Helpful Hint
As an admirer of the exhibition model railroad layouts one sees in foreign modeling magazines or just by perusing the internet, I noticed a feature I wanted on my layout. Before going forward, I should add European and British layouts can frequently be in scales we modelers in the United States might find strange or at least rare. For that reason, some of these layouts will post their layout scale somewhere on the valance or elsewhere. I suspect that posting their scale on their valance, also can catch the eye of visitors across what in many instances are large exhibition halls. Interestingly, many model train exhibitions in Europe will actually pay an honorarium to modelers who exhibit their layout; I believe these modelers take both honorariums and invites to exhibit as points of pride.
Given my layout may come off as a bit of an oddball scale (Fn3 which comes out to 1:20.3) and given some visitors may be reticent to ask what scale I model in, I thought my valance should display my scale. Painting the numbers on my valance was out of the question due to the paucity of my painting skills. In furtherance of this, I ordered self-adhesive brown vinyl letters from a commercial sign firm I have done business with for almost two decades - KRT Architectural Signage Inc. of Warrenton, Virginia. The lettering ordered is six inches tall and bold in brown. On their own initiative, KRT also sent me four-inch-tall letters; - which I elected to use- I might add - instead of the six-inch tall letters I had initially thought to use.
How did I apply my numbers? First, I used blue tape and a ruler to align my vinyl letters. My next step was to peel away their hard paper backing. My third step was to carefully and thoroughly burnish these self-adhesive vinyl letters so they would adhere to my valance. Last step was to remove the thin paper to which these vinyl letters had been adhered. The last time I had applied lettering to my layout, I had used a great burnishing tool with a blade of about six inches in width that KRT had provided me to apply decals to my home's mailbox; this time I could not locate it so I made due with an improvised replacement; it all worked fine.
I was pleased with the results. I had two concerns going into this process and neither was realized. First, would the scale create visual clutter? The answer is "no". Second, would the chosen color of the lettering prove harmonious? Here the answer was "yes".
Side note - British modeler Christopher Payne's famed St Pierre et la Rue Perrin is 1:34 scale on 16.5mm track gauge hence 1:34e
Suite C
6799 Kennedy Road
Warrenton, Virginia 20187
Contact - Rich Trimble
540 428-3801
I am not sure whether Rich will take on more work of this sort, but one might try. Of course, other sign companies may be willing to produce these decals for you.
Revised November 20, 2022
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