Kit & Scratch builders adhesive lettering/livery panels for the GWR Armstrong single 55 Queen class 2-2-2s

IMPORTANT - THIS IS NOT A KIT TO BUILD A COMPLETE  LOCO, BUT ADHESIVE PANELS TO DEAL WITH THE COMPLEX LINING AND LETTERING on a kit or already built model. Our overlays do not produce as good a result as a professional model painter will achieve, but professional painters charge many hundreds of pounds which is reasonable given the time and skill. Our overlays cost you £10-20 and you may be able to do two or three locos for that.

We now produce a variety of overlays including SR Isle of Wight terriers and 02 tanks, Isle of Wight Central Railway terriers, Brighton terriers in Stroudley and March colours, a Stroudley ‘Lyons’ class loco in IEG,and the GWR Armstrong single. Our write ups on ebay include numerous photos, so you can see what YOU can do wih your model.

The story behind our self-adhesive lining and livery aids to modellers is my belated acceptance of the old but valid adage ‘if you want it, do it yourself.’ It started with a RTR Dapol model of a Brighton terrier. Perversely I wanted a loco Dapol had not made, and when a loco was on ebay at a bargain price due to damaged paintwork, I bid for it, but how did I do the lettering and lining I wanted. Eventually we worked up to the complexities of full Stroudley ‘improved engine green’ as I could produce the artwork on screen dozens of times actual model size and lettering which was less than 1mm high in model form could be spot-on! Like most modellers I had ‘nice to’ projects stalled due to fears about how I tackled the painting, one of which was a Brighton ‘Lyons’ class 042 which needed Stroudley IEG livery, and it took me four days to do the artwork on computer, but only two days to apply it to the already built model.

I knew the Birmingham main line of the GWR in the 1950s, and have glass plate negs going back to the 1890s when the equivalent of the 60xx on the Wolverhampton expresses were the Armstrong singles of the ‘Queen’ class which ruled the roost from 1875 to the mid-1890s. I had bought a ‘Queen’ class engine on ebay. It was built from a  Scorpio kit, but was in an absurd lime green livery with no lining, but how did I do the lining behind the springs which were outside the tender, cab and smokebox? Initially we considered transfers, but the use of thin paper self-adhesive overlays as vinyl adhesive overlays are used for the complex rolling stock liveries of today dawned. Vinyl was too thick, but our models do not spend their life outdoor in rainstorms, hail, etc, so thin adhesive paper is tenable. We did a trial set of overlays for a Terrier, and it worked!

The artwork is printed on a commercial laser colour printer on A4 size self-adhesive sheets. to produce the whole panel in one piece, with body colour, lining and lettering all applied in one go. The overlays are not as thin as waterslide transfers, so there are limits on what we can do; shallow curves are OK, but ridges and uneven surfaces are not possible. Even with these limitations there were unexpected bonuses, Most modellers will recall Waterslide or Pressfix transfers deforming, and letters coming away or getting misplaced. Applying our adhesive panels is simple and they are very tough.

So how do you use our self adhesive livery panels? Check the loco body is clean, dry, free from grease etc. If there are raised nameplates or number plates, remove them. Remove any fittings you can remove which would be covered over. If not use a piece of scrap paper and cut it to size cutting round the fitting. Using a sharp craft knife and metal ruler cut out the piece to be applied. Most parts have a small margin beyond the lining, as different makes of model can differ in size, 1mm not being unknown. If we do the artwork to exact size and your model is bigger, it will not cover the model, leaving an unsightly edge. The margins must be cut off before applying. There are two ways to do this. One is to cut round the panel with a margin and offer it up to the model progressively trimming back. The other way is to do a mock-up panel and get it to precise size and cut the artwork to match. Either works well. Before peeling the backing sheet off, do a dry run. Using a tank or tender side as an example, peel the backing sheet away from the artwork and place the bottom of the artwork flush with the running plate, making sure it does not overhang one end and be short at the other end of the tank. When satisfied, press the bottom of the panel home, rubbing smoothly with fingers or a wooden spatula to avoid bubbles and ridges. The wooden spills used as coffee stirrers have rounded ends and are perfect. If there is a curve, roll the panel to a curve before peeling off the backing sheet. Ease the artwork round the curve, avoiding tank fillers and vents. Check for ridges and bubbles and reposition if necessary. You have more scope than with waterslide or pressfix transfers, but the more you reposition, the weaker the adhesive bond. If the buffer beam lacks couplings or buffers, you can use the whole artwork. If they are fitted, cut to the coupling plate and the buffer shank. We give the artwork a coat of matt, satin or gloss varnish to protect it.  If the loco already has handrails, handrail knobs, pipe work, dome, etc adding livery panels to the boiler would be almost impossible so it is better to paint the boiler, but we provide enough lining strips for the boiler bands. For small items, rather than relying on the self adhesive powers of the paper you may prefer your own adhesive. Lastly some customers say they prefer to cut out panels with scissors rather than a craft knife/steel ruler. If they find this works well for them, I am not going to say ‘thou shalt not’ as if it were dogma.

Sheet A in the ‘Queen’ kit covers the splasher/nameplates for the driving wheels for 55 Queen and 1132 Prince of Wales. A spare splasher is provided for both locos in case of error. You could even dual identity the loco, 55 on one side and 1132 on the other side. Cab sides are printed with 55 of 1132 number plates, but spare plates are provided, so you could mount them on thin card, cut them out and have a raised nameplate.  A works plate goes on the outside frame above the brass axlebox cover. The lettering is about 0.5mm deep but with an eyeglass is legible. The frames were heavily riveted and bolted, so you may prefer not to use our overlays, so you need to apply the makers’ plates to your own model. Four spare lined tender panels are provided, as spring supports are sometimes glued to the tender so you have to cut the tender lining panel for the spring supports. It is easy to make an error so we added some spares. 

Some caveats are needed. There is a ‘must be old fashioned rubbish’ prejudice against card or paper as a modelling medium, as plastic, etched brass, vinyl, etc are more up-market. A sensible modeller ignores prejudice and uses something that does the job. Some modellers have a prejudice against RTR and plastic, and I have seen a Terrier in undercoat extolled as superior to a Dapol RTR loco, when the Dapol engine, in my view, looks more realistic with its excellent factory finished livery. We have provided detailed close up photos of the trial artwork as applied to our existing model. In this kit with an assembled model, as is likely, with the plethora of handrail knobs and boiler fittings, it is better to paint the boiler to match the artwork and add boiler bands.

Applying the lining panels to tank sides, splashers or bunkers is easy and produces an excellent result even for an inexperienced modeller. I modified a Dapol terrier to an engine I wanted. On an assembled model, the cab front is difficult, DUE to pipes and handrails which run above the boiler and into the cab. With waterslide or pressfix transfers this is a nightmare and few of us can line by hand. In theory we can cut slits to ease the lining panel over these obstructions, but it is very difficult to say the least.

If you are one of the few modellers who can hand-line to professional standards, you DON’T NEED our lining panels, but if like me, you are not that good, they are a way forward. Since we started this project in early 2020, in less than six months, we have ten locos with difficult liveries completed that I had jibbed at for years!

Sheet B provides the tender side panels and rear sheet, the tool boxes, tender frames, cab front and boiler bands to apply to your boiler when the paint is dry. As noted, the lining set is intended for the Scorpio kit of the Queen class 222s, and I have not found any other 0 gauge kit of this loco, but Jim Russell’s ‘A Pictorial Record Of Great Western Enginex.Vol1 provides several drawings, so a scratch build is feasible and there are NO coupling rods to bind!

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Isle of Wight A1X Olive livery, lining & lettering 1928-1939 for w10-13, [enough for TWO locos]

The inspiration for this project was this photo of Stroudley A1X Terrier No W13 Carisbrooke by Jack Stretton Ward. I wanted to replicate it. Whilst we had a Dapol O gauge model of W9, that is the only RTR IOW loco, and Southern lining is complex to apply. Finally the ‘if you want it, do it yourself’ idea clicked, so I did the artwork on computer and the printers who do our card kits did transfers for us, but even a high quality commercial printer only laid down the ink to cover white paper. It did not have the opacity for bodywork tints which turned the yellow lettering to a revolting shade. As we discussed what to do with a Terrier model in front of us, the idea of printing on thin adhesive sheets was mooted. We printed a sheet, and as a trial applied it to a Dapol 0 Gauge terrier, creating the tank sides, bunkers, number plates and buffer beam numbers for Terriers W10, 11, 12 and 13. This quadruples the options available for the IOW compared to the Dapol range. It means any modeller can take an off-the-shelf Dapol Terrier and customise it to any loco in the range we had printed. It would be a small step from there to finishing a white metal or etched brass kit in the same way as we confirmed with our similar Brighton Umber livery lining sets.  

The artwork is printed on a commercial quality laser colour printer on A4 size self-adhesive sheets. so produces the whole panel in one piece, with body colour, lining and lettering all applied in one go. The overlays are not as thin as waterslide transfers, so there are limits on what we can do; shallow curves are OK, but ridges and uneven surfaces are not possible. Even with these limitations there were unexpected bonuses, Most modellers will have memories of Waterslide or Pressfix transfers deforming, and letters coming away or getting misplaced. Applying our adhesive panels is simple and they are tough.

So how do you use our self adhesive livery panels? Check the loco body is clean, dry, free from grease etc. If there are raised nameplates or number plates, remove them. Remove any fittings you can remove which would be covered over. If not use a piece of scrap paper and cut it to size cutting round the fitting. With the Terrier, the tank side is rounded into the top, so you need to cut openings for the tank filler and vent if fitted.

Using a sharp craft knife and metal ruler cut out the piece to be applied. Most parts have a small margin beyond the lining, as different makes of model can differ in size, 1mm not being unknown. If we do the artwork to exact size and your model is bigger, it will not cover the model, leaving an unsightly edge. As an example, the dark margin below the lining at the base of the tank side has approx 1mm excess material. This must be cut off before applying. There are two ways to do this. One is to cut round the panel with a margin and offer it up to the model progressively trimming back. The other way is to do a mock-up panel and get it to precise size and cut the artwork to match. Either works well. Before peeling the backing sheet off, do a dry run. Using the tank side as an example, peel the backing sheet away from the artwork and place the bottom of the artwork flush with the running plate, making sure it does not overhang one end and be short at the other end of the tank. When satisfied, press the bottom of the tank home, rubbing smoothly to avoid bubbles and ridges. On the Dapol terriers, the tank has rivets and if you work carefully with a wooden spatula, these will press into the artwork. Rather than use a finger, a wooded spatula helps. The wooden spills used as coffee stirrers have rounded ends and are perfect. If there is a curve, e.g. the top of the terrier tank. roll the panel to a curve before peeling off the backing sheet. Ease the artwork round the curve, avoiding the tank filler and vent. Check for ridges and bubbles and reposition if necessary. You have more scope than with waterslide or pressfix transfers, but the more you reposition, the weaker the adhesive bond.  If the buffer beam lacks couplings or buffers, you can use the whole artwork. If they are fitted, cut to the coupling plate and the buffer shank. We give the artwork a coat of matt, satin or gloss varnish to protect it. 

IOW Sheet A has tank sides, cab fronts and rears, bunker sides etc for w10-13, plus the nameplates for the four locos. Three sets of angle irons to the footplate, cab steps and splashers are provided. Different widths of steps are provided as some kits differ. If the loco already has handrails, handrail knobs, pipe work, dome, etc adding blank livery panels to the boiler would be almost impossible so it is better to paint the boiler, but on Sheet A we provide enough lining strips for two boilers. Sheet A has A1 and AIX splashers with sandboxes as some IOW A1X conversions retained A1 splashers.

Terriers W12 and W14, the latter not making it to the final choice as we had to leave it at 4 locos, so we have two with A1x splashers and two with A1 splashers. If there is a clear demand, we will do the artwork for the other IOW terriers at some stage.

THIS IS NOT A KIT TO BUILD A COMPLETE TERRIER BUT ADHESIVE PANELS TO DEAL WITH THE COMPLEX LINING AND LETTERING.

Some caveats need to be made. There is a ‘must be old fashioned rubbish’ prejudice against card or paper as a modelling medium, as plastic, etched brass, etc are more up-market. A sensible modeller ignores prejudice and uses something that does the job. Some modellers have a prejudice against RTR and plastic, and I have seen a Terrier in undercoat extolled as superior to a Dapol RTR loco, when the Dapol engine, in my view, looks more realistic with its excellent factory finished livery.

For our use, our lining panels had to be OK for Dapol conversions AND for white metal or etched brass kits, and there are differences, so they have to be a compromise. Applying the lining panels to tank sides, splashers or bunkers is easy and produces an excellent result even for an inexperienced modeller. I modified a Dapol umber terrier to an engine I wanted in a single morning, using the tank sides, bunker panels, buffer beam numerals and number plates. I bought a second-hand ‘yellow’ Terrier which had been weathered but did not look convincing. It was the test bed to produce IOW olive green Terrier No 12, so all panels, including the cab front and cab back had to be used. The cab front is difficult, DUE to the 6 pipes and handrails which run above the boiler and into the cab. With waterslide or pressfix transfers this is a nightmare and few of us can line by hand. In theory we can cut slits to ease the lining panel over these obstructions, but it is very difficult to say the least. Most IOW Terriers carried fire irons above the RH tank, and had a tool box above the LH tank, and often an oil can or bucket leaning against the cab front, and if you cut away the lower part of the cab front where the pipework is, the clutter masks this and adds to authenticity.

If we merely change the identity of a ready painted loco, it makes sense to use the original lining on the cab front and rear. With an unpainted loco, or one where we change the body colour, that is not on. It is NOT easy and there are some compromises. If you are one of the few modellers who can hand-line to professional standards, you DON’T NEED our lining panels, but if like me, you are not that good, they are a way forward. I needed to touch in a couple of areas with a fine 00 brush and black paint, and applied a little judicious weathering, but look at the photo. If you can hand-line better than this, that is the answer for you. If you can afford the many hundreds of pounds a good painter will charge, then fine. If not, this could be the way forward.

The cab rear sheet has no pipes but does have safety grills over the windows, so you must allow for these as well as the round cut out. The artwork has the brass surrounds to the spectacle glasses, which need to be cut out along with the grey tinted windows, and for the rear spectacles the frames for the window bars. I opted for the hardest conversion I could find, as going from Stroudley’s livery to Southern olive green allows no compromises.

The RH cab side has the Westinghouse pump. This is a press fit with two spigots into the cab side. It can be eased away but separates with the associated pipework. Cut the slots for the spigots before you slide the panel in place and press the pump back in situ.

I had wanted an IOW Terrier for years and when Dapol produced W9, I was thrilled, but it made me want more engines, so I now have W9, a ‘normal’ terrier W13, W14, and W12 with the IOW sandbox/splasher on an A1X, which would have been impossible without our artwork.

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Isle of Wight Central Railway black terriers 10, 11, 12, lining & lettering 1916-1923 & SR olive green terriers 8 and 14 as running in1932-1939

The inspiration for this project was the realisation of how smart the IWCR terriers looked in lined out black which I wanted to replicate, and we had space to also add SR olive green terriers 8 and 14 to the selection, so the artwork is sufficient to do four engines.  Whilst we had a Dapol O gauge model of W9, that is the only RTR IOW loco, and Southern lining is complex to apply, so the ‘if you want it, do it yourself’ idea clicked, so I did the artwork on computer and the printers who do our card kits did transfers for us, but even a high quality commercial printer only laid down the ink to cover white paper. It did not have the opacity for bodywork tints which turned the yellow lettering to a revolting shade. As we discussed what to do with a Terrier model in front of us, the idea of printing on thin adhesive sheets was mooted, in much the way that modern railway liveries are applied by adhesive vinyl sheets. We printed a sheet, and as a trial applied it to a Dapol 0 Gauge terrier, creating the tank sides, bunkers, number plates and buffer beam numbers,  With our other sets it means the IOW modeller finally has a wide range of 0 gauge locos to prepare, and any modeller can take an off-the-shelf Dapol Terrier and customise it to any loco in the range we had printed. It would be a small step from there to finishing a white metal or etched brass kit in the same way as we confirmed with our similar Brighton Umber livery lining sets.  

The artwork is printed on a commercial quality laser colour printer on A4 size self-adhesive sheets. so produces the whole panel in one piece, with body colour, lining and lettering all applied in one go. The overlays are not as thin as waterslide transfers, so there are limits on what we can do; shallow curves are OK, but ridges and uneven surfaces are not possible. Even with these limitations there were unexpected bonuses, Most modellers will have memories of Waterslide or Pressfix transfers deforming, and letters coming away or getting misplaced. Applying our adhesive panels is simple and they are tough, and this cannot happen.

So how do you use our self adhesive livery panels? Check the loco body is clean, dry, free from grease etc. If there are raised nameplates or number plates, remove them. Remove any fittings you can remove which would be covered over. If not use a piece of scrap paper and cut it to size cutting round the fitting. With the Terrier, the tank side is rounded into the top, so you need to cut openings for the tank filler and vent if fitted.

Using a sharp craft knife and metal ruler cut out the piece to be applied. Most parts have a small margin beyond the lining, as different makes of model can differ in size, 1mm not being unknown. If we do the artwork to exact size and your model is bigger, it will not cover the model, leaving an unsightly edge. As an example, the dark margin below the lining at the base of the SR tank sides has approx 1mm excess material. This must be cut off before applying. There are two ways to do this. One is to cut round the panel with a margin and offer it up to the model progressively trimming back. The other way is to do a mock-up panel and get it to precise size and cut the artwork to match. Either works well. Before peeling the backing sheet off, do a dry run. Using the tank side as an example, peel the backing sheet away from the artwork and place the bottom of the artwork flush with the running plate, making sure it does not overhang one end and be short at the other end of the tank. When satisfied, press the bottom of the tank home, rubbing smoothly to avoid bubbles and ridges. On the Dapol terriers, the tank has rivets and if you work carefully with a wooden spatula, these will press into the artwork. Rather than use a finger, a wooden spatula helps. The wooden spills used as coffee stirrers have rounded ends and are perfect. If there is a curve, e.g. the top of the terrier tank. roll the panel to a curve before peeling off the backing sheet. Ease the artwork round the curve, avoiding the tank filler and vent. Check for ridges and bubbles and reposition if necessary. You have more scope than with waterslide or pressfix transfers, but the more you reposition, the weaker the adhesive bond.  If the buffer beam lacks couplings or buffers, you can use the whole artwork. If they are fitted, cut to the coupling plate and the buffer shank. We give the artwork a coat of matt, satin or gloss varnish to protect it. 

IWCR Sheet A has tank sides, cab fronts and rears, bunker sides etc for IWCR 10-12 IN in lined black, plus some SR artwork and nameplates for w8 and w14. Three sets of IWCR angle irons to the footplate and one SR set appear on sheet B with cab steps. Different widths of steps are provided as some kits differ. If the loco already has handrails, handrail knobs, pipe work, dome, etc adding blank or green livery panels to the boiler would be almost impossible so it is better to paint the boiler, but we provide boiler bands. A1 and AIX splashers with sandboxes are included, as IWCR A1X conversions retained A1 splashers.

  THIS IS NOT A KIT TO BUILD A COMPLETE TERRIER BUT ADHESIVE PANELS TO DEAL WITH THE COMPLEX LINING AND LETTERING.

Some caveats need to be made. There is the absurd ‘must be old fashioned rubbish’ prejudice against card or paper as a modelling medium, as plastic, etched brass, etc are more up-market and trendy. A sensible modeller ignores prejudice and uses something that does the job. Some modellers have a prejudice against RTR and plastic, and I have seen a Terrier in undercoat extolled as superior to a Dapol RTR loco, when the Dapol engine, in my view, looks more realistic with its excellent factory finished livery.

For our use, our lining panels had to be OK for Dapol conversions AND for white metal or etched brass kits, and there are differences, so they have to allow for this. Applying the lining panels to tank sides, splashers or bunkers is easy and produces an excellent result even for an inexperienced modeller. I modified a Dapol umber terrier to an engine I wanted in a single morning, using the tank sides, bunker panels, buffer beam numerals and number plates. I bought a second-hand ‘yellow’ Terrier which had been  poorly weathered. It was the test bed to produce IOW olive green Terrier No 12, so all panels, including the cab front and cab back had to be used. The cab front is difficult, DUE to the 6 pipes and handrails which run above the boiler and into the cab. With waterslide or pressfix transfers this is a nightmare and few of us can line by hand. In theory we can cut slits to ease the lining panel over these obstructions, but it is very difficult to say the least. Most IOW Terriers carried fire irons above the RH tank, and had a tool box above the LH tank, and often an oil can or bucket leaning against the cab front, and if you cut away the lower part of the cab front where the pipework is, the clutter masks this and adds to authenticity.

If we merely change the identity of a ready painted loco, it makes sense to use the original lining on the cab front and rear. With an unpainted loco, or one where we have to change the body colour, that is not on. It is NOT easy and there are some compromises. If you are one of the few modellers who can hand-line to professional standards, you DON’T NEED our lining panels, but if like me, you are not that good, they are a way forward. I needed to touch in a couple of areas with a fine 00 brush and black paint, and applied a little judicious weathering, but look at the photo. If you can hand-line better than this, that is the answer for you. If you can afford the many hundreds of pounds a good professional model painter will charge, then fine. If not, this could be the way forward.

The cab rear sheet on the A1x has no pipes but does have safety grills over the windows, so you must allow for these as well as the round cut out. The artwork has the brass surrounds to the spectacle glasses, which need to be cut out along with the grey tinted windows, and for the rear spectacles the frames for the window bars. I opted for the hardest conversion I could find, as going from Stroudley’s livery to Southern olive green allows no compromises.

The RH cab side has the Westinghouse pump. This is a press fit with two spigots into the cab side. It can be eased away but separates with the associated pipework. Cut the slots for the spigots before you slide the panel in place and press the pump back in situ. As noted, boiler panels are not provided as most conversions will be to pre-built models, and dome, safety valve and pipework cut outs would be harder than painting to the correct colour but we do provide adhesive boiler banks. 

I had wanted an IOW Terrier for years and when Dapol produced W9, I was thrilled, but it made me want more engines, so I now have W9, SR terriers W13, W14 with normal A1X splashers, and W12 with the IOW sandbox/splasher on an A1X, SR ex FYN A1 terrier W2, and IWCR No 11, which would have been impracticable without our artwork,. It means we have six of the eight terriers to have run on the Island!

Whilst Southern engines had lined out cab fronts and backs, there is some doubt as to whether bunker back panels were lined out by the IWCR or not. The photos I have seen of IWCR black terriers do not seem to show this, nor do the steps seem to be lined out so we provide one bunker back sheet lined out, but if you prefer an unlined bunker back, black paint is the answer. With care you can decorate up to four engines with the artwork in this set, IWCR 10, 11 and 12 and SR w8 or w14.

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