DSJ Part 4. Decals.

DB returns after a few days of busyness:

A start was made with the decalling by using some spare old ALPS KiwiRail 'ferns' from my DX project of about a dozen years ago. Artistic license applies, as some KiwiRail DSJs have the fern this size, some have a smaller one placed high, and as the DSJ's paint design is asymmetrical, this also requires a 'reverse fern' on one end. 

I don't have a reverse fern, but on a visit to the local bike shop for the Tamiya paints recently, he had some Tamiya Decal Adhesive, so I bought that and used it to stick the 'top/printed side' down to the paint (glue side out) and this seems to have worked fine.

The KiwiRail logo patches were printed out in various random sizes on white glossy paper at The Warehouse. The large ones were a last minute addition... and even they are a bit small! When doing this, always make sure you (and they) are printing at 100% (no scaling). 

The glossy paper was a bit thick, but I managed to somehow 'thin it in half' with a sharp blade (top right logo above being split). These were attached with Selleys wood glue/PVA.

Numbers were from a MicroScale BNSF patching set, which were about the right size and a similar (but not quite right) font. Its really hard to install these so the numbers all line up. I scored C+ on one side and a D grade on the other.

 

All decals and logos have been covered with semi-gloss clear gently applied with a clean brush to protect them. The grey was repainted a slightly lighter colour in amongst this action after two hatches were added on the top of the cab. I'm not sure what these are for, as the DSGs don't seem to have them. Emergency escape hatches in case there is a need to ditch in water?

Plastruct blocks have been installed inside the tops of the hoods to fix the height of the model so that the headstocks clear the rails. The thing is sitting even higher than expected, so I might move the springs up on the bogies to fill the increased void.

A few dozen more tiny paint touch ups have also been done, and a start made on drilling some holes for handrails.