# Font, font, what's the font?



## RonthePirate (Sep 9, 2015)

I've repainted a few of my engines and cars. 
I did a A-A set from Pennsylvania RR to Illinois Central. The brown and orange setup.
I also redid an Ives 3251 and a matching baggage car. But stuck with (near) the original olive drab.

Problem is, I don't know what fonts they are in. I could go through all the available fonts, but I want this done by 2021.
I know there's decals already made out there, but I'd like to do my own.

I bought a set for the IC passenger one. I was disappointed in the quality.
One, you could see right through the yellow stripe.
Two, they were so thin, I ripped asll but one of them applying them.
And I was being careful.
Three, they gave me the Illinois Central logos and lettering, but for two different engines!

Does anyone know where I can get the type of font each is?
Or anyone know already which fonts they are?
Sure would appreciate it!

EDIT: Just found Illinois Central. Did some Googling, found it under Illinois Central font 1.0.


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## emmetd (Aug 1, 2012)

use rr roman for the ives. no pre done decals.


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## RonthePirate (Sep 9, 2015)

emmetd said:


> use rr roman for the ives. no pre done decals.


Ok, got it. Thanks, emmetd.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

While repainting my motorcycle, I made a new VIN sticker to put under the clearcoat. I must have spent 2-3 hours just trying to match the font. There are sites like http://www.identifont.com/ which can get you in the general ballpark pretty quickly though, and in most cases you won't need an exact match. I think the hardest part is finding a font that has the correct width and spacing to it.


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## RonthePirate (Sep 9, 2015)

Shdwdrgn said:


> While repainting my motorcycle, I made a new VIN sticker to put under the clearcoat. I must have spent 2-3 hours just trying to match the font. There are sites like http://www.identifont.com/ which can get you in the general ballpark pretty quickly though, and in most cases you won't need an exact match. I think the hardest part is finding a font that has the correct width and spacing to it.


You're right. I found that out, I thought it was really easy: measure the font off your screen then print it out.

Oooooo, no. Not gonna get away that easily. Well, back to the drawing board.

One site where I'm well-known and a very large one (1,200,000 members) is looking for the Illinois Central one for me.
I did find a site that sells the font, but I'm going to try cheapo at first.
Maybe I'll get lucky.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

Is it a "standard" font? I know many railroads create their own fonts for their company names, and they are not any "known" font......I guess it further protects their trademarks, etc.....


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## RonthePirate (Sep 9, 2015)

Old_Hobo said:


> I it a "standard" font? I know many railroads create their own fonts for their company names, and they are not any "known" font......I guess it further protects their trademarks, etc.....


Hi, Hobo. I don't think it's a common font. I'm almost certain the IC font is special, it's shaped differently than any I have seen. Here's the IC ones:








-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now the Ives is RR Roman, which is identical.
EXCEPT the spacing is wider than the Ives version. RR Roman:









That may get in the way of trying to fit "The Ives Railway Line" into the designated spaces.
I admit. I haven't tried yet. But I'm getting close.


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## emmetd (Aug 1, 2012)

*font*

that illinois central font looks something like the seaboard one.
somewhere i have the seaboard font. contact off site if interested.


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## Shdwdrgn (Dec 23, 2014)

There's always the option of buying the font... http://www.railfonts.com/cgi-bin/font_shop/fontshop.cgi?ACTION=enter&thispage=page15.html#


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## RonthePirate (Sep 9, 2015)

Shdwdrgn said:


> There's always the option of buying the font... http://www.railfonts.com/cgi-bin/font_shop/fontshop.cgi?ACTION=enter&thispage=page15.html#


I did see that, Shdwdrgn. I'm trying the free way, if possible.
If I can't come up with it, ten bucks ain't so bad.

And considering I will use the IC font for other trains, it's a good investment.

Oh, a footnote: I did make up the Ives decals. I first tried gold.
They looked great........on paper.
But when I put them on the olive green, they almost disappeared.
I had to go to black after trying three more colors, none would show up on the paint.

And here's a tip: spray the decal with clear lacquer after printing, and let dry.
If you don't, the decal ink will just go away with the water used to loosen the adhesive.


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## Lee Willis (Jan 1, 2014)

An option you might consider - I use it all the time, is custom vinyl lettering. 

These are not the thick vinyl letters you can buy in alphabet sets at Office Depot, etc., instead, they are custom cut for you, out of very thin vinyl, not much more than decal thick. The downside is they are a bit harder/slower to transfer, but no more than decals in my opinion. 

There are many sites, but I get mine here:

http://doityourselflettering.com/create/

What you do is type in your message in the box you see for your text, for example:

SANTA FE SANTA FE SANTA FE SANTA FE
3754 3754 3756 3756 

You then go through several steps to pick the height you want your letters, the color, and pick your font. They have hundreds, and you have to scroll through and find the one that looks best. I can't remember what I use for Santa Fe and UP and Southern Pacific, but I found matching fonts in all cases. 

Then you give your address, etc, pay, etc. and the stuff arrives in about ten days. It is a roll of tape with the letters on it, positioned as you typed them. 

A couple of points. First, the smallest size lettering they will print is 1/4 inch high. However, they will not produce any tape less than 1/2 , and if you type one line into the text box, and ask for 1/4" high letters, the site won't go with you for it. But it you type two or three or four lines, one above the other so the total is higher, even with 1/4" letters, it will get past that limitation and make them.

Second, definitely pay for the option you can choose of if they remove the all the tape so the letters are all that is on the tape - I forget what they call it, but the base product is a vinyl tape with the lettering cut out (by laser or something) but the tape around the letters still on the tape. You have to carefully put each letter off and apply it. MUCH better to have them remove all the tape and flash around each letter, leaving only the letters on the tape: then you simply stick it on the loco or tender or car (the letters are reverse sticky, ready to go on) and make sure the letters stick well. Easier. 

Finally, there is an art to getting these things on cleanly, particularly for letters with serifs (SAta Fe, etc) smaller than 1/2 inch. I recommend buying some extras and practicing a few times first. ONe you decide to buy even on "SANTA FE" the cost to add another dozen is not much.

In the photo below, the only one I can find now since I am at work, 4651 on the lower left, and 1856 and 3601 on the lower right, have been done this way.


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## RonthePirate (Sep 9, 2015)

Hi, Lee. Thanks for this.

I never knew about using vinyl letters. I thought they might be too thick, so didn't even consider them.

It does look good though. And an afterthought: 
I made gold colored decals for that 3251.
As I had said, they looked great!
Till I moved them onto that olive drab.
They disappeared.

Vinyl would be completely opaque. Which would eliminate that problem.
And another problem vinyl would eliminate is, decals cannot be printed in white. (Or so I read here)
I have two steamers that need lettering on the black tenders.
Problem solved.
I bookmarked that site. Right after my volunteer work, I'm going to get online and pay them a visit.
(And keep the credit card handy. Shhh........don't tell my wife)

EDIT: Just a FYI. I did do this once for my business. I ordered stickers that said PRO-TINT in a obscure font.
Not a problem. The company sent them, I would pass them out to me customers, everybody happy.


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## Lemonhawk (Sep 24, 2013)

would it be possible to remove the letter and then use the remaining vinyl as a mask for airbrush painting?


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## RonthePirate (Sep 9, 2015)

Lemonhawk said:


> would it be possible to remove the letter and then use the remaining vinyl as a mask for airbrush painting?


I don't see why not. It already is self-adhesive.
Sounds very logical.


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## Mark VerMurlen (Aug 15, 2015)

Lemonhawk said:


> would it be possible to remove the letter and then use the remaining vinyl as a mask for airbrush painting?


You would need some type of secondary "carrier" to hold the holes in place in the middle of the "a", "e", "o", "b", and "d" characters. If you've ever had a custom vinyl sign made, it will typically have 3 layers to it: some sort of main peel off base, the vinyl letter layer with adhesive, and then a carrier that usually has a much less aggressive adhesive to hold the vinyl lettering together to make it easier to transfer the lettering to the surface you want the lettering on. After peeling of the main base, its somewhat common that the purchaser has to "weed" out the unwanted vinyl portions of the letters. You could simply reverse what you keep to make the mask. 

If your lettering doesn't have the secondary carrier, you'd have to find something that would work for that. Not sure if something like removable scotch tape would work for small lettering or not. You might have to experiment a bit to find something with the right amount of tack to it.

Mark


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## Waddy (Dec 18, 2014)

I make my own mylar stencils. I use a Cricut Explore and cut them from model airplane mylar heat shrink covering, like Ultracote. The airplane mylar already has a heat sensitive adhesive on the back.

I pick a font off the internet, usually from dafont.com. They have lots of fonts, all free.

Upload and save the font.

Load it into the Cricut explore ($139). (I chose the Cricut because it has the most precision cut of all the reasonably priced cutting machines). I use the German upgrade blade ($9.50) it can precisely cut very small letters/graphics.

Go through a few steps, and presto I got my sticker. If I'm putting stars on US armor I use the cut out stars themselves, but if I'm doing multiple letters I "weed" out the letters and use it like a stencil. That allows me to keep the lettering perfectly even. Place where you want, and use a heat tool for airplane coverings, set on low, to iron on the mylar. low setting won't shrink or distort the mylar, just glue it on. Then shoot some paint on like you normally do on stencils. Then pull off the stencil (no residue). Job done. You might want to shoot some dull lacquer over it.

NOTE; I don't buy those expensive cans of Dullcoat. I just buy a quart of regular lacquer, a small pint of flattening agent, and mix my own. Buy it all at the auto paint store. I like mixing my own because I can control the level of dullness. 

And, for regular painting, the auto paint store can also match any top coat color you might want. I use my hobby airbrush sprayer to paint it all. So I have total control over how much, or little I apply.

Waddy


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## thedoc (Oct 15, 2015)

RonthePirate said:


> And here's a tip: spray the decal with clear lacquer after printing, and let dry.
> If you don't, the decal ink will just go away with the water used to loosen the adhesive.


Some printers use an ink that is not affected by water. Ink jet printers are notorious for running and bleeding if the print gets wet, but some laser printers are not affected by water. You would need to verify all this when you buy the printer. My wife has one at work that is not affected by water, but she says the print quality isn't very good, but she's a printer and very particular about print quality.


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## Old_Hobo (Feb 20, 2014)

thedoc said:


> a printer and very particular about print quality.


As are model railroaders, when it comes to decaling their equipment.....I, for one, am not going to decal a car with crappy, fuzzy lettering.....if I want that, I'll buy an old blue box car......:laugh:


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## highvoltage (Apr 6, 2014)

thedoc said:


> ... Ink jet printers are notorious for running and bleeding if the print gets wet, but some laser printers are not affected by water...


That's because laser printing is not water based. They use powder deposition onto electrostatically charged paper, which is then heated.


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