[zedbob]

I'm in the process of repainting my 2 x Lima 125's into GNER livery and I am about to come up to a problem (I've been in this situation before but made such a mess of it I had to go back to step one!!)

Whats the best method for doing the red stripes? I tried the fox transfers red stripe but I found it hard to get it flat and horozontal.

I am debating trying this method again (with a transfer solution, Methfix??) or investing in a bow pen. I have heard of these but never seen them advertised or how to use them.

What price range are they and are they easy to use? (I need to do the faint line around the top aswell, not sure if Fox do the transfers for these)

Please help, or my Lima 125's will have to run in new, squiggly lined GNER blue!

 

[poliss]

Bow pens are used freehand from what I've seen. A very steady hand is needed.

 

[Al]

I've used a draughting pen before. But what ever you decide on, practise first...

 

[Jennings]

There is that create your own decal package somewhere which allows to print your own transfers (Supercal or something?) and that would give you a neat finish (And straight).

 

[deadeye2959]

Hi

you can Print your own decals with this blank decal paper and will get it of ebay

pete

 

[deadeye2959]

hi again

I have just found this lnik they do decal paper

http://www.craftycomputerpaper.co.uk

pete

 

[poliss]

The OP said he tried transfers and couldn't get them straight. How would buying more transfers help him?

 

[pedromorgan]

poliss is right. it woudltn help him at all. also red is a very difficult colour to do a trnsfer for. the colour density just isnt there hence the white strips that you have to put under the red with fox transfers.

Methfixx dosent actually make sence. all the transfers are waterslide.

The bow pen is a very usefull tool for doing thin lines but is totally unsuitable for the broad red lines of the GNER livery.

You really have 2 options.

the first (and if you are doing it with blue doors then i would use this method) is to persevere with the transfers. get a very soft pencill and draw a line that is very faint. you can use it as a guide when doing the transfers. you cant see it after the varnish has gone on and it makes life soo much easier. as far as getting it flat is concerned, i cant say i have ever had this problem but it sounds like you are not doing it right. it sounds like you are leaving the transfer in the water untill the transfer has come off the backing paper and then trying to move it onto the model.
the transfer only needs a quick dip then leave it on some tissue paper. wait a couple of minutes then move the whole thing into position on the model (complete with backing paper). then using a cotton wool bud, press down on one end and drag the paper out from the other. you should find that it goes on almost exactly where you need it.

Method 2 (and if i was doing the red doors then this is how i would do it) start off buy spraying the whole model GNER red then mask off the lines and the doors with tape then spray the whole model blue and take away the tape and hay presto -GNER stripe!

Where are you based? if you are near london and need any assistance with this project i would be glad to help.

Regards

peter

 

[pedromorgan]

This is my bow pen (over 100 years old now and still going strong) on the right and the Bob Moore on the left. both have their uses but are too fine for this job. i can get a line up to about 1.4mm but then it starts to become uneven.

Buying a good bow pen is really not easy these days. the trouble is that soo few people are using them. you are looking at over £50+ for a decent one. the cheap chinese ones you see in stationers are a complete waste of time.

Peter

 

[jukebox]

I can recommend the clear decal film/bowpen route for the cantrail stripes. The good thing about doing the stripes this way is that you can have dozen of goes till you get it right. There is no way I would try and line directly onto a model - the curves and mouldings would put me off.

I loaded a bowpen - nothing too flash, a Staedler one from my school drawing days 30 years ago - with about 3mm of neat Pheonix GNER red, after setting the "jaws" a hair's breath apart. After a handfull of practice lines I was able to get some consistancy, and drew about a dozen lines, so I would have spares (and I had never used one before).
Seal the decal with Testors Decal Bonder or similar, and when dry, trim as close to the line as you can so the carrier film is kept to a minimum.

To apply them, dip them for somewhat less than the recommended time, and lay the decal where you want the line to go. The trick I found was to use a wet paintbrush to gently hold one end, and pull the decal carrier away in the other direction. Dont try and move the 20cm long, 1mm thin decal! I used dilute Microset to bed them down. When things got away from straight, try applying a little tension from one end - but be sure the decal is saturated so it moves, not snaps. Make lots of spare lining, so if it does go pear shaped, you can throw away the decal and have another go.

For the 3mm red strip, I went down the Model Rail route, of a good solid red coat of paint, and a half width strip of Tamiya masking tape a few weeks later before an all over coat of GNER Blue. I liked this because it seemd to distort less than the plastic Eurostar tape everyone seems to swear by. To get it straight, use a set of dividers (again, the old school drawing set) and use the bottom edge of the model as a datum.

Good luck.

 

[pedromorgan]

"I liked this because it seemd to distort less than the plastic Eurostar tape everyone seems to swear by."

Mee too.

Peter

 

[zedbob]

Thanks for the tips folks

I think I will avoid the Bow pen route, 50 quid is a bit much to spend on this wee project, ok I might use it again but I have 100's of tools I've used that excuse for!!

I think I will try the paint it red then mask it, that was minimised expenditure (I already have a tin of GNER red) and if things go wrong its easy to get back to bare plastic.

As a quick footnote, the pic's I am working from for GNER 125's don't appear to have red doors, have I missed something?

2nd footnote to Pedro, Thanks for your kind offer, unfortunatly I live in Dundee so am a bit too far away. Unless of course I organise I trip on the prototype 125 in question! But then I would be as well buying a Bow pen....

Final note, out of interest, flea-bay don't appear to have any Bow pens on offer. Thats the first time I've searched for something to find they don't have any of any description!

 

[poliss]

There's 2 bow pens finishing on ebay in the next 20 mins. Quality doesn't look up to much though.

 

[zedbob]

QUOTE (poliss @ 6 Dec 2007, 12:43) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>There's 2 bow pens finishing on ebay in the next 20 mins. Quality doesn't look up to much though.

What did you search for? I put in "Bow Pen" and it returned a nice selection of pens with Bows...

 

[poliss]

I searched for bow-pen. Maybe it was the hyphen that found it. Sold now for just over £9.50

 

[pedromorgan]

hello Zedbob. as the GNER stock is upgraded it was given red doors to comply with european legislation (aparently blind people find it easier to find ugly doors!)

Peter