Road and street signs

I'm trying to decide between making my own signs, or buying commercial ones. The only commercial ones I've ever used are those cheap little plastic ones that Bachmann and Model Power sell. I know there are more expensive ones (and I assume BETTER), from S&S Hobby for instance. Anybody use these?

I also know that I can get official dimensions for real signs, and images, from various online sources. I have a color inkjet printer to print them out on, but I'm not sure what to do after that. My plan would be to cut the sign structure from styrene, and then glue the printed sign onto that structure. My concern is that the ink will fade over time, or "run" when glued.

What do you guys do for signs?

 

I use Evan Designs sign maker and print them out onto heavyweight glossy photo paper and am very happy with the results - especially making my own street signs.

 

Hi,
I'm new to this site. This is just something that I want to add in reference to street signs. There are a few manufacterers of signs like EMEDCO and MSC that have sign catalogs. The signs are in color and can either be scanned and re-sized or just cut out of the catalog itself. There are many to choose from.
-Jhighvoltage

 

Blair Line is an excellent source. I've used their products. I'm buying a new inkjet printer to replace an old model that now works when it wants to, and after the new printer is up and ready, I'm going to try designing N scale signs for roads and buildings on my computer, then run them off on the new printer. The signs in N scale, especially street or window signs, are very small; my eyes aren't as good as they used to be so designing signs will be an interesting experience. If I fail, and I don't think I will, I can always order more signs from Blair Line.

 

I'm cheap. I bought one set of most of the Blair Line products and copy them as needed on a photo copier. I have some yellow paper and pale yellow paper to represent different areas. You can also copy the yellow warning signage on day glow yellow to get modern DOT signs.

To use the copied signs, place transparent scotch tape over the front and back of the signs you intend to use. This will give the sign a flat plastic or metal appearance. Cut the sign to shape then paint the back silver. Add a paperclip post and your done.


The deef crossing, speed limmit and foreground crosbucks are the copied signs. The flashers are made by a modeler locally.

Since these are for personal use only, there is no copyright violation.

 

Well, if I could cut a straight line, I'd have a solution. Image of a stop sign, shrunk to N scale proportions, covered with Scotch tape, glued to a piece of plastic (the bubble from a code 55 turnout package), with a piece of scrap basswood for a post:

 

The MUTCD, which is what real, actual traffic engineers use to determine where the signs go and what they look like, is all available online.

If you have a publishing program that reads PDFs, you can pull the PNGs/SVGs out of the file and print them.

 

Wow, many thanks for that link. There is a link to a scanned 1948 MUTCD, so now I know what is correct for my 1949 layout.
I have not yet tried to scale and print signs from the document, but it looks doable

Cheers
Dirk

 

I am frugal, so ALL of my signs are home-made. I acqiure some jegs and gifs and with use of MS (Microsoft) PAINT program I change all of the sign's details. (Highway numbers and letters) to match the area I am modeling.

This is very simple to do....

1) I modify the sign(s) to the appropriate route(S) in PAINT.
2) insert into a WORD document to resize them to the correct "N-scale" size.
3) I print these out on regular photo paper. Usually 4x6
4) With the "paper backing" of the photo paper, I can simply glue these to basswood posts of the correct size with Elmers glue. If i need these attached to something other than wooden posts, I use ACC cement.

tracymckibben - If you have a idea of the particular route numbers or letters. Let me know. I can makeup a WORD doc of signs and email to you. You just have to print them out....

Jerry G.

 

I have a friend (Joe Mainz, Great Model railroads last year or so) who took pictures of the actual highway signs in the area he was modeling, then shrunk them to size. You can actually see the bullet holes in one or two.

 

The No U Turn and speed limit signs are examples of the Blairline product. The billboard is as well.

 

Lee posted this a while back.. just print on a color printer and you're all set

http://www.wildcardgraphics.biz/media/Road%20Signs.pdf

 

http://www.osbornmodelkits.com/N_scale_railroad.htm

 

Thanks for all the tips. I just ordered some of the Blair signs. I seem to be unable to properly operate a knife, I can't cut out a square sign to save my life. My latest effort:

 

I used printer paper, a cheap inkjet printer and Word to make crossing bucks and other small signs in N scale. No fading or discoloration after 10 years. I used stripwood posts painted with Floquil colors and applied a super-thin coat of white glue to the posts with my finger. The glue did not soak through the paper, and I was very pleased with the results.

 

Thanks for this! I spent all afternoon cutting, then re-cutting, signs from this sheet. I posted pics of the results in the Weekend Photo Fun thread:
http://www.trainboard.com/grapevine/showpost.php?p=653693&postcount=31