Decal issue

[ATSF_Ron]

I did a practice piece using the Krylon Matte.  Looked acceptable to me.  I shot a couple of VERY light passes on the GP-9 shell and I'm quite happy with it.  It looks fine.  My only issue is the black portion of the roof has a few very small (scale sized) dots on it.  Easily covered with some soot and grime weathering.  What I'm most happy with are the number boards.  Those were a b#$%ch to trim and set in place, especially with my shaky right hand.  I have carpal tunnel from riding a Harley for years, so trying to hold very small things still with tiny tweezers can be a challenge.  I'm stoked at how straight I got them with very little tweaking.  Next up is some grime similar to the fuzzy proto photo of the loco.









Once weathering is done, I can seal it and then move back to those WOT Harriman cars.  It's supposed to hit upper 60s here once the rain passes.  Should be decent enough temps for shooting some gloss on those babies to prep for decals, round two!

[ATSF_Ron]

Peteski, would something like this work for thinning Dullcote/Glosscote?  I'm having a hard time finding lacquer thinner without mineral spirits, and I know you said that mineral spirits shouldn't be used with Dullcote.  I tried looking for Testors 1159 thinner but can't find it anywhere online or in stores.  My guess is it isn't made any longer.

[peteski]

Ron, as you know lacquer thinner is a blend of solvents. Different brands of lacquer thinners are made using different blends.
When I stated not to use mineral spirits, it was straight mineral spirits.  If some mineral spirits (probably small percentage) are in the blend, that will still be ok to use.  I use SCL brand of lacquer thinner. I bought a gallon probably 20 years ago and I still have some left.  Not even sure if that brand is still available, or if they still use the same formula.  A lacquer thinner from a hardware store (like Ace, Tru-Value or even Home Depot or Lowe's) should do the trick.  But I can't guarantee compatibility.

If you are happy with the Krylon spray, and it appears compatible with the paint on the model and decals, then  just keep using it.

[ATSF_Ron]

Thanks for clarifying, Peteski.

[ATSF_Ron]

Getting back to the Harriman cars...I have 8 of these, all repainted by the previous owner but unlettered.  The gloss coat needs to be put on for the 2nd decaling attempt - hopefully with no silvering!







Here's my problem.  There are 13 windows on each side of EACH CAR!  That's a lot of masking I'd rather not do.  My thought was to slide a thin piece of styrene or foil between the window glass and car body for the entire length of the car, then shoot the gloss.  But as the pics show, that's not possible due to the way the car is assembled.  There's an interior piece below the model's removable roof that I'm not sure how to remove.  It looks as though there are some type of clips at each end, but I can't seem to dislodge the interior piece.  These are not kits.  They came preassembled.  Has anyone ever taken these apart and knows the trick to actually get them apart?  I can be a bit of a ham-hands at times, so I'm going about this gingerly.

My other thought is mask the windows in one horizontal strip, shoot the gloss and decal, then hit the car with matte or satin and hope it matches the middle window strip that's masked.  That sounds iffy to me, but who knows?  Any comments are appreciated.  Thanks.

Ron

[peteski]

I'm not familiar with those cars, but I suspect that can be fully disassembled.  I would take your entire post and post it in the Product discussion or even N scale section asking for disassembly instructions of Harriman cars.  You'll likely find someone who knows how that can be done.

[ATSF_Ron]

Will do! Thanks again, Peteski.