Changing Road numbers on painted models

[u18b]

I recently needed to change road numbers on painted models and thought this was a good topic for everyone.

Others folks have other methods and I hope you guys will share what you do and how successful it is.

The issue is this:   you have a piece of equipment that is painted- but you need something removed.   That something is usually the road number but it can be something else.   So you want to remove the something so you can add a decal and make a change without repainting the whole piece of equipment.

So what is a good removal technique?

I’ve had fairly good success with the scratching method.

I take a FRESH #11 Xacto knife and very carefully and lightly drag it over the numbers or letters that I’m scratching off.  I use a shallow angle.  I work slowly and try not to go too deep.  I pause and blow the shavings away constantly so my vision of what I’m doing doesn’t get obscured.

Remember we are dealing with layers.   There is the plastic model and then the base color.  The road number or herald is then painted as the top layer.  So the goal is to scrape off only the top layer.

If you go too deep, you scrape into the body color and expose the shell color.  In a worst case, you scratch (and damage) the plastic of the body shell.

If it goes really well, there have been times when I had zero touch up work to do.   Sometimes the touch up work is minor.   In other cases, if it does not go well, I have to get my airbrush out to do a major correction.

Aside from operator error and technique, what’s the difference?   The clear answer is:  the paint.   I’ve had MUCH less success with Kato.   The paint Kato uses is VERY thin and very hard.  In fact, I heard someone once say that what they use is closer to an ink than a paint.

I’m a CSX fan and was disappointed with one of Kato’s early models.   In the early days of the 1990s, they were much less precise than they are now.

Case in point is the CSX SD40 in the early CSX TRANSPORTATION scheme.  CSX only painted one of these and Kato used the wrong road number (how did that even happen?).  And besides that, the sublettering on the Kato cab was wrong (Kato put CSXT when it should have been SBD).   So I attempted to scratch off the wrong Kato road number and sublettering.  Even being experienced with this technique and being careful, it was a failure.    The problem was that Kato sprayed blue paint first.  Then gray.  Then stamped blue numbers on top of that.  And when I scraped a little too deep, I went through the thin gray layer and exposed the blue paint underneath.   It looked awful.

Failure!






I will now have to color-match the CSX gray and airbrush the cab before applying new decals.

Here is a successful attempt. 

A friend was a big Norfolk & Western fan and he ran old N scale equipment from the 70s.   I wanted to get him something more modern which ran so much better.  At the time, Bachmann had not made a Consolidation in N&W (they have since).  So I bought a Union Pacific and scratched the numbers off the cab and the herald off of the tender.   Looking at this photo, you cannot see that this was once a UP loco- and I didn’t have to repaint the loco.   If I remember correctly, if there was any little flaw, a little touch up with a fine paintbrush and black paint was all that was needed.

[u18b]

Then last week, I attempted to scratch the road numbers off of the cab of an Atlas CW40-8.   




This was the best experience ever.    With slow and careful work, the yellow road numbers came off of the cab beautifully.  This was a MUCH better experience than trying to remove Kato numbers.  The Atlas blue under-paint was thicker and the yellow numbers chipped off better.

Now in the case of this Atlas CSX model, the Atlas paint has a flat finish to it.   However it looked smooth and shiny where I scratched off the old road numbers.     So once the loco had received new decals, I will simply clear coat it and then weather the whole locomotive.



And here is a Youtube video of some of the work.

Please share what you do and share your work in photos!

[davefoxx]

With these clumsy hands, I cannot imagine scratching the letters off without damaging the locomotive.  So, I still do the Micro Sol and toilet paper soaking method, scrubbing the lettering off with a Q-Tip.  That’s what I did on this old Life-Like Proto2000 U30B to change it from the Seaboard Air Line to the split image scheme of the Seaboard Coast Line.  Here, the Seaboard lettering has been removed, and I’m still soaking the road number on the cab.



The worst disaster that I had removing lettering was trying to delete the white road numbers on the cab of a Durham & Southern GP38.  Turns out that Athearn had painted the black body color over white paint, leaving the white exposed for the numerals.  Removing the white numbers went straight to raw styrene.  D’oh!  Ruined!

DFF

[u18b]

Thanks for posting Dave.
@davefoxx
So that is a tiny cut piece of toilet paper?

[mu26aeh]

Yes, cut the paper to cover the numbers/item you want to remove.  This keeps the MS/alcohol etc concentrated on the number and not running all over the engine/car. 

[Tom4884]

I have run into this issue a number of times as I have several UP SD45s on my roster.  I use a bright boy to get most of the numbers off, then use the xacto knife as you described to get the red paint out of the gaps between the doors on the side of the engine. I was told by someone (don't remember where), that Kato uses a kind of stamp to put the numbers on, not sure if it is paint or ink, but it seems thicker than the paint on the rest of the shell. I have also used alcohol based model paint remover on some old Life-Like 2882s with excellent results, just don't rub too hard as the raw plastic is a slightly different shade of black than the paint (you can probably figure out how I know that!).

Tom

[nscaler711]

I use a fiber glass pen, like this one.
https://www.amazon.com/Megacast-Fiberglass-Scratch-Brush-Pen/dp/B09Q4PK2R1

Just work slowly and the lettering comes right off without damaging the underlying paint too badly. For me it has worked better than using any form of blade. Any damage that does happen, can usually be covered up with the new lettering. Maybe don't use it on Silver paint though, it will dull the shine.

[mu26aeh]

Tim Garland just talked about using those on his Seaboard Central channel last week, looks pretty slick

[MetroRedLine]

I recently needed to change road numbers on painted models and thought this was a good topic for everyone.

Sounds good! Now how about changing the number on the number boards?

[nkalanaga]

I use the #11 blade as well, but a worn-out one, usually with a broken tip.

Take a file and round the broken end slightly, then resharpen the blade.  It doesn't have to "cutting edge sharp", just smoothly rounded and sharpened.  It scrapes as well as a new blade, and the rounded tip lowers the risk of scratching the model.

I have such a blade in a piece of wooden dowel, and a short section of telescoping brass tubing to keep it in the slot.  Not strong enough to use as a knife, but it works very well as a scraper.

[davefoxx]

Thanks for posting Dave.
@davefoxx
So that is a tiny cut piece of toilet paper?

Ron,

Yes, the little piece of toilet paper keeps it wet, so that the MicroSol has time to do its work.  Sometimes, it can take 15-30 minutes of keeping it wet to soften the lettering sufficiently.  Otherwise, the MicroSol will just evaporate.

DFF

[u18b]

Sounds good! Now how about changing the number on the number boards?

 

[Angus Shops]

I use the scratch method regularly, sometimes on locos but more often on freight equipment. A couple of years ago my LHS was clearing out some Microtrains 40’ boxcars at great prices at a time when I was working to increase my ‘home road’ (CPR) fleet - I selected about a dozen road names with minimalist white lettering on ‘boxcar red’ schemes to limit the amount of scratching required and had them relettered in no time with no mess. I use vertical strokes so that any ‘over enthusiastic’ work can be passed of streaks of grime; once the cars have a light weathering any faults are pretty much invisible. I currently have 5 or 6 MT tank cars in black that have had their lettering removed pending relettering. 4 started out as UP cars. A couple will become company service cars moving diesel fuel while the others will become ‘something Canadian’. An ABA set of Intermountain F units had the CPR script lettering scratched off in favour of block lettering.

I find that a brand new #11 blade is too sharp, especially the tip of the blade, leading to damage to the base colour and visible scratch markings.

[mecgp7]

I use the #11 blade as well, but a worn-out one, usually with a broken tip.

I concur with this. A used blade that may be a bit rounded is key. In my experience, no one method works on everything. Each manufacturer's paint/ink is different.

Joe's decal remover is kinda cool as it softens the numbers/letters but also has a slight abrasiveness to it. I dip a small ball of tissue held by tweezers and rub gently. I have heard that non-gel toothpaste will do the same.

Someone mentioned numberboards. On those you punt. Repaint and decal!!

[Specter3]

I too use the scrape w a blade method. I renumbered 90 Atlas 90 ton hoppers that way. I renumber locos that way as well, but I usually just change 1 number. My eyes are not good enough to see the difference in size anymore between the factory numbers and decals so I dont worry about it.