Tissue Paper Signs
I have kicked this idea around in my head for some time before just trying it. The building I tried this out on is a Bar Mills kit that came from Raglan Road. It is a 1 of 375 limited run that they produced. It is SOLD OUT. It’s called Pfefferkorn Furniture.
I have read many articles on how to put signs on brick buildings and clapboard siding. First you need a picture you like, cut it out from a magazine or book and then sand the back of it so you can almost see through it. I tried it. It takes a long time to sand paper down to get it thin enough if you don’t rip it first, who knew paper was so hard to sand down. The tissue paper works almost like a real decal paper, that’s how thin it is. When I got the chance to do it on this building it came out great, as you can see. Bar Mills gives you printed signs with the instruction for the buildings. Instead of using theirs, I scanned their graphic of Pfefferkorn Furniture and then printed it out on plain paper. Tissue paper has a shiny side and a dull side. Cut out a piece of tissue paper a little bigger then your printed sign and tape the shiny down over the sign you just printed. I used Scotch Magic tape to hold the sign in place. Now reload your paper back in the tray and reprint your sign. This time it will print out onto your tissue paper as you can see in (figure 2).. I used an HP inject printer for my signs. You will have to set the ink in the paper to keep it from running when it gets wet from the glue. I sprayed 2 or 3 good coats of Testers DullCote to set the ink in the paper. Cut out your sign with a sharp hobby knife, be careful or it will tear on you. To apply it to your building I used white glue and thinned it down with a very little water. Use a small paintbrush and apply a little glue on your building where the sign is to be placed. Affix one corner of the sign in place so you can square it up with the building. I first displayed this technique at the 2009 NMRA Convention in Hartford CT. as a display model. I also did this on a kit from Bar Mills that Art Fahie asked me to construct as a display model for their use at shows. They also have it for sale, it’s called Old Man Hart’s you can really see the individual boards as if the sign was painted on. If you ever wanted to print out a flag this is a great way to do it because the tissue paper is so sheer it can be seen from both sides. When possible it is easier to apply your signs first before assembling the wall that make up your building. This technique will work great on almost any kind of signs and or billboards. Have fun printing out signs it’s not hard to do.
You only have one chance at this so be careful. Once you have it in place, lift the rest of the sign up and apply glue. Now roll it down carefully from the set side and use your paintbrush to work out any air bubbles plus working it down into the clapboards or the brick. You can use a little glue on top to help set it, do not pick at it to much just let it dry. The white glue should dry dull, if it’s shiny just give it little shot of Dullcote. For the Woodworking sign, I made it from my graphic program and found a font close to what Bar Mills used and printed it out the same way as I did above.
Mark Doyon
