Decals

Since I model a short line railroad that never really existed, it was necessary to create my own herald and custom lettering. When I started on this adventure 20+ years ago, my model railroad mentor directed me toward dry transfers from Greg Komar (no longer in business). Those worked quite well for me to do my first custom locomotives, box cars, passenger cars, and cabooses. But now that my fleet has grown and now includes many locomotives that were not even on the market then, I knew I had to go into decals. First off, when I purchase a new piece of equipment, I either go with something undecorated or a very basic color that I can alter with minimal work (black works nicely). I certainly did not create any elaborate paint schemes for my basic railroad. When starting to shop around for a supplier of custom decals, the first company I came across and was recommended was Rail Graphics. But with them closing down operation at the end of 2017, I eliminated that supplier. Then I came across Circus City Decals & Graphics on someone's Facebook page. They were offering a special of $20 for an 8.5" x 11" sheet of decals that were text only (normally $40). So I set out on Microsoft Word and created a page of my road name in various formats for different purposes; locomotives, box cars, passenger equipment, etc. I also made a page of just potential locomotive & rolling stock numbers in a couple of different sizes. It can be a pain to try to cut and align individual numbers from a decal sheet. I contacted the company about how to submit the file and was promptly responded to by Matthew Welke with a proof sheet before printing began. In less than a week I had the decals in my hand ready to be applied. Following their directions, I applied the decals with a bit of Micro Scale's Micro Set and Micro Sol, allowing the decals to dry completelty between steps. The decals are very thin and require some care when applying, but the results are outstanding. Even before applying a dull-coat to the model, you can hardly even see the decal film. Now that I am this pleased with Circus City's work, it may be time to have my herald printed out on some decals.