Flat Car Friday - Finishing the P-11 Decals (RTM)

After decaling the first side of the B&O P-11 flatcar, using Future floor wax on a satin-finished side (as described here), I decided - before doing the second side - to actually read the manual. The "manual" in this case was the instruction sheet that came with the Speedwitch decals:

1. Start with a glossy surface, adding a gloss coat if needed.
2. Using a fresh x-acto blade, cut out the decal leaving as little decal film around it as possible and dip in distilled water.
3. Place the decal on a paper towel to wick off excess water & allow the decal to loosen from the backing.
4. Slide the decal off slightly to expose just enough paper backing to allow you to grab it with tweezers.
5. I then brush some MicroSet onto the model where I will be putting the decal (the instructions say to brush on some water, but it beaded up on the glossy surface).
6. "Lay the paper on the model while still holding with tweezers and slide the decal on to the model." (direct quote from the instructions). Use something dull (I use a toothpick) to hold the decal as you pull/slide the paper backing out from under it.
7. If necessary, use the toothpick to move the decal into final position. Be careful you don't damage the decal!
8. Once in position, leave it alone until it dries completely. You can use a corner of a paper towel to wick away any excess fluid/water. But then, leave it alone.
9. Next day, if there's any "silvering" or air bubbles, prick with a sharp pin and add a decal setting solution (I use MicroSol) at the edges of the decal and at the pricked parts. Capillary action will pull the solvent underneath the decal. Leave it alone and allow it to dry again completely.
10. Repeat step 9 if necessary, using Walthers Solvaset if needed to get the decal to really settle in and snuggle down over detail and into crevices. But beware - Solvaset is very aggressive.

Here's a photo of the first side, done with Future over a satin finish:

You can always click on an image to enlarge it.

Not bad - though I did mess up a little by trying to wick fluid & position after applying setting solution. Big mistake, but it turned out ok.

And here's a photo of the other side that I did over a glossy surface as I described above:

I think this turned out better - the edges of the decals are just about invisible and everything is snuggled down nicely. I also didn't mess anything up by disturbing the decal as it was setting.

Conclusion:
Actually, both processes yield good/great results. Having done them both, I will try and add a gloss coat first and decal the recommended way described in this post. However, it's nice to know that if I have a model that has a less-than-glossy surface and I can't add any gloss for some reason, using Future as a base rather than MicroSet will be ok. Heck, I've even used Future to add decals to a car that had a flat finish - but I wouldn't recommend it.

Either way, after I add a dull coat and do some weathering, I bet anyone would be hard-pressed to tell the difference between the two sides. And that's a win in my book!

(Happy Friday and Happy Springfield Eve to all coming to the BigE Train Show this weekend! If you do, please say "Hi" if you happen to see me - hope to see many of you there!)

Freight Car Friday: Decaling the P-11 Flatcar

The next step on the B&O P-11 flatcar build is lettering/numbering (click here for all the other posts on this project). First, you have to choose your decals, if you have a choice. The F&C kit I'm using comes with the appropriate decals, but Speedwitch Media makes the correct decals too. Fortunately, the company's owner is a good friend and when he saw I was doing this car, he sent along a set to try.

I'm definitely glad he did. The F&C decals are ok, but I think you can tell the difference when directly comparing them to the Speedwitch decals - the fidelity is much better.

Next, you need to consult prototype photos for the proper location of the lettering. Unfortunately, the P-11 is a fairly rare flatcar and photos are elusive (in fact, even a query to the Steam Era Freight Car list hasn't turned up any pics as of this writing). I do have a couple of prototype photos, but for lettering I relied on the two photos that came with the Speedwitch decal instruction sheet (the F&C instructions do contain one photocopy of one of the photos that Speedwitch also uses).

Once I decided what lettering I wanted to use, I cut it out of the sheet with a scalpel and a fresh blade. You can see what parts I took out of the sheet in the photo above.

FINALLY it was time to actually do the decaling itself. I should have checked to see what I did the last time I did decaling to refresh my memory, but I was too eager and plunged head-long into it. Here's the process I used this time (for the first side anyway):

1. Place the decal in distilled water
2. Since the paint/finish is satin/eggshell and not really glossy, I used a microbrush to brush on some Future floor polish (a gloss acrylic) to where the decal would go
3. Remove the decal from the water and place on a paper towel to wick the water away
4. Slide the decal off just enough to allow you to grab just the decal backing paper with a tweezers (I used self-closing tweezers as a handle)
5. Bring the decal to where you put the Future and, while holding onto the paper with the tweezers, hold the decal down with a dull toothpick (something not sharp) and pull the paper, sliding the decal off the paper onto the model
6. Use the toothpick to move the decal into final position
7. Use a corner of a paper towel to wick up any extra water/fluid
8. LEAVE THE DECAL ALONE
9. Repeat for the rest of the decals
10. After they've dried (preferably overnight - or while you're at work), prick any air bubbles with a sharp pin and lightly brush some setting solution like Micro Sol onto the decal - allowing it to wick in under the edges and into the pricked holes - so the decal will really snuggle down and set.
11. Repeat step 10 as necessary, using Solvaset for really stubborn decals.

The pic below shows the result:

Click on image to enlarge if desired

Now, there are a couple of things I plan on doing differently for the OTHER side. Numero Uno is to take my own advice and NOT, REPEAT NOT touch the decal or try to reposition it when I'm adding the setting solution. And DO NOT under ANY circumstances use a sponge makeup brush to blot any excess fluid while using setting solution. If you can't see the gotchas on this side that resulted from me not following my own advice, well, I'm certainly not going to point'em out to you...

Secondly, I plan to use a more traditional, non-Future (heh - see what I did there?), approach for the other side (in fact, the same process I used for the Grand Trunk Western boxcar - a post I found only after I'd already done side one of the flatcar...). And Step One in that process is to add a gloss coat to the carbody where you'll be adding decals. So tonight I masked off the side of the car yet-to-be-decaled (notice the eggshell/non-glossy finish) . . .

And shot the side with my handy-dandy rattle can of Testors Glosscote . . .

I'm having my First Ops Session of 2018 tomorrow, so this'll have plenty of time to cure before I add any lettering - hopefully Sunday evening. And just so I don't forget, here's the process I plan to use (copied and pasted from my GTW post):

1. Cut out the decal leaving as little decal film around it as possible and place in distilled water.
2. Apply MicroSet to the area where the decal will be applied.
3. Remove the decal from the water and "float" onto the setting solution (I'll actually put it on a paper towel first). Use a toothpick or something else that's not sharp to position.
4. Wick away any excess fluid with the corner of a paper towel, or a makeup sponge (I'm a little leery of the sponge now...). Let dry.
5. If there's any "silvering" (evidence that there's air trapped behind the decal), prick the areas and add MicroSol and let dry. If that doesn't cause the decal to really settle down into any nooks/crannies (or - in the case of a wood-sided car, between the boards) just add additional applications of MicroSol until it does (and/or use Walthers Solvaset, which is even more aggressive)

Stay tuned and I'll let you know (and you'll be able to see) which process yields the better result . . .

Grand Trunk Western #581986 1-1/2 Door Boxcar

So now that it's done, I figured this would be a great time for a recap and to get all the pics and information together in one place (click here and here for previous posts on this build).

As you may recall (or not, if you're new to this here blog...), I got started on this project at a "hands-on" clinic at this year's NERPM. Don Valentine graciously provided an Accurail single-sheathed boxcar kit (model 4000/4200) and some extra parts (Standard Car Co. #1000) to convert the kit into a door-and-a-half boxcar.

Along with the kit and parts, Don also supplemented the conversion kit instructions with a multipage document which included a description of the prototype, a diagram, and some photos. The parts instructions also mentioned Richard Hendrickson's article on these cars in the April, 1993 issue of Railmodel Journal:

The full article can be accessed here.

And I came across this list of additional prototype information:

GTW 583699, MM 12/87 pp 72-75 (article includes drawings), RMJ 2/01 pp 50-56
GTW 584618, RMJ 11/00 p18, 2/01 pp 50-56
GTW 583298, Hendrickson, "Focus on Freight Cars vol. 1", p 24 

but I'll be dipped if I can remember where I got it. If you recognize this list, please let me know so I can provide proper attribution.

The build was very straight-forward: just follow the instructions carefully. As you can see in the first pic above, I was able to get the door positioned and glued on very quickly - during the clinic AAMOF. Drilling the holes for the remaining details was a different story however...

I use a sharp pin to make a starter dimple for drilling the hole.

The instructions for the conversion parts provide a couple of handy-dandy drilling templates which you cut out for positioning the holes (see above, and below)...

But BEWARE! Make sure that you cut out the template to the correct size so that the hole is located, um, correctly.

As you can see above, I inexplicably cut off the pointy tip of this template. And you may recall from a previous photo that I snugged it up to the top - as I thought I needed to. However, that resulted in a door cleat location that was MUCH too high. See below:

Focusing on the two holes on the right: the top one is where I drilled based on the template's first location. If I knew then what I know now about freight car construction (or at least door cleat placement), it would have been obvious to me right away that I was locating the detail too high. The lower hole is better - but it should still have gone lower to match the height of the other cleats. No worries - a little dab of body putty filled in the incorrect hole.

LESSON: Use templates with caution & always go with what you know to be correct despite what the template tells you. Or - rather - just make sure you cut out the template properly(!)

After the "hole drama" there was little else remarkable about the standard build. Here's a photo with all the conversion parts attached to the car:

You can readily see what a difference the parts make to the over all look.

Next step was to secure decals. Don mentioned that Black Cat Publishing had the correct ones, which you can find here.

Just as I was about to start decaling, I got some - er - feedback suggesting that I might want to remove some of the molded-on detail, at least the side grabs.  Well, I did the side grabs...

I actually took down even more material, and re-introduced "grain" lines with the point of an Xacto. But, no, I did not bother with NBW castings.

 ...and the end grabs (not pictured) and the lateral roofwalk corner grabs . . .

Yeah, I got a little carried away with my favorite chisel (which I highly recommend, btw), but the result was definitely worth it:

As you can see, in addition to adding separate wire grabs, I added A-line stirrup sill steps (sorry Ted), scratchbuilt a couple of uncoupling bars, and added KD airhoses. After all that was done, the car was finally, really ready for the paint shop.

Since there are usually long spells between my painting freight cars, I "get back into it" by starting with the underbody and trucks since they're pretty hard to mess up. So my airbrush and I got reacquainted and I shot the sideframes first with some grimy black (being careful to mask the bearing holes). Then I used a microbrush to apply my mixture of grimy black paint and baking soda to the wheel faces. I think this really does a great job of simulating the caked-on oil, grease and dirt so common to steam era freight car wheels. It's hard to see, but *I* know it's there and it makes me strangely happy. Click on the image for a closer view:

I sprayed the rest of the underbody with the grimy black and then tackled the carbody with a rattle can of Tamiya Fine Surface Primer. It ain't cheap, but it's really good and easy to use. (btw, I did the painting after cleaning all the parts and carbody using a toothbrush and denatured alcohol).

The carbody itself was a little more challenging. Don suggested using AccuPaint AP-54 "Rich Oxide Brown" as a good color for CN cars (and appropriate for GTW cars as well), but I had TruColor oxide brown on-hand, and I plan eventually to weather the car moderately to heavily, so I went with that.

Only problem was, my paint had gelled in the bottle. I'd heard you could thin it with acetone, which is what I did - at a 2:1 ratio(!). At least it went through the airbrush without clogging - but the bad news was 1) it took MANY coats to get enough coverage from such highly-thinned paint, and 2) using the acetone made the finish flat rather than glossy.

Fortunately, before I dove into decaling, Bill saw the carbody and said he could tell I used gray primer. Apparently, the body still wasn't adequately covered - and I hadn't noticed since it looked So Much Better than before. So we shot it a couple more times with less-thinned paint and let it dry for a bunch of days.

Next step was to apply my cool new Black Cat decals. Now, my process for decaling earlier cars - which also had a very flat finish - was to apply Future floor polish to the model, place the decal on that, and let it dry. I'd then add decal setting solution on top of that. That process worked ok, but for some reason it resulted in some white residue which I had to deal with. Not a big deal, but a little annoying.

This time, I decided to go with a more tried-and-true method:

1. If the model isn't already glossy, spray on a gloss coat. I used Testor's gloss coat from a rattle can, but you could also use an airbrush. I thought the rattle can was fine for this. Let dry thoroughly.
2. Cut out the decal leaving as little decal film around it as possible and place in distilled water.
3. Apply MicroSet to the area where the decal will be applied.
4. Remove the decal from the water and "float" onto the setting solution. Use a toothpick or something else that's not sharp to position.
5. Wick away any excess fluid with the corner of a paper towel, or a makeup sponge. Let dry.
6. If there's any "silvering" (evidence that there's air trapped behind the decal), prick the areas and add MicroSol and let dry. If that doesn't cause the decal to really settle down into any nooks/crannies (or - in the case of a wood-sided car, between the boards) just add additional applications of MicroSol until it does.

It took a few applications and since I was doing each side & end separately, the whole decaling/setting process took a few evenings, but the result was worth it:

One side done - three more to go.

A note about decal placement on this particular model. I followed the diagram included with the decals. Mostly. Which is to say, the left end of the car followed the diagram precisely; but on the right end the decal wouldn't fit between the rib and the ladder, so I moved it one panel to the left. I've seen prototype pictures that show the dimensional data on the panel I chose, but those cars also tended to have the weight data (the data on the left side of the doors) one panel to the right of where the decal diagram puts it. So, in the spirit of full disclosure, the lettering on my car is a hybrid at worst.

Of course, if I'd removed the cast-on ladders and substituted grabs instead (as the GTW did (parent CNR used ladders)), the decal probably would have fit. If this were a contest car - and/or if I wanted to spend more time on it - I would have gone to that trouble. And I would have done the underbody piping too (which I skipped since the silhouette created by the frame's center beam makes its absence less apparent).

But for a work-a-day boxcar (and, based on my last ops session, I Need More Boxcars), it's perfectly fine. It has enough stand-alone details added so that it fits in with the rest of the fleet - and the price was certainly right (the car/parts were supplied, $8 for decals, and I had the other details on-hand). Looks pretty good, I think, and once it's weathered even the little compromises I made will matter even less. Bottom line: it's done - and has provided the extra added benefit of generating more modeling momentum!