See the signs on the building, Woodys Lumber Co. and See Rock City? Well, they’re really aren’t there.
I added them via computer to see how they’d look and I like them ok but I have a question or two about how to attach them to the structure. I plan on making them with my printer on photo grade paper but I’ve heard that the backs of the signs need to be sanded down in order to look right. I’m also guessing that they can be attached with regular white glue. The structure is plastic, by the way. Any suggestions or tips on how to do this would be appreciated. If you have photos of signs you’ve made for your structures I’d like to see them also.
You might want to try decal paper. You won’t be able to get regular paper to fit into the textures on the side of that office. And remember, you can’t print white unless you have a special printer.
Jarrell, the sign on top of the structure will be easy, just print it and glue it on. The “painted” on look of the faded text on the side of the shed will be hard to achieve. You can’t get a painted on look with a thick piece of paper. This is where the notion of sanding the sign comes from. If you sand a sign from the back really thin, you can get it to be almost transparent. Then you can stick it in place and weather it to get the look of a faded lettering. As Lothar mentioned, white lettering is hard to do with a standard printer.
I like decals, particularly for walls with irregular surfaces. Instead of printing white, which I can’t do, I paint a white rectangle on the building where the sign will go, and apply the decal over it.
These next signs, though, were printed on card stock, heavy computer paper, cut out and glued on. They work fine for applications like this. The barrel (SHOB, for Suzanne’s House of Beef) was done with a decal.
Ok, thanks for the suggestions and to Mr. B for the photos. I’ve not done decals yet so that’ll be a learning experience! Hmmmm… wonder why all printers won’t do white in decals? Oh well, there’s a reason for sure. I’ll go ahead and do the sign for the top, locate some decal paper and give that a try. Can’t learn anything without trying.
Sanding the back of a photo to get it thin enough to form over irregular areas like wood planking and bricks makes sense but I’ll bet it easy to overdo it.
Thanks again,
Jarrell
edit
found this on the Micro Mark website:
"Inkjet printers use liquid inks to create images on paper. Making decals with this type of printer requires the use of decal paper that has a special coating which prevents liquid ink from beading-up, plus a top coat fixative spray that keeps ink from smearing or washing off. Inkjet printers typically use the paper stock to supply the white component of artwork color, so white ink is generally not available. However, white inkjet decal paper is available in addition to clear decal paper so that images needing a white background may be printed. "
Jacon12-What combination of black, blue, red, and yellow would you mix together to achieve the color white?[;)] You would need a separate white ink cartridge which would mean redesigning the the printer to hold the extra ink tank. Printing a decal is the same as printing on paper. You just seal it with some clear coat spray so the ink doesn’t run when you put it in water. Then it’s just like applying any store bought decal.
superbe- What you have there is a reverse. There is no white ink where the letters appear. It’s just the white paper showing through.
The reason most printers won’t work for white is that there’s no white ink. The printer uses the white of the paper for white and tints everything else.
I think the “special” printer is an Alps printer (I may be wrong here). It has a catridge that includes white ink. As I recall, they are no longer manufactured and neither are the cartridges for it. Sometimes they are listed on eBay but they draw a pretty good price.
You might consider dry transfer lettering and weathering to get the painted on white you want. I’ve thought of experimenting with stencils and airbrushing, but I haven’t tried it yet.
They do make white decal paper. You can print anything on it, but you have to trim your decals carefully. Testors makes an ink jet decal kit that includes a can of laquer, and two sheets of decal paper (one clear, one white). I got mine at Wal-Mart for about $7 and it will get you started. I did this boxcar with the white decal paper:
Also I copy signs & billboards off ebay (or other places on the web). Go to collectables-advertising or collectables-paper, then search for signs, copy & paste image to a publisher desk top, crop & size for your scale…
N scale 1 inch = 13.3 ft.
HO scale 1 inch = 7.2 ft.
S scale 1 inch = 5.3 ft.
O scale 1 inch = 4 ft.
( HO for me ). then save to a file. Then you can print on paper, cardstock or full sticker page. With full sticker just cut out, trim and stick to a stiff backing or right to a building. With paper or cardstock you can use double sided tape or glue of your choice. If you print on photo paper you get a glossy like metal sign that. You can build the frame for billboards from wood stick matches or scale lumber.
CLICK ON PHOTO TO ENLARGE
These signs on the cafe I scanned from a sign catalog.
You can also copy people, Background buildings, interiors, ect.
This is off a postcard found on ebay under collectables/paper/postcards. These are great to use as background buidings.
I generally make my signs in MS Word or Publisher and print them on 24lb Printing Paper. I coat the back with acrylic matte medium and stick them right to the wall. Rather then painted on signs, they look like painted metal or wood signs.
