Dry Transfers

Woodland Scenics makes sets in several colors. I just used their set #MG702 Roman R.R. White to letter some On30 engines. This set comes in

1/16, 3/32, 1/8, 3/16, 1/4, and 5/16", letters only, no numbers. C-D-S Dry Transfers also has colored alphabet sets, but I don't recall what sizes they come in, but there are (or were) larger sizes around 1/4".

Good luck!

Bob Boudreau Canada

You might "cheat" a bit and get them for a larger scale... an S-scale set might be "large" in HO scale. There have been times that I wanted to make highway billboards and did so by using larger scale decals and dry letter sets.

You might try an art supply store....not the chains such as Michael's, Ben Franklin, etc., but a really good one, usually a one-of-a-kind-er. They sell brands such as Letraset, etc.

Only thing is, many of these art supply retailers are NOT restocking Letraset (etc.) as most of the stuff was being used for layout work (not model railroad, but things such as display advertising, etc.) and nowadays much of that is done on computers.

Very true. I stopped in an art supply store a few months ago and asked about the availability of dry transfer lettering. I was told that almost everything (Letraset, Chartpak, etc.) is either no longer made or only made in a few sizes and styles. It's amazing when you look at how large their catalogs used to be! Computers really have put those businesses out of business.

Jim

I have never used dry transfers. What are the advantages over decals? What are is the downside of dry transfers? Who are the big makers of them?

For me the worst part of building anything is the decals. Maybe I should try these?

Thanks Tom G.

Dry transfers are not available in the wide variety that decals are. They are, for the most part, available for lettering buildings. I have used Woodland Scenics dry transfers on buildings, and their color and quality make them irresistible for "painting" signs in windows and on exterior walls.

On irregular surfaces, Dry Transfers are not ideal. With decals, you can use a softening agent to get the material to snuggle down into crevices or around protrusions. They are the best for rolling stock and motive power.

Also, with decals, you can "float" the decal around a bit until you get it in the correct position. With dry transfers, you pretty much have to have the carrier sheet in the right position before burnishing or rubbing them onto the surface. Sometimes that can be difficult.

You can easily remove the dry transfer if you get it in the wrong spot (using a piece of tape) but you may not always have another letter to replace it with if you have a small sheet of lettering. Some companies don't give you any/many spare letters in case you make a mistake.

Jim

They have their advantages & disadvantages just like anything else that you might use...

For me, it is easier to get the dry transfer sheet in the exact position that I'd like for it to be. But you only get one shot... once you begin the transfer process, there is no going back.

Multi-layered dry transfers tend to be a bit troublesome as well. You need to burnish each layer carefully and sometimes even apply a coat of some kind of sealer like Dullcote between layers.

I think that dry transfers tend to be more opaque than decals. This has its obvious advantages.

Dry transfers will easily test the adhesion of your paint. On more than one occasion, I've had paint stick to the dry transfer instead of the dry transfer sticking to the paint! : (

Finally, dry transfer making is becoming a lost art. I'm aware of at least some of the few dry transfer makers left out there having troubles in finding shops to do their printing.

That is not very surprising.

20 years ago, we used a KROY lettering machine to make labels for most everything. (Blue Prints, SilkScreens, Parts bins... Etc.) More recently, (Different job) we had a hand-held labeler produced by brother for labeling all of the servers/storage. Today, you can buy a PC label printer (USB)for $80! (Takes up to a 1" wide label tape) I have used this to make new road numbers for my coal fleet and other cars. Labels for Light switches, Control panels... Etc. You do not have a ton of color choices, but any image that I can get into my PC, I can make into a label. Black on clear or white on clear is what I use the most of, but I am partial to Gold on black. :-)

If I ever do a custom road, I will probably use the labeler for most of my decaling.

Er, uh, aren't they rather thick?

I take it the color choices are limited by the inks contained in the label maker? I was very disappointed after I had bought a Canon Photo Printer to find that it had no white ink cartridge. That pretty much limited me to yellow decals for rolling stock.

How does the clear material look on? Does it snuggle down into crevices? Can you treat it with a product like Solvaset?

That is true, the color choices are limited by your "ink" in the labeler. you have a tape color, and you have a letter color. That is why I was thinking of a Gold on Black for a logo/image.

In a high lighting environment, you can see a reflection off the label depending on what angle you are observing the car from. I have used it mainly on smooth sided coal cars/gondolas/hoppers. Now that I am looking, I cannot find a wood-sided express reefer that I have done this too. A test strip on an Express Reefer will lay down partially into the grooves if I use a dental probe to push it in. The tape itself is about like the clear box packing tape if you have ever used that. Personally, I cannot see that much of a difference when looking at it from 12" away. YMMV.

Rather than trying to exactly match a letter/number size and font that is somewhere between 8 and 9 points. I found that replacing the entire car number makes a better looking number than when I just replaced one or two numbers.

Mike

Have you ever tried spraying it with DullCote?

So what is it, like a scale 1" thick? I'd think even well DullCoted it would look a fastened on sign rather than painted on letters.

No. I do not own any DullCote. Sorry.

Well Frank, I have a suggestion, but it requires you use more ink in your Printer ;)

Why not start with a coloured background and "NOT" print the letters?

What I mean is in your graphics software, create the image with a solid colour background and then place the white letters on it.

When printed, you will get a coloured rectangle with white letters.

If you select a light grey background, the decal will look like a weathered car.

Addition, this assumes you have painted the car all white to begin with.