This is *just* the thing I was looking for for my 1:24 coffee house! I'm so glad I came by this early on, because you saved me so much time, trial, and error. And aside form the wonderful miniature information, I loved the history you gave. Thanks for such an informative, entertaining video and keep up the great work!
My favorite video of yours yet. Love the back story and history on lit signage. Thanks for the how-to for the scale signs. Might try this on my O scale layout.
+itsameman DO!! It will work well in O scale. It's a bit large, the "tubes" scale out to about 40mm. Way over the 14mm they should be, but you can hide the fact if the neon is touching a sign or building. Still big, but should look ok mostly. Lets hope they come out with a .5mm wire!!
Very interesting and love the miniature sign. Toy Man summed up in one item - slightly beat up and worn, but still gets you're attention!!! Cheers, Davie
That bar sign is exactly what I want. I’m building a miniature community or street, you might say, the centerpiece is a house, and then on one side of the grocery, and then on the other side I want a small bar.
Great visit to the neon sign graveyard.. Great place to start. I have watched the train magazines, over the years, with grappling with the illusion of neon signs. I am guessing you were building in a scale that suits large scale or, at least "On3 or On30." I cannot wait to see your proposed railroad in it's infancy. One of your larger, "Brilliant" installments to Toy Man Television.
+Jeanne Uzar Thanks! Yes, planning the railroad (s) now. The 1/20 scale is moving forward. the HO is still a dream. This weeks show is (sort of) on the 1/20 - garden railroad.
Fantastic job for a first attempt! Some of yor hidden talents coming out there!! Love your videos! I was in Salt Lake City for about 15 mins on the Zephyr (I think, I got many Amtrak trains on my trip) and enjoyed the ride across the lakes then up over the pass! Can't wait to get back there. Cheers Gregg.
+FishplateFilms Do get back!! (you ma want to bring some good beer as it's hard to get here) Really looking forward to the next sign. Need to get the work bench done first so I'm not "modeling" at the computer! But the bench is mostly finished as of TODAY
awesome sign you built there, very cool! I thought your custom work on the sign alone was pretty sweet, the neon blew me away! great presentation as always!
stumbled onto your video while researching EL as an alternative to neon. I am reproducing some vintage neon signs (the real ones are too expensive and high maint.) for my man cave/garage. I liked the video. It was informative and interesting. Good job
A grand job sir....... Very impressed with your attention to detail, perhaps if you'd shown the sign in situ....? One other (trivial) detail, when showing the bone-yard of signage..... Perhaps for example, when showing the 'Silver Slipper', maybe intercut with 50's stock footage of the actual sign..... Younger patrons won't remember the establishments... Ramble.... ramble...etc...etc.....
It was a a shame the signs in the street, IE the Silver Slipper, were all out. The city was working on the street, and had shut off the street lights for about 6 weeks. AND those signs are part of the street lighting. Like to do at some point a show on Dobie Doc, and the Old Las Vegas Frontier Village which included the Silver Slipper.
Awesome video. I want to have a 3/8ths scale replica of the Bates Motel (1960) neon sign made. Currently I'm still trying to recreate the original blueprint from a blurry photo. I've managed to decipher most of the measurements, but some of the notations are being difficult. The only major issue I still have is the color of the sign
@Toy Man Television Hoping for more detailed tutorials from both of you on neon sign building, and I could use the help as I am about to take on building some signs. Thanks so much! Lisa P.S. What size electroluminescent wire should I get for 1:12 scale, and what size wire for G scale please?
How tall (or how small) were the letters you had to work with when you were fabricating the sign? I am working on an 0-scale neon sign right now (starting with a template to see how much I can bend the wire first) and I am concerned about breaking the phosphorescent coating of the wire.
Hi. The key is finding the small wire. Big wire is everywhere but the .9 is only at Thats Cool Wire. Check their web site. At that point it’s all figuring out what you want to do with it!!! I have found some power supplies in China from Wish.com that make a bit less noise. Just a bit. Most people find the whine really to annoying. I keep mine in a box.
Toy Man Television Thanks for the reply! I was actually asking about the technique you discussed where you mentioned people using etched acrylic. I have searched the web and have found nothing on this technique.
Awesome video! I found it while looking into options for lighting and signage for my N scale layout. I had never heard of EL wire and panels before, so that's a great new direction for me to investigate. Thinking the EL wire might be a little big for N scale? But cutting small EL panels and putting opaque material in front of them with cutouts for the letters and such might be the way to go.
Hi. And the .9 mm seems to not be made anymore. That’s Cool Wire still has some but I think that’s the end of that. For n the best way is the etched clear. I have that on our O scale bar and it’s amazing. We showed the HO scale bar sign in this video. That guy isn’t doing that anymore. But with laser etching everywhere you can make them yourself. Hum…. We need a new video on that…. No matter. Even any Joann store has a laser. Simply make a image file with your sign. You can even draw it with a pencil or pen. Do it large so you can get it looking great. Then have them etch that into clear sheet. They have that there. Make a bunch. No extra cost for that. Now they can laser it out of the sheet but most places have no idea how to do that. So then you may need to cut it out yourself. Anyway mount it in your window with a red LED or better 2 at the edge. Do it in a way that the edge of the sheet and the LED doesn’t show from the front of the model and TA DA! Neon!
@@ToyManTelevision awesome info, thanks for the detailed reply! I didn't realize Joann has lasers, but that's a game changer for me so I'll check it out. (Have been wanting to buy one but lack the space and funds lol.) I do my graphics with Adobe Illustrator so that can all be easily scaled up or down as needed. I'm in the early stage of designing a project that might end up using all 3 of those lighting methods. Maybe a little ambitious, but I can never seem to do anything half-heartedly lol. A bummer that the 9mm EL wire is on the way out, but I had been looking at That's Cool Wire earlier today. I like how they have kits you can design and they ship them ready to go. I'm a better modeler and graphic designer than I am at electronics, so that takes out some of the intimidation factor for me. We'll see how this all goes. Thank you so much! And I'll be checking out other videos of yours when I can.
Well on this one ca. And it did damage the wire. Next time I’m going to figure out how to “lace” it. Wrap around and through the base. Still need to figure that out. But almost back to the New Rex Hotel. Next few months I think.
+David Curtis Sure. I have a fun thing I built a few years ago, trying to get then back up, castings. I am setting up my casting equipment, should be working in a few months. Can't attach a photo here, but it's a little switch lantern, about 1/2 tall thats mounts on the control panel, and the light changes from red to green as you throw the switch. There is a photo of one here: oscaleguys.com/sites/layouts/MRS/MRS_electrical.html
Haven’t done it. Just yet. Well I’m just getting to the New Rex Hotel. It stands almost 3 feet tall and has a huge neon sign down the front and this sign on the side street.
Just standard printer paper. The glue is actually double stick tape. We get a type that’s just a glue. Once the backing is pealed off all that’s there is a sticky glue.
+John Gutowski Been wanting to bag some of that stuff. Interesting. I did try years ago sanding fiber optic. Worked too. But not too well. BUt if you really roughed the surface, it sort of glowed.
+Toy Man Television I am not sure if it would put out the same glow as the wire. I am considering it for a Rexall sign. I model the 1880's in o scale. But I like to build models. just for display more like art pieces. Sign looks fantastic. what is your next intended victim.
+Bruce Collins Hard to do, but I think so. The way to make really small neon is the engraving system, engraving channels in the back side of Plexiglas. Call the Train Shoppe (on the web site) they have a bunch of these and they can be custom cut. BUT the wire can be used to light the plexi. Just wrap it around the edge. Then you can animate or change colors, or??? But the wire scales out to about 75mm, a bit big for HO. Could look OK I think for Florissant, but too big for neon. In O I think you can get away with it and in 1/20 its spot on. BUT with engraving, you could even go down to N with no problem. PS, I don't have a "deal" with any of these providers, I don't make a cent off it.
I love your work! I was looking for a way to make neon signs for my train layout. What guage wire do you recommend for S-O scale? Thank you for your help and for making this video.
The .9mm is the smallest made. A bit big in your scale, but should look ok depending on how you use it. There is a NEW product, laser wire!! Not ready for prime time as yet, and expensive. About 10 per foot and you need a laser to drive it. A laser feeds one end of a fiber optic wire that is frosted to emit light along the wire. This will no doubt be available in VERY small sizes, but isn't yet. BUT if they make a .1mm, and they could, HO anyone? Requires no wiring as its just fiber. May be better soon, and cheaper. Google for it.
I think I'm one of 4 people in the world that likes the film. You might want to check out some photos of the car, there are a ton on Google Images. It was built by Richard 'Korky' Korkes and is currently in the the hands of private individual.
My grandfather jerry Dewalt owned the desert sands motor hotel in Albuquerque New Mexico the one that was used in the film no country for old men I was wondering how much you would charge to replicate the sign, that was out front of the hotel I’d like to have one made he passed away in 2014
Gee I don’t have time. But show the video around. I don’t think it would be all that hard to do. Find and friend Jim Keeler on Facebook. You will see his models so you know you have the right one. Then message him. That will start a conversation at least.
![Blox Fruits Dragon Rework Update [Full Stream]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EqDAp8udhm0/mqdefault.jpg)
This is *just* the thing I was looking for for my 1:24 coffee house! I'm so glad I came by this early on, because you saved me so much time, trial, and error. And aside form the wonderful miniature information, I loved the history you gave. Thanks for such an informative, entertaining video and keep up the great work!
Hi. The trick is getting the .9mm wire. Hard to find.
Fantastic! Interesting history but great new innovative modeling.
My favorite video of yours yet. Love the back story and history on lit signage. Thanks for the how-to for the scale signs. Might try this on my O scale layout.
+itsameman DO!! It will work well in O scale. It's a bit large, the "tubes" scale out to about 40mm. Way over the 14mm they should be, but you can hide the fact if the neon is touching a sign or building. Still big, but should look ok mostly. Lets hope they come out with a .5mm wire!!
Dale, you are one multitalented fellow. I am amazed at this project. Keep them coming.
I'm building a new sign soon for the same hotel, big vertical HOTEL with the E half out and flickering.
That turned out totally AWESOME!!!! Congrats!
+dizguy89 Planning a bunch more signs!
We love this product and the good folks at That's Cool Wire are terrific to work with. Thanks for another wonderful video buddy!!
COOOOOLLLL Model! We are heading to Denver soon. Sounds like you guys are modular only True? Love to see your stuff!!!
Very interesting and love the miniature sign. Toy Man summed up in one item - slightly beat up and worn, but still gets you're attention!!! Cheers, Davie
+davie maclean Thanks!! Looking forward to a bunch more of these!!
Brilliant build
Almost ready to build the hotel!
Love how the sigh came out. Excellent work.
+Peter CPRail8748 FUN STUFF. Looking forward to a bunch more signs!!!
sign looks fantastic as well. Cant wait to see next sign.
+John Gutowski Me too!!!
Your sign turned out great. Thanks for posting.
+waltworld Thanks. I have been wanting to do a neon forever!
This was a great video! I can't believe it's not bigger. Take care Toy Man!
I’m surprised more people aren’t using this wire!
That bar sign is exactly what I want. I’m building a miniature community or street, you might say, the centerpiece is a house, and then on one side of the grocery, and then on the other side I want a small bar.
Sadly I don’t think that guy is still doing that. Someone should!!
I would try to make one myself, but my husband doesn’t allow me to use electrical tools since the fire.🤣
That's great, and as always well presented.
+pbyfr Thank you! Always FUN to do
Great visit to the neon sign graveyard.. Great place to start. I have watched the train magazines, over the years, with grappling with the illusion of neon signs. I am guessing you were building in a scale that suits large scale or, at least "On3 or On30." I cannot wait to see your proposed railroad in it's infancy. One of your larger, "Brilliant" installments to Toy Man Television.
+Jeanne Uzar Thanks! Yes, planning the railroad (s) now. The 1/20 scale is moving forward. the HO is still a dream. This weeks show is (sort of) on the 1/20 - garden railroad.
Fantastic job for a first attempt! Some of yor hidden talents coming out there!! Love your videos! I was in Salt Lake City for about 15 mins on the Zephyr (I think, I got many Amtrak trains on my trip) and enjoyed the ride across the lakes then up over the pass!
Can't wait to get back there.
Cheers Gregg.
+FishplateFilms Do get back!! (you ma want to bring some good beer as it's hard to get here) Really looking forward to the next sign. Need to get the work bench done first so I'm not "modeling" at the computer! But the bench is mostly finished as of TODAY
+Toy Man Television I shall! not a beer man myself but we do have some nice ones down here!
I never liked beer until Dos Equis Amber. WOW. Mostly a Coke guy though.
Brilliant Mate!! By far one of your most interesting videos yet!! Great job on the lil' sign!!☺
+805ROADKING THANKS!! I think we will do way more of these "how to" vids. Fun AND we end up with a piece for the railroad!
Awesome video. I've always loved these signs but just recently started trying to document as many as I can on my website. Thanks for this.
Hi. I love the beaters. Rust and flickering letters. Art!!
Yeah I do too. There's a real beauty to them.
awesome sign you built there, very cool! I thought your custom work on the sign alone was pretty sweet, the neon blew me away! great presentation as always!
+Faster The Dragster Thanks. More signs to come!! Super fun stuff!!
stumbled onto your video while researching EL as an alternative to neon. I am reproducing some vintage neon signs (the real ones are too expensive and high maint.) for my man cave/garage. I liked the video. It was informative and interesting. Good job
Fn stuff to play with too.
A grand job sir.......
Very impressed with your attention to detail, perhaps if you'd shown the sign in situ....?
One other (trivial) detail, when showing the bone-yard of signage.....
Perhaps for example, when showing the 'Silver Slipper', maybe intercut with 50's stock footage of the actual sign.....
Younger patrons won't remember the establishments...
Ramble.... ramble...etc...etc.....
It was a a shame the signs in the street, IE the Silver Slipper, were all out. The city was working on the street, and had shut off the street lights for about 6 weeks. AND those signs are part of the street lighting. Like to do at some point a show on Dobie Doc, and the Old Las Vegas Frontier Village which included the Silver Slipper.
Amazing? Yup, can't think of a better word. Haven't seen a better scale lighting video either. Thanks for sharing...
Great video,love the sign.Thanks.
+fred kuhr Thanks So fun to do!
Awesome video.
I want to have a 3/8ths scale replica of the Bates Motel (1960) neon sign made.
Currently I'm still trying to recreate the original blueprint from a blurry photo. I've managed to decipher most of the measurements, but some of the notations are being difficult. The only major issue I still have is the color of the sign
@Toy Man Television
Hoping for more detailed tutorials from both of you on neon sign building, and I could use the help as I am about to take on building some signs. Thanks so much!
Lisa
P.S.
What size electroluminescent wire should I get for 1:12 scale, and what size wire for G scale please?
Hard to find. .9mm. I think. Let me double check. That’s point nine.
Yup. .9 mil. That’s cool wire has some in some colors. Not sure who else does.
@@ToyManTelevision 9ml for G scale or 1:12?
@@ToyManTelevision Thanks Dale!
How tall (or how small) were the letters you had to work with when you were fabricating the sign? I am working on an 0-scale neon sign right now (starting with a template to see how much I can bend the wire first) and I am concerned about breaking the phosphorescent coating of the wire.
This is great! I’m just finding this. I’m wondering if you could tell me more about that edge lit acrylic technique.
Hi. The key is finding the small wire. Big wire is everywhere but the .9 is only at Thats Cool Wire. Check their web site. At that point it’s all figuring out what you want to do with it!!! I have found some power supplies in China from Wish.com that make a bit less noise. Just a bit. Most people find the whine really to annoying. I keep mine in a box.
Toy Man Television
Thanks for the reply! I was actually asking about the technique you discussed where you mentioned people using etched acrylic. I have searched the web and have found nothing on this technique.
Love it. You mention that you printed the sign out on ink jet. On to what? Paper? How would you keep that waterproof for an outdoor set?
Awesome video! I found it while looking into options for lighting and signage for my N scale layout. I had never heard of EL wire and panels before, so that's a great new direction for me to investigate. Thinking the EL wire might be a little big for N scale? But cutting small EL panels and putting opaque material in front of them with cutouts for the letters and such might be the way to go.
Hi. And the .9 mm seems to not be made anymore. That’s Cool Wire still has some but I think that’s the end of that. For n the best way is the etched clear. I have that on our O scale bar and it’s amazing. We showed the HO scale bar sign in this video. That guy isn’t doing that anymore. But with laser etching everywhere you can make them yourself. Hum…. We need a new video on that…. No matter. Even any Joann store has a laser. Simply make a image file with your sign. You can even draw it with a pencil or pen. Do it large so you can get it looking great. Then have them etch that into clear sheet. They have that there. Make a bunch. No extra cost for that. Now they can laser it out of the sheet but most places have no idea how to do that. So then you may need to cut it out yourself. Anyway mount it in your window with a red LED or better 2 at the edge. Do it in a way that the edge of the sheet and the LED doesn’t show from the front of the model and TA DA! Neon!
@@ToyManTelevision awesome info, thanks for the detailed reply! I didn't realize Joann has lasers, but that's a game changer for me so I'll check it out. (Have been wanting to buy one but lack the space and funds lol.) I do my graphics with Adobe Illustrator so that can all be easily scaled up or down as needed. I'm in the early stage of designing a project that might end up using all 3 of those lighting methods. Maybe a little ambitious, but I can never seem to do anything half-heartedly lol. A bummer that the 9mm EL wire is on the way out, but I had been looking at That's Cool Wire earlier today. I like how they have kits you can design and they ship them ready to go. I'm a better modeler and graphic designer than I am at electronics, so that takes out some of the intimidation factor for me. We'll see how this all goes. Thank you so much! And I'll be checking out other videos of yours when I can.
Hey there! The vector cut website seems to not exist anymore, do you have any suggestions for another website I could find similar kits or supplies?
i plan on doing this exact same thing but life size, about a 2 foot sign but with thicker el
cool video!
Oops didnt see your comment!! Sorry. Have you started the project?
yes!, actually i finished it about a month ago, it looks really good
So what glue did you use since the CA glue was harmful to the wire? Great video and great tips. Thank you.
Well on this one ca. And it did damage the wire. Next time I’m going to figure out how to “lace” it. Wrap around and through the base. Still need to figure that out. But almost back to the New Rex Hotel. Next few months I think.
Very interesting !!
Soon be building a bigger one!!
I want to see if I can use this for my control pannels on the edge of the RR layout instead of LED lights. Possibility???
+David Curtis Sure. I have a fun thing I built a few years ago, trying to get then back up, castings. I am setting up my casting equipment, should be working in a few months. Can't attach a photo here, but it's a little switch lantern, about 1/2 tall thats mounts on the control panel, and the light changes from red to green as you throw the switch. There is a photo of one here: oscaleguys.com/sites/layouts/MRS/MRS_electrical.html
How did the Felix sign turn out? ;-) Great vid.
Haven’t done it. Just yet. Well I’m just getting to the New Rex Hotel. It stands almost 3 feet tall and has a huge neon sign down the front and this sign on the side street.
Ingenious!! :) Jack
+Jack R Most people are using this stuff on cars. Wild light up cars!! Not my cup of tea, but cool in it's own right.
Your New Rex sign is amazing the patina (if thats the right word?) it looks brilliant very well done buddy :)
thanks!! About to start on the large sign for the front of the hotel. And the hotel!!
What glue did you use to glue paper to the plastic sheeting? Kind of paper?
Just standard printer paper. The glue is actually double stick tape. We get a type that’s just a glue. Once the backing is pealed off all that’s there is a sticky glue.
Im getting some fallout new vegas vibes
There are side glow fiber optics now Also. have not used it but a possible for this situation.
+John Gutowski Been wanting to bag some of that stuff. Interesting. I did try years ago sanding fiber optic. Worked too. But not too well. BUt if you really roughed the surface, it sort of glowed.
+Toy Man Television I am not sure if it would put out the same glow as the wire. I am considering it for a Rexall sign. I model the 1880's in o scale. But I like to build models. just for display more like art pieces. Sign looks fantastic. what is your next intended victim.
NO the wire is great! The fiber was not good at all. Not sure how the side light works, but the EL wire is exactly like neon.
Very cool. Your sign looks great but do you think this is practical in HO?
+Bruce Collins Hard to do, but I think so. The way to make really small neon is the engraving system, engraving channels in the back side of Plexiglas. Call the Train Shoppe (on the web site) they have a bunch of these and they can be custom cut. BUT the wire can be used to light the plexi. Just wrap it around the edge. Then you can animate or change colors, or??? But the wire scales out to about 75mm, a bit big for HO. Could look OK I think for Florissant, but too big for neon. In O I think you can get away with it and in 1/20 its spot on. BUT with engraving, you could even go down to N with no problem. PS, I don't have a "deal" with any of these providers, I don't make a cent off it.
I love your work! I was looking for a way to make neon signs for my train layout. What guage wire do you recommend for S-O scale? Thank you for your help and for making this video.
The .9mm is the smallest made. A bit big in your scale, but should look ok depending on how you use it. There is a NEW product, laser wire!! Not ready for prime time as yet, and expensive. About 10 per foot and you need a laser to drive it. A laser feeds one end of a fiber optic wire that is frosted to emit light along the wire. This will no doubt be available in VERY small sizes, but isn't yet. BUT if they make a .1mm, and they could, HO anyone? Requires no wiring as its just fiber. May be better soon, and cheaper. Google for it.
Toy Man Television I will look into that. Thank you for your help.
I think the sign bone yard was also in Corvette Summer.
+Andrew Jackson Don't know the film but sounds GOOD. I know the bone yard was in a bunch of films.
I think I'm one of 4 people in the world that likes the film. You might want to check out some photos of the car, there are a ton on Google Images. It was built by Richard 'Korky' Korkes and is currently in the the hands of private individual.
That is one weird vette. Nit my thing for sure, but massive screwing around for sure
I like it, it is a tiny bit over the top, but if you're gonna do it, do it right. And for any Corvette purists, that car was built from a wreck.
Seems vette people love to mess with the body. Guess its because it's fiberglass. Some cool stuff out there.
My grandfather jerry Dewalt owned the desert sands motor hotel in Albuquerque New Mexico the one that was used in the film no country for old men I was wondering how much you would charge to replicate the sign, that was out front of the hotel I’d like to have one made he passed away in 2014
Gee I don’t have time. But show the video around. I don’t think it would be all that hard to do. Find and friend Jim Keeler on Facebook. You will see his models so you know you have the right one. Then message him. That will start a conversation at least.
What diameter el wire did you use?
Hi. .9 mm. Smallest I have found
Mr, ToyMan, you have one of those voices that I could listen to forever. On that note, do you think you will do more Wednesday's fool videos?
+Brian Straight Oh heck yes!! My plan is like a pin ball in a machine. Never know where we will end up next.
How many cuss words? I really like your sign , you are creative dude👍🏻!
+ScottyRockTrains Thanks. Build more signs!! Oh, and about 42 cuss words. (out takes)
15 min of neon sign history and still don't know how you strung the letters
I drilled holes and threaded in and out.