A suggestion - let's start a new thread on tips and techniques for applying decals to SLSF models. I'll kick it off by posting the comments I offered earlier today under "Steam Locomotives" Others please post your tried and true techniques for applying decals to your models, your favorite decal brands, surface prep, solvents used, finish coating, and anything else you would like to add. Ken earlier post follows .................................................................... Tom's Oddballs Frisco steam decal sets, both freight and passenger, have lots of numbers. In addition, Tom offers a wealth of other Frisco car and loco decal sets, plus a few for QA&P, and a bunch of Frisco specific odds & ends. I rate Oddballs (and Microscale) as my favorite decals to use. Oddballs are accurate, thin filmed, tough, and go on such that I rarely need to overspray to hide the decal film. I rate Oddballs as slightly better than Microscale - Tom's decals don't break apart as often as Microscale's do, in fact, I've never had an Oddballs come apart that I can recall. Happens frequently with Microscale, in particular if they are a few years old. My only problem with Tom's decals is with his original shade of yellow - not opaque enough. Tom made some changes several months ago to improve this, but I've not used any of the new ones yet. From the looks of the new decals in the package, I'd say he has fixed the problem. I love decaling! I took a clinic years ago when we lived in Cincinnati from a Microscale guy (topic was how to best decal model airplanes), and have used their system since with great success. I use both Microscale solvents (MicroSet first, then MicroSol second), plus a quick, final once-over wash with Walther's SolvaSet (careful, it's potent!). I use a very soft, wet, small modeling brush to apply the solvents, a fine blunt wooden pick to help move them around, and a X-acto triangle/square to help line them up(*). The main other ingredient to add to that mix is patience, lots of patience. Ken (*) I didn't use the square on the SLSF 5215 I wrote about a few weeks ago, and as a result, the left side nose numbers are not lined up properly. I'm going to have to renumber that side. See what I mean about patience? I was in a hurry.
Great idea Ken! After botching the gold doric piping on #183 a couple of time, I haven't attempted it again. Several posts show nicely applied passenger loco decals with the gold set, but I haven't been so lucky. What techniques are used? Best Regards, mike
Howdy Doug, Uh, rub it in...LOL. Looks very nice. My gold lines would not lay down straight. I thought I could decal well until my experiences with the doric striping! Best Regards, mike
Doug - Did you apply the doric striping in one piece or in segments? I've never tried these - are they in one piece on the decal sheet? Ken
I think they were in segments so the Georgian stipes can be made to fit any tender and cab sides. However, I think I did them all in one evening. Sandy and I really enjoyed UMR's homecoming back in October. There's a great painting of Don running 1522 west out of Rolla on the last run hanging on the second floor of the Havener Center. Doug
Doug - Neat painting! Running west, or running eastbound? The curve under that old bridge curves to the right when running westbound as I recall. I used to live 3-or 4 blocks away from that bridge, on State Street next to Triangle. Used to walk down to the bridge to watch the SLSF - in fact I have some good b/w photos (primitive camera back then!) of #3 from that bridge taken on a cold day around 1962/63. Sure do miss that railroad! Ken
I was wondering if the was any examples of the cigar band by oddball decals and if it goes all the way down the engine side or just in the front.
Murphy - Oddballs set 87-806 includes 4 nosebands, two sets of slightly different pairs, for Frisco F units plus 2 nosebands for Frisco FA units. The nose "cigar band" goes clear around the nose to a point ending at the side cab doors. The set also includes additional straight striping for the continuation of the nose band down both sides of the unit, and strips for the thinner band that runs through the side porthole windows. The nose band does not include a hole in it for a door headlight, so if the model has that, a hole must be put into the decal. Though I played a very small part helping Richard Napper do the artwork for this set for Tom Stolte, I have yet to use a set on an actual unit. Thus, I can't give you a report on how well it works. We tried the mock-ups (paper) out by fitting them on Stewart, old Athearn and Highliner/Genesis F's, and Proto-2K FA's, and they looked like they would fit OK. Given the variation in various manufacturer's models, and the compound curves on the nose, you will no doubt need to use a lot of setting solution to get it on just right. Our objective was to provide a way to get the correct nose "cigar band" on a Frisco cab unit without the rigors of masking and/or hand painting. Rarely does a Frisco F-unit model have the correct point on the nose (Athearn Genesis comes the closest). These F-unit bands have the correct point at the peak of the nose, at least we tried to build it in. One pair has a sharper point than the other pair - the Frisco did not do this "cigar band" uniformly when they repainted units. There is no point on the pair of FA bands as they had a rounded peak, which would also be correct for a later "economy" F-unit repaint. Why not get a set and try it, and let us know how it came out? Has anyone else tried these? Ken
And for those of us who rigorously but not-so-effectively tried masking, the decals are surely easier! My one and only diesel painting/detailing project was an F7A on an old Athearn. After meticulously making a paper template, putting down masking tape on glass, tracing the template-over-tape with a #11...the decals have to be easier! I'll echo Ken's thoughts, though, and will look forward to a report on any who've tried them out. My F7 was before I discovered the joys of the steam era.
A newbie question...I realize this thread is a year old, but it hits on a recent problem I have had. No matter how carefully I try, I cannot get MicroScale HO catwhisker decals to seat correctly on the nose of my P2K E8. If one side aligns correctly, the bottom edge of the other angles downward. Part of the problem may be in having to cut a hole for the lower headlight. I even tried cutting a tiny wedge out of the center of the decal, and that seems to have worked best, but still is not satisfying. Does anyone have any ideas? Jim
I've never tried to apply a Microscale (or Herald King) "cat whisker" decal to the nose of a P2K E8, so I have no direct experience with this problem. As a suggestion, you might want to keep the decal wet with repeated applications of, first Micro-Set (underneath), and then Micro-Sol (second, on top, repeated over five-ten minutes) until the decal softens. Then you can gently bend the thing to better fit the contour of the E-unit nose. But, be careful - when a thin decal like these gets soft, it is very fragile. You need to keep it "floating" while you maneuver it, and move it with the tip of a 1/4" brush, not anything pointed like a toothpic. The good news is, once the decal dries, there is very little film needing to be covered over. I took a seminar from Microscale at a hobby shop back in Cincinnati when we lived there and their instructor did some amazing things with decals using the Microscale system. I've been a believer ever since. Ken
Indeed, I have lacerated quite a few and have almost become gun-shy of of getting them too soft with Micro-Sol. Then again, I do usually use a firmer object (dental probe, knife blade) for initially moving them around. When I have used a small brush, the decal often fragments and parts come off on the brush. Obviously I need to keep working on my technique. Thanks! Jim
