Control panels

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I’m preparing to dive into making my control panels. I want to use tape on my facia to represent the track diagrams, but I forget the name of the tape…

2

Automotive pinstripe.

3

I went to an art supply store and bought something called “Chart Tape”. It comes in rolls either 1/16" or 1/4" thick. I used the 1/4" size.

I’ll give you a hint that saved me a lot of aggravation. My wife had an “invisible ink pen” that she uses for her sewing. You draw something on fabric, or in my case the plastic face of the panel with this pen and the ink appears light purple. However, after a while, it disappears. This pen made it easy to get my diagrams correct on the panel with much trial and error without messing up the face with pencil marks or whatever. The pen is available at places like “Joanne’s Fabric” store for a couple of bucks.

Hope this helps.

Mondo

4

I, personally, use Dymo label tape for the track schematics on my panels. That allows me to punch the track designation into the tape.

After laying out the entire panel, I cover it with clear self-adhesive cabinet shelf protector, which anchors everything.

Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)

5

I printed my control panel face on the computer (drew it in a graphics program), then mounted it between a sheet of 1/8 masonite and 1/8 lexan. Came out OK:

6

I used Pactra Trim Tape for the striping and vinyl stick-on letters for the lettering. The Pactra tape comes in several colors, and the roll includes a few different widths. I used wide tape for the mains, and narrower tape for the branchlines.

Nick

7

I print mine on 8.5"x11" Avery labels. Here’s a URL, if you are interested:

http://www.thebinks.com/trains/control_panels.html

8

I spray painted my control panels with white plastic paint. After it was dry I used 1/8 inch tape to depict the part of the layout that I wanted. Then I spray painted the whole panels with green plastic paint. When that was dry, I pulled off the tape, and voila! They look great, if I do say so myself.