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Make Your Own Decals
Emblem Decals
Once you design and build your own model trains, you'll find that the decal sets available do not offer what you need in lettering. Two options are available: have decals sets made or make them yourself.

Have a Company Make Your Decals
The easiest route is to contact a decal company and pay them to print decals for you. An advantage is that the decals can have white as a color. They may also be able to create the artwork needed for logos. Before you contact them, you need to know what you want.

Creating Your Design
Whatever method you decide to use, you still need to know what the lettering will look like. Here are some considerations:
  • Will this lettering be used on other types of rolling stock or just one? A flatcar has less space on the sides than a boxcar.
  • Will you need letters and numbers only or will artwork or a logo be included?
  • What color is the car or engine these letters will be applied to? You don't want the lettering to blend in with the color of the car.
  • Is white one of the colors in your design? Copiers can't print white.
For the decals shown here, I already had an idea of what I wanted. But if you don't, you will need to look at rolling stock to get ideas.
  • Online photo databases (a lot of these sites have numerous advertisements on the pages):
  • Another idea is to open the browser, go to Images, and type in the kind of car you are modeling and see what pictures are displayed. Sometimes this doesn't work so well.
  • A third option is to look at train books. There is a series called "Classic Frieght Cars The Series" which has color photos of cars.
  • Go to model train decal manufacturers websites and see what they have to offer. They used to print pamphlets of line drawings of cars with their lettering applied, but now these are online.
Open up whatever software you have that allows you to experiement with text and begin exploring possibilities. Decide on a name, or begin experimenting with a name. I chose "Blue Sun Mining." I wanted something that sounded galactic but was general in nature. This is a variation of "red dwarf" or "yellow giant." Vary the font style, the size, bold/italic, the color, underlining, etc. until you find something you like. Remember, a printer doesn't print white.
My First Printouts
I made several variations, printed them out in black and then cut them out to test on the car side. My first idea is on the upper left. When I put it on the car side, it didn't look right. With more fiddling, I came up with the items sitting on the car. I wanted the name and the number to be printed as one decal so I wouldn't have bother with getting these parallel when applying.
An important consideration is car numbering. If you have more than one car of a particular type, you need consecutive numbering. You can have low numbers with three digits, and I have seen this on private owned coal hoppers, but the larger, older railroads use 5 or 6 digits. I chose 6 to give the feel that a lot of cars had come and gone before this series.
I want to number these type of cars starting at 636700 and ending at 636799, or something close to it. I don't plan on having 100 cars, but forward planning is necessary. In the future I may add another style of hopper to the fleet so I want to be sure to have enough car numbers to use on them. As I start this project I have about 20 hoppers of various styles. These centerflow covered hopper conversions will get the lower numbers and the cylindrical conversions will start out at 636715 or 20. Doing this allows you to identify the types of cars you have.

Creating the Files
Lettering and Number Printouts With all the lettering considerations complete, create a file(s) to print the decals. I need two files, one for the letters/numbers and one for the symbol.
  • Open a new file
  • Set margins to 1/2" on all sides
  • Create a table and paste the lettering into the cells to see how many copies will fit on the sheet. I made the lettering in landscape orientation and the logos in portrait. I chose to use thin borders around each cell as a guide for cutting out the finished decal.
  • If using Microsoft Word 2007, save as a .DOC file and not .DOCX. If using some other format, check with a copy center to see if they can open it.
Printouts of Emblem I also used Microsoft Word 2007 to create a sheet of emblems. I started with a blank document and went into "shapes." I chose a star shape and created a thick border around it. The border is black and the center is blue. I followed what I did above and created a table and pasted the shape into it and saved the file.
Decal Paper I ordered my decal paper through DecalPaper.com
I bought laser decal paper, 8 1/2 X 11 on white backing paper. 25 sheets with shipping is around $30. I had no intention of fussing with inkjet decals as the quaility can vary depending on the printer and type of ink. The cheapest color laser printer I found was $400 and I figured I wouldn't need that many decals anyway.

Go To Copy Center
Take with you-
  • The two files on a jump drive (removable drive)
  • Decal paper:
    • take a few extra sheets
    • carry it in something that protects it from rain or being scratched
    • BE SURE to remove the tissue paper covering. Each sheet of decal paper has a sheet of tissue paper on it to protect it from damage.
Letters and Numbers Printed at Copy Center Emblem Printed at Copy Center
I've gone to FedEX/kinkos twice and had good results with getting the decals printed. Cost is around $.60 a copy. Total cost for the two sheets is around $3.75, which will letter 22 cars, making the cost of $.17 per car. The letters/numbers will do 30 cars and the emblem sheet 22.

Applying Decals
Painting the model and decal application can take longer than model construction. Don't hurry these steps as the paint and the decals give the model its appeal. Painting is not presented here but mentioned as it is the partner of decal application. On train models, the construction can be lacking and the paint may get by if less than perfect, but the lettering is critical. It has to be straight (parallel with the horizontal lines of the body). One advantage is that most model trains are not viewed up close and that the non-model builder probably won't be able to see your mistakes.
Supplies Needed For Decal Application Here are the items needed to apply the decals:
  • Clear Gloss Lacquer to coat printed decals.
  • Clear Flat Lacquer to coat finished model. Testors Dullcote shown.
  • Decal setting solution to melt decal around surface detail and assist adhesion.
    Walthers Solvaset shown.
  • Wood blocks to keep model from touching table surface.
  • Paint brush to re-wet decals.
  • Tweezers to hold decal while soaking.
  • A shallow bowl of water, 1/2 cup is fine - put in microwave for 30 seconds to heat water.
  • A tissue - toliet or face to dab water off of applied decals.
  • Metal straight edge and single edge razor blade to trim decals from sheet. Make two passes with light pressure with the razor blade instead of one with a lot of pressure.
  • Cardboard cutting mat. Trim decals on this to protect razor blade from dulling.
Clear Lacquer Applied Spray the decal sheet with Clear Gloss Lacquer. Cover the sheet well but don't apply so much that it can run. Check the drying instructions on the can. I let mine dry 8 hours.
Two Model Surfaces

The model's surface. If freshly painted, the paint needs to be thoroughly dried. I like to wait at least two days. TOP-a newly painted hopper.

If the model has not been recently painted or has been handled quit a bit, wash it with warm water and dish soap to remove finger oils or other contaminants that will prevent the decals from adhering. You can use compressed air to blow the moisture away, but don't wipe it as the cloth can leave lint. Water on the model doesn't affect applying the decals, but could be a problem when the car is turned over to letter the other side. Water could possibly run out of the cracks and pool on the decal.
BOTTOM-a boxcar with poor gray paint bought at a trainshow. Decals can be applied without repainting.
Trimming Decals Trimming the decals. There is a good possibility the clear decal film will be seen on the finished model, so cut as close to the decal as possible and make sure the cuts are straight lines. A metal straight edge and single edge razor work well for this. Don't try to make the cut in one pass or the cut can be crooked. I used two passes with light pressure with good results. The borders of the table cells provide guidelines for trimming, but a cut has to be made on each side of the line. Upon further applications of the "sun" decal, I cut the clear film across the star points removing more of the film.
Test Placing Decals on Cars Test fit the decals on the car side to see if the corners of the film need to be removed due to any conflicts with the model design. Be sure and decide exactly where they will be placed as you want to duplicate their location on the other side and on other models. If you need a guide to line them up, use masking tape or some other device (ruler, etc.) to get them parallel on the model. Once the decals are soaked off the backing, there is time to position them.
All three bodies are similar but not the same and planning needs to be done for each one separately. Ideally, the right edge of the emblem will line up with the end of the hopper bay. The top edge of the lettering will line up with the top edge of the emblem. The top body is shorter and the emblem doesn't fit well. The center body has a ridge that runs down the length of the lettering, so the lettering is moved down to avoid this. The bottom body is just right.
Soaking Decal in Water Decal Sliding Off Backing Paper

Now that you know exactly how the decal will go onto the surface, heat the water in the shallow bowl in a microwave for 30 seconds. Water should be warm not hot.

Submerge the decal in the water with the tweezers and hold for 10 to 15 seconds. Remove it and gently slide the decal from the backing. If it doesn't move, soak a little more.

 Decal ready for application.
Sliding Decal Onto Model Positioning Decal
Once it begins to slide, lay the slide edge onto the model and slide out the backing paper. Position the decal using your fingers, the wood end of the brush or the corner of the razor blade. As an OPTION: You can apply the decal setting solution now so it will be under the decal. This may be the best method if the surface has a lot of detail the decal has to conform to.
Dabbing Decal To Remove Water Applying Decal Setting Solution
When in place, dab with the tissue. Make sure the dabbing process doesn't move the decal out of place. If it needs repositioning, dip the paint brush in the water and re-wet the decal and move it back into place. The decal setting solution melts the decal onto the model's surface. Apply a layer over the top of the decal making sure the decal doesn't move. If it does, immediately slide it back in place. The decal film is thick and didn't snuggle over the raised ridge very well. Watch as it dries. If bubbles form, poke with a pin or sharp knife point.
Model On Blocks

OPTION: You do each side separately [decals/clear overspray] or apply all decals and then spray the entire body with clear.

Now do the other side. Use blocks to hold the model off the table.

Finished Car The decals are dry and the model gets a coat of matte or flat clear to help protect the decals.
Decals On Hopper Car Once the model has dried, add the remaining details and a bit of hightlighting or weathering.

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