth square tightly to the paper along all 4 edges, or it may jam your printer. Paint Shop Pro allows you to specify the position of the image on the page and printing to scale. I set it to print the image 1.1 inches wide (8 prototype feet), and positioned in the center of the cloth square. It printed beautifully on my Canon inkjet, which I set for matte photo paper and high quality printing.
3. Cut the printed flag from the cloth with a sharp exacto knife. I then ran a thin bead of CA cement along all four edges, to prevent eventual fraying.
4. I made my flagpole from a length of 0.032" piano wire (bought for Tortoise switch machines) and painted it white with Scalecoat. The 0.032" wire works out to 2.78 inches, prototype --- close enough to a typical 3 inch steel flagpole. Then glued the left edge of the flag to the pole with another bead of CA.
5. Of course, a square of cloth less than 1 square inch weighs next to nothing, and will not drape like an 8 foot flag. So I helped gravity along with a small squeeze clamp affixed to the lower right corner.
Wiggled it around 'til it was hanging in a natural-looking way and sprayed it with Testor's Dullcoat to hold it in that shape. Finally topped the pole with an HO scale orange from a fruit stand kit, repainted gold. (For scale, flag is planted in a chunk of 2" foam board).
I'm surprised none of the model RR supply houses offer similar flags. They are easy to make and would be inexpensive. With a bit of research for an optimum fabric (there is probably something that would work better than my dogeared handkerchief), they could fill a niche currently empty.
I don't need any flags, but your method is a good one, and the results look great!
Wayne
I agree with Wayne! The flag looks really good!
While we are on the subject of flags, I discovered a way to make the white and red flags that are sometimes used on locomotives. I cut the flags out of a nitrile glove, then CA'd them to some brass rod and then painted them. The trick is to let the glove material stretch a bit when you are cutting it. This will produce a somewhat irregular edge which, when glued to the pole, looks like the flag is waving in the breeze. The picture doesn't really do them justice. They do look very realistic. The only problem is that the paint doesn't stick very well to the nitrile material so the more they get handled, the more often they will have to be touched up.
Dave
I'm just a dude with a bad back having a lot of fun with model trains, and finally building a layout!
Those look good, too, Dave!I had forgotten about classification flags, although the ones I made for a friend's RS-1 represent the metal ones used on some prototype locomotives...
Mine are made from .003" brass shimstock, soldered to phosphor-bronze wire, and are removeable.
Gary MortonI'm surprised none of the model RR supply houses offer similar flags.
Well, maybe not inexpensive, but:
http://modeltechstudios.com/oscaleamericanflagswaving-1.aspx
Some decals: https://www.hobbylinc.com/miniatronics-waving-american-flag-48-stars-pre-1959-ho-scale-model-railroad-accessory-9004801
And: https://www.google.com/search?q=ho+scale+waving+flag&client=firefox-b-1&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiG_sDo0OrcAhVmkeAKHdRlArgQsAR6BAgCEAE&biw=1344&bih=698&dpr=1.25#imgrc=kibArhs5ZDAsgM:
Very nice. How well did the ink bleed through the cloth to give you a two-sided flag?
Richard
Nice job on the flags guys.
Synthetic paper is really good for making flags and awnings. We used it for tags at the airport. You could not rip it, it had to be cut off and it is very thin. I think they also used it for the ski pass that you would attach to your jacket. It crinkles up nicely or stays smooth.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
Richard . . .
It looks to be about 50% as dense on the back side. So the stripes and blue field are visible. When draped just-so the back side can be mostly hidden. A thinner cloth would work better.