N Scale Coca-Cola Signs
Common, round Coca-Cola sign
Coca-Cola has been a cultural icon in the United States and around the world for many decades. Coca-Cola advertising, especially in the 1940s and 1950s, was a regular fixture on the streets of every major city and most small towns.
One of the most common Coca-Cola signs has been a round placard added to the signage of businesses that serve the beverages. These were (and often still are) found on small grocery stores, delis and pharmacies.
These signs carried different designs depending on the time period. For example, a plain red circle with the words “Drink Coca-Cola in Bottles” (or similar slogan) would have been used in the 1940s while signs featuring the famous Coca-Cola bottle would have been used in later decades. Some used no slogan at all and some where alternative colors (like the ones in these prototype photos).
After doing some research on eBay and Coca-Cola collector sites, it seems that the signs used on storefronts were typically 36″ across. They were made of metal and featured a rounded face.
Bright Idea!
If a prototype reference photo includes this style of Coca-Cola sign, use its size to help measure the rest of the building. Since we know that this style of sign is normally 36″ wide, it can be used with other standard-sized elements like doors to get a close size approximation on other parts of the building.
Coca-Cola sign on grocery storefront
Prototype photos by Flickr member, afiler.
Building N Scale Versions of Coca-Cola Storefront Signs
I decided to model the Coca-Cola signs without the rounded front — just as flat signs. At this scale, a flat sign should still give the correct illusion. Creating these as flat signs in N scale is surprisingly simple.
The first thing I did was create the design for these signs in Adobe Photoshop. I downloaded the sign I was looking for from the Internet and modified it to remove the round edge. That is, I expanded the photo’s edges into a square so I would have additional color around the words so I wouldn’t need to cut these out perfectly. I duplicated the resulting sign multiple times and printed it on glossy photo paper using a photo printer.
N scale Coca-Cola signs. Left-click to enlarge this design, then right-click on the enlarged version and select "Save As".
As I mentioned, these prototype signs were usually 36″ across. Surprisingly, a standard paper hole punch cuts a 40″ N scale hole — close enough to look like a perfect scale version. I used the hole punch to cut out all of the Coca-Cola signs while being sure to center the name “Coca-Cola” in the punch each time. The punched piece will become the sign.
Using a hole punch to cut out individual signs.
It’s nearly impossible to cut these out perfectly, so once I had all of them cut out, I sorted through them to find the few that looked properly centered. Keep in mind that you’ll probably throw away 90% of these signs, but you should have no problem finding many good cut-outs in the pile.
The edges of the cut out pieces will have white edges which you should hide before using them on a layout. To do this, simply use a red Sharpie to color the edges all the way around. Once completed, they can be glued in place wherever you’d like to use them.
N scale Coca-Cola sign added to a structure (structure in progress).
I will be using these small signs on a structure in the very near future (sneak preview photo above).
Other articles you may be interested in:
About the Author
Having an article published on N Scale Limited can earn you credit as a Model Railroad Author for the
I’d really like to get a coca-cola neon sign…I’m really surprised they haven’t endorsed one…it would sell by the bucket- load around the world………actually I much prefer pepsi- max………….
Thanks for the tip about using a standard paper punch. I used this type of Coke sign on a building years ago by trying to cut it round with an Xacto.
Notice I said “trying”. Not too round.
Great Idea Frank.
It’s so cool seeing how seeing how you come up with these really great ideas.
Cheers, Bob
Jim, I tried the same exact thing about two years ago for a different sign and it was a big failure. I’ll stick to the hole punch. Actually, I think they make hole punches in a number of different sizes. I may go see what the local stationary store has because I think they might come in handy in a variety of sizes.
And…thanks Bob!
You guys just kill me with the ideas you come with! How in the world did you ever think to you a hole punch to make these signs? Heck of an idea, thanks for sharing…
Atually, the idea started with the prototype sign. I saw it on a pharmacy and wanted to reproduce it so I did some research on the signs themselves for size. It was just dumb luck that I had the cutout from a hole punch laying on my desk and decided to measure it around the same time. Otherwise, I would have probably tried to cut them out by hand.
quite a lot of hole punches have a plastic ‘foot’ on them to catch the wads cut out in normal stationary use. if you remove this cover and look down the hole that the punch goes through, then line the sign up central on the hole, you’ll find you don’t waste any at all. I suspect that the metal cover on the hand held punch in the picture would be the same; if it can be removed.
great hint. now I just need to find/make a punch small enough for Z-scale….