Re: PC: decals

[Gene.Fusco@xxxxxxxxxxx]

> <<  2.  FL-9 (yellow and blue scheme) >>
> They'd never sell enough of them to make it worth their trouble.


OK, there has actually been quite a few people interested in this
particular PC paint scheme.  I have a pair of Kitbashed FL9's that wear the
MTA/PC yellow and blue scheme.  Here's the way I did it...

The models were done while I was still in college, so the specifics of the
paint brand and actual colors used are no longer part of my memory. (Must
have lost them at my graduation party... :^)  Depending on what you want as
your final appearance, the yellow can be anything between Railbox yellow
(when new) to an almost pastel yellow-white that this paint seemed to fade
to. The blue suffered from the fading, but not to the same extent.

Take the Microscale PC decal set and a *brand new* Xacto #11 knife. 
Place the whole sheet on a pane of glass on a sturdy table.  Carefully and
lightly trace the outline of the worms logo.  Work slowly here, and don't
bear down too hard on the decal.  You do have to separate the decal from
the surrounding film and paper, since the painting step would "re-attach"
everything...

Once the P and C are free, inspect the edges to ensure you are happy with
the results.  Trim as required.  Black construction paper used as a
background helps here.  Aside from getting the contours correct, make
certain you remove any paper fuzz.  Paint will adhere to this and cause two
possible problems; either the decal won't release from the paper, or the
decal will take the paint fuzz with it.

Once you are happy with the results, make some "tape loops" with some
cellophane tape.  Use these loops to stick the logo to some cardboard.
Keep the P and C separate, it's easier to paint them this way.

Select a *non water soluble* paint.  Accu-flex, Accupaint, Scalecoat,
Floquil etc.  This is still going to be used as a decal and drown in water
for a while.  Polly-S may work, but I wouldn't trust it.

Using an airbrush apply the yellow paint to the P and C decals.  Use light
coats, you don't want to add too much thickness to the decal.  Besides, the
Microscale white decals are quite opaque, so only enough yellow to cover
the white is required.

Let the paint dry thoroughly.  Leave it in the sun for a while to ensure
it's really dry.  

You should now be able to use these decals as normal.  It may take a bit
more decal solvent to get them to conform to the detail, but they will
conform.

Oh yeah... The yellow paint should also be used for the nose of the loco.
Again, a caution for using yellow paint:  prime the whole loco with light
grey or white paint.  Apply the yellow paint over the nose area to just
behind the cab doors. Let dry, then mask and paint the blue portions of the
body.  Don't attempt to put yellow over the blue or unprimed dark color
plastic. Two reasons for this, it will take too thick a coat of yellow to
cover, and the base color *will* affect the shade of the yellow paint,
causing it to look different than the decal.

Experience speaking very loudly here....


I have had comments about this method in the past, and the main one was
along the lines of "If you go throug the hassle of cutting out the decal,
why not just make a masking tape mask and use it as a stencil?"

The problem with that is two-fold.  First, you now have to paint a medium
to dark blue locomotive with yellow paint.  Yellow paint usually doesn't
cover anything darker than light grey or white worth a hoot.  That means
several coats of yellw with the resulting "paint edge" where the tape was.
Yuk.

Second, and most important... If you screw up the paint, you have to strip
and repaint, or attempt to paint over the mistake.  If you hose up a decal,
you have time to recover and/or remove the decal before it sets and becomes
permanent.


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Gene Fusco        | (970) 223-5100 x9404   Gene.Fusco -AT- Symbios.com   KB0ZMZ
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