Tips - Number Boards

by Paul Norton

Recently I had to replace a broken number board on my RS-3. As the new part came with a number that was not the one on my diesel, it had to be removed and the proper number added.

A Q-tip was dipped in a circuit board cleaner I bought from Active Electronics. With some light rubbing, the numbers came off without marring the clear plastic.

Staples sell a sheet of black, rub-on numbers in various font sizes. I put the new numbers on, but messed it up. To my surprise, the numbers could be picked off with an X-Acto scribe and the glue removed with a dry Q-Tip.

On my second try, I got it right. The spacing and alignment were correct and the numbers perfectly printed. Unfortunately they did not show well against the clear number board.

The numbers were again cleaned off and the front of the number board given a light spray of white paint. When it dried, the new numbers were added. It looked so good, I cleaned, painted and numbered the three remaining boards. Dullcoat was sprayed on to seal the deal.

UPDATE: After receiving a Brother P-Touch Labeler for Christmas, I realized that I could have re-numbered the boards using it. The self sticking, water resistant tapes come in a number of formats including: black on white, white on black, black on clear, and white on clear. So you can choose the tape style depending on the railway you are modeling. The labeler also lets you choose from a number of different sizes for the font.