Decals or stickers???

[Sturgeon-Phish]

Hi all,
My AF 356 refurb is coming along nicely. The Rustolum Chrome paint is very satisfactory for the finish but somewhat difficult to use, as I've stripped and repainted the tender three times! My question now is, from your alls experience which is better to use decals or stickers for the numbers, name etc.?
Your help has been great. When I get it done I'll post some pics.
Thanks
Jim

[Roger Bielen]

Jim, Unless you can find extremely thin stickers there would probably be a slight ridge around the numbers. A couple of years ago I made a Christmas caboose and painted it chrome, after applying the decals I oversprayed with Dulcoat, the area under the decal stayed shinny and the rest turned a slightly gray tone. My first choice would be dry transfer lettering and, after testing the effect, overspray with either a gloss or dull clear coat.

Good luck.

[Jumijo]

Never, ever overspray chrome or silver paint with a clear gloss. It will turn the silver into a gray color. There is one exception - silver automotive paint can be clearcoated, like Duplicolor (which would have been my choice over Rustoleum).

Rustoleum is a somewhat difficult paint to use for hobbies. It dries very slow. The silver will pick up fingerprints easily. My suggestion is to strip it off and use Duplicolor. As I mentioned before, it is intended for use under a clear coat, and is also extremely durable, and will easily tolerate a lot of handling whereas other silver paints won't. It dries very thin and shows molded in details very well. Use the Duplicolor. You won't be sorry.

Dry transfers are the way to go on your deisel lettering.

Jim