Just wondering…
I noticed many have signs on their buildings. I found a few websites that allow you to print signs for your buildings. How do you protect them, glue them, etc. for outdoor use? I tried spraying mine with clear acrylic…no luck. They all fell off and bled.
My signs are done in vinyl and have been outside year round for a few with no issues
how do you do them in vinyl?
Print them on Papilio Waterproof Adhesive Vinyl Film, then attach the adhesive to a styrene backer, and glue it in place, if you want it to stand out a bit, or just stick it to the side of the building.
Spray it with Krylon UV resistant clear spray.
Lasts for years with the UV protection.
Steve Featherkile said:
Print them on Papilio Waterproof Adhesive Vinyl Film, then attach the adhesive to a styrene backer, and glue it in place, if you want it to stand out a bit, or just stick it to the side of the building. Spray it with Krylon UV resistant clear spray. Lasts for years with the UV protection.
Well, no, not really. They may last a year or two, but the UV spray doesn’t keep the colors from fading. I’ve tried Krylon’s and the stuff Papillo sells and neither one works all that well. So now I just print the signs out in Black on white or white on black. The black ink doesn’t fade as fast for some reason. If I do color sign I print out a couple and when the one fades I’ll replace it with a new one. I looked into UV resistant inks but the cost was way too much.
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/rgseng/K-27/K27007.jpg)
The signs on both these building were done in blue and given about 5 coats of UV spray. Both faded in a year or 2. The black sign on the side of the hotel is still in good shape. As is the “Delores” on the depot…
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh58/rgseng/K-27/K27005.jpg)
John - I came up with a technique some years ago that works very well - it uses a laser printer and spray paint - the sign is printed in reverse on the back of a clear transparency then spray paint is used to add color to the rest of the sign. Since the laser printer toner and paint are on the back of the sign they last & last!
I wrote up details on how to make them on my web page - see:
http://www.trainelectronics.com/signs/index.htm
dave
Some colours fade faster than others. Blue is notorious for fading, as Ken noted, but it all depends on the pigments.
Many of our pigments are dyes, often synthetic, but all dyes are prone to fading.
Dyes are transparent. It pays to notice such things. Your printer - esp inkjet- is probably fuelled with dye-based colours.
Some are opaque, some let a little light through and are called semi-transparent.
As a painter, I pay close attention to the pigment I am using. For outdoor work I make sure to limit myself to non-fading, non-dye based pigments.
They are natural substances, named for their mineral of origin. Umber, for the earth of Umbria. The colour of that earth, exposed to the sun for thousands of years, has never changed. So, Umber paint, either ray (darker) or burnt (warmer and paler) will not fade. Ditto for the other earth tones - Sienna, Ochre. Also Black and white - get Carbon based or iron oxide based black; these won’t fade. Mineral again.
Both blacks actually cover better over a grey primer. These are clay based, BTW and don’t fade either! For white, titanium is my top choice because it it VERY white, cheap, mineral-based, covers very well - it’s the most opaque paint you can get I think - and, again, it won’t fade. I use acrylic paints, BTW.
If you mix a colour with Titanium white you will get a paler colour that will totally cover anything underneath it.
When you go to buy paints, check the pigment. Get minerals for your outdoor work, save the dyes for indoors. There are many colours, reds, yellows, blues, even greens, made of minerals. Most of these are semi-transparent, so whatever is underneath them will affect the colour - you may find that with one coat they just don’t cover as well as you may like. Over white they will be brilliant. A grey basecoat is often an enormous assist. Do a few tests on the side to get a good idea of what yr result will be. If these colors are from a mineral, ie Cadmium red or yellow, they won’t fade either. Cadmium is a poison and is getting hard to find these days, BTW. But there are other mineral-based colours.
Get to know and accept the virtues and natural limitations of yr various pigments, and become a happy sign painter! If a klutz like me can do it, so can you!
Yes you can! 
I got the info from Bruce, so I guess we will have to wait for him to weigh in here…
http://www.largescalecentral.com/LSCForums/viewtopic.php?id=14695
Well, as stated then, I’ve experienced some fading with the colored signs; not so much with the black lettering. Goodson Hardware and Goldings Cafe were both put out at the same time - December 2008.
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Structures/Weathered/IMG_0410.JPG)
Salmons doesn’t get much sun - October 2008.
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Structures/Weathered/IMG_0411.JPG)
No problem with black on white on McCown Freight from November 2008.
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Structures/Weathered/IMG_0412.JPG)
The color has really faded from the sign, but the black still looks good - March 2011.
(http://www.jbrr.com/Pics/Structures/Weathered/IMG_0413.JPG)
All pictures from today.
john papadonis said:I don't ...I have a friend with a 1:1 sign shop
how do you do them in vinyl?
I found these at a hobby shop. They brag they are printed on plasticard
(http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp52/steamnut1917/P1010017_02.jpg)
Even though they were supposed to be for HO, most were useable in 1/24 We’ll see how well they hold up outside.
(http://i397.photobucket.com/albums/pp52/steamnut1917/P1010018_02.jpg)
