I love the smell of meths, so when the transfers in the G1 kit turned out to be methfix ones, I was happy. Not least because this means no carrier film, so they can be applied to a matt surface without silvering.
In theory, application is simple, cut light around the letter or number, and peel the top surface with the print away from the backing. Using a sharp blade, this is easier than you might think.
The transfer is put in place and wetted with a 3:1 mix of meths and water. A bit of proding, to ensure it's in the right place, and flat. Leave for 15 minutes, and then wash the carrier paper away with water.
And to be fair, that's how it worked. OK, there was the ususual pain lining up the numbers (hint, turn the model upside down, the different angle makes errors stand out) but otherwise, they seem to stick fine. A worry with a second-hand kit is that the transfers will have dried out and need rejuvination or replacement.
Left overnight to fully dry, I cleaned up any leftover purple marks (the colour is s dye added to the meths so we can see it) with a damp cotton bud, and a finishing spray of matt varnish.
7 comments:
Hi Phil,
Takes me back...way back...to my first Slaters kit in about 1979/80, bought from Silverhill Models in St. Leonards-on-sea, which carried both Slaters and Ratio kits.
We didn't have any meths, so I used whisky, which worked pretty well.
I am fairly sure the kit was for a rectangular tar tank, I remember being vastly impressed by one of the lettering options, which was for "Yorkshire & Lancashire Tar Distillation Co. Gunness-on-Trent GCRly", both for the sheer amount of lettering compared to the company wagons I was used to and the fact that it was on the Great Central, as I'd visited the preserved section at Loughborough on a school trip and, of course, seen Peter Denny's models in magazines.
Nearly 45 years on, Silverhill Models is still there, run by the same proprietor; though he still stocks a few wagon kits, they're more likely to be by Parkside.
I use meths in my Trangia stove when camping, and there's a Slaters tar tank kit in one of the boxes...I wonder whether it's got Methfix tranfers?
Simon.
Have you tried using bioethanol (available at a DIY barn near you) instead of meths so as to avoid the purple colouring?
(Caveat emptor - I use ethanol as fuel for live steam G1 and haven't needed to handle meth fix transfers, but it's all ethanol in the end.)
Adrian
That's a new one on me. I'll have a look at some point, maybe when I've finished this bottle ("Hic!")
It seems as though ethanol is the active ingredient for use with Methfix transfers, regardless of what it is mixed with. (Well done for calling them “transfers”!) Bioethanol sounds like a good alternative if it is readily available, otherwise Vodka ought to work and saves having to remove the purple dye?… ;-)
I regularly change "decals" to "transfers" unless the author is American. It's a thing of mine.
"I love the smell of meths in the morning..."
It reminds me of some early camping holidays with my Trangia stove.
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