pylonman

The aftermath of the weekend disaster. Waited for the grey "undercoat" to dry overnight, masked off, and repainted the dvt, 67 and mk3's Ocean Blue. Also painted a sheet of plasticard blue, to determine any compatibility issues with the varnish, before using it again on the rolling stock. Back to work tomorrow, so plenty of time to leave everything to dry. No more progress until Thursday morning.

Sorry to hear of your disaster Merf. Good luck getting your coaches and solving the problems. There is a possibility that I was too impatient applying the varnish.... the decals may have still been damp. We live and learn !

Merf: I bought a Hornby set of two Mk 3's and a restaurant coach in Virgin livery, known as the "Pretendolino" set.

DISASTER !!!! Received a bottle of Hornby Decalfix, and Hornby Clear varnish yesterday morning. Set about applying the rest of the decals to the MK 3's. Decalfix, together with soaking the decals for longer, seems to have solved the problems of the edges turning up. However : As a finishing touch I decided to apply a coat of Hornby Clear to fix the decals, and improve the gloss finish. Upon first application the finish seemed a bit rough, but I thought that this stuff is supposed to be self levelling according to the instructions. Carried on doing the other Mk 3, and the restaurant car. It just formed puddles all over the fairly good paint finish I had achieved. Applied another "self levelling" coat over the mess, to see if I could retrieve the situation.......... no chance. Applied the grey matter to determine the next course of action. Back in the stripper and start again. Grrrrrrr ! Un approachable for the rest of the day. Quite despondent today...... Photo's below........ can anyone suggest what went wrong ? Before application of varnish: After Application of Clear varnish: The varnish, far from self levelling, has gone lumpy and crusty thus ruining the project. Result: Put everything back in the Dettol, and painted grey. The Class 67 body was obtained on Friday, and is being painted up for the first time. Having bought 500ml of Ocean Blue, at least I am not short of paint !! Can anyone suggest what has gone wrong ?

Glad to hear you are having a go Merf ! I would recommend you invest in an airbrush...... you will get a much more "refined" finish than with an aerosol. I have just bought a budget prices Iwata, having had a Badger for years. Since I have got far more Ocean Blue, than I will ever use, you can have some for you project, for the price of the postage/costs. I am not quite sure what the rules are for sending chemicals by post ? I have just consigned my DVT to the Dettol again: Applied the decals, having cut them from the sheet using a brand new Stanley Knife blade. The edges didn't stick down, so I decided (wrongly), to thin out some blue, and cover the edges with brushed paint...... WRONG !!!!! Having produced a nice, even, gloss finish, with the airbrush, I ruined it. DOH! Back to the drawing board..............

Thanks for the photo "big jim", and the story behind the shot. Very unusual shot, as you said !

Thanks for your input Mick.

A note on the "Precision Decals". I have found that: having soaked the decal for a couple of minutes, the carrier film was still stuck to the backing paper. This has resulted in many decals breaking before I could apply them. A tip I can give : Soak the decal for at least 2 minutes. Get hold of the decal between forefinger and thumb, and VERY GENTLY !!!!!, slide forefinger against thumb, to loosen the decal from the backing paper. Having done this along the whole length of the decal, it can then be slid of the backing paper in a lengthwise direction. I have found if you try to slide the decal off the paper in a crosswise direction, the risk of developing a fold in the decal, is very high. Having achieved a fold, it is almost impossible, however patient or careful, to retrieve the situation, unless you are very lucky. I am sure there are people on RMweb who have more experience than me, and can advise on handling long decals.

Thanks Robert. That would be very interesting. I am happy that the colours I've got now are, at least close, if not perfect. I've used the RAL 5020 Ocean Blue ( coach enamel, 500ml tin),and Cherry/Precision Paints "Arriva Turquoise". Quantity wise, the minimum quantity of the Ocean Blue was 500ml...... will keep me going for ever ! That was my choice......... I could have used Rail Blue, (which a lot of people seem to think is the correct colour),and purchased a 50ml tin, and put up with the inaccurate, but close, colour.

Let me know how you get on merf.

Glorious nse. Thanks for your shot. Much appreciated.

Merf The transfers are available from precision decals. They are not cheap, but they do provide a very good Product/service.

Like a kid at Christmas with a new toy ! Arriva rake coming on a treat. Just put decals on one side of the restaurant car ; very pleased with the result. The handrails on the restaurant car were molded into a slot, and very difficult to paint: I've cut them out, with a view to reinstalling "proper" handrails made of 0.5mm wire. Doing the same with the MK3's. This will be much easier to achieve a much cleaner, white handrail, to contrast with the surrounding dark paint. Very impressed with the level of detail on the Hornby DVT ! There were a lot of bits to be removed before painting.

Undercoated the stripped rolling stock yesterday, to give a consistent base colour, and just happens to look like the right colour for the light grey, Arriva roof. Just sprayed one side of the rolling stock with the Ocean blue, and laid horizontally to avoid any runs. No grey visible because of masking, and nose of the DVT still grey because this will be light turquoise/ yellow. Haven't decided, having applied the decals to the gloss surface, whether to over spray with matt or gloss lacquer. The Bachmann loco is, of course matt finish, but the real thing is high gloss. Opinions welcome !!! The camera has not rendered this blue correctly....... the carriages in the photo look more like the FGW blue. In reality they look good !

Eureka !! Robert (Shrives) has "hit the nail on the head". Received the Ocean Blue RAL5020 from Paragon about 1 hour ago. Straight into the shed to give it a try on a scrap piece of plasticard. Beautiful colour and gloss, thinned about 1 thinner to 6 paint. Colour is more of a blue than turquoise, and lighter...............perfect. Many thanks to Robert !! Before giving the following info for Paragon Paints, I have to state that I am, in no way connected to Paragon Paints, and do not seek to benefit, in any way by giving the following info. This info will save anybody interested, the "legwork" I did on the internet, in order to find Paragon. The contact is : Paragon Paints 12 Deepdale, Woodthorpe, YO24 2SA North Yorks. e-mail: orders@paragonpaints.co.uk Paragon have a website, with colour charts, and will mix paint to RAL numbers, or some other specs. www.paragonpaints.co.uk The Company also goes under the name "Stationary Engine Parts". As previously mentioned, minimum quantity is 500ml....... which compared to a Humbrol tin is huge !!! This is better than some other suppliers, as they will only supply 1 litre minimum........ a waste and expensive ! I purchased 500ml of thinners along with the paint, so there would be no doubt I am using the right stuff. The coach I previously painted has now gone back into the Dettol, to strip, and then I will be repainting the rolling stock in the correct colour. Will post photo's of the finished articles..... possible next week.

Hi. Thanks to Robert Shrives, I have sourced Ocean Blue Ral 5020 enamel, plus thinners from Paragon Enamel Paints, Yorkshire. They sell Ral colours, in 500ml size, coach enamel, rather than a minimum of 1 litre as with other suppliers. 500ml paint about £9.00 500ml Thinners about £4.00 plus VAT Courier Total approx. £24 Just waiting for delivery...............

Tried Flckr for the side on view of the DVT. Loads of photo's of the dvt on there... got one good, detailed side view..... but just shows the start of the curve. DOH ! By-the-way, the hand rails of my partially finished coach look extremely bad.......... work in progress !! (they won't look like that in the finished article)

Thanks for the input everybody. Currently looking for Ocean Blue...... awaiting reply from Phoenix. Have painted one coach in rail blue, and departed from prototype by painting the doors arriva turquoise. Funnily enough, the doors look light blue, like the prototype, in the photo.

Help. Has anyone out there got a side-on view of the Arriva DVT that I can use ? I need to get the position and shape for the curve between light and dark colours on the bodyside on the DVT.

Thanks for your input.

Is it unreasonable, or naive, to think that: Bachmann, having produced a very nice model of an Arriva Class 57, should have produced some carriages to go with it? I contacted Bachmann to ask about the colours used in the "57" and their reply was "We source/formulate our own colours". Really helpful.

Thanks for your input ewsjo. I have Rail Blue from Precision Paints, and it doesn't look like either of the blues in your photo. I agree the Arriva blue looks slightly darker then the BR Blue. I guess I'll have to use guesswork instead of science, to get the right colour.

Thanks "Ragtag". If you're looking for colours for your bus........... Precision Paints have them all........ Arriva Cream , Arriva Turquoise and the darker colour : Rail Blue.

I hold my hands up....... admit I was wrong ! Made my rendezvous with the Cardiff - Holyhead Premier Service, and the MK3 coaches, in the latest livery, are definitely Rail Blue (Dark Turquoise). Even my photo's, (taken in RAW format), render the darker colour as blue, not dark turquoise....... weird. Was up at 0500hrs, to get to Chester, on my day off. The things we do for this hobby! Don't like the light blue doors on the newer livery. Question: Are the Arriva Mk2 coaches the same colour as the Mk3's, if not what colour should I use ? The photo's I took are in my gallery, if anyone is interested.

Yes. If you look at an Arriva bus, there are two shades of turquoise. The lighter colour is used for the bodywork, with a "skirt" of darker tureoise At the bottom of the bodywork.