Classic EMD's, Page 7
| APPLYING DECALS |
The Decal process is fairly straight forward. Apply the decal, blot, apply Solvaset. There will not be
much explanation in this section except for something special I made or tried. The cab number and
number board decals are all from Micro Scale. The window and number board gasket decals are
ones I had custom made and from Micro Scale.
I painted the inside of the cab windows silver.
much explanation in this section except for something special I made or tried. The cab number and
number board decals are all from Micro Scale. The window and number board gasket decals are
ones I had custom made and from Micro Scale.
I painted the inside of the cab windows silver.
I mentioned above that the window and number board gaskets are custom decals. They are pretty
basic and made in four pieces. They start at the middle of a straight section, make the corner and
then stop at the middle of the next straight section. I designed in a small amount of overlap. You
will notice that the inside of the windows have a nice sharp straight edge. Here I used Micro Scale
1/64" wide black stripes. Cut them to 1" long and applied them inside the window. It is very easy to
make them even all the way around. I did not want to paint the entire thickness of the plastic black.
That would really make the windows stand out to much. With Cannon cabs, you do not have to do
this, but I am not using a Cannon cab.
After the decals are applied, I paint any surface showing through with black paint.
This process is time consuming, but gives what I think is the best looking window gaskets.
basic and made in four pieces. They start at the middle of a straight section, make the corner and
then stop at the middle of the next straight section. I designed in a small amount of overlap. You
will notice that the inside of the windows have a nice sharp straight edge. Here I used Micro Scale
1/64" wide black stripes. Cut them to 1" long and applied them inside the window. It is very easy to
make them even all the way around. I did not want to paint the entire thickness of the plastic black.
That would really make the windows stand out to much. With Cannon cabs, you do not have to do
this, but I am not using a Cannon cab.
After the decals are applied, I paint any surface showing through with black paint.
This process is time consuming, but gives what I think is the best looking window gaskets.
The decals here are standard Micro Scale. The FSD-40 is from their N-Scale sheet 70105 Railroad
Gothic Letters and Numbers Red.
Gothic Letters and Numbers Red.
The following two photos are compliments of Warren Calloway. Warren has given me permission to
use them on my web site. These are very large photos and need to be large to see all the lettering.
Thanks Warren, these were a huge help in not only decaling the model, but also for general
detailing of the model.
These are black & white photos:
RIGHT SIDE (1.47MB)
LEFT SIDE (1.28MB)
use them on my web site. These are very large photos and need to be large to see all the lettering.
Thanks Warren, these were a huge help in not only decaling the model, but also for general
detailing of the model.
These are black & white photos:
RIGHT SIDE (1.47MB)
LEFT SIDE (1.28MB)
Decal placement for the
right and left side of the
hood as well as the
number board on the
long hood end.
right and left side of the
hood as well as the
number board on the
long hood end.
| REVISITING PAINTING |
Here I have the brake stand at the long hood end. I did a reverse masking job. Prior to applying any
paint, I used bare metal foil and masked off the area you see in red. I then painted the white to
create the chevron. I then pealed off the tape and masked off the white chevrons. I needed to
create the dark metal color under the red for chipping so I mixed some black and white to make a
dark gray and sprayed this over the brake stand. I did this also to the brake wheel. I let it dry for a
couple days. I then painted on some hair spray and then sprayed on a light coat of primer gray. I
used the primer gray so the red would not be so dark. As soon as I was done cleaning the air brush
of the primer gray, I shot the red on. I let this dry for about as long as it took me to clean the air
brush and remove the masking. I then soaked the brake stand and wheel in warm water and
chipped away some of the red paint.
Also int eh photo above you can see that I painted the "glad hands" on the air hoses a metal gray
color. It is silver with some black added to darken it a bit.
paint, I used bare metal foil and masked off the area you see in red. I then painted the white to
create the chevron. I then pealed off the tape and masked off the white chevrons. I needed to
create the dark metal color under the red for chipping so I mixed some black and white to make a
dark gray and sprayed this over the brake stand. I did this also to the brake wheel. I let it dry for a
couple days. I then painted on some hair spray and then sprayed on a light coat of primer gray. I
used the primer gray so the red would not be so dark. As soon as I was done cleaning the air brush
of the primer gray, I shot the red on. I let this dry for about as long as it took me to clean the air
brush and remove the masking. I then soaked the brake stand and wheel in warm water and
chipped away some of the red paint.
Also int eh photo above you can see that I painted the "glad hands" on the air hoses a metal gray
color. It is silver with some black added to darken it a bit.
To the left is of course the
brake wheel with the paint
chipped off. You will
notice you do not see any
gray primer paint. That is
because right after I spray
on the primer coat, I spray
on the red. The two bond
and dry together.
brake wheel with the paint
chipped off. You will
notice you do not see any
gray primer paint. That is
because right after I spray
on the primer coat, I spray
on the red. The two bond
and dry together.
Here I have the handrails and stanchions finished. I have not shown the hood side handrails
though. They are to long to get a good photo of, but they got the same treatment as what you see
above. Not so much chipping though. Just in a few choice places and a little on the white ends.
What you see above got the hair spray and chipping technique applied t them. I looked at prototype
photos to see what parts got more chipped than others and applied that research to my handrails.
The yellow that you see on the left handrail is a torn decal. I needed to represent some of the
yellow paint on the handrail ends when this unit wore B&O colors. I found that taking some yellow
sill striping that I could tear it into small pieces and apply it to the areas I wanted the white worn
away from, but not down to the bare metal.
though. They are to long to get a good photo of, but they got the same treatment as what you see
above. Not so much chipping though. Just in a few choice places and a little on the white ends.
What you see above got the hair spray and chipping technique applied t them. I looked at prototype
photos to see what parts got more chipped than others and applied that research to my handrails.
The yellow that you see on the left handrail is a torn decal. I needed to represent some of the
yellow paint on the handrail ends when this unit wore B&O colors. I found that taking some yellow
sill striping that I could tear it into small pieces and apply it to the areas I wanted the white worn
away from, but not down to the bare metal.
And finally I have the pilot grabs. Same hair spray application and yellow decal application.
A detailed description of how I accomplish the chipped paint:
All the handrails are stock Kato. Same for the pilot grabs. They are from an undecorated model and
are in black delrin which means I do not have to prepaint them a metal color. The first thing I do to
them is grit blast them. Even if they were any color other than black, I would grit blast them. Grit
blasting gives the delrin a nice "toothy" surface for the paint to adhere to. Ok, so these are black
grit blasted delrin. After blasting, the delrin turns to a light flat gray. I then paint hair spray on them.
This also turns the delrin to a darker gray color. A color that looks much more like bare metal. I let
the hair spray dry which only takes a minute or so. I do not spray the hair spry on. I spray it into a
container and let it liquefy. I then use a soft brush and brush paint the hair spray on. Next I spray on
a coat of primer gray. This is to give a light color to spray the red or white over. A dark surface will
cause the top colors to be darker. Right after I spray on the primer, I clean my airbrush and apply
the red or white. This sort of bonds the red or white to the primer. I clean the airbrush and remove
any masking. As soon as I am done cleaning and removing any masking, I fill a container with hot or
very warm water. I soak the parts one at a time. The longer you let them soak, the larger the chips
will be. For small chips, I soak them for less than a minute and just keep stabbing at it with a bristle
brush. For large chips or chipping more pieces away I let the parts soak for a couple minutes. Below
is a photo of the brush's I use for chipping off the paint. They are very stiff round bristle brush.
A detailed description of how I accomplish the chipped paint:
All the handrails are stock Kato. Same for the pilot grabs. They are from an undecorated model and
are in black delrin which means I do not have to prepaint them a metal color. The first thing I do to
them is grit blast them. Even if they were any color other than black, I would grit blast them. Grit
blasting gives the delrin a nice "toothy" surface for the paint to adhere to. Ok, so these are black
grit blasted delrin. After blasting, the delrin turns to a light flat gray. I then paint hair spray on them.
This also turns the delrin to a darker gray color. A color that looks much more like bare metal. I let
the hair spray dry which only takes a minute or so. I do not spray the hair spry on. I spray it into a
container and let it liquefy. I then use a soft brush and brush paint the hair spray on. Next I spray on
a coat of primer gray. This is to give a light color to spray the red or white over. A dark surface will
cause the top colors to be darker. Right after I spray on the primer, I clean my airbrush and apply
the red or white. This sort of bonds the red or white to the primer. I clean the airbrush and remove
any masking. As soon as I am done cleaning and removing any masking, I fill a container with hot or
very warm water. I soak the parts one at a time. The longer you let them soak, the larger the chips
will be. For small chips, I soak them for less than a minute and just keep stabbing at it with a bristle
brush. For large chips or chipping more pieces away I let the parts soak for a couple minutes. Below
is a photo of the brush's I use for chipping off the paint. They are very stiff round bristle brush.
I use a stabbing motion, not a brushing motion to remove the paint. You can get these brush's at
any art supply store.
All the decal application and paint is done except for the CR's. Those will go on after I have applied
a number of wash coats to the hood. This unit was plenty dirty by the time the CR's were applied. I
can now get started on weathering.
any art supply store.
All the decal application and paint is done except for the CR's. Those will go on after I have applied
a number of wash coats to the hood. This unit was plenty dirty by the time the CR's were applied. I
can now get started on weathering.