Thanks for the advise about paints. But I'm using matt colours, drying far faster. Here is the second stripe. Dom
(For lift rings and grab iron I guess I'll wait a lil' bit!). Cab strip is done, yet needing some trimming.:tb-wink: I'm now beginning to think about the decals I will need: basically I'll need 4 number boards (2 front and 2 aft) and decals showing the logo "Ch M" (Chiapas Mayab) that is done using Genesee & Wyoming logo (such as my avatar). According to you guys, what's the easiest way to obtain such decals? Any idea of a crafstman who produces custom decals? Dom
Sofar I did my decals in black and white and handpainted the colors where possible / needed. I use paint shop pro to create the log and size it within MSWORD (trial on error), when ok I print on transperant decal papar with a old laser printer. With your road name, I assume that the orange background is actually the orange body color. So if print the full logo black and transperant and a logo containing just the outlines of two yellow parts you might be able to make your logo. You will have to 'open 'the strips where the logo should come. First attach the outlines of two yellow parts. When dry hand paint the yellow. When dryed attach the final logo over the yellow parts. I did the D&RGW logo on my 1408 caboose this way.
Dom, You might have seen it already but, I found a site which shows a picture, which could be used to create a logo decal. http://chiapas-mayab.tripod.com/id12.html
Thanks for the input guys. But making decals would be a completely new skill for me. I've not the least idea of how to proceed. Which kind of hardware and/or software do I need for that? Dom
It's not as hard as you think. To create the artwork you can use Corel Draw or Adobe Illustrator (my preference). They're fairly expensive programs if you want the newest versions, but for decals, any old version works. I would look for Illustrator 7.0 on eBay. Most of us use Alps printers to print decals, mainly because the capability of Alps to print white, silver, etc. Unfortunately this printer is fading away, so a color laser printer is a more reasonable approach. The resolution of today's printers are OK for decals. To have white lettering you can use white decal film. It takes a bit longer to match the base color to your paint, but with Illustrator is fairly simple.
OK Lajos, thanks.:tb-wink: So I'm going to wander around these programs and to do some experiments. Dom
Dom, Let me help you in your exprirments. I played a little with Paint Shop Pro. I'll guess the attachement comes close to what you need. I might need to fine tune it the be able to shrink it to an acceptable size for Z-scale. If you like it I can email it to you in other formats and uncolored.
Frank I'm very grateful for your help. Indeed I should appreciate. The above colours seem fine to me. If you want I can do measurements starting from my own pictures in order to give the exact size of these decals in the prototype. Dom
Dom , Just let me know the approximate left-right size in mm and I'll see what I can do. I can't make is such that the small letters will be readable such small on the loco. Only the letter in the yellow patches will be readable. But unfortunately I cannot print in colors. I can try to optimize the artwork and email it to you. Maybe somebody else can help with color printing if needed.
Illustrator is the way to go, small lettering in good quality is only possible with vector graphics like Illustrator or Corel Draw. Dom, don't forget to paint the roof and the top of the short and long hood grey
I don't forget, Gerd. It'll be actually one of my next steps, as well as preparing pilot and coupler assembly and painting. But I'm a little bit busy all these days, dealing with non-modelist duties...:tb-wink: Dom
Not yet the time to deal with decals but the work is resuming.... Second layer and trimming tomorrow. Dom
WOW!!!! That is just so cool. I wish I had that kind of talent. I can't even paint a wall let alone one of these guys. A few weeks ago, there was a guy on EBAY who had up for auction an F7 A and B unit painted in CP's red colours with white lettering and the Packman logo. They sold before I could even consider putting a bid on them. A couple of weeks after that, he had a GP9 painted in the same colours. It sold as well. He currently has another one up but with colours I don't recognize. All of these he was selling for 300 each. For those of you who frequent Z scale on Ebay, you've probably seen it. From the picture, it looks like a really nice job. It's always blows me away how talented some poeple can be. I been at z scale now for a few years and I still can't get mountain making right. GEEEZ!!!!!
Hey, newtoscale, did you only try to do a repainting work on one of your locos? I'm sure you won't have more problems than me.:tb-wink: Dom
No. That's something I just can't do. Part too picky. I used to paint model airplanes years ago but I was much younger then. I won't attempt to paint any of the Z models.
Myself I've no choice, as undoubtly it's highly unlikely that any Z scale loco will be released from factory wearing an improbable remote shortline's paintscheme one of these days....:tb-wink: Now shell and chassis are together again. I began to work on repainting handrails yesterday but I'm closing the moment when I won't be able to go further as long as I've not solved my decal problem..... Dom
Great progess, I think taking your time like you have, will result in a better finish. I'd be happy with what you've done so far.
