I have painted a Kato SD9043MAC in BNSF the Premium paint scheme. Here are some photos of the unit. The paintingwas no problem, but the decaling of the stripes was a royal pain.
Front View
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsrrman/25913551445/in/dateposted-public/
Left Side
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsrrman/25818611511/in/dateposted-public/
Right Side
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsrrman/25792776582/in/dateposted-public/
Rear Of Locomotive
https://www.flickr.com/photos/gsrrman/25792781642/in/dateposted-public/
Hey Cal a salute to you in taking on that challenge.
Hope you don't mind my sharing but I'm relieved to see that I'm not the only one that finds these western "pumpkins" to be a bit of a wrestling match.
I model eastern/southeastern roads but a friend of mine is a staunch BNSF modeler. With some cutting & splicing, he freelanced a six axle "B-unit" (I'm not sure if it's an SD60 or SD70) and asked me to paint and decal it. He's a good guy and has helped me on some projects so I was glad to give him a hand. Been working on it slowly over time.
With that said I agree with you, 100%, in that when it comes to the decal job: WOW! It's a challenge! I learned the new definition of patience when it comes to installing long, wide stripes around corners and protrusions (especially around the blower housing!).
I used plenty of Microscale's Microset (good stuff!) as I can't tell you how many times I had to keep repositioning the stripes at points where two were butted up to each other or a stripe was going around a corner.
Just as it seemed that a decal "settled" in place after I blotted it carefully it would then move "just a hair enough" that it was noticeable. I realized that I had to slow my motions down to a crawl-pace to get through, which did help.
Although I was using the Microscale decal placement diagram, I asked him to loan me the Kato unit in the background so I could use it as an additional visual reference.
On your unit, if you have not sealed the decals in with Microsol, you can likely rewet them with Microset and reposition them. I've done this with decals on models that had been applied days earlier. But once that Microsol or Solvaset has been applied, then the decal's pretty much etched in place.
"I like my Pullman Standards & Budds in Stainless Steel flavors, thank you!"
Antonio:
What I do is put down a line of water where the decal will be placed. Carefully slide the decal into position using the tip of a round toothpick and let the water evaporate. When no water can be seen and the decal looks dry, I apply Micro-Set to set the decal. Works well,
The problem with SD9043MAC, as you stated is the cut and paste. BUT patience worked for me. I have another undecorated SD9043MAC that will eventually be painted just like the one that jsut I completed. It will be numbered somewhere in 8670-8679 series, which the series for these units..
Very good Cal. That's the method I used before and it works nicely. When I ran out of distilled water, 2 years back, I turned to using pure Microset for decal positioning.
I deal with "hard water" here in my neck of the woods so I have to make a note to myself to pick up a jug of distilled water at my local market (I keep forgetting to put that on my grocery list). One gallon lasted me 3 years through quite a number of decal jobs and acrylic paint projects.
That was a nice job on the SD60B that you did. Yep, a gallon of distilled water lasts a long time. I am now finishing up a GP40 in ATSF blue with the yellow cab, nose and rear. It will have a BNSF patch under the number. This is an easy one compared to the SD9043MAC,
caldreamer,
Nice to see another SD9043MAC in a "fantasy scheme", thanks for the inspiration! I have an HO Rail Power Products model that I want to finish in the UP flag scheme, like an SD70ACe. I know none of the 90s ever had that livery, but I like it and think it would look nice on that model.
Dan Stokes
My other car is a tunnel motor
Dan:
Although I do not like UP, the flag scheme would look good on the SD9043MAC. Please post pictures whren you finish it.