Your own Decals


C

chrismoore93

Central Phoenix Railroad
Hi everyone,
I'm still trying to design my own layout. Anyway, I'd love to come up with my own railroad name, except I don't know how I can make my own decals :mad: I've looked at a few sites that make decals for you but there kind of pricey. Is there anyway I can make my own, or should I just get them customed made from a shop? :confused: Your help would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Chris Moore
 
chrismoore93 said:
Would you buy decals from them?
Click to expand...

I bought mine from them some time back.
Quality decals.
The boys in the paint shop like them alot and report no problems when applying them to Engines and rolling stock.

Good luck!!!!

Mike. :D
 
Hey chris,
I just saw your question and the answer is no.
I do not at this time, have a photo of my decals, but if you want, bear with me and I'll snap a photo and post it for you. :)

Mike. :D
 
John Hall who sells Reading decals uses Rail Graphics. I had some and they are a good decal

Harold
 
Photo of Decals.

Hey Chris,
As per your request, here are a couple photos of my decals from Railgraphics.
My New York and Western Railroad doesn't have alot of money to spend on fancy paint and lettering schemes for it's engines and rolling stock.
The bulk of it's money goes to insurance premium jumps due to MANY derailments and damaged goods! :rolleyes:
Most New York and Western equipment is flat black with white lettering.
The Railroads passenger service engines and cars are yellow and black.

The following photos show a NY&W paint and lettering scheme on a engine and caboose.
Engine #416 and a caboose are shown here moving a tank and some sort of covered load, under contract for the U.S. Military.
As fate would have it, shortly after these photos were taken, the flat car with the tank on it derailed and rolled down the embankment! :eek:
The train was only 2 miles outside the town of Barewood and 3 miles from the state Armory where the load was to be delivered.
The U.S. Military has since suspended all transportation contracts with the New York and Western Railroad. :(
On a positive note, Josh Tatum's Scrap and Salvage Inc. was awarded a contract to recover the tank from the bottom of the embankment and transport it by trailor the last 5 miles to the armory.
 
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chrismoore93 said:
Do the packages come with the numbers? Not the ones for cars, but for locomotives.
Thanks
Click to expand...

Chris,
The decals come on a sheet of decal paper about the size of a 3x5 index card.
The name of your railroad is written out in any style of lettering you wish and then it is also abbreviated.
Numbers are included but in no real order.
You cut the numbers off the card as you desire.
The numbers can be used on both the locamotives and cars.
Look at the engine and caboose in the photos to see what I'm talking about. :)
 
Okay I have two more qustions. Are the decals sticky so you can put them on right away, and on the caboose and locomotive, are the decals cut out letter for letter?
For example on the locomotive it says NY&W, did you have to cut out the N, then the Y, then the &, then the W, or is it all together?

Not sure if this makes sence.
 
Not sure if this makes sence
Click to expand...
Hi Chris, yes it does make sense, I buy Microscale decals made for CB&CNS locos and for the most part I don't have to cut out the letters and numbers individually. However the sets were made for the Alco units and not for the EMD or rolling stock. In these cases I have to cut it all out letter by letter and number by number, painstaking but it can be done. I can't comment on the package you are inquiring about but I imagine it would be similar.
Cheers Willis
 
chrismoore93 said:
Okay I have two more qustions. Are the decals sticky so you can put them on right away, and on the caboose and locomotive, are the decals cut out letter for letter?
For example on the locomotive it says NY&W, did you have to cut out the N, then the Y, then the &, then the W, or is it all together?

Not sure if this makes sence.
Click to expand...



Chris,

The decals were printed the way you see them.
No fuss, no muss.
Just cut them off the card,soak them in water and apply them to your models.
There is a "decal softner" solution available that you can apply to the decals
to soften them up so they aren't lumpy and bumpy over the finer details of the model.
Details like rivets,access doors,panel seams and so forth.
I'm no expert on decals and their application but that is pretty much how it works.

Hope that helps.

Mike.
 
Old 97 said:
Just cut them off the card,soak them in water and apply them to your models.
There is a "decal softner" solution available that you can apply to the decals
to soften them up so they aren't lumpy and bumpy over the finer details of the model.
Details like rivets,access doors,panel seams and so forth.
I'm no expert on decals and their application but that is pretty much how it works.

Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the information! I haven't done any decaling yet, but I plan to in the future, and I'll be referring back to this thread I'm sure. Does the thickness of a decal vary much by manufacturer (meaning a cheaper decal would be thicker and would have lumpier application)?
 
Nate,

Like I said earlier,I am no expert on decals or their application.

The little bit of experience that I have tells me that there is a difference
in thickness of decal paper.

My decals from Railgraphics have a heavier paper than the ones I have from Champs Decals.

This doesn't appear to make a difference though, when applying them to models.

Also, once you purchase some decals, you'll want to store them in a air tight container of some sorts.
I use a plastic sandwich bag. :D

As the decal paper dries out and becomes brittle, the decals have a tendency to seperate and fall apart when soaking in water or applying them to a model.

Just my observation. :)
 
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I had my first bunch of decals made by someone else, but this time I'm going to make my own. I've found a place on the internet to get decal sheets pretty cheap. I use Print Shop Deluxe & you can make your own real easy. Since I had mine made, I've refined the lettering quite a bit & I want to use a larger decal on the side of my engines.
It took me a long time to figure out a name for my layout. About 10 years. My layout is all freelance w/a Coast to Coast to Coast theme. I run all different kinds of engines
& the "G-A-P" logo works out real well.
I also make stickers w/my logo on sticker paper that I buy from Walmart. I use the sticker paper for signs on my buildings.

Larry
 
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