I received the dry transfers from Clover House today, which was quick, along with with a nice thank you note.
Sure enough, as MWB mentioned above, there is apparently a potential issue with using Testors Dullcoat over the transfers. They mentioned specific examples of clear coats they tested and I ended up using the Krylon Matte Finish, which I had on hand.
Here's the note they sent with the dry transfers:
I sprayed the surfaces (whole tender, and just the part below the cab window) with the matte finish, let it cure for around a half hour (I can be impatient), applied the transfers using end of a small paint brush and a small spatula as burnishing tools, and overcoated with the matte finish.
The can side numbers are a bit small but I was surprised by the small size of the numbers on the prototype, so it's not too far off actually.
I painted the front truck wheels and the rims of the drivers black (flat rattle can on truck wheels, and Collector Color 675 semigloss black on drivers). For the drivers I hooked leads to the locomotive held it in my hand and ran the drivers at a slowish rate while applying the paint with a small brush just to the rims.
I also made an air compressor steam exhaust pipe from 14 gage solid copper wire with straps made from thinner wire, painted and expoxied in place (Gorilla clear epoxy). It's strange that it's absent on the model to begin with. The 14 gage is a bit thick, but it matches well with the molded in steam line running into the air compressor 16 probably would have been perfect but this is what I had on hand and I think it looks fine.
The pilot is pretty spartan so I have ordered air brake hoses and coupler cut bar assembly parts from Precision Scale which I will add at some point when I get them, and perhaps remover the superfluous classification lights from the pilot per the prototype.
Pictures:
And the transition sequence 🙂:
This was an easy and highly enjoyable and rewarding project.
