Hope this comes out better

[attachment=8547]

Well now that you can see the picture. The only way I have seen to "paint" signs on buildings was the dry transfer method or sanding the paper the sign was painted on till it was razor thin. Didn't care for either method (not in n-scale anyway), took to long and required more skill than I had. For this I masked off the brick and sprayed it white, then made a water slide decal on the 'puter. After the decal was on but not dry I soaked it with decal softener so it would mold to the brick. After that dried gave it a couple coats of Dull Cote. The one problem I had (1st attempt, still learning) was the decal shrunk a little as it settled into the cracks and crevices exposing a little of the white. I touched that up with some paint on a small brush. You can tell this in the close-up but not with the naked eye. I think this should work well in the larger scales as well.

So Tyson,what's the problem? These ol yankee eyeballs see a painted on sign

Actually Tyson your printer doesn't need to print white as long as you use white decal paper.

When you set up for your sign start with the colour of the background ,and do the lettering in white on your puter. The printer won't see a colour where the letters are so it won't put any colour there but will still print the background colour on your decal sheet.

Hope this makes sense to you buddy.

DUH!!!!!!!! Thanks Catt for pointing out the obvious. Can't believe I didn't think of that!
Where the h*ll is my medication?

Is this the clear sticky-back stuff, or is this "real" decal material that is wet applied? I have some mat-finished and clear sticky-backed stuff that I use for creating transparent artwork for screen printing. Is this the stuff we're talking about?

boy, it that's what Tyson used, I am really impressed.

Thanks,

I got my decal paper from Micro Mark Don. You can get Clear, White and I think a couple of colors. It's the real McCoy water slide stuff. The sticky back stuff you refer to is too thick to lay good (at least it is in n-scale). They make 2 types, 1 for laser & 1 for inkjet. I have both type of printers and use the laser paper in both. They can rub off the decal paper when applying if you are not careful, but once applied give it a couple coats of Dull-Cote and it's good to go!

This is a recreation of a thread that was originally posted in June 2002. At the time, I was rather new to N scale modeling, but thanks to people like Tyson here, I had great advice and a great start. I am now never without a few sheets of clear and white decal paper along with a decal finishing kit which includes softening solution. all from Micro-Mark. I do believe this was the thread back then that steered me in that direction. I thank you Tyson for this and the many other fine tips you've given us all over the years.