WOT Harriman cars

[ATSF_Ron]

Peteski, I've done that several times already, maybe 5?  It helped some, but it seems like the last couple of times it didn't do anything further for this particular decal.  One thing I did do on all of the cars was press down on the decal with a slightly damp paper towel about two minutes after the initial application of the decal and Micro Set.  More than anything, that seemed to my eye to be the one thing that really flattened out the decal over all the rivet details.  Even better than the application of the Micro Sol.  It's entirely possible that the car with silvering was the very first one and I "forgot" that step on the first decal.  I'll try a couple more pokes and more Micro Sol and maybe I'll get lucky.  It's right near the roof line anyway, so if worse comes to worse I can always drag a little bit of weathering grime off the roof into the lettering to mask some of the silvering.  Thanks!

[peteski]

Yes, pressing the decal down with something will make it snuggle over raised details, but it is also risky since the decal film is soft.  Also MicroSet  is stronger than MicroSol, so I'm not sure why MicroSol worked better.

[ATSF_Ron]

I thought the Micro Sol was stronger in order to soften the decal further. Maybe I got them backwards.

[peteski]

I thought the Micro Sol was stronger in order to soften the decal further. Maybe I got them backwards.

They seem to be named in reverse.  Micro Set (one that smells like vinegar) is the weaker solution.  It just softens the decal film. Micro Sol smells a bit like alcohol, and it almost melts the clear decal film.  Walthers Solvaset is even stronger - like Micro Sol on steroids.

A quote from https://www.micromark.com/Decal-Finishing-System_2
Made by Microscale Industries, this Micro-Mark Exclusive Set includes one ounce each of: Micro Set, to soften decals and improve adhesion or to remove decals; Micro Sol, to "melt" decal film onto irregular surfaces; plus Micro Flat, Micro Satin and Micro Gloss non-yellowing, water-based top coats for that perfect final finish.

And a link to  Microscale's instruction sheet which describes both solutions: https://www.microscale.com/Merchant2/graphics/Instructions/MSISysteminstr.pdf

[JMaurer1]

I would also hold the model under my light (back when lights still had had heat as a by-product) to help with the decal snuggling down. The light that I have over my work desk has a magnifying glass built in and still has an 'old fashioned' light bulb for this very reason.

[peteski]

I would also hold the model under my light (back when lights still had had heat as a by-product) to help with the decal snuggling down. The light that I have over my work desk has a magnifying glass built in and still has an 'old fashioned' light bulb for this very reason.

Yes, some modelers use a hair dryer to soften larger decals being applied to a curvy surface (like a body of a 1:25 scale model race car), so in this case heat might help too.

[ATSF_Ron]

I have 4 more of the Harrimans to decal. I may try the heat lamp or dryer thing. I’d expect to wait a bit for the decal to adhere though. I don’t want to blow the dang things crooked or off!

[peteski]

I have 4 more of the Harrimans to decal. I may try the heat lamp or dryer thing. I’d expect to wait a bit for the decal to adhere though. I don’t want to blow the dang things crooked or off!

You have point.  Hair dryer is used for large decals (like carbon fiber or a full body wrap on a racing car) where the decal has to confirm to many curves.  Incandescent bulb would be a safer source of heat with no forced air movement.

[ATSF_Ron]

Here are a few pics of my GS-4 pulling the finished (first 4, anyway) Harriman WOT cars.  I really do hate the quality of these older iPhone photos.  Someplace in one of my boxes I have a decent digital camera I'll dig up one of these days.  On a couple of these cars I had to strip off the "Southern Pacific" and redo them.  They seemed to settle crookedly after the Micro Sol was applied/dried.  I have no clue why.  It may have been that I didn't trim off enough extra decal film on those two and they held onto some of the lower rivets.  At any rate, I feel they came out pretty well the 2nd time around.

One thing I noticed was on these particular cars, whoever painted them used a darker olive green than the SP olive.  At least according to pics I've seen of the factory painted SP WOT cars.  Looking online at prototype photos did little to solve the mystery.  Many of the photos show these cars in various stages of faded paint anyway.  I recall seeing some old ex-SP cars on the Sierra Railroad years ago (early 90's), but I can't seem to find my pics of those for comparison.  I still think there's a difference in color but it doesn't bother me.

[Mike Madonna]

Ron,

SP "Dark Olive" IS darker than what WOT used on their SP "Harriman" cars (both baggage and coach). The WOT 80' BH (Baggage-Horse) cars are a closer match shade wise. I have mentioned to Matthew (Young) in the past. The most accurate match for SP "DO" is the Star Brand paint. The shade on the WOT cars looks they've been in the California sun for some time, LOL....

[ATSF_Ron]

Mike, that's the truth, lol!  SP was never much of a "clean" railroad in terms of paint.  Well, at least after the steam era.