Custom Decals and Painted Locomotive Information

Model railroading in all scales and gauges. HO talk welcome :)
rail_watcher
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Custom Decals and Painted Locomotive Information

Unread post by rail_watcher »

Hello all, I am interested in having a couple GP9’s custom painted and lettered. Can any shell (factory painted and lettered) be custom painted and lettered or do I need to get some un-decorated shells to have the custom work done to them? Also, does anyone have any links to some good places to have custom work done?

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GTW Dude
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Re: Custom Decals and Painted Locomotive Information

Unread post by GTW Dude »

Motown Models has a good track record I’m told and they do custom painting and DCC installation but last I heard they are no longer accepting models because if he backload they already have to do. AFAIK the only time you’ll need to strip the paint is on Brass and not on plastic which I know Motown models does strip the paint on their brass models they are come in.

GreatLakesRailfan
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Re: Custom Decals and Painted Locomotive Information

Unread post by GreatLakesRailfan »

rail_watcher wrote:
Tue Mar 01, 2022 12:06 pm
Hello all, I am interested in having a couple GP9’s custom painted and lettered. Can any shell (factory painted and lettered) be custom painted and lettered or do I need to get some un-decorated shells to have the custom work done to them? Also, does anyone have any links to some good places to have custom work done?
I've custom painted a few of my own locomotives, and I've always had better results if I strip the shell first, then prime prior to painting. But I also model in N scale where too many additional coats of paint cover the molded in details on the shell.

For the most part, just about any factory she'll can be stripped and repainted. How to strip depends on which manufacturer the shell came from. If you work with a custom painter, they'll probably have guidelines for preparing the shell(s) before shipping.

There were a couple members on this board doing custom work for other people, but I don't know if they're still doing so. From what I've seen of their work, it's very good.
~ Charles W.

rail_watcher
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Re: Custom Decals and Painted Locomotive Information

Unread post by rail_watcher »

So, an update to my original question/issue. I was able to find two GP9's in the road name and color scheme that I want to model, they are just numbered wrong. I now have a Walther's Proto GP9 GTW #4434 (which I want numbered #4545) and a Walther's Mainline GP9 GTW #4555 (which I want numbered #4554). According to Walther's Customer Service, they say their numbers are painted on, but you can use a product called ELO Easy Lift Off to remove the letters. My concern is this product is a paint remover and I don't want to damage the blue paint below. Anyone have any experience with this or have any ideas of how I should proceed?

RailsandTrucks
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Re: Custom Decals and Painted Locomotive Information

Unread post by RailsandTrucks »

Try using a pencil eraser first - that will be the least likely to damage the paint underneath assuming it works. Sometimes it works wonders, other times it does nothing at all.

If that fails, you can try various solvents but will run the risk of damaging the paint. I'd try MICRO SOL or some sort of decal solvent if the eraser fails, and then move on to something stronger like ELO or scalecoats wash away if that fails. Care/patience is key - too much solvent and you'll strip away some of the paint.

Something to keep in mind when doing re-numbering, is that sometimes the lettering /font of the decals can be SLIGHTLY off from what the mfg applied- so even though you are only trying to change a few digits, you may have to remove the entire # and re-apply to avoid it looking off.
Keep on truckin........By Train!!!

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