As long as you don't sell them, there is nothing to worry about.
John Timm
Also I copy signs & billboards off ebay (or other places on the web). Go to collectables-advertising or collectables-paper, then search for signs, copy & paste image to a publisher desk top, crop & size for your scale.....
N scale 1 inch = 13.3 ft. HO scale 1 inch = 7.2 ft. S scale 1 inch = 5.3 ft. O scale 1 inch = 4 ft.
( HO for me ). then save to a file. Then you can print on paper, cardstock or full sticker page. With full sticker just cut out, trim and stick to a stiff backing or right to a building. With paper or cardstock you can use double sided tape or glue of your choice. If you print on photo paper you get a glossy like metal sign that. You can build the frame for billboards from wood stick matches or scale lumber.
CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE
These signs on the cafe I scanned from a sign catalog.
You can also copy people, Background buildings, interiors, ect.
This is off a postcard found on ebay under collectables/paper/postcards. These are great to use as background buidings.
These are old ink blotters copied off ebay, found under collectables/paper/ink blotters. Most are rectangle and make nice billboards.
These buildings were copied of postcards on ebay and make great background buildings! The ideas are endless....just look for signs that match the era you model.
http://www.routemarkers.com/
http://mahn0.tripod.com/rss/index.htm
http://www.kurumi.com/roads/signmaker/signmaker.html
http://www.agilitynut.com/signs/1.html
http://www.trafficsign.us/
My road sign contribution!
Now. That is amazing.
I do have trouble with settings.
How to "Set" the paintshop or Microsoft Photo Editor etc... to display the final print out in HO scale or close enough?
I use a Samsung Syncmaster 932bw wide screen on a DVI cable and frankly the images are HUMONGUS and am afraid that it will come out all wrong inside the printer.
desertdog wrote: As long as you don't sell them, there is nothing to worry about.John Timm
Well Tim, about cutting peices out of 60+year-old magazines,unlike people, paper's memory can last forever in mint condition, just keep it out of the sunlite and don't let it get wet,or let varmints get to it.
Old matchbooks from restaurants, hotels, banks and other businesses are another good source...
If you can still find them in our smoke-free world!
Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
Why don't they manufacture those glass and those tin store signs with Coke, or Pepsi, or Dr Pepper,etc written in the corners? The specific business' name could easily be handmade by the modeler in the blank space. I mean,some of these signs existed in the 50's, so it's not like transition-era modelers would be totally left out.
Independent buisnesses also bought standardized signs w/o product ads (such as the yellow and red lubrication signs once found at garages)
okonite wrote:Tomkat-13 - those postcards that you found on ebay are by the famed Curt Teich Company of Chicago, and their famous and distinctive cross-hatched texture makes them unsuitable for anything other reference material (not to mention the company used embellishing techniques on them)
If you're using Microsoft Word, click View at the top and select Print Layout. The display will change and show both horizontal and vertical rulers. This will be the scale that prints out. You can measure the size of your windows and then match that against the on-screen rulers.
I use Google to find interesting signs. Go to www.google.com and click on Images at the top. Then enter what you're looking for. Try "circus posters" or "Uncle Sam wants you."
I like to print these out on decal paper and put them on fences and the sides of buildings. A couple of nights ago, I went out on the Web in search of signs for "Moxie," an old soft drink probably better known as a furshlugginer bit of art from MAD Magazine. But, it was real stuff, and I found an ad, modified it a bit to fit my space, and printed out. I've got the decals sealed off now, and I'll be putting them on a wood fence tonight.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Try using the Microsoft Paint program to duplicate and adjust the image sizes.
Doc
You're probably right about the postcards; although I would only use them as billboards since the company touched the cards up. Speaking of touching up, you can get billboards from the 40s-50s-60s of many products on www.billboardsofthepast.com ,but you may have to touch up minor wrinkles on some,(and distort the top corners of others that were photographed at a funny angles and and correct some scrunches) ,The photos on the site are of original billboards that the site claims are mint condition(never been mounted) .The site also gives the real-life dimensions.
There's like 50 different Nash automobile billboards on the site.
okonite wrote: You're probably right about the postcards; although I would only use them as billboards since the company touched the cards up. Speaking of touching up, you can get billboards from the 40s-50s-60s of many products on http://www.billboardsofthepast.com/ ,but you may have to touch up minor wrinkles on some,(and distort the top corners of others that were photographed at a funny angles and and correct some scrunches) ,The photos on the site are of original billboards that the site claims are mint condition(never been mounted) .The site also gives the real-life dimensions.There's like 50 different Nash automobile billboards on the site.
You're probably right about the postcards; although I would only use them as billboards since the company touched the cards up. Speaking of touching up, you can get billboards from the 40s-50s-60s of many products on http://www.billboardsofthepast.com/ ,but you may have to touch up minor wrinkles on some,(and distort the top corners of others that were photographed at a funny angles and and correct some scrunches) ,The photos on the site are of original billboards that the site claims are mint condition(never been mounted) .The site also gives the real-life dimensions.
Yes, I've looked at the old billboards on that site.....some views need to be cropped others are not bright enough....but still lot of usefull signs!
Here is a postcard scan of a tavern used as a back drop.