Nice work Joe. Just keep on building stuff
Very nice. I know what you mean about a rainy day project - the weather is too nice outside to be indoors. Still, it’s going to look super sharp when done.
Wow, great paint job, really looks good!
I got some lettering from Rockwall Canyon Jeff. All you do is stick them on. Very easy. I’m happy with how it’s going! Thanks again Jeff!!
(http://www.largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/1a/c8/01/1c553_4630.jpg?c=354c)
Hey, that’s working!
I’ve not tried adhesive letters yet on trains, my experiences with adhesive decals on RC cars and model rockets has been iffy, my zen is more with waterslide decals.
But, there is a tender to do which looks like adhesive vinyl letters are going to have to be the thing - perhaps there is hope for me after all.
I like the model Joe , nice one . Are the letters vinyl ? They look very good .
Forrest , I don’t know if you used varnish , but did you know that putting varnish over vinyl letters is not recommended ? We found that out the hard way .
Vinyl lettering is extremely useful , especially if you have a local printer that will do one-offs .
One important part of using vinyl is to use gentle heat just after you have given it that first rub down . Heat is pretty well essential when applying vinyl on a curved surface .
Joe , rest assured this is not an attempt to derail your thread , but seeing nice modelling like yours above does remind one of lettering techniques and their pitfalls .
Perhaps you could explain how you did it ? Like , for example , did you use low tack masking tape to help with alignment ?
Mike
Mike Morgan said:
Forrest , I don’t know if you used varnish , but did you know that putting varnish over vinyl letters is not recommended ? We found that out the hard way .
Vinyl lettering is extremely useful , especially if you have a local printer that will do one-offs .
One important part of using vinyl is to use gentle heat just after you have given it that first rub down . Heat is pretty well essential when applying vinyl on a curved surface .
That varnish thing I did not know, Now, is that varnish as in varnish literally and only, or varnish being a generic term for clear coats of any type?
What counts as gentle heat? Hiar dryer on lowest setting? Towel dampened with warm water?
Looks great Joe! Let me know if you want me to do the blue front lettering…its not a big deal since the art is done.
Folks,
Let me know if you want any lettering. I can send you a sample for free if it fits in a letter sized envelope. I have transfer tape which I include that allows you to keep all the letters inline as they were cut. The stuff is intenced for glossier surfaces, but I haven’t had any troubles with any of the g scale products, including live steam. In the unlikely event a letter should fail, I can easily re-cut them since the art is saved on file.
Sure Jeff!!
He included extra stuff in the envelope. There was a piece of clear tape that at first, I thought was extra. I cut it and applied it over the letters to hold them while applying. I then removed the clear tape and rubbed the letters down thru a piece of paper to protect them.
I will try heat, now that the summer is over. I would have thought the summer’s sun would do it for me.
Forrest ,
We have yet to find a clear coat that works . What happens is the clear coat runs under the corners very slightly and makes the vinyl wrinkle . I won’t list all the ones we’ve tried because believe me , we use a lot of different products because we don’t only make model trains .
We have found that “Games Workshop” satin varnish can be OK , but not their gloss . I say “can be ok” because we thought we’d found one that worked and it failed miserably on one large 1/14 scale truck vinyl . £25 up the creek there .
I must stress here that it is only the clear varnishes , as in water coloured , that are a problem in our experience . The old fashioned slightly toffee coloured stuff we don’t use at all because of other problems with it .
Joe ,
The application of heat is done with a hair drier , your main worry using one is to not melt the plastic details on your model----easy done when you are concentrating on lettering etc…
It must be just hot to the touch , not warm , hot . Try pressing the vinyl down with a cloth , your fingers have oils in that do horrid things .
In answer to the obvious question , yes I have , but am not so in love with myself that I do not admit to making mistakes (actually , you get accustomed to it) .
A further tip , you can remove vinyl with the application of heat , as long as it hasn’t been coated .
Properly applied vinyl will not come off with our utilisation , it doesn’t come off full sized trucks that get a real hammering , so that gives some idea of how good it can be . As it costs a few hundred dollars for a medium sized advert on a truck’s body , you’d have to think it should stay on !!!
If I can be of further help , ask . Remember , there are no stupid questions .
Mike
PS The use of masking tape to make an easily removable line to follow is a very good technique for lining letters up , especially on compound curved surfaces
Shes gettin there Joe
David Russell said:
Shes gettin there Joe
Thanks Boss!
It is rewarding getting good comments from people here. Humbling actually when I see what you guys build.
Mike Morgan said:
Forrest ,
We have yet to find a clear coat that works . What happens is the clear coat runs under the corners very slightly and makes the vinyl wrinkle . I won’t list all the ones we’ve tried because believe me , we use a lot of different products because we don’t only make model trains .
We have found that “Games Workshop” satin varnish can be OK , but not their gloss . I say “can be ok” because we thought we’d found one that worked and it failed miserably on one large 1/14 scale truck vinyl . £25 up the creek there .
I must stress here that it is only the clear varnishes , as in water coloured , that are a problem in our experience . The old fashioned slightly toffee coloured stuff we don’t use at all because of other problems with it .
Joe ,
The application of heat is done with a hair drier , your main worry using one is to not melt the plastic details on your model----easy done when you are concentrating on lettering etc…
It must be just hot to the touch , not warm , hot . Try pressing the vinyl down with a cloth , your fingers have oils in that do horrid things .
In answer to the obvious question , yes I have , but am not so in love with myself that I do not admit to making mistakes (actually , you get accustomed to it) .
A further tip , you can remove vinyl with the application of heat , as long as it hasn’t been coated .
Properly applied vinyl will not come off with our utilisation , it doesn’t come off full sized trucks that get a real hammering , so that gives some idea of how good it can be . As it costs a few hundred dollars for a medium sized advert on a truck’s body , you’d have to think it should stay on !!!
If I can be of further help , ask . Remember , there are no stupid questions .
Mike
PS The use of masking tape to make an easily removable line to follow is a very good technique for lining letters up , especially on compound curved surfaces
I guess that I got lucky, then. I used Del Tappero’s fine vinyl decals on one of my boxcars, then misted a fine spray, lightly, three times, of Krylon’s Matte Medium, with UV protection, allowing it to dry thoroughly, in between coats, and suffered no ill effects.
We got your back, Joe. Don’t let the idiots get you down.
Andrew Moore said:
We got your back, Joe. Don’t let the idiots get you down.
Que?
Steve, and light coats, almost a dry mist, and letting it set up well between coats, is probably the trick to make it work. With a clear coat, its east to over-apply it, since its difficult to tell how much you put on. Depending on the lighting and the base colour you are applying it too of course.
David Maynard said:
Steve, and light coats, almost a dry mist, and letting it set up well between coats, is probably the trick to make it work. With a clear coat, its east to over-apply it, since its difficult to tell how much you put on. Depending on the lighting and the base colour you are applying it too of course.
David, that’s pretty much what I did. Outside, indirect natural light from shade, nozzle held a good three feet away from the project, one shot, let it dry for six or more hours, re-apply X three. It is hard, sometimes, to fight the temptation to give it that second shot.
Not much going on outside. We’re getting some rain (all week).
Thought I would add some better details after seeing Gary To’s posts.
(http://www.largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/2f/c8/01/1c568_64e4.jpg?c=2bec)
(http://www.largescalecentral.com/public/album_photo/31/c8/01/1c56a_d2b5.jpg?c=0942)
Nice job on the trucks Joe !
I need to build something! All I ever do is fix stuff and modify new stuff that I get. I was making a video today of my CSX engines and the frame of my SD70ACe was bothering me. I figured I could at least paint it black! I will need to do a lot more but at least it’s not light blue and white anymore. I’ll add some yellow stripes next.