Apparently according to MR many are reducing their purchases of decals, and instead, are purchasing the off the shelf jobs. In free lancing, how many modify an already existing engine (eg. by Montana Rail Link engine and modify it for your own road), and how many paint and decal "undecs?" I guess you could almost make a poll out of this question.
With the project my friend and I are working on..it is all decal free lance....each letter has to be individually placed on the car..and this is an eight car train might I add.
And when I get done with the above mentioned project, I'll be back to working on my SP&S train #1/2, with mostly custom painted cars. Did I ever menthion there are a LOT of letters in Spokane, Portland and Seattle? Twice per car, times at least 4 cars. ALPS printers sell for under $200 on eBay and one is looking better all the time. On a more general note, I really enjoy full custom work, even when it's prototypical. For example, another project currently on my workbench is a pair of GN GP30s that I'm painting and decalling in the Big Sky Blue scheme. Going off on a tangent here, I really wish more manufacturers would offer this scheme. Atlas is to be applauded for doing the U33Cs in the correct blue and their cabooses in both blue and red in multiple numbers.
I'd agree with that, Big Sky Blue seems a very overlooked scheme, especially with all those various P2K geeps & early SD's just crying out for it not to mention SD45's, U25B's.... The only one I have is an Athearn F45. Back to the original point though, much as I like detailing & kitbashing (not a big fan of custom painting though) I have to admit that many of my recent purchases have been from the Atlas/Kato stable that only need the minor road specific detailing added, it may change though, I get married in August & so might need to follow through on some of the undec units I have sat around the place! [ 02 May 2002, 09:56: Message edited by: Martyn Read ]
All of my GVR locos and rolling stock are custom painted and decaled. Also about half of my NS locos are.(KATO doesn't do hi short hood SD45s) Several of my CPRail units are custom painted and decaled. A couple of my CSX units also fit in here. I wish more companies would offer data only freight cars. This would sure make it easier to letter for homeroad/freelance .
My ECI has 5 custom painted and decaled diesel locos, 6 boxcars, 2 cabooses and a 2 bay open hopper for MOW. I modified a standard railroad logo to make mine and use several different decal sets to complete each car and loco. These are Herald King decals and are no longer made and if I want any more, I'll have to have them custom made.
I do a little of both. I buy off the shelf, unless I can't get what I want that way. To be more specific... My layout plans include 10 engines. But since I'm afflicted with TEAS (Train Engine Aquisition Syndrome - meaning I love buying engines) I'm sure I will end up with more than 10, but only 10 on the layout at a time. Some of these will be run just as bought. But I have special plans for a few. for example: 1) repainting a SD40-2 snoot as the UP United Way engine (UP 3300). 2) Taking a small SP engine (SD-35 or such) and "patching" it for the UP. 3) A UP dash 9 with the wings on the nose and flags on the side (yes, I know this isn't prototypical, but maybe it will be someday) So to conclude... I have an idea of what I want, if I can't buy it, I'll make it. One point on super detailing engines... First of all, I'm not critizing those who do - I admire they're talent and results. But I do not do it for 2 reasons. I don't want to spend money on that while I'm still trying to build the layout. And also, my concern with details is if you don't do it well, it can detract from the engines appearance rather than add to it.
When I modeled HO I needed a specific logo for engines and lots of rolling stock. Rather than going to the expense of decals, I got a rubber stamp lettering kit with white ink, set up the logo and simply stamped everything . It worked really well as I could get a "newly painted" look, or old and faded by varying my ink volume. The ink was protected with clear coat . John
Cheap and efficient, and fun too! To the public the railroad was the Colorado Southwestern, but to us on the inside it was the "Cheap, Salvaged Waste" because the Brass Hats were pretty tight (my wife ) !! John
