Sign written box vans

[Halton Boy]

Hello everyone

Please could someone tell me if it is possible to get O gauge conflats sign written.

My late father was an electrical engineer.

I want to mark up some conflats with his company name.

 

N H Rankin & Sons Electrical Engineers

 

I am not sure how I could do this. transfers or made up signs?

I have made a image of what I want using a picture of a altered conflat.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Thank you

Ken 

[woodyfox]

Hi Ken, 

I would email Steve at Railtec transfers. He is very good and has done bespoke stuff for me in the past. 

 

[Cwmtwrch]

On 06/03/2024 at 11:33, Halton Boy said:

I have made a image of what I want using a picture of a altered conflat.

To avoid possible confusion it might be as well to make it clear you are looking for transfers for a B type container [assuming I have understood you correctly]. The Conflat is the GW wagon it's on. 

[Nearholmer]

If you’d be content with old-fashioned Hornby-style ones, a block of wood with printed paper overlaid, then a chap called Graham Lock supplies them. The email given in the HRCA spares directory is  grhmlock@yahoo.co.u

 

You can also get the wooden blocks, proper Hornsby shape and dimensions, I think from Bruce Palmer, vintagetoytrains@btinternet.com , using those and a PC with home printer if you have one, you could create something very ornate if you wanted.

 

 

Edited March 7 by Nearholmer

[Nick Holliday]

If you are going to prepare your own bespoke livery, perhaps in the style of Edwardian railways, try to think "Edwardian Sign Writer", as they tended to avoid lower case text, except in special circumstances, and used much bolder styles - no Arial etc. fonts.  You might get some inspiration from a thread here on pantechnicons, such as 

or here

This is my very crude first attempt, with too little thought given to the actual style of lettering!

 

[BachelorBoy]

[Hal Nail]

If you did just want plain font then the likes of Smiths would sell rub down transfers for lettering.

 

You could find some lorry type transfers for Dinky toys or similar from ebay or small trader and contact them to see if they could change the wording as a one off. Its the initial research and design that takes time, changing words shouldn't be much effort.

 

Random example:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/222626754467

 

If cost isn't a factor, HMRCS do lettering sets which have various sizes and numbers.

Edited March 9 by Hal Nail

[BachelorBoy]

1 hour ago, Hal Nail said:

If you did just want plain font then the likes of Smiths would sell rub down transfers for lettering.

 

You could find some lorry type transfers for Dinky toys or similar from ebay or small trader and contact them to see if they could change the wording as a one off. Its the initial research and design that takes time, changing words shouldn't be much effort.

 

Smith's rub-down transfers* will look very wrong because they are based on typefaces. Typefaces are designed to look good for print (and increasingly online). Typographers may take years to complete them.

 

Most signs in those days would have been painted freehand by signwriters. 

 

They don't correspond to typefaces (unless the typeface has been designed to look like it was created by a signwriter)

 

*Actually I just looked at WHSmith's website and no lettering transfers are listed anymore :(

 

Edited March 9 by BachelorBoy

[Mol_PMB]

The HMRS range of pressfix transfers are available in a wide range of sizes, and in both white and white-shaded-black.

They are intended to replicate the lettering style of old private owner wagons, and include a choice of shapes for many letters.

You do have to apply them letter by letter though, which takes a bit of care in laying out and some patience.

 

Otherwise, I can recommend Precision Decals (Jim Peck) for custom decals which could provide all the lettering in one piece. I prepare my own artwork for him (which can be supplied in a variety of formats) but it's a little more complex than just an image of what you want because the printing process is built up in several layers.

 

[BachelorBoy]

Some typefaces here designed to look like signwriting

 

https://www.myfonts.com/collections/tags/signwriting-fonts?page=1

 

 

[Compound2632]

1 hour ago, BachelorBoy said:

Some typefaces here designed to look like signwriting

 

A distinguishing feature of printer's type over signwritten lettering, at least for block lettering, is that in the former, horizontals are usually narrower than verticals, whereas in the latter, they are generally of equal width.

 

The large RTR manufacturers are well aware of this, as the PO wagons they produce attest, but some of the smaller firms producing re-liveried wagons use what is very obviously type for their lettering, which to my fastidious eyes at least just shouts out "look how wrong we are". 

Edited March 10 by Compound2632

[BachelorBoy]

19 minutes ago, Compound2632 said:

The large RTR manufacturers are well aware of this, as the PO wagons they produce attest, but some of the smaller firms producing re-liveried wagons use what is very obviously type for their lettering, which to my fastidious eyes at least just shouts out "look how wrong we are". 

 

I am surprised how much some modellers will argue over the exact shade of a colour, but have blind spots about lettering, and will use anachronistic or otherwise inappropriate typefaces.

 

 

 

 

[Steamport Southport]

Personally if I was doing it in O Gauge I would hand paint it.

 

Back in the day all you had was the limited range of PC Models (now HMRS) and what came in the kits. If you wanted more than the basics you had to do it yourself.

 

 

 

Jason

[Halton Boy]

Hello everyone

I am very sorry for the delay in replying but I have been in hospital again.

I have contacted Fox transfers who would make the transfers.

Like you have said I need to be careful with the design of the type and layout.

Ken