Painting a GE44 tonner - How crazy should I go?....


diburning said:
Interesting. I've never had Tamiya masking tape leave a residue before.
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"Interesting" wasn't the word I used! ;)

But yeah, neither have I - And as noted before, car bodies need to be "perfect" and I know I've masked 'em without issue (and the same paint) in the past.

Despite the "camera revealing all" I doubt it'll pick it up - It's subtle, but isn't there in the little gaps over the handles for example. It's also consistent across both colors, so I don't think it's that paint itself "pulled up".

I dunno what to do......

Cheers,
Ian
 
Looking at your photos I think the best thing to do is bite your tongue and throw the shell in some alcohol and start over. If the paint is fresh it should come off quite easily and besides that it usually goes quicker the second time(speaking from lots of experience here). You will probably be happier with the results as well.
 
rlundy90 said:
Looking at your photos I think the best thing to do is bite your tongue and throw the shell in some alcohol and start over.
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+1

"If a jobs worth doing, it's worth doing twice!" ;)

Seriously, I've learnt a lot (OK, a little!) and although she was (past tense!) "OK" I know I can do better next time round...... [Forget that grimy black crap for a start! ;)]

....You will probably be happier with the results as well.
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Yep. I even thought "next time, I'll do the stripe first, then the yellow". I was hoping this was gonna be on the 2nd one of 'em, but there we go.

What I haven't had any luck with so far is removing the "goo" - I'm gonna try Goo-Gone (thx, Rico) I'll report back.

I did try "electronic parts cleaner" (nothing), Windex (*briefly* OK, then ate the paint) and "Goof Off" (same as Goo Gone, right?!) - Also attacked the paint......

The cab is acceptable (to me anyway) - *But* the green really is too dark - So I may as well strip that and do the whole thing again.

The other thing I think I'm gonna try is "Parafilm-M" - I've used it on clear parts, but forgot about it before masking this. [I'm obviously *real* nervous about Tamiya tape right now.......]

Cheers,
Ian
PS - Outback - Thx for the kind words :)
 
diburning said:
Goo Gone will not attack the paint if the paint is completely dry.
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Thanks for the endorsement - I'm off to grab some shortly.....

"Completely dry".... I dunno.... As the photos show all too well (!), I'm spraying pretty "dry". And with nice eco-friendly acrylics....

I'm sure I've done the same before without issue. Hopefully, Goo Gone will behave.....

Cheers,
Ian
 
fast_ian said:
....The cab is acceptable (to me anyway) - *But* the green really is too dark - So I may as well strip that and do the whole thing again.
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Just before it hit the 91%.....

The weatherstripping is the infamous "aircraft interior black" btw :)

Cheers,
Ian
 
Update....

It seems the paint was indeed dry - Goo Gone (and some elbow grease) cleaned it up. I'm still not sure what happened, but at least I know it's (somewhat at least) fixable.

Then I pitched it into the bath - The green & yellow *fell* off in a hurry - The black and the primer didn't budge - The gloss black was the latest, and even that only went back to the dreaded grimy black in a few places - It looks sort of weathered, and I know tape doesn't mess with it, so it's staying.

Gonna try MM green & yellow this time.

Cheers,
Isn
 
fast_ian said:
...I know I've masked 'em without issue (and the same paint) in the past.
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Thinking a little more on this, I'm gonna have to throw the BS flag at myself! :eek:

Turns out the car bodies I've done "recently" have all been sprayed with MM and not Tamiya acrylics.

So, for me at least, the lesson is don't mask Tamiya acrylics - Maybe if I'd waited longer (although Goo Gone was OK) it would be OK, but certainly not within, say a week.....

YMMV. Cheers,
Ian
 
Hey,

My spray booth (outside!) is a little wet right now, so I figured I'd revisit making the decal sheet......

The image below is a grab of 5.5" x 8.5" sheet as it stands right now - The space at the bottom will have a few rectangles (with "text") added and is a lot better quality than it appears in the heavily compressed image below.

I think it may just work......
 
So, if anyone is still reading.... I printed that onto plain paper, and the herald is still too big!

However, I did discover Inkscape (free, open source S/W) that is IMHO *perfect* for the task of making decal sheets - It imported my PNG's (which were big) and converts to SVG - The files are *big* (the attached is ~25mb in SVG format!) but stuff scales beautifully :)

I'm using Linux, but OSX & M$ versions are available btw.

I'm not real happy with the font with the backgrounds - Photos of the V&T steamers suggest that's close, but not quite..... The Gold Hill (& by extension, VC) signs are pretty much spot on. And the smallest herald now fits the 44 tonner, which is nice.....

I've got some more "small stuff" to add (car markings? "Extinguisher inside"?) but am almost ready to go to the decal sheet...... Any ideas?

TIA,
Cheers,
Ian
 
Hmmm - Another two hundred plus views, and nary a comment :(

Oh well, I guess no one does their own decals (?)

Anyway, FWIW, I printed the sheet using Testors instructions (plain paper, std quality) and here's what I learnt and some more Q's.......

- Once I figured that 5.5 x 8.5 is, actually, half a US letter page (duh! :eek:) I cut some in half, and *thought* it all fit - Didn't notice a tiny bit of the left side was missing.....
- The "colors" - green, yellow and (particularly) red are much nicer (more vibrant) on the decal page than the plain paper.
- Black is also OK as long as it's in small concentrations - I'm *stoked* with the heralds and small town names for example. :)
- OTOH, "solid black" seems to be using too much ink which "crazes" as it dries.

I can swap the black cartridge for a "tri-color photo" unit, but thought true black would be better - Any experience anywhere?

Despite what Testors say, the decal paper seems much closer to "glossy photo paper" to me - I guess I'll try that and/or the photo cartridge and see what happens. (?)

I haven't used the spray sealer as yet, but am pretty sure it's not going to improve anything. I'm also getting bored with decals, still can't spray paint so am going to have to return and do battle with Xtrackcad. [Another often viewed but non commented thread :(]

The good news is I'm really pleased with Inkscape!

Cheers,
Ian
PS - I also came across some old Pactra striping tapes that I think I'm gonna try for the stripe - I know it works well on lexan and is fuel proof (!) etc - Anyone tried it?
 
Interesting watching your progress,Ian.

Thats the only locomotive I've personally got a ride on.

Last year the V&T got a new engine an ALCO S4.Its painted mostly yellow,with green.It looks awesome!
 
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That crazing in the black is odd. Play around with your speed vs quality settings on your printer; they may be set too high (depositing too much ink). Or maybe the photo paper's glossier than the decal paper? Any chance it had wax/grease on it?

My understanding is that a color printer always has a tri-color cartridge and a black cartridge. The color cartridge alone can't make black. For black, you're stuck with the black cartridge.

Add a sacrificial bit to the decal sheet, a patterned square or something. After you spray the fixative, cut the square out, soak it, make sure the color doesn't run. The first decals I tried to use ran all over the place because I hadn't laid down nearly enough fixative. At the same time, don't flood the decals in fixative; I suspect that some of my decal issues stem from putting far too much fixative on after the first dust coat proved inadequate.

I'd give the Pactra a try on scrap first, just to be sure.
 
VirginiaCityDave said:
Interesting watching your progress,Ian.
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I'm not 100% certain "interesting" is the correct term ;) "Two steps forward, 1 1/2 back" seems about right at present...... But I'm getting there - slowly!

Thats the only locomotive I've personally got a ride on.
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Got any pix?..... I have quite a few, but they're prints and I can't find the jpg's. I assume from your handle you're from around there?

Last year the V&T got a new engine an ALCO S4.Its painted mostly yellow,with green.It looks awesome!
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That I did not know - Thanks! [I missed the hillclimb in September for the first time in about 12 years :(]

Anyone know of any decent models of this thing? - I guess it's an Alco RS-4 (?) and it seems there are plenty of RS2's and 3's, but I'm struggling with the 4 - Any (significant, visual) differences between 'em? I'd obviously like to get one and reckon it could be my first sound equipped diesel, which would be nice.....[I don't mind doing the DCC install myself btw. HO of course.]

RW&C said:
That crazing in the black is odd. Play around with your speed vs quality settings on your printer; they may be set too high (depositing too much ink). Or maybe the photo paper's glossier than the decal paper? Any chance it had wax/grease on it?
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In the pic above the one on the left is "standard" paper, on the right the decal paper, both done in accordance with the instructions.

However, as suspected, the decal paper is indeed much closer to "glossy photo paper" - I set it for that and *everything* is MUCH better - All the colors are deeper and the black is now great - I'll post some pix later but I'm totally satisfied :)

My understanding is that a color printer always has a tri-color cartridge and a black cartridge. The color cartridge alone can't make black. For black, you're stuck with the black cartridge.
Click to expand...

In this printer (an old HP 5150) there's always what they call a "tri-color" cartridge and either black *or* a "photo cartridge" - Seems a little odd I know, but there we go - I haven't tried it with the photo cartridge as I like what I've got now! Maybe if I get bored I'll try it.....

Add a sacrificial bit to the decal sheet, a patterned square or something. After you spray the fixative, cut the square out, soak it, make sure the color doesn't run. The first decals I tried to use ran all over the place because I hadn't laid down nearly enough fixative. At the same time, don't flood the decals in fixative; I suspect that some of my decal issues stem from putting far too much fixative on after the first dust coat proved inadequate.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips - The instructions say (pretty much) - "Use plenty, but not too much!" - I think I'll try the crappy sheet first and test that.

I'd give the Pactra a try on scrap first, just to be sure.
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Indeed! don't want *another* taping disaster! ;)

Thanks for the comments guys, appreciated,
Cheers,
Ian
 
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fast_ian said:
...However, as suspected, the decal paper is indeed much closer to "glossy photo paper" - I set it for that and *everything* is MUCH better - All the colors are deeper and the black is now great - I'll post some pix later but I'm totally satisfied :)
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Here we go - On the left the "original" and on the right telling it to use photo paper - As can be seen, the black is now OK, and even the greens & yellows are deeper.

Yes, obviously the second one fed into the printer on the skew - Naturally......

Probably gonna get high spraying fixative now!......

Cheers,
Ian
PS - BTW, while searching around for pix, I came across the following - They're pitching a railfan trip, but there's some *really* nice prototype pix of the steamer.

http://www.traintrips.biz/virginia-and-truckee-railfan-day-2011.html
 
Hey,

I'm kinda glad I didn't trash the infamous "grimy black"! :) Pic below (from the link above) suggests I'm gonna need it for the engine & the car roof's......

Having been so "disparaging" about it, I had to share! [Although, I still wish it was called "steam engine grey"!

Cheers,
Ian
 
Hey,

Todays lessons;

- The Pactra tape is *way* too thick. [But removes cleanly.]
- It wouldn't work anyway 'cos it's gotta match the cab color.....
- Glossy photo paper, given the appropriate signage, might just work for highway signs - Not a decal on styrene, just the "paper"......

I know it's a terribly rough example, but I think I "established the principle" with the attached (?) [The car is 1/87 btw]

Cheers,
Ian
 
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