03-29-2012, 12:53 PM
I forgot to post the following, which may be of use for anyone lettering something using decals or dry transfers. The item to be lettered should have a gloss or semi-gloss finish when using decals, and a matte finish when using dry transfers.
If you're lettering a car or locomotive using a commercially-available decal or dry transfer set, there are usually references on the model to aid in aligning the lettering: a word begins three door panels from the left end, or a stripe should be applied below a particular rivet strip, etc., etc.
However, sometimes these aids aren't available, so you need to add your own in order to keep the lettering straight and properly spaced. An easy way to do so is with masking tape. Lay a strip of it, sticky side down, on a sheet of glass, then, with a sharp blade and a straightedge, trim away both factory-edges - these become nicked with handling or collect fuzz and dust, so it's best to get them out of the way. You'll need to have an idea of where the lettering is to be placed, and suitable reference points are the car's eaves, sidesills, and ends. You can also make use of rivet lines, windows, or other moulded-on detail. For the caboose shown above, I wanted the lettering to be in the area under the cupola and centred length-wise between the nearest window and the end of the car's side. Based on the size of the lettering I wished to use, I decided that the top of the upper line should be at the same level as the top of the windows, and that the top of the second line would be 1' (HO) below the bottom of the letters on the upper line.
Using dividers, I set them to the distance between the eaves of the car and the top of the window frame, then transferred that measurement to the tape, cutting it accordingly. That strip was then applied to the car, lining-up its upper edge with the top of the car's side.
A second strip of tape, corresponding to the required distance from the car's sill to the bottom edge of the second line of lettering, was cut and applied to the car.
Next, using my scale rule, I made a mark on both strips of tape at the mid-point of the area where the lettering was to be placed. I arbitrarily decided that the two words on the top line should be 2' (HO) apart, and made two lines, each 1' from the centre line. Based on the size of the letters, I determined that if I made the over-all length of "GRAND" 3'3" long, the spacing between the letters would be appropriate. I then made marks at that distance from both of the ones previously made. These represent the start and end points of the top line, and similar start and finish marks were transferred to the lower strip of tape.
![[Image: NewYearsChallengePhotos177.jpg]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/doctorwayne/Freight%20Cars%20-%20Part%20II/NewYearsChallengePhotos177.jpg)
After cutting out the individual letters, the decals for one side were grouped, by-word, on a sheet of glass, then a few drops of distilled water was applied and the decals were allowed to soak.
When cutting decals, I use a new blade in my X-Acto and cut as close to the lettering as possible. Any clear film above or below the lettering has to be taken into account when using the tape as an alignment aid, and the closer the letters can be to the tape, the better the chances of them being in a straight line. With dry transfers, there's no decal film to worry about, but you'll still need to stay a bit away from the tape to account for its thickness.
You should also take into consideration the letter spacing, and leave as little excess film as possible on the sides of the individual characters. Letters, especially those on the beginning and end of words, which have rounded corners (2, 3, C, O, R, etc.) will look less conspicuous as decals if you trim away the clear film at those curves, too. You can cut the characters from the decal sheet, then, working on a sheet of glass, snick-off excess material with a firm press of the blade.
Once the decal releases from the backing paper, use tweezers to pick up the letters, one at a time, for the first word, depositing them roughly where they should be. For mine, the "G" and "D" both have their outer extremities marked on the tape, so they're easy to place, then the other three letters are spaced "by eye". If you're working with longer words, it helps to make a mark for the mid-point or middle letter, too. Be aware, though, that not all letters require the same space, nor are the spaces between all letters necessarily the same. This is illustrated by the word "RIVER": it's five letters long, just like "GRAND", but that "I" takes up less space than other letters. Because of this, I applied these letters by placing the "D" first, then spaced the remainder "by eye", which placed the first "R" somewhat to the right of where the mark on the tape was.
In addition to "I" being narrower than other letters, the letters "A", "L", "T", and "V" are often placed just a little closer to those around them to give a more even appearance to the spacing. This often depends on the preceding and following letters, so you'll need to play around with it a bit until it looks right to you. Of course, "M" and "W" take up a little more room than the others.
![[Image: NewYearsChallengePhotos178.jpg]](http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b399/doctorwayne/Freight%20Cars%20-%20Part%20II/NewYearsChallengePhotos178.jpg)
For my second line, I started with the "S" and pretty-well followed the spacing used on "GRAND" until I got to the "T". It was placed slightly closer to the "U" and the "H" was then placed slightly closer to the "T". "RY." was started with the "Y" just inboard of the line marking the finish point, and the "." added right at the finish mark. To check your work, sight along the car from each end and correct as necessary. then remove the tape and apply setting solution. Once it had dried, I used a sharp blade to slit each letter at the grooves denoting the board edges, then applied more setting solution.
A similar technique was used to add the number, and when everything had dried sufficiently, the parts were airbrushed with Dullcote, then the caboose was re-assembled.
Wayne
If you're lettering a car or locomotive using a commercially-available decal or dry transfer set, there are usually references on the model to aid in aligning the lettering: a word begins three door panels from the left end, or a stripe should be applied below a particular rivet strip, etc., etc.
However, sometimes these aids aren't available, so you need to add your own in order to keep the lettering straight and properly spaced. An easy way to do so is with masking tape. Lay a strip of it, sticky side down, on a sheet of glass, then, with a sharp blade and a straightedge, trim away both factory-edges - these become nicked with handling or collect fuzz and dust, so it's best to get them out of the way. You'll need to have an idea of where the lettering is to be placed, and suitable reference points are the car's eaves, sidesills, and ends. You can also make use of rivet lines, windows, or other moulded-on detail. For the caboose shown above, I wanted the lettering to be in the area under the cupola and centred length-wise between the nearest window and the end of the car's side. Based on the size of the lettering I wished to use, I decided that the top of the upper line should be at the same level as the top of the windows, and that the top of the second line would be 1' (HO) below the bottom of the letters on the upper line.
Using dividers, I set them to the distance between the eaves of the car and the top of the window frame, then transferred that measurement to the tape, cutting it accordingly. That strip was then applied to the car, lining-up its upper edge with the top of the car's side.
A second strip of tape, corresponding to the required distance from the car's sill to the bottom edge of the second line of lettering, was cut and applied to the car.
Next, using my scale rule, I made a mark on both strips of tape at the mid-point of the area where the lettering was to be placed. I arbitrarily decided that the two words on the top line should be 2' (HO) apart, and made two lines, each 1' from the centre line. Based on the size of the letters, I determined that if I made the over-all length of "GRAND" 3'3" long, the spacing between the letters would be appropriate. I then made marks at that distance from both of the ones previously made. These represent the start and end points of the top line, and similar start and finish marks were transferred to the lower strip of tape.
After cutting out the individual letters, the decals for one side were grouped, by-word, on a sheet of glass, then a few drops of distilled water was applied and the decals were allowed to soak.
When cutting decals, I use a new blade in my X-Acto and cut as close to the lettering as possible. Any clear film above or below the lettering has to be taken into account when using the tape as an alignment aid, and the closer the letters can be to the tape, the better the chances of them being in a straight line. With dry transfers, there's no decal film to worry about, but you'll still need to stay a bit away from the tape to account for its thickness.
You should also take into consideration the letter spacing, and leave as little excess film as possible on the sides of the individual characters. Letters, especially those on the beginning and end of words, which have rounded corners (2, 3, C, O, R, etc.) will look less conspicuous as decals if you trim away the clear film at those curves, too. You can cut the characters from the decal sheet, then, working on a sheet of glass, snick-off excess material with a firm press of the blade.
Once the decal releases from the backing paper, use tweezers to pick up the letters, one at a time, for the first word, depositing them roughly where they should be. For mine, the "G" and "D" both have their outer extremities marked on the tape, so they're easy to place, then the other three letters are spaced "by eye". If you're working with longer words, it helps to make a mark for the mid-point or middle letter, too. Be aware, though, that not all letters require the same space, nor are the spaces between all letters necessarily the same. This is illustrated by the word "RIVER": it's five letters long, just like "GRAND", but that "I" takes up less space than other letters. Because of this, I applied these letters by placing the "D" first, then spaced the remainder "by eye", which placed the first "R" somewhat to the right of where the mark on the tape was.
In addition to "I" being narrower than other letters, the letters "A", "L", "T", and "V" are often placed just a little closer to those around them to give a more even appearance to the spacing. This often depends on the preceding and following letters, so you'll need to play around with it a bit until it looks right to you. Of course, "M" and "W" take up a little more room than the others.
For my second line, I started with the "S" and pretty-well followed the spacing used on "GRAND" until I got to the "T". It was placed slightly closer to the "U" and the "H" was then placed slightly closer to the "T". "RY." was started with the "Y" just inboard of the line marking the finish point, and the "." added right at the finish mark. To check your work, sight along the car from each end and correct as necessary. then remove the tape and apply setting solution. Once it had dried, I used a sharp blade to slit each letter at the grooves denoting the board edges, then applied more setting solution.
A similar technique was used to add the number, and when everything had dried sufficiently, the parts were airbrushed with Dullcote, then the caboose was re-assembled.
Wayne