Decals/Transfer lettering for the Large Scale 3 Truck Shay

[grabnet]

Hello Mr Bach Man,

I just purchased a large Scale three truck from Caboose Hobbies and am awaiting its delivery. I am constructing a Garden Rail Road based on the Little River RR in East Tennessee where I am from.

And here is my question/problem. You all had a beautiful rendering of a Little River Shay in Large Scale. Caboose Hobbies had long since sold this out. So I purchased an "unlettered" version of the three trucker in hopes of eventually getting decals or dry transfers to letter it in LRRR livery. Can you recommend where I could get such decals or transfers? Are you allowed to say where your company got its lettering sets for the previous "run" of the Little River Shay production?

Any help greatly appreciated.

                                                             Tom in Tennessee

[Steve Stockham]

My recommendation would be to contact Stan Cedarleaf with Cedarleaf Custom Railroad Decals. He has done extensive work with large scale and would be able to get you what you need. Here's the link:
http://gold.mylargescale.com/StanCedarleaf/WebPageDecals/CustomDecalsx.html

[Loco Bill]

Stan does great work.  Fred Tennyson also makes beautiful custom decals, Fred also does custom painting.  He can be reached at  ftennyso@coulmbus.rr.com

[Kevin Strong]

The factory lettering isn't from decals. It's painted on, most likely using a pad-printing method, but "how" isn't important. The important thing is that there isn't anything "factory" that one can buy to replicate the lettering. Custom decals will be the way to go. I can personally vouch for Stan's work. If you want to go with something a bit simpler to apply, Del Taparro (G-scale graphics) does custom vinyl lettering that you just stick on the side. I can vouch for his work, too. The catch with the vinyl is that you can only do lettering down to around 1/4" tall. Another option would be Jeff Damherst at Shawmut Car Shops http://www.shawmutcarshops.com. He does decals and vinyl (and custom painting, if ever you need that, too.) I've not seen Fred's work (that I'm aware of), but have no reason to doubt Bill's recommendation.

If you want Dry Transfers specifically, your options are few. Woodland Scenics' "Model Graphics" line of dry transfers offers lettering and numbering sets in the basic colors (white, gold, silver, black) in either Railroad Roman or a gothic font. These come in sheets with lettering ranging in size from 1/16" to I believe 1/4" or 5/16" on one set, 3/8" and 1/2" on another. (It's been a while since I used them.) You'd have to figure out how many letters you'd need for your railroad, and get enough sheets to cover, then apply one letter at a time. If you want custom dry transfers, there's a print shop up in Vancouver I work with that still does them. They're not cheap, but much cheaper than either of the two(!) remaining printers in the US that still do dry transfers. (The EPA pretty much shut the door on dry transfer production in the US due to the chemicals needed for the process.) If you're going to be doing a fleet of locomotives of freight cars that all have the same lettering, this becomes a bit more of a financially viable option since you can probably get 10 cars per 9 x 12 sheet. (It would work out to around $6 - $7/car depending on the exchange rate.) It's still a fair chunk more than a sheet of custom decals, but applying them is much simpler. You're paying for convenience.

If you're just doing one locomotive, then the decals of vinyl letters are a better option. Word of caution on the vinyl--it's not the best for applying over fine details like rivets. I don't know where the rivets on the Shay are relative to the middle of the tanks where lettering is typically applied, but if it's in the middle where the lettering will be, go with the decals. The finish on the side of the Bachmann locos is glossy enough to where you won't have to do any kind of gloss coat prior to applying them.

Later,

K

[grabnet]

Hi guys,

Thank you all for the good advice and so quickly too. It is appreciated.
                                                              Tom in Tennessee

[the Bach-man]

Dear Tom,
When I do a loco for production I use graphics created in Adobe Illustrator and print them on an ALPS printer.
The factory then duplicates them using sheets I provide, and make a pad printing mask to letter the models.
I too would suggest Stan.
Have fun!
the Bach-man

[grabnet]

Dear Tom,
When I do a loco for production I use graphics created in Adobe Illustrator and print them on an ALPS printer.
The factory then duplicates them using sheets I provide, and make a pad printing mask to letter the models.
I too would suggest Stan.
Have fun!
the Bach-man

Thanks B.mann. I have learned a lot on how these nice models are lettered. Stan has already contacted me and we are in the process of  making the graphics. Thanks to all you guys for the wonderful help.
                                          Tom in Tennessee

[andyb]

Dear Tom,
When I do a loco for production I use graphics created in Adobe Illustrator and print them on an ALPS printer.
The factory then duplicates them using sheets I provide, and make a pad printing mask to letter the models.
I too would suggest Stan.
Have fun!
the Bach-man

Mr Bach-man,

I assume from the above that you may also do the wagon graphics? If so, is there any chance that you could vary the road numbers for each production batch? (I'm also assuming here that the masks don't last forever?)

For example, I have five D&RGW gondolas, purchased over the years, and they all have the same road number.... I'm sure that the D&RGW must have had more than one of these! 

Best regards

Andy