Garden Railway Forum

As you may have seen in another thread, I now have a functioning cutting machine which I am using initially for cutting out vinyl lettering for my goods stock.
This is just a test run to check everything is working as expected. I've ordered some matt vinyl for the real thing.

I know some of you have experience with vinyl lettering - do you have any tips?

How do you make sure the letters stay stuck-on? Do you push the lettering into the gaps between the planks or just let the letters float over them?

Rik

Looking good Rik! I have been using self adhesive vinyl lettering for some time after having a sheet produced by a local printing company in 2014. I press the letters into any plank joins on the vehicle, just as paint would follow the contours. In all of the years they have been attached to my stock I have never had a single letter become detached. After weathering the surface I always give a light spray of satin or matt lacquer to seal over the letters.
This is one of the earliest examples I can find and they still look the same today.

Really interested in what you learn from this RIk. I'm surprised these devices aren't more common in our scale, I've thought of getting one, but a bit deterred by the fact that few others are doing it!

My main question would be... how small can you go with the lettering?

That looks really good Rik.

ge_rik wrote: ↑Thu Jan 19, 2023 3:14 pm
How do you make sure the letters stay stuck-on? Do you push the lettering into the gaps between the planks or just let the letters float over them?

I dont know if it would work on vinyl ( might depend on the thickness of it) but there is a product called "Decalset" which softens waterslide transfers and allows them to follow rivets and gaps.

SimonWood wrote: ↑Thu Jan 19, 2023 4:10 pm My main question would be... how small can you go with the lettering?

Interesting question, Simon. Theoretically, you could go as small as you like - the greatest problem would be removing the letters from the backing sheet. The smaller and thinner it gets, the harder it will be to remove the text without tearing or distorting it.

A quick bit of research (there are some quite irritating videos about it on YouTube) suggests that 'weeding' is the process of getting rid of the vinyl you don't want to use without damaging the bits you do want to use. There are a few techniques which I've yet to explore. I'll try and keep you posted as to how I get on.

Here's the least annoying YT video I've found which gives a taste of handling text -


Rik

Peter Butler wrote: ↑Thu Jan 19, 2023 4:04 pm Looking good Rik! I have been using self adhesive vinyl lettering for some time after having a sheet produced by a local printing company in 2014. I press the letters into any plank joins on the vehicle, just as paint would follow the contours. In all of the years they have been attached to my stock I have never had a single letter become detached. After weathering the surface I always give a light spray of satin or matt lacquer to seal over the letters.

IMG_2018.JPG

This is one of the earliest examples I can find and they still look the same today.

That's really helpful and reassuring, Peter. I think sealing the lettering with lacquer is the key (accidental pun).

Rik