Charlie wrote:
Does anyone have any ideas for making the placards and a source for the
materials?

Charlie

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Hey Charlie - this worked well for me:

I created all the placards I wanted in Coral Draw, including warnings,
limitations, labels, check lists etc. ( I guess any similar software
that has the required font and font sizes will be Ok including MS word.
I set things up to print a mirror image in reverse (negative) format -
then printed the sheet(s) on clear plastic (over-head projector sheets)
in a regular ink-jet (bubble jet?) printer. This obviously consumes
more ink than normal so try it out in draft (or wire-frame) mode on
normal paper until you are happy with everything.

Now we have the actual lettering in the clear part of the plastic (all
else is black ink) and reads correctly when viewed from the plastic
side. I guess this print colour could be selected to suite your panel
colour. I tried different things from this point, including a coat of
white paint over the printed part in order to make the writing white
(not clear). I suppose different colours could be used over some
placards if needed. I also tied pasting a sheet of white paper over
the "back" to create the white letters. I honestly cannot remember
what I ended up doing, but I do remember that the solvent in the paint
and glue was inititially a problem (disolving the ink, but I managed to
find a way around that.

The final "lamination" of clear plastic, printed ink, white paint (or
paper) is very thin and readily cut to shape with scissors (round or 45
degree corners) and cemented in position on the panel or wherever.
Test all the glues and paints including the final adhesive on a test
strip placed in sunlight for a few days. My final product was mounted
with super glue (the thicker one) dabbed very carefully onto the
placard to avoid unsightly ooze-out.

Tip - the ink washes off the plastic so any foul-up can be washed off
for another attempt.

Good luck

Steve J