Best Of The Overland/Wiseman brass Western Maryland Shay thread

[u18b]

Beautiful work! You may have mentioned already, but what paint did you use?

What is the size of the lettering on the tender? I'm wondering if it's close to the right size for diesel switchers and RS units for the fireball era. If thats the case, I'd be up for a few sets if it helps offset costs. I know someone is working with the WMHS to come up with a new steam set, I can put you in contact with them if you're interested.

Thank you.

Paint is Tru-Color 171 Weathered Black.   
Thinned with Tru-Color thinner.   I HATE how much it costs, but it really makes a difference.

Not sure about the herald.    But I've already started drawing the decals with CorelDraw.   I'll post when I make more progress.

I think I checked Diesel decals, but was not certain they were the size I needed.
And I'm not aware of any steam decals beyond Titchy- which are terrible.

[peteski]

I think what I had in mind was....



You could only get heat shrink on one side (right), but not the other (left).   And the side you can reach... the orbital u-joint is pretty big vs gear much smaller.

At any rate, it worked out well I think.
Thanks.

Ah, ok.  Yes, it would be difficult to mask those.
My reply mentioning the tubing was to the earlier post and this photo.

[u18b]

Hahaha.
Brain freeze.
Yep, I missed it.
That would have been just the thing to do.
 

[PiperguyUMD]

Good to know about the paint. I’ve been using TCP too, but thinned with lacquer thinner. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s not. Maybe I need to spring for some of their thinner.

[robert3985]

Good to know about the paint. I’ve been using TCP too, but thinned with lacquer thinner. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s not. Maybe I need to spring for some of their thinner.

Yup.  Buying a couple of big bottles of TCP thinner really improved the consistency of my paint jobs.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[jwaldo]

Good to know about the paint. I’ve been using TCP too, but thinned with lacquer thinner. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s not. Maybe I need to spring for some of their thinner.

I've had nothing but good luck using Mr. Color Leveling Thinner with TCP. It's costlier than basic lacquer thinner, but nowhere near as expensive as the TCP stuff.

[u18b]

Good to know about the paint. I’ve been using TCP too, but thinned with lacquer thinner. Sometimes it’s great, sometimes it’s not. Maybe I need to spring for some of their thinner.

Same story.
Sometimes pretty good..... but other times not acceptable.

This is the first time using TCP thinner and I'm sold.
I might try Mr. Color one day, but TCP just does not give excellent results with lacquer thinner.
This has been my smoothest paint ever with TCP.

[peteski]

Yes, TCP does use acetone as solvent, they do not use straight acetone. It is a blend of acetone and several other, slower-drying solvents.  Using straight acetone results in the paint drying too fast. The TCP proprietary thinner has the proper blend of those solvents resulting in optimal self-leveling and optimal drying time.

While in our hobbies we often cut corners with our paint thinners (usually due to their lower cost), it is always the best to use thinner specifcally desinged for the specific paint. Piece  of  mind  is well worth the extra price.

[u18b]

Took a couple of shots with my better camera.

[u18b]

Beautiful work! You may have mentioned already, but what paint did you use?

What is the size of the lettering on the tender? I'm wondering if it's close to the right size for diesel switchers and RS units for the fireball era. If thats the case, I'd be up for a few sets if it helps offset costs. I know someone is working with the WMHS to come up with a new steam set, I can put you in contact with them if you're interested.

@PiperguyUMD
Message sent.
Yes, thanks.

[u18b]

Made some progress on decal drawings.

[nickelplate759]

You might want to adjust the kerning if you can.

In particular, there's too much space between the W and E and between the R and N in WESTERN, and too much space on either side of the As (both of them), and betwen the R and Y in MARYLAND.

[u18b]

Thanks George.
You are partially correct.... and partially not.

I do indeed need to do some tuning (thanks)....

But there are two different paint schemes in play.

The first was done by the professionals at Lima.   The letters are perfect.   I need to make some adjustment for these.   You are correct.



Not sure if this is original paint, but it was during the service life ( ~1945 - 1950).    This photo is somewhere around 1950 or a little after.




Then you have the modern Cass paint scheme.   It does NOT appear to be professionally done.   Many of the errors/flaws you point out are on the Cass paint job (I'm guessing done by volunteers).   Notice the N in Maryland is not exactly on the line of the other letters!



In short.... if it has pin-striping, then is was after the service years when it was retired.
The in-service scheme is all black.

The pinstripes were added when it was cleaned up for donation to the B&O Museum.   And they continue at Cass.

I did not draw a fireball.
Cass has used the fireball but since it is present or not present in various photos, I have wondered  if it is actually a painted magnet.
At any rate, the diesel set has the fireball.

[u18b]

I worked on the letter spacing for the In-Service herald.  (leaving the Cass version as-is, which is just like the prototype).

Should be a little better.



Still have to work on tweaking sizing.  (it's close now, but not final).
This involves more printing on paper, cutting, and comparing to the model until I'm satisfied.

[PiperguyUMD]

What are the dimensions of the in service version of the road name?

Also - are the safety first signs yellow or white? On many of the WMs other late steam these were white.