Jayhawk500 posted:Here's the latest installment for today.
I'm always a bit apprehensive to try new things, ie. (make decals). This whole process is very time consuming. I'll list what I used at the bottom of this post. But here's the left side of the tender and I couldn't be any more pleased with the results. A huge Thank You to C&O Allie for providing the WORD document so I could make the decals. These were exactly the right size for this Mohawk Hudson Tender. I did have to use the Horse vs. train race from one set and the "Chessie Steam Special" from another set, to get what I was looking for. There were 2 sets on the same page.
But what surprised me was the tender number and the gallons for the rear of the tender. I didn't realize the reason Allan had those numbers and words with a black background. So, I removed the black background and just tried printing the numbers and words in yellow. I had everything ready to apply and I put them on and you couldn't see anything. Hummmmm...So I pulled those off before they set up and went to the sides. SUCCESS!
The sides look great! Both sides are exactly the same. THANK YOU ALLAN!
Now, back to the rear of the tender. I printed out some more numbers and letters but with the black background... I did everything the same as before. To get the quality of printing I was looking for, I used the photo setting in the printer properties and BEST image quality. I printed this decals twice allowing the ink to dry in between printings.
But on the first reprint, I don't think I left the ink dry long enough and when I sprayed the bonding spray, the yellow numbers and letters turned orange. So, now I'm on my second reprinting and I'm going to let the ink dry until I get ready to turn in for the night and then spray. That way they'll be ready for tomorrow. I sprayed 2 light coats to seal the ink, allowing the bonder to dry in between coats.
This is what happened on the first reprint after bonding.
And this is what I'm waiting on to dry. This is before bonding.
Oh, almost forgot the hand brake is now painted.
This is what I used to make the decals. I bought these off of Amazon. Best of all, these are Made in USA. I'm very happy with this product from Testors. This decal paper is for inkjet printers ONLY. I've used 2 of the 6 sheets in this process. You need the Bonder Spray to prevent the ink from washing off when you soak the decals. As I stated in my last posts, I'm always learning, and sometimes I use more product than necessary to do the job.
Chris,
Not a problem - the decal job looks great! Seeing you do your tender brings back memories of my daughter and I doing mine. I really love that this hobby is something people can share with each other. 
