Help with decal stripes please

[Anonymous]

Hello

I am having some difficulty trying to figure out the best possible way to apply tiger stripe decals on the pilots of a athearn unit.

Is it easier to cut EXACTLY how you want the stripes to fit (around the coupler pocket and such) or to just slap the whole decal on, let it "snuggle" into its proper places and trim afterwards?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated

Pete

[Sperandeo]

"Pete" asked about how to apply tiger stripe decals. My preference is to cut the decal to exactly match the pilot (or other part) before you apply it. I explained that in my Paint Shop article on Santa Fe zebra-striped GP7s in the November 1985 MODEL RAILROADER, page 134.

On the other hand, Bob Smaus, a modeler whose work I respect greatly, does it the other way on Southern Pacific tiger-striped switchers. Bob explained his method of applying the decal and trimming it in place in his article in the August 1995 MR, page 62.

So you can get good results either way – it just comes down to what feels most comfortable to you.

Good luck,

Andy

Andy Sperandeo
MODEL RAILROADER Magazine