# Custom railroad lettering



## cfra7 (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi,

My journey into 1/20 scale continues. I called Hans at Gold Cost and asked if he has any unlettered single stripe Accucraft J&S cars in stock. He said he thinks he does and will let me know tomorrow. If he does, can someone point me in the direction of someone who does an excellent job of proving road name stickers for unlettered cars?

My railroad is odd in that I only have cars from railroads that I've been on. Some people collect spoons when they travel, I visit railroads and then add a car from that railroad to my collection. That wasn't too hard in other scales but almost impossible in 1/20.

I would like to start with my Connie being 93 from the Nevada Northern. The passenger cars would be from other railroads such as Grand Canyon, Verde Valley, California Wine Train and so on.

It's a strange theme but that's where I'm at. Your assistance is once again appreciated.


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

My Suggestion is Stan Cedarleaf. He is a sponsor here on MLS. He provides excellent decals.

I have used him for a number of projects and the results have always been excellent. He has ready to print as well as helping with custom designs. 


Chuck


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## cfra7 (Jan 2, 2008)

How do I contact him?


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## Nutz-n-Bolts (Aug 12, 2010)

I hope the link below works I copied it for the top of the "Forums" Page. If it doesn't work go there and click his link. 

http://ads.modelrailroadsonline.com...tanCedarleaf/WebPageDecals/CustomDecalsx.html


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## Ironton (Jan 2, 2008)

You might try Del Tapparo at G-Scale graphics: http://www.gscalegraphics.net/ 

He does vinyl lettering which I have used and found easier to apply correctly than the decals. Just another source.


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## pete (Jan 2, 2008)

I have also used stans decals and have good luck with them.


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By cfra7 on 13 Mar 2012 11:14 PM 
How do I contact him? Sorry I didn't see this until this morning... You can email me... [email protected]


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

If you only need one or two of each name/number, you might look at individual rub on letters, 'though they can be difficult to find in fonts other than helvetica, or cutting them out on a Cricut machine. Cricut has lots of fonts (most too cartoony for serious model railroaders) which the machine cuts out. You can make the letters from about .25 inch up to six inches I think. The machine cuts them out of paper, vinyl, decal paper, most anything.


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## Rail Planet (Jan 22, 2012)

(Note: I've never used either of the following) 
Stan's always look really good, but Del Tapparo's seem easier to apply. 
Just my 2 cents based on what I've seen/read.


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

As I said earlier I have used Stan for a number of projects. Some have been fairly straight forward, using established railroads and logos and some have been custom jobs for my specific railroad.

I have not used Del as I think that he has or had a minimum letter size of about 1/4 ". You should check with him on that. I needed smaller point size for some of the car data, so I went with Stan and have been very happy with the results.


Recently, I built a Sheridan Box car kit and I wanted it lettered for my specific railroad the "Clear Lake Lumber Company". I found a drawing of the specific car and added car data and numbers to the scanned drawing and sent it to Stan. He added the Clear Lake Lumber (ala RGS sunset logo) and the galloping goose.













I liked what I saw and had him print up the decals, along with enough extras for a Caboose.

Here are some pictures of the box car.



















With the decals he provides the best instructions I have ever seen on how to apply them. It isn't that hard to do if you do it following his directions. The secret is to wet the area where the decal is being applied with water. This lets you slide the decal around easily for correct positioning. Something I had always had trouble doing before. Then carefully with a damp paint brush, brush over the decal to get any bubbles out.

Chuck


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## Del Tapparo (Jan 4, 2008)

@import url(http://www.mylargescale.com/Provide...ad.ashx?type=style&file=SyntaxHighlighter.css);@import url(/providers/htmleditorproviders/cehtmleditorprovider/dnngeneral.css); Posted By chuck n on 14 Mar 2012 05:24 PM 
...
I have not used Del as I think that he has or had a minimum letter size of about 1/4 ". You should check with him on that. I needed smaller point size for some of the car data, ...


3/16" in height is my minimum; in general, it depends on the font. In most cases, I don't attempt to do car data. 

There are certainly pros and cons for both vinyl lettering and water slide decals. I know Stan does excellent work, and I think I do as well. It's just a matter of what suits your needs the best. And whatever those needs are, between the two of us, we have you covered!


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the clarification.

Chuck


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## Bob in Kalamazoo (Apr 2, 2009)

I've done both vinyl and decal and had both good result and poor results with both. The difference was in me trying to take short cuts. I've never gone to Stan or Del but I wouldn't hesitate to use either of them on my next project. Maybe it would work out better if I started with good quality to start with.
Bob


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## cfra7 (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi,
 
Let me summarize the suggestions that I have received to this point:
 
Stan Cedarleaf  http://ads.modelrailroadsonline.com...calsx.html (Decals)


 
Del Tapparo at G-Scale graphics: http://www.gscalegraphics.net/ (Vinyl)  2 votes for easier to apply - 3/16" in height is Minimum. In most cases, doesn’t do car data.

As I will not be applying the graphics myself, I will let someone else make the final call. It's likely that a combination of both will be used. I do have experience with vinyl being applied to race cars.

Once again thanks for all the valuable information.
 
Ed


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