# Lining and lettering



## RickWeber (Mar 7, 2011)

Most of my "pushing the envelope" projects end up as duds. So, I am pleased—and frankly, surprised—that this current one is yielding better-than-expected results.

We all love to spiffy up our locos with the beautiful lining and lettering that a few artists have mastered. But, that's way out of my capabilities, and the cost of having it done is steep. Well earned, of course, but still steep.

I have a vinyl cutter of the type used to make vinyl signs that does a great job for big ol' signs, but I've read that for really small lettering and details, these cutters just won't work. So, I have never tried anything really small… until today. I refitted the cutter head with a special blade designed to better cut small details and started experimenting. The results are really good and certainly better than I had expected. I'm continuing to refine my technique, but wanted to post something here to see if any others out there have had success with vinyl lining and lettering on our tiny railroad equipment.

The attached photo does not show how the edges of this thin material appear. The edges compare favorably to a nicely applied thin coat of paint and not anything like the rough, raised edges of lines that have been painted within masking tape or frisket material. This is brown vinyl on a painted ivory color metal surface.

Rick Weber


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## pinewoods (Jan 20, 2009)

It looks good. How wide is the line?


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

I have had lettering done for me in vinyl..the smallest good results are about 1/4" high...shorter than that was getting rough..

Of note having used several suppliers ..having the head in alignment was the most critical..

Most cutters do not end a cut where it starts...leaving a bit of a tab to trim...

Dirk


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## Semper Vaporo (Jan 2, 2008)

What brand/model of cutter do you have?


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## RickWeber (Mar 7, 2011)

Semper Vaporo said:


> What brand/model of cutter do you have?


Copam 24 inch.


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## RickWeber (Mar 7, 2011)

pinewoods said:


> It looks good. How wide is the line?


In the last examples I am about to post, the thinest line is .040 inch and the gap between the two lines in .020 inch.

Rick


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## RickWeber (Mar 7, 2011)

*More examples*

Still working on reducing my graphics size and detail. I have to do the "weeding" under a magnifier. A couple more examples are attached. The long lettering was to test how far I could go with a long thin piece of vinyl. No distortion, other than what the camera causes.

And thanks, Llyn for the link to G-Scale Graphics (http://www.gscalegraphics.net/) My 70 year-old eyes are far too gone to do this as a business. But, I can assure you that G-Scale Graphics earns his/her living. This is very tedious work.

And a final note to other Rowland Emett fans out there. Yes, I did misspell "Far Tottering & Oyster Creek Railway." Too focused on the vinyl and not enough on the text. 


Rick


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## Del Tapparo (Jan 4, 2008)

Rick, I can tell you that small lettering in vinyl is indeed possible, but not necessarily easy. The machine isn't as important as the process you use. It has taken me years of practice and changes to my process to be able to produce lettering at 3/16" high (in most fonts). It used to sometimes take me days of frustration and piles of scrap to get one simple job done.


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## RickWeber (Mar 7, 2011)

Del Tapparo said:


> Rick, I can tell you that small lettering in vinyl is indeed possible, but not necessarily easy. The machine isn't as important as the process you use. It has taken me years of practice and changes to my process to be able to produce lettering at 3/16" high (in most fonts). It used to sometimes take me days of frustration and piles of scrap to get one simple job done.


Thank you for the feedback. I did this more for the curiosity than anything else. And I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the results. But these tired old eyes will not be able to handle the "micro-weeding" that's necessary (I'm guessing you use a magnifier, right?). So, you will definitely be seeing some orders coming your way from here.

Rick


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

I'm still good at weeding..often times getting my lettering done ..but un weeded..& then I do it...
Reduces stress on the print person..get my lettering faster to work with..

Dirk


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

I don't require very many letters (except for "Denver and Pacific Falls Railway"). I've found that a Cricut machine and decal paper works pretty well. My main gripe is that you're stuck with Cricut's fonts. IMHO, most of them are way to cartoon-y for model RR work, but they do make a decent serifed font and one or two usable san-serif styles.
Cricut lost me, though, when they stopped printing ANY font.

With clear decal paper, you can print any color of ink. With the white paper, you can actually cut out white letters!


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Dick, an alternative to the Cricut machine is the Silhouette machine. It can cut True-Type fonts straight from your PC as I understand it, in addition to custom artwork. (I forget the file format off the top of my head). It's on "the list" of machines I want to get, and with my wife being an avid scrapbooker, I've got her blessing whenever I want to get it. She's got the Cricut, though I've not used it for the railroad as of yet. 

If you're looking for thin lines, check out *Line-O-Type*. They've got a range of colors and sizes from .010" to 1". 

I'm particularly fond of the 1/2" scale police crime scene tape. Gotta get some of that. They also have white and red/white reflective tape. They do not have yellow, though I think a yellow Sharpie over the white tape would fix that. That's perfect for the modern railroaders among us who want prototypically reflective tape on our cars.

Later,

K


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## SD90WLMT (Feb 16, 2010)

Kevin...just go buy some scrap reflective from a sign shop...

Any color you want..like red n yellow..

I have collected small pieces..I cut a thin strip ..about 1/8" or as needed..then just wack off the length needed..peel and lay 'em on. I have used red on locos..yellow on cars...

Really a great addition.....

Dirk


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