What do folks recommend for things like stop signs, yield signs, handicap parking and other highway types of signs ? I am going between making my own or buying them. The reason for making my own is because I would get exactly what I need, including some less than common signs. Also, what about arrows, crosswalks, RR crossing symbols, words like SLOW, handicap parking and other things found on the roads and parking lots themselves ? You can get some in dry transfer decals but again I haven’t seen a good assortment yet.
Jeff,
I did a Google Images search for the signs I wanted and there are many usable signs on the web. I have been making my own signs from these images glued to thin styrene backs and then stuck to wire posts.
You didn’t mention what scale, but Blair Line has a wide range of highway signs. http://www.blairline.com/
Nick
Yes, that’s what I was thinking about or printing on label paper and sticking them to styrene. This is HO scale. What do you do for signs and stuff on the streets and in parking lots like arrows, words, handicap symbols etc. ?
Jeff, to be honest I have not been happy with my attempts at street markings. So for now I have ignored them! I tried hand painting (not fine or steady enough), stencils from artist frisket material (bleed under the stencil) At some point I am going to have to re-visit it.
Yep. I am not going to attempt any painting unless they are straight lines taped off in advance. I know my limits. Art is not my forte. I’ve done more “atrsy” type things in building my layout than I ever imagined. I am hoping the dry transfer route is the way to go. I suspect I am going to have to dig around more. The other option is printing my own decals. I’ve been playing with them. So far so good but I haven’t tried anything that I would consider difficult yet.
hi Jeff
I got this link on US signs http://www.trafficsign.us/
Maybe that’s what you’re looking for
Greetings E
I found many highway signs in an old DOT driver’s handbook. You know the one you study for your driver’s license. They were printed in color on one page. Also there are many hazardous materials placards printed in color found in a DOT HAZMAT guidebook. These look great on an industry, fuel storage tank or fence.
Very helpful. Thanks. I’ll try a few of my own and see how they look.
A few years ago I bought a big stack of “cardstock” computer paper from a big-box office supply place. It was only a few dollars, and was intended for greeting cards. I’ve found it’s very useful for MR-related printing, too. I can print what I want, whatever size I want, right on the computer. The cardstock is stiff enough to stand up by itself, or I can glue it to a scrap of styrene as suggested above.
Very good. Sometimes it’s hard to see the obvious
Bob
I am still thinking about road signs that are on the road itself but I have created some signs for poles. Does anyone know what the standard height of a stop sign is ? I am thinking about 1.25" - 1.5" for HO scale. I am looking to use stiff piano wire for the poles since it will be thin but strong. I thought of toothpicks but they would be too big.
According to Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices the min height for signs on urban and rural roads is 7 feet Just over 0.96 inches in HO scale
Thanks. I found the website and you are absolutely correct. What I was trying to figure out is the length of the pole for the stop sign, which would include the size of the sign itself (30") and any length necessary to place in the ground. So based upon that I will go with 1.5", which is 130" in full scale.
You can get a long piece of brass rod at your Local Hardware Store, in pretty much any diameter your heart desires. That would be stiffer than wire, and very inexpensive. It can be bent easily enough, but it’s strong enough to take a bit of abuse without folding over.
Here’s couple of links I came across for some older signs.