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Originally Posted by Lee Willis:

That looks superb - certainly not like stick-on letters. Nice LL car now. 

 

I did another loco today with some of them I had ordered: transformed hy Legacy C&O USRA 2-6-6-2 to Santa Fe. Road  number is pure fantasy - I had those numbers to spare and frankly one four-digit number is about as good as any other.  Using these letters seemed a lot easier today than last time: I think I am getting more used to handling them .

 

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That is a beautiful locomotive.  It is on my want list of Legacy steam.

The flash around larger lettering I ordered pulled of easy before taping.  So I was able to do them the correct way.  The other 1/4" just don't have enough surface to not come up with the flash.

 

The larger LIONEL lettering that I ordered was meant for a Lionel PW celebration series EP-5 to mimic a 1950's Toy Fair version.

 

2001 it was cataloged as an Archive Collection item but never built.  I have wanted one since I got back to O.  Forum member Jumijo did a beautiful job painting one for himself, some time ago.

With Lee's lettering source, I finally have one of my own.

 

 

Last edited by Michigan & Ohio Valley Lines
Ever since I was a child I have always wanted to be able to dedicate some of my trains to people, places or things that really mean a lot to me. So I decided to try out these decals and let me tell up, I was blown away. My ALCO c-420 is now dedicated to my late dog frosty who passed away the same day this locomotive arrived at my front door. May he rest in peace.image

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Originally Posted by Rmedine:
Ever since I was a child I have always wanted to be able to dedicate some of my trains to people, places or things that really mean a lot to me. So I decided to try out these decals and let me tell up, I was blown away. My ALCO c-420 is now dedicated to my late dog frosty who passed away the same day this locomotive arrived at my front door. May he rest in peace.image

What a great idea.  That is a nice touch.  I've wanted to pay tribute in some way to a former forum member.  This would be perfect.  Think I'll put his screen name on a diesel.

Just finished painting my caboose. I was thinking about applying some dull coat on top of this. This is an Aristo Craft caboose with a coat of Krylon Banner Red gloss paint. The white pass decal is from Ozark Miniatures and the Thunderbird decal is from www.doityourselflettering.com I plan on adding some number decals and a lighted drumhead, but this looks good for now.

 

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Last edited by Tom M

I've applied mine on tenders over rivets and panel ridges.  That is the extent of my 3-D adventures with it.  It works well although I found I had to anticipate and accept that it does not stretch totally.  Of course it is going to want to stick to the top of a ridge or rivet first, so after positioning it correctly, I push it down on the flat areas as far away from and around the rivet and get it good and attached there, in place, using a a nice rounded end of a plastic paint brush handle.  I then work in toward the rivet or ridge, pushing it down and working up toward the ridge and force it to stretch over the ridge, slowly.  It does stretch a bit and sort of wraps around the rivets and ridges like a small tent.  I have not had the guts to push it all the way flat - I worry it would tear.  But its a near thing. It see definate sharp rivet and ridge profiles as long as I am a foot or so way.  You have to be within a few inches to see that what was a sharp rivet is now a small tight cone shape, etc. : it looks okay to me. 

I still need to paint the railings and the white stripe on the frame...otherwise the shell is finished on this project.  On this MTH SW1, the thin vinyl laid well in the seems between access panels.  I tried to take an up close shot, but my good camera is having a card issue.  So, I am using a cheapy that is not good with closeups.
 
 
 
Last edited by Michigan & Ohio Valley Lines

Alright Lee-

I will see your vinyl lettering for cars & raise you!

I am building a foamcore building, so I designed some vinyl windows & doors...

I also cut some corner trim to match, patterned off of the corner trim found on the Ameritown Fire Station.

 

Building is not done, but I thought pulling from your idea just saved me some serious time and money. With these windows, I actually repositioned them twice.

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Last edited by rogerpete

Ok questions:

 

Tom M for your bird decal, did you just send them a picture and thats all they needed?

 

im confused why their lettering is only available in the 1/4" and 1/2" you would think that they could do any size??

 

how delicate are the decals, the super thin compared to other thicknesses?

 

I want to reletter my UP mikado to EJ&E. I'm thinking this vinyl decal may be the way to go. What's your honest opinions about how the vinyl is working.

I just sent them the picture of the Thunderbird with a blank background and it came cut out like that. There's a place to enter your preferred dimensions. If you have an image that needs to be cleaned up they can do some editing. As far as the lettering is concerned I just ordered some 1/8 inch lettering but I was informed that they couldn't do cut out letters at less than a 1/4 inch. They said they could print it but it would be on a clear background. So I'll try it and see how it looks with some dullcoat over it.
They have great communication when it comes to special or difficult decals, so don't hesitate to ask questions.
Last edited by Tom M
For 12 Thunderbird and 12 drumhead decals I paid $27 with shipping. I am impressed with their quality. The thunderbirds and the drumheads are meant to look like mounted metal signs, so I stick them on floating over the top of molded details. But they move around enough to lay in and around molded details.
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Zett-
I cut vinyl on the side. The reason you can't go below .25" is because there is not enough adhesive left to hold the vinyl to the original backer paper during the cutting process. The decal actually peels off mid cut.
 
I don't like going below .4" myself. Just too small to handle for me...
 
 
 
Originally Posted by Zett:

 

 

im confused why their lettering is only available in the 1/4" and 1/2" you would think that they could do any size??

 

 

I was explaining why it is hard to cut lettering smaller than .25", from a person who is experienced in cutting vinyl... So I guess I wouldn't be surprised if someone can cut something >.25" without issue.
 
The thunderbird decals and drumheads appear to be printed onto vinyl, then cut. If this is correct, the process is different and is a horse, (or a thunderbird) of a different color. If they are indeed printed, font can go to a #6 size without problem. This is different then die cutting vinyl lettering. I may be wrong, but I think we are talking about two different processes.
Sorry, I meant to reply to zett.
 
Originally Posted by rogerpete:
I was explaining why it is hard to cut lettering smaller than .25", from a person who is experienced in cutting vinyl... So I guess I wouldn't be surprised if someone can cut something >.25" without issue.
 
The thunderbird decals and drumheads appear to be printed onto vinyl, then cut. If this is correct, the process is different and is a horse, (or a thunderbird) of a different color. If they are indeed printed, font can go to a #6 size without problem. This is different then die cutting vinyl lettering. I may be wrong, but I think we are talking about two different processes.

 

They can do any size, over 1/4". Just enter the size you want, even decimal points. I just ordered some lettering at .314 inches high and they made them no problem.
 
Originally Posted by Zett:

Ok questions:

 

Tom M for your bird decal, did you just send them a picture and thats all they needed?

 

im confused why their lettering is only available in the 1/4" and 1/2" you would think that they could do any size??

 

how delicate are the decals, the super thin compared to other thicknesses?

 

I want to reletter my UP mikado to EJ&E. I'm thinking this vinyl decal may be the way to go. What's your honest opinions about how the vinyl is working.

 

You order the letters from the website, picking color, font, etc.  As said they will do anything over 1/4 inch high.  You can select that they will remove the excess around the ltters or not (it costs more but it worth it to me.  They send you letters with sticky on their back side on a piece of tape.  You position the take over the loco or whatever and press the letters down.  The idea is the letters stock the loco and you pull the tape off.  mostly this does work, but you have to go slowly and be prepared to help the letters stay on if they want to stick with the tape.  Takes patience but I have not lost one yet.  Then I press the letter on with a plastic plastic pen end to make them stick.  They look good, and since you can get about any color and font you want, the possibilities are endless.

Originally Posted by Michigan & Ohio Valley Lines:
I still need to paint the railings and the white stripe on the frame...otherwise the shell is finished on this project.  On this MTH SW1, the thin vinyl laid well in the seems between access panels.  I tried to take an up close shot, but my good camera is having a card issue.  So, I am using a cheapy that is not good with close ups.
  Keith, The lettering looks as good as decals in your photo! Do they really look that good in person? Also can a clear coat be applied over these or will that mess them up?
 
 
 
 

 

Originally Posted by Dave Ripp.:
Keith, The lettering looks as good as decals in your photo! Do they really look that good in person? Also can a clear coat be applied over these or will that mess them up?

 

They look very good in person.  Easy to apply and I'm very happy with the results.  I have not tried a clear coat over these.  Not sure that I will, but if I do I'll post results.

For Keith or Lee, or anyone that has actually worked with them, could these be used as temporary, removable decals? (Obviously disposed of after use, I would get multiple sets for future applications)

I.E., will they lift off later without leaving marks other than an easily removable adhesive?

I am considering a project that would have these applied over a clear-coated finish. It would be seasonal, and need to be removed afterwards.

 

Dave

Last edited by Dtrainmaster

 

 

Ok here are my results so far. I sent in the below picture to doityourselflettering and told them what I wanted. They sent me back some font options in the first picture below. I choose the bottom font which I think best matches the EJ&E logo. I told them the height I wanted the final product. They responded with an email showing me what I would get and I placed the order. Because the font wasn't a perfect match I took an knife and trimmed some of the detail in the lettering. Overall it came out great.

 

i made everything myself on the webpage except the chicago outer belt line logo. the  extremely small lettering that I used for the number boards has a black background but it works great. If you have lighted number boards you will need to go a different route.

 

smaller lettering doesn't look fantastic on rivets, that's the only negative so far. I am still working on this project but so far I can recommend the vinyl and am very happy. If you mess up you can just peel it off. No big deal. Order extras of anything your making so if you mess up you can use a new piece. You can not apply, remove and apply again. You get one shot.

 

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