Where can I buy a paste-on or slide-off sheet of decals with generic names for commercial retail shops, tailors, hardware stores, cafes, post offices, clothing stores, barbers and the like?
That is, decals that don't read "Smith's Hardware" but simply "Hardware" or "Hardware Store." I want to give each building its own specific owner- or town-related name.
Have you tried printing them yourself? I download my signs using a Google search then size them and print them out.
Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Yes, that's the trick. I download artwork and print my own signs, either on plain paper or decal paper.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
RR_Mel Have you tried printing them yourself? I download my signs using a Google search then size them and print them out. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
MisterBeasley Yes, that's the trick. I download artwork and print my own signs, either on plain paper or decal paper.
Ian R.Where can I buy a paste-on or slide-off sheet of decals with generic names for commercial retail shops, tailors, hardware stores, cafes, post offices, clothing stores, barbers and the like?
Walthers made a decal sheet for one of their building kits that had alphabet sections for making custom business names.
I have bought a few of them as they come up on ebay as kit left-overs. As far as I know they have never beend sold by Walthers seperately. I also am not sure what building kit they came with.
Sorry to be of such little help.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
If you find generic Hardware Store decals doesn't mean you will find matching font Joe's or Acme to go with the hardware store lettering.
Decal paper is readily available on Ebay. There is one type for inkjet and another for laser. Most require you to spray the decal to fix the color so it doesn't bleed.
White is a problem. There was a printer called ALPS, which is no longer made, which made satisfactory white lettering. There is another system, called Ghost White, which makes a white cartridge for a laser printer
People have asked about it, but NOBODY, to my knowledge, has ever posted in this forum that they bought the ghost system and either liked it or did not.
I I tried to print orange with inkjet paper and I don't think I used the photo quality settings. It was all but invisible on a black background.
There are also custom decal makers listed in MR every month. They charge by the size of the sheet they print so you could fill it up with every business you can imagine.
You could also paint a white rectangle, apply dry self sticking letters, and then paint the rectangle black, and remove the letters. This is an inkjet decal place over a white painted rectangle. The letters come out clear on the decal and show the white beneath.
Henry
COB Potomac & Northern
Shenandoah Valley
Ian R. How does one find the specific name one wants for, say, a town's general store or hardware or a barber shop in a Google search? In my case the names are still undetermined. I might end up calling one of my shops "Joe's Haberdashery" or a newspaper building "The Sweetgrass Times" or a cafe "Margie's." Applying individual letter decals is certainly one way, but doing so doesn't necessarily result in straight, neat lettering. All the decal suppliers I've seen so far feature multiple and varying sets of decals on their websites, but the wording and/or artwork is typically way to small to read accurately. "I'm not looking for any commercial brand names such as the one in your photo. But for future reference, what special paper, if any, is required to print a downloard like yours?
If the business name you want isn’t out there you will have to do the art work yourself.I made the decals for my fire trucks using Word.The decal is printed on my Alps printer because it will print gold leaf, you could print it out on any Inkjet or Laser printer in regular colors with the exception of white of course.Because your looking for a sign you don’t need decal paper, just regular printer paper will work fine.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Making text for a sign is a piece of cake. Just use your word processor, every word processor has dozens and dozens of fonts available. If you can’t find the font you’re looking for do a Google Search for free fonts.https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=OzjMX7b_K6Sx0PEP4o6ygA8&q=fonts+free&oq=fonts&gs_lcp=CgZwc3ktYWIQARgDMggIABCxAxDJAzIICAAQsQMQgwEyBQgAELEDMgUIABCxAzIICAAQsQMQgwEyAggAMgIIADIICAAQsQMQgwEyAggAMgUIABCxAzoOCC4QsQMQgwEQxwEQowI6BQguELEDOgsILhCxAxDHARCjAjoFCAAQyQM6BQgAEJIDOggILhDHARCjAlCoI1jaLmC_YGgAcAB4AIABeYgBiASSAQMxLjSYAQCgAQGqAQdnd3Mtd2l6&sclient=psy-abAs for artwork again go with a Google Search for the basic design for your sign, look for images. https://www.google.com/search?q=general+store&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjuhuLin7jtAhUVOH0KHd3vCXsQ_AUoAnoECAQQBA&biw=1024&bih=570https://www.google.com/search?q=lumber+yard+signs&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwjbveSIoLjtAhWFADQIHSfvArYQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=lumber+yard+signs&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQDDICCAA6BggAEAgQHjoECAAQGFDYhAFYiqEBYL64AWgAcAB4AIABYogBkgSSAQE2mAEAoAEBqgELZ3dzLXdpei1pbWfAAQE&sclient=img&ei=EjrMX9vsD4WB0PEPp96LsAs&bih=570&biw=1024
For me searching for artwork is as much fun as making the signs. All kinds of stuff out there free for the looking.MelMy Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
I made an insert for Miller Engineering Sign for my layout using a font in Word. My son died at an early age and I have a diner on my layout named after him. I also made decals for his truck.That’s Doug driving.We also lost a daughter early on and she was planning on being an attorney so I gave her an office in her home.
That sign is a decal.
She also has a café next to my passenger station.
I named my town after my daughter.You’re only limiting facture is your imagination.Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Like Mels, done on Word.
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Ian R. MisterBeasley Yes, that's the trick. I download artwork and print my own signs, either on plain paper or decal paper. Where is blank decal paper available? Is it the soak-and-slide-off kind to which you refer? Artwork is not what I'm after.
I got some at decalpaper dot com. It was during a decal paper shortage when no one had any. I actually like it. I use it on my inkjet printer.
Found them!
The building alphabet decals are on the Walthers Cornerstone Modulars decal sheets.
You can get blank decal paper from Walthers, and I believe Microscale, too.
I made a number of signs using decals or dry transfers along with paint. If you wish, you can use dry transfer lettering as masking: paint the background the colour that you want to use for the lettering then apply the dry transfers, but don't do the burnishing step to permanently affix them in place. Next, paint over the whole shebang, and as soon as the paint is dry to the touch, use bits of masking tape to pick at the dry transfers. As the transfer lettering comes off, the colour of the permanent lettering will appear.
Here are a few done with only dry transfers and some done with the paint-first method...
For this one, the whole area of the sign was painted white, then the dry transfer lettering applied. I then masked-off the rest of the walls and airbrushed the entire sign black. As soon as the black paint was dry-to-the touch, I used masking tape to daub at the lettering, lifting off the transfers and revealing the sign...
This one was done in a similar manner...
...while this one was done only with dry transfers, applied directly onto the structure and burnished to make it permanent...
This one I made, painting the background and framework, then applying dry transfer lettering in various font sizes...
While these methods work well, they're somewhat limiting, so I asked my brother, an artist, for some suggestions. After some discussion, I sent him a list of businesses, mostly real ones, and included the size I wanted and the colours to be used on the sign, both for the lettering and for the background.He put together the artwork on his computer (he'd done the same for me when I needed custom dry transfers and custom decals) then submitted the files to the printer who does printing for their home-based business.Here are a few of the dozens I got...
This one is based directly on its prototype...
My brother printed these, and many other small signs, himself...
Wayne
RR_Mel I made the decals for my fire trucks using Word.The decal is printed on my Alps printer because it will print gold leaf, you could print it out on any Inkjet or Laser printer in regular colors with the exception of white of course.Because your looking for a sign you don’t need decal paper, just regular printer paper will work fine.
I made the decals for my fire trucks using Word.The decal is printed on my Alps printer because it will print gold leaf, you could print it out on any Inkjet or Laser printer in regular colors with the exception of white of course.Because your looking for a sign you don’t need decal paper, just regular printer paper will work fine.
"You don't need decal paper, just regular printer paper"
If you use "regular printer paper", how do you conceal the white paper background?
Rich
Alton Junction
richhotrain That last sentence confuses me, Mel. "You don't need decal paper, just regular printer paper" If you use "regular printer paper", how do you conceal the white paper background? Rich
That last sentence confuses me, Mel.
I guess I shouldn't have added that statement under the decal post, was refering to a sign not my decal.
With his artwork or the captured image as in my billboard. My billboard was downloaded from a Google Search then sized and printed on regular printer paper. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
RR_Mel I guess I shouldn't have added that statement under the decal post, was refering to a sign not my decal. With his artwork or the captured image as in my billboard. My billboard was downloaded from a Google Search then sized and printed on regular printer paper.
With his artwork or the captured image as in my billboard. My billboard was downloaded from a Google Search then sized and printed on regular printer paper.
I tweaked it in my picture software to get the sun faded look. The image off the search was sorta glossy and that didn’t look good for a billboard. Mel My Model Railroad http://melvineperry.blogspot.com/ Bakersfield, California I'm beginning to realize that aging is not for wimps.
Do a search for Tomkat signs. He has hundreds of signs for most eras, and they are free. There is also another forum that has them posted, but I don't know if that is against the rules here.
Joe
josephbw Do a search for Tomkat signs. He has hundreds of signs for most eras, and they are free. There is also another forum that has them posted, but I don't know if that is against the rules here. Joe
SeeYou190 Found them! The building alphabet decals are on the Walthers Cornerstone Modulars decal sheets. -Kevin
There are lots of those Walthers Decal Sheets on eBay, and they are cheap to buy.
Wayne,
Dry transfers may well be one good way to go then. What font sizes do you find work well in HO?
By burnishing, do you mean "setting" the sign with Micro Sol or Micro Set? Or something else? And do these transfers adhere well to both laser wood and plastic structures?
A search for blank decal paper on Walthers and Microscale turned up nothing, though it's plentiful on Amazon.
P.S. - Can I borrow your brother?!
I used a lot of Letraset dry transfers when I first started freelancing for my layout, and they ranged in size from 6 point (about .0833") to 36 point (about .375"), in an almost infinite range of font styles.
I later discovered C-D-S dry transfers, and in addition to alphabet sets, they also offered complete lettering sets for mostly Canadian freight cars, passenger cars and steam locomotives. Woodland scenic also offered some dry transfers and did some decal manufacturers.
Dry transfers are on semi-opaque material and come with a backing sheet of tissue-like paper. The process for lettering is to place the sheet with the letter/numeral/word where you want it, then use a pen/pencil or stylus to rub that area until the image is transferred to where you want it - do not, if possible, lift the transfer sheet until the entire image is completely transferred - in most cases, you get only one chance.
Once the transfer is completed, the lettering sheet is set aside, and the tissue-like backing placed over the transferred image, which is then burnished (rubbed with a tool like that used to effect the transfer) to more securely adhere the lettering in place.Decal setting solutions, especially Walthers Solvaset, will settle dry transfers in a manner similar to decals, and on very irregular surfaces, with both raised and depressed surfaces, works very well - better than it does with decals in a similar situation.
I've never used dry transfers on wood (I stopped modelling with wood many years ago) so I can't comment with any authority. I'd guess, though, that it would work on painted or otherwise sealed wood.All of the locos, rolling stock and structures on which I've used dry transfers have been painted, always with flat (not shiny) paint. Because of that, I'm guessing that the dry transfers won't adhere all that well to bare plastic, due to, in most cases, its somewhat shiny surface.
I have (just last night, in fact) used dry transfers on blank decal paper (even if you can't find blank decal paper, many decal sets, especially those for Walthers structures, have a great deal of blank areas on the sheet).Placing dry transfers on decal paper is the same process as outlined above, but it may help to keep the lettering straight by drawing a line on the decal paper, to which you can abut the lettering. In that case, the applied lettering can be cut from the sheet and used pretty-much as you would any commercially available decal. Do not put a clear coat over a decal thus-made until it is in place where you want it, and properly set with the decal setter of choice. I learned the hard way that a decal covered with Dullcote does not respond well to any setting solution.
Ian R.P.S. - Can I borrow your brother?!
He's been very helpful to me, especially with model railroad stuff, even though he's not particularly interested in model railroading himself. I do think that it's solving the challenges which I present to him is the thing that appeals to him.
Wayne, could your brother build me a replica of Bertram's?
richhotrain Wayne, could your brother build me a replica of Bertram's? Rich
doctorwayne richhotrain Wayne, could your brother build me a replica of Bertram's? Rich I dunno, Rich...he had nothing to do with that one, as I did all of it, including the signs, myself. I think right now, he's doing some home renos, but I'll pass along your request. Wayne
richhotrainBy the way, Wayne, do you have a design patent on Bertram's? My lawyer told me to ask you.
Actually I do, Rich, and that's because my version of Bertram's looks nothing like the real one did. I think that part (or maybe all) of the real one is still in existence, but I didn't consider it interesting enough to be a layout-worthy model. In truth, most of my structures don't bear any ressemblance to their namesakes, as many of the real ones are gone or drastically changed, and some were just plain boring.
doctorwayne richhotrain By the way, Wayne, do you have a design patent on Bertram's? My lawyer told me to ask you. Actually I do, Rich, and that's because my version of Bertram's looks nothing like the real one did.
richhotrain By the way, Wayne, do you have a design patent on Bertram's? My lawyer told me to ask you.
Actually I do, Rich, and that's because my version of Bertram's looks nothing like the real one did.