Re numbering Airfix class 31

[mikesndbs]

Hi guys

 

Well D5531 arrived with me in 1980, just took her out of the box and she runs, despite not having done so for years and years. Talk about reliability! 39 years melted away, but I digress.

 

I have another D5531 that was to be a project, I'd like to renumber her to D5532 maybe, so just the white 1 to change.

What are my simplest methods of doing this please?

[The Johnster]

There are several sources of waterslide transfers to do this with, and I can recommend HMRS, Fox, and Cambridge Custom Transfers having used them.  HMRS are a sheet of individual numbers and 'D's along with BR totems and electrification warning flashes. but the others may be able to supply you with complete numbers for D5532.  I'd suggest painting out the old numbers or scraping them carefully off and using new complete numbers of this sort rather than just changing the 1s to a 2s to avoid any possible issue with slight differences in the colour or shape of the numbers drawing attention to themselves, and of course this will help you to get all the individual numbers evenly spaced and level.

 

The websites of these sources will show you what is available and in what form.  If you Google 'model railway transfers' these will all be listed along with others.  Make sure the surface you are applying the transfer to, in this case the lower cabside of the loco, is clean and smooth; I wipe mine with lemon wipes and allow them to dry thoroughly before starting work.  Try a few practice runs with a piece of plastic sheet to get the 'feel' of things before you attack your loco; you will need a sharp craft knife to 'lift' the transfer from the backing sheet, some cotton wool buds to dab water on to it while you are moving it into it's final position, and some tissue paper to blot the water away when you've finished.  Leave them a while to dry out and coat them with a dab of varnish to seal them in against handling damage.

 

It's all pretty straightforward stuff, but needs a bit of care and patience.  Be in a relaxed mood to start with and take your time and you'll be fine, and very satisfied with yourself when you've finished!  But be warned, this sort of activity can be the top of a very slippery slope, an entry drug that ends up with you scratchbuilding live steam Z gauge Gresley pacifics with fully working scale conjugated valve gear...

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

IMHO you will be very lucky to replace 1 digit and blend it in seamlessly with the others, differing typefaces being the biggest problem and also the originals weren't waterslide so they will sit differently.

I would suggest replacing them all using a pre made pack from the likes of Railtec.

 

Mike.

[mikesndbs]

Thanks chaps, great advice.

 

So removing the old numbers, you say scrape off, sounds like a job!?

[Il Grifone]

I use an ink eraser for jobs like this, as it causes minimal damage to the base colour.

[The Johnster]

The old numbers can be removed with a mild abrasive like Il Grifone's ink eraser, but you need to be quite gentle with it.  Don't try and take them off all at once, but take a number of light passes.  You can touch up the paintwork if you leave a mark, but it's better if you don't as the touch up will be a different finish to the base colour and show up, although this effect will be lessened by the varnish you use to seal the transfers.  You are looking for a semi-matt eggshell sort of varnish finish as this will match most RTR models.

 

[Steamport Southport]

Try Modelmaster. They do sets for them with loads of alternative numbers and are very easy to use. They definitely do a set for Type 2s but for some reason I can't get on the website.

 

As an example.

 

https://www.petersspares.com/modelmaster-g151-br-green-era-diesel-loco-numbers-oo-gauge-transfers.ir

 

These.

 

https://modelmaster.uk/4mm-br-pre-1965-waterslide-diesel-electric-locos/17159-g925-brush-type-2-a1a-a1a-d5500-d5800-series-white.html

 

Or Fox.

 

https://fox-transfers.co.uk/transfers/early-diesel-electric-livery-d-e-numbering-58710

 

 

Jason

Edited May 28, 2019 by Steamport Southport

[Philou]

A cocktail stick cut to a chisel shape may work too - what works will depend somewhat on how the original transfers were applied. As Johnster says, a number of light passes is best. If you have some T-Cut that can help too. An important thing that may have been overlooked above - the surface onto which the new transfers are to be applied MUST have a gloss finish (a bit of gloss varnish before applying the transfers will do). The gloss finish stops air bubbles being trapped underneath which can cause crazing and lifting of the transfer when the final top protection coat is applied.

 

Cheers,

 

Philip