I have four Stewart-Kato F units in SP Black Widow. All were sold without road numbers. Nice that I get to choose but a tad inconvenient as I have to do the job. I thought a couple days ago about using dry transfer numbers (if indeed they are available in Espee for for their BW locos). Thinking that I could dispense with the decal overlap between the numbers and that goofs might be easier to fix. But I don't know as I've never used them. And it's been a looong time since I did any decaling.
Please weigh in on both sides, folks. And also confirm that the cover/seal procedure is the same for both.
Thanks!
John
I use both decals and dry transfers, and both have their good and not-so-good points.
The first three sets of custom lettering I had made by C-D-S were for my freelanced road. The dry transfers should be applied on a matte surface, for best adhesion, and once applied and properly burnished, should be oversprayed with a clear, flat or semi-gloss finish - I prefer Dulcote, applied with an airbrush, but will add a little Glosscote if the model is meant to represent a newer car or locomotive.The benefits of dry transfers is that they have no "halo" of clear film around them, as decals do, and the transferred images are more opaque than many decals, so the lettering appears more like it was actually painted-on.The drawbacks of dry transfers include the one-shot you're allowed to get it right: if you apply the lettering crooked, you can easily remove the mess with some masking tape, but it is not re-useable like a decal. It's also difficult to apply dry transfers to irregular surfaces - careful burnishing can make a dry transfer cover rivets as well as does paint, but things like boxcar ends require a fair amount of diligence. Strong decal setting solutions, such as Solvaset, work well on dry transfers, too, a useful fact to keep in mind.Dry transfers, properly stored have a pretty good shelf life, but can dry-out over time, rendering them useless. For application on irregular surfaces, I usually apply the lettering to clear decal paper, burnish it well, then cut it out and apply it like any regular decal. If you overspray it, before cutting it from the sheet, with a clear finish to protect the lettering, it will make the decal difficult to settle, even if you're using a strong setting solution. Leave it uncoated until it's applied, then add the clear finish.When lettering the ends of cars and locomotives, I've found it beneficial to place the item in a heavy glass beer mug, with either cloth or paper towels around it to prevent damage, then place it in the open drawer of my work desk. This allows me to steady my hands on the desk's surface, and the lowered position of the item being lettered makes it easier on which to work.....this applies for both dry transfers and decals.
Below is my procedure for decals - I've saved it as a document, as I've found the info in it useful not only for myself, but also for sharing...
Use distilled water for soaking the decal - it's available in gallon jugs at any supermarket, and not at all expensive. This eliminates any dissolved minerals which might otherwise be present in tap water, and a gallon will do a lot of decals. When you're cutting the lettering from the decal sheet, use a sharp blade and don't cut too closely to the lettering or image. Once the lettering is free of the main sheet, place it on a hard surface (I prefer a sheet of glass), and use a sharp blade to trim as closely as possible to the image or letter, using a straight-down chopping motion. If necessary, do this work under magnification (eyeglasses, Optivisor, or loupe). The reason for the two-part cutting is that slicing the image, even with a sharp blade, raises the edges along the cut line, and when you apply that decal to the model, the setting solution is often insufficient to to make those edges settle completely flat onto the surface. The chopping motion pushes the edges of the cut down, making the applied decal easier to set.Another tip to make the decal appear painted-on, rather than as a decal, is to snick-off the corners of decal film at any rounded letters or numerals at the corners of the piece of decal. It's surprisingly effective.Before applying decals, spray (I prefer Testors Glosscote, thinned with lacquer thinner and applied with an airbrush, but it's also available in a spray can) the entire area which is to be lettered, not just the particular areas where the lettering will be applied. Allow that to dry completely, usually at least a full day, and longer won't hurt.Do not rush the soaking process for the decal, but allow it to release from the backing paper on its own. If it's big enough to handle with tweezers (not something small, such as a single digit for dimensional data), dip the released film into water, submerging it completely, then, as you withdraw it from the water, drag the back-side of it over the lip of the container holding the water - this helps to remove any residue left from the backing paper. Depending on the particular decal, you may want to repeat this a couple of times. Most decals applied using only water can be re-wet and moved an almost infinite number of times. Use references on the model (rivet lines, panel lines, doors, ladders, and other details) as guides to position the lettering correctly and level. Where those details aren't available, I like to cut strips of masking tape as guidelines, and when lettering with individual letters or numerals, often use a pencil to denote the beginning and end of each word, so that the spacing is correct. Likewise, individual letter spacing is not usually uniform, but rather depends on the particular letters and their sequence within the words. Google "kerning" for more info. Once the decals have been applied on the gloss surface and have been set and have fully-dried, overspray them with another coat of clear gloss. This step may seem unnecessary, but the gloss of the decal seldom matches exactly the gloss of the surface to which it has been applied. This overspray ensures that the entire surface has a uniform finish. If you're using an airbrush for applying the clear finish, it will dry (to-the-touch, at least) very rapidly, and you can then apply the flat (or semi-gloss, if you're modelling a fairly new car) almost immediately. Airbrushing gives you the option of mixing that final clear coat to whatever sheen or flatness you wish for that particular model. The car can then be weathered as you wish, but unless you're weathering using oils or chalk, I'd recommend no flat overspray on the weathering, as it usually makes the weathering effects too uniform.
Here are a few cars lettered with dry transfer sets from C-D-S (clicking on any of the images should give an enlarged view)...
All of my just-over 100 home road passenger cars were also lettered with dry transfers, but because the different cars were of various styles and lengths, no one set of custom lettering would have worked for all of them. Instead, I used C-D-S alphabet sets to do the roadnames and the individual car names or numbers, letter-by-letter...
...and a few others done using decals, mostly from Champ...
This one used custom decals from Rail Graphics...
I hope this information will be of some use.Wayne
I was going to reply, but Wayne's excellent post said everything, and I even learned a little bit.
.
I love these forums.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Thanks, Wayne. Once again, an upper-level class in a single post.
You da man.
Thanks for your kind words, guys. I've had lots of time to make mistakes, which provided lots of learning experiences.
Wayne
I've been planning a railroad for a while now and I am just about ready to start construction. Been lurking here for a few years soaking up the knowledge that Dr. Wayne, Kevin, RR_Mel, Sheldon and many others freely pass down. Thanks to all of you. I know I will make mistakes as I go along, but I trust they will be fewer because of your shared experiences.
Seeker_CNYsoaking up the knowledge that Dr. Wayne, Kevin, RR_Mel, Sheldon and many others freely pass down.
It is very good to hear that I am helping out, but I don't know if I would listen to me too much.
I am very good at three or four things, and kind of muddle my way through everything else.
Yes, Wayne has covered this pretty well, my methods are much like his, although my use of dry transfers is pretty limited these days.
My photo skills are not as good as Wayne, but here is some of my decal work:
All of these models are yet to be lightly weathered, and a few still needed a final clear coat when these pictures were taken.
Seeker_CNY, thank you for the kind words.
Kevin, don't sell yourself short. Your methods are sometimes unconventional, just as many of mine are unconventional or sort of "revised old school", but your work speaks for itself as top shelf.
Sheldon