Decals VS Dry Transfers on a steam engine project

I’m tackling my first paint and decal project on a steamer. A Mantua cast alloy steam engine kit and plastic semi vanderbuilt tender. I’m spraying it with canned Floquil engine black which is flat and sooty. The look I want.

With decals, I must first shoot the surface with Glosscote, right? Followed by decal solutions, and Dullcote to seal it. Right? what I fear is loosing the flat sooty look I want as Dullcote is not as flat as I like.

Alternative: Dry transfers, I understand I don’t need to worry about hiding decal film and can retain the flat sooty look. I also understand dry transfers are difficult to apply and they don’t like rivets. Rivets are not a problem but the tender surface is curved. I’m also told I need to seal dry transfers with Dullcote.

I bought Kalmbach’s new book on painting and decaling. It’s a good book but has me half way there as it focuses on diesels. Can anyone who’s into steam and worked with dry transfers and decals give me some pointers here?

The trick to dry transfers is having extra sets of lettering to finish the job. They usually come in different sizes on the sheet, so tip #2 is to trim down to the size letters you need. You will need to burnish after every character, and you will need to seal them on when you are done. I load up my airbrush with a half-dullcote/half-gloss mixture, and it seals my lettering without changing the overall appearance. A Piece of masking tape will erase any unwanted characters.

If you already have decals, try them first. Trim them down as close to the character as possible. and use solvaset afterwards. A quick burst of dullcote should blend it in.

With rivits, I would DEF go with decals. Your worries about not having that ‘sooty’ look after the dull coat can be remidied by useing some weathering chalks. Just brush on the Soot…

David

Thanks for the replies. There are no rivets where I am lettering. It’s the curved surface of the vandy tender I am concerned about. I will take the advice posted here and experiment on a junk tank car with decals and transfers.

I think you just have to evaluate how you letter and go for it.

For me its decals, but I have dry transfers. I like decals because you can adjust them while wet
to get it right.

I just decal right over the sprayed on paint.

Dullcoat technically makes the whole model the same finish as the decal, but then use a clear flat paint as the final finish.

this is some work with weathering I have done.
I try not to be overdone with the weathering tretment.

There’s one other thing to try…brush paint on the gloss coat where you’re going to decal it. But I would try it out first on some scrap material to see how well the gloss coat self-levels itself. You don’t want brush strokes to show, after all. Then after you decal, hit it with flat finish again with the spray.

If you don’t have gloss in a jar, you can spray a concentrated amount of gloss coat onto a piece of cardboard, plastic, or metal, and dip your brush into it if you work quickly.

Paul A. Cutler III


Weather Or No Go New Haven