Using Model Railway Scenery decals

I spotted these in one of the railway magazines and thought I would try them. The decals are the water slide type and come in a sheet that includes rust patches, oil stains and chemical corrosion. I would show a picture, but probably that would breech copyright rules.

The subject wagons I used for this experiment are four Bachmann coal trucks. Here is an example in pristine condition:



What I wanted to do was to add some rust spots before applying weathering powders. The decals are simply cut from the sheet, dunked in warm water and after 3 -4 minutes they slide into position. Here are two trucks with just the rust patches added:



I have to say that I am quite pleased with the effect. The decals are somewhat shiny and will need to be toned down with a matt varnish. I will add some weathering powder and report back on the overall effect.

Bob

Hi Bob

Where did you obtain these excellent decals?

Derek

They look very good Bob,do you know if they are available in N scale?.

[user=364]Super D[/user] wrote:

Hi Bob

Where did you obtain these excellent decals?

Derek

Here is the link to the website:

http://www.modelrailwayscenery.com/2014/02/rust-corrosion-waterslide-decals-large-dc02-oo4mm176/

They cost £3.99 per sheet.

I have not found them on the site in N gauge, but maybe worth sending an email to the company: Model Railway Scenery. The website is quite extensive.

Bob

OK, I have finished these wagons and feel able to give a view of these decals. For the price they are excellent but there are a couple of issues. The first thing is that they are quite thick and if a weathering powder is used after they have been applied there is a danger that the edges will be picked up by the powders and stand out. When applied straight onto plastic or the original model surface they are prone to silvering when a varnish is applied, see here:



This shows the silvering effect and on the right panel the edges of the decal are picked out by the coal dust weathering powder. That said this is a close up and it is invisible a foot or so away.

These next shots are of later wagons where this effect is even less noticeable:






The last picture has a little silvering around the central area.

Overall I really like this product and will use it again. I would like to try a tanker wagon. If I do another wagon I would first spray it in gloss varnish, allow that to dry, apply the decals, then add another coat of gloss varnish. Once this is dried the whole thing gets a couple of coats of matt varnish. This is the technique used by aircraft modellers to avoid similar problems with decals. Once all of that is thoroughly dry the wagon can then be attacked with weathering powders.

I certainly think the above result is better than the pristine wagons that I started with.

Bob

I emailed the site Bob and they can do them in N scale.

That's good news, otherwise I was going to suggest that these decals could be chopped up and used for N Gauge.

Bob

This is the reply i received and very quickly too.

Hi Alan,  Yes we can, I just need to get them resized. I can get them done early next week.  Thanks  Justin

So it seems good for us N gaugers.

They look absolutely brilliant in the first shot Bob - less so in the subsequent shots ………

I wonder if spraying them with matt varnish THEN adding the weathering powders might solve the "edge" issue ………:roll:  I'm thinking maybe the varnish might seal and "fill" the edges to stop that hard demarcation line showing up ………..:hmm

Certainly worth playing around with. :thumbs

Bob, re the 'silvering' effect with the decals, or transfers as we used to call them when I was a kid.  You are quite right regarding applying gloss varnish first and then applying the decals.  All waterslide transfers should be applied to a gloss surface to aid adhesion and to avoid the 'silvering' effect.  I think this is caused by air getting under the transfer.  You don't actually have to cover the whole wagon in gloss varnish, just those small areas where the transfer will go.  And as you rightly say, when all is dry, a spray of matt varnish will remove the shine and seal the transfers in place.

By the way, the wagons look brilliant. :thumbs

Terry