Neon signage has been popularly used for commercial advertising for decades with heavy use from the 1940s to the present day.  Not including neon on your layout would exclude a realistic piece of American culture and history, regardless of whether you are modeling a small town or a large city. Using neon on your layout is prototypical and appropriate for anyone modeling the 1920s or later — which is likely the vast majority of N scale modelers.

To provide a general time frame, neon signage was patented by Georges Claude in 1915, with the first sale of neon signs in the United States in 1923.  His first sale, in Los Angeles, was for two Packard car dealership signs that simply read, “Packard”.  The total sale for these two signs was a whopping $24,000. Early neon signs were commonly referred to as “liquid fire.”

Commercially Available Neon Signs

Before I get into the process of scratch building your own neon signs, let’s explore what’s currently available on the commercial N scale market. Not surprising, but the N scale market does not seem to offer much in the way of neon signage.  I’m familiar with two companies that offer it.

Miller Engineering

Miller Engineering produces N scale neon signs using a technology known as Electroluminescence, or EL for short.  EL sheet is typically a flexible .010 sheet that illuminates when an electrical charge is introduced.

Miller Engineering signage is quite impressive, although some — even their “small” size — may be a little large for N scale.  I should also point out that their signs are one-sided. So if you intend on using a sign that can be viewed from two sides, like a vertical hotel sign, it may be difficult to do without creating the appearance of a very thick sign.

They sell neon signs in three varieties — Animated Signs, Animated Billboards and Multigraphic Signs (that give you a choice on what sign says).  All Miller Engineering signs are best suited for external use on structures.

Also offered at Miller Engineering is an Experimenter’s Kit of EL sheet for you to create your own signs with.  This is a very good method for lighting the scratch bult signs discussed later in this article.

Miniatronics

Miniatronic also produces N scale neon signs.  They offer signage utilizing two different technologies.

First, for their Neon-like Signs, I believe Miniatronics is using an “edge-lit” technology similar to that used in full-size acrylic edge-lit signs.  If this is in fact the method used, a design is typically laser etched onto the surface of a square of clear acrylic.  Light, often from an LED, is then directed at the bottom edge of the acrylic square.  Most light passes through the acrylic and out of the top except where it is disrupted by the edged area, causing the etching to glow like neon.

The Neon-Like product line would be best suited for a structure interior to represent neon hung in a store window and to hide the acrylic square.  However, while I have not personally used Miniatronics signs, I have read that they are somewhat bulky and difficult to fit inside of an N scale structure.

Miniatronics also offer EL sheet signs similar to those offered by Miller Engineering.  Like the Miller Engineering signs, they also tend to run large.  Miniatronic’s Web site states that they are for use in HO or O gauge, but careful placement on an N scale layout might make them useable.  Again, since I have not used Miniatronic signs, I’m not certain whether using their EL signs as  N scale structure rooftop signs would create work or if there are components that could not be hidden in that use.

Creating Your Own Neon Signs

While the commercially-available products provide some variety and option, they’re still not able to provide the smaller, prototypical neon that you’d see hanging in a storefront or bar window.  When I started this particular project, I was building a very simple and common Woodland Scenics (previously Design Preservation Models) kit into a jazz club.  I knew that to feel authentic, a jazz club in the late 1940s need neon hanging in its dark windows to give it its personality. The method I used to complete the signs is almost identical to how the EL-sheet signs mentioned above are produced. I wish I had known that before I sent my time trying to figure this one out!

What You Will Need

1. Graphic design software (or suitable neon design)
2. Laser printer
3. Clear transparency film
4. White paper
5. Colored markers or highlighters
6. Glue — Testors Clear Parts Cement and Elmer’s white glue were used here

Step 1: The Design

The first step in creating your own neon sign is to create the artwork for the sign itself. For this, I’ve used Adobe Photoshop ($699) but other graphics software, such as Adobe Illustrator (MSRP $599), Adobe Photoshop Elements (MSRP $139) or even Microsoft Word ($299) may be used. I’m sure there are other more economical choices as well.

This may be the most difficult part of the process for modelers without access to adequte computer software, appropriate fonts or skills in this area. To help get you started, you may download the signs used in this article.

To download, right-click your mouse on the link above and select “Save As”, “Save Target As” or something similar.  The specific process for saving the image may be slightly different depending on your individual Internet browser and setup.

If you decide to make your own, you’ll need to create white text and (any shapes you want to use) on a solid black background.  The black area will act as a light block and represent a dark store interior while the remaining white areas will eventually be clear and light up to become the neon sign.

Use fonts that look like they could be crafted from neon tube and keep the design simple — it will look better in the end. You can browse through free fonts you can use for this project at 1001 Free Fonts.

Step 2: Printing

Once you have a design you’re satisfied with, print your results onto transparency film using a laser printer.  I specify laser here because it’s critical that the printout not run when exposed to moisture like an injet printout would.  I typically print a mirror image of the design so that the printer toner face winds facing the inside of the structure and not the window glazing.  That’s not critical, but I think the toner has a odd reflective quality when facing outward.

Set up the printout so that you’re printing multiple design on a page.  You’ll need the multiple copies for the next step.

Step 3: Printout Layering

Because the black ares on the transparency won’t be dark enough to completely block light when lit from behind, layer three printouts together. Besides making the black fields nice and dark, it also has an added effect of adding some dimension that makes the unlit sign look more like neon tubing.

Simply cut out the designs with an Xacto blade and line up the layers as percisely as possible.  I used Testors Clear Parts Cement for this step, gluing along the top and bottom edges of the three layers and making sure to not get any glue in the neon (clear) area. Doing this over a sheet of white paper helps you see when everything is in alignment,  Getting it right is actually pretty easy.  Plus you have a good amount of time before the glue sets up.

Step 4: Adding Color

To add color to your neon sign, use a highlighter or colored marker to color a piece of standard white pager.  Then glue the colored paper to the backside of your sign using white glue on the corners.  When lit from behind, this will add a very realistic coloring to the neon and the white paper does a nice job of defusing the light into a nice neon-like glow.

To add more than one color, as I’ve done in the example photos, layer the piece of white paper over top of you sign so you can see the neon design underneath.  If you need to, hold the paper and the sign up against a window so the design is easier to see through the paper.  Then, using the markers or highlighters, draw over your design on the white paper.  This doesn’t need to be exact or pretty since the black area of the printout will cover it.

Some markers and highlighters colors look more realistic than others. The signs in this article were colored by a blue highlighter and a red Sharpie marker.

Step 5: Completion

Once the sign is assembled, the only thing left to do is add it to your structure and light it.

When adding to a structure, still use window glazing — in other words, don’t use the face of the transparency firm as window glazing.  I again use Testors Clear Parts Cement to affix the sign into the structure making sure to only glue beyond the window opening so the glue won’t be seen.

Because any windows you apply this to will become very dark and empty, I try to apply some type of window treatment or signage in the window to help reduce the size of the black area.  In the example photos, I’ve used cafe curtains for this purpose.

When lighting, these look best when the light source is directly behind the sign — not off center.  Just be mindful that this is paper and could be flammable if used to close to a light source.