Fascia Labels

[SAH]

The pretty awful flash photo illustrates my dilemma well.  I like the black fascia for the shadowbox effect.  I don't like the white background / black letter labels.  I'd like to have white characters, period.  I'm familiar with dry transfer letter sets and stick-on letter sets.  A simple and cheap solution would be to print white letters on a black ground with a laser or inkjet printer.  I'm not that's a better solution though.

Any ideas or successes out there?

Steve

[peteski]

I don't know how you made your labels, but the quick and dirty solution would be to get a label printer which can print white lettering on black label material.

Like http://www.staples.com/Brother-TZe-335-P-Touch-Label-Tape-1-2-inch-White-on-Black/product_917889

[SAH]

Hmmm.  The obvious answer.  My local Staples didn't have that tape option for whatever reason, so I stopped going down that path.  I'll take a closer look.  Thanks Pete.

[tom mann]

I like the retro look of an old Rotex label maker: raised white letters on black tape.

[jdcolombo]

I used the stick-on vinyl lettering.  What I did was "paint" the track diagram on the fascia by first painting it white, then using 1/4" masking tape to mask off the track diagram, and then painted my final color (a sort of forest green) over that.  Removed the tape, and had a track diagram.  Then I used 3/4" and 1/4" (I think; maybe 3/8?) to letter things.  The towns were big letters; the various tracks were labeled with the small letters.

You can see some of the lettering in the following photo.  At the right front, you should be able to make out the small lettering for "B&O Intrchg" and see the large lettering for "Lorain."  All the industries are lettered on the siding track serving them.

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Anyway, this system has worked very well for me.  I made a few track layout changes, and it was pretty easy to remove any letters, paint over the area that changed on the fascia back to white, re-mask it, paint the green over, remove the tape, add the letters, and have a new track layout.

John C.

[mu26aeh]

I used the stick-on vinyl lettering.  What I did was "paint" the track diagram on the fascia by first painting it white, then using 1/4" masking tape to mask off the track diagram, and then painted my final color (a sort of forest green) over that.  Removed the tape, and had a track diagram.  Then I used 3/4" and 1/4" (I think; maybe 3/8?) to letter things.  The towns were big letters; the various tracks were labeled with the small letters.


John C.

This is what I was going to suggest, using vinly/sticker lettering.

[Philip H]

Since I'm in between layouts at the moment . . . 

I'd go the label maker route. You may be able to find one with a font close to your railroad, and it will be easier to get the labels straight then with individual letters.

[BCR 570]

I had my fascia panels drawn in Illustrator and engraved in black lamicoid with white lettering at a trophy and sign store:








The lower deck panels were installed on 45 degree angled blocks to avoid operators having to step backward or stooping to see them:




Tim

[SAH]

Good suggestions guys.  Tim's face plates look very professional.  Well done.  My fascia itself does not look all that good from a fit and finish standpoint.   That's the unspoken advantage of painting them black.     I don't plan to draw the track plan on the fascia.  It's pretty easy to tell which knob is for which switch.  Tom's suggestion of raised letters using the old impression label maker brings back memories.  When I was a kid my Dad bought one of those things when they came out the first time around.  He started lettering EVERYTHING!  I hadn't thought of that method but it is worth considering.  It certainly would be a throwback.

Thanks for your thoughts guys.

[LIRR]

I used an excel spreadsheet to print my labels. Yellow lettering in dark green cell, matching the green facia as best as possible. Use white font in a black cell. I attached to facia using double sided carpet tape.

[sirenwerks]

Print on your printer like you said, and then spray mount to black Gatorfoam. Thick double sided tape or your favorite adhesive to mount.

[bdennis]

For my panels I create them in excel and then print them, then laminate and glue to 3mm mdf.
Then I cut a hole int he fascia and mount the panel behind..
See here
http://dh2ndsub.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/fascia-painting-and-shelves-completed.html

[dmidkiff]

I used vinyl lettering on my last layout, my wife helped by creating the text and printing on her Cricut.  It was very clean and easy to apply, the worst part was it had to be applied letter by letter, but it did go quick with a tape straight edge.  I had a grey fascia with black lettering, it's hard to see in the photo due to the lighting, but you can make out "California" to the right of the bridge.



Doug

[railnerd]

+1 for the vinyl cutter recommendation…  works great for white letters on a dark fascia.

[C855B]

...vinyl lettering... the worst part was it had to be applied letter by letter...

There are transfer media for doing this, basically a wide masking tape with engineered "sticky" balanced with the vinyl. You stick the lettering to the medium, remove the vinyl's backing, then stick the lettering to the surface. It's especially important if you're wanting to preserve accurate letter spacing.

Here's what I use only because it's convenient to order: https://www.silhouetteamerica.com/shop/adhesive-vinyl/transfer-tape . I'm sure there are other, less expensive tapes for this. Regular masking tape might work, my concern there would be whether the masking tape adhesive is stronger than the vinyl adhesive and would pull the letters off.