By John Mitchell

[copied, with permission from John Mitchell’s Dockside forum:

http://www.1-2-free-forums.com/mf/index.php?mforum=dockside ]

One of my pleasures is tracking down and acquiring old diecast ships in need of some TLC. A recent happy find at a local collectors fair, was a supply of 1/1200 Mercury models of the Costa liners “Anna C” and “Enrico C”. These models were apparently sold on board the ships as souvenir items about 30 years ago.

The stock which I had discovered was in poor condition, the “Anna” being badly worn and the “Enrico” being just a “factory blank” in a plain white finish. Restoration proved to be straightforward – just a dip in paint stripper and an overall white respray using a car aerosol. The details and the yellow funnels were painted in by hand using Humbrol Acrylics, using the illustration of “Frederico C” on Jeff Simpson’s Minnow web site as a guide.

The fun really started when I was faced with restoring the quirky and distinctive Costa “C” funnel emblem. My attempts at hand painting were, shall we say, somewhat unsuccessful. I seemed to recall that somewhere, a long time ago, I had read about a method for creating your own decals. If I remembered correctly, this involved using felt markers and shellac as a sealant. However, this is the age of the computer – surely a better method must now be available?

After a bit of web surfing, I came up with the Crafty Computer Paper Company. This supplier has proved the answer to my prayers. They can provide blank A4 sheets from which even a computer novice can create really professional looking decal sheets – and you can choose paper to make either waterslide “transfers” or rub off decals. The prices may seem expensive, but the real “per decal” cost works out to be very reasonable indeed. Waterslide decal paper can be ordered with either a white backing sheet, or on a clear film. Prices are £1.50 per sheet for the waterslide paper and £2.99 a “set” for rub off sheets plus postage, and can be ordered online.

I ordered some sheets of the clear waterslide paper using the secure server at the Crafty Computer Company web site. The order was processed very rapidly and arrived via recorded delivery in reinforced envelope with 48 hours.

The decal making process is quite easy, assuming you have suitable computer software and a colour inkjet printer. It helps to sketch out what you want on a sheet of scrap A4 paper to ensure that no room is wasted. I created my first sheet in half and hour using Microsoft Publisher, but a word processor could be used with equal success. Publisher has the advantage of treating each decal as an “object” which can be spaced and dragged anywhere on the sheet. During my initial session, I managed to make 20 funnel logos for the Costa liners, 20 deck markings and helicopter landing circles for some part finished carriers, a selection of some 20 DFDS and Scandinavian Seaway hull symbols for restoring “Pilot” ships and a set of red crosses and green hull bands for a Revell Titanic to Britannic hospital ship conversion. Letter styles were matched from the fonts lurking on my computer and any logos or badges were simply cut, pasted and re-sized using GIF images found on the Internet. Any minor alterations can be made with image editing software – I used MGI PhotoSuite 8, but there are many other equally useful packages around.

Once the sheet was complete, I printed off a test copy on ordinary A4 paper. When any necessary re-sizing had been completed, I went on to print the final copy onto the decal paper, using the standard setting for my Epson C42 (cheap) colour printer. The printed sheet must be left to fully dry for about an hour. Then it MUST be protected with some form of varnish (otherwise the colours will run when the decal is soaked before transfer to the model). The Craft Computer Company will sell you a can of acrylic sealant for around £8. I used a Citadel Colour “Purity Seal” aerosol bought in my local “Games Workshop” war gaming store and applied three thin coats – (leaving ten minutes between each coat and turning the paper through 90 degrees before each spray). After an overnight drying, the sheet is ready to use – the decals look just like a factory product and are applied in the same way. I found that due to the thickness of the paper, each decal needed to float in tepid water for perhaps one minute in order to slide and separate easily. I also used a decal setting solution to get good adhesion around curves, followed by a light spray of varnish.

This is a very useful way of giving your ship restorations or kit builds that little bit extra and makes for a satisfying final product.

Full information on the range of DIY decal products and prices can be found at http://www.craftycomputerpaper.co.uk/index2.htm

Contact Duncan Robinson at minicships@btinternet.com if you want information on prices or availability of the Mercury “Anna C” or “Enrico C”.

For further help with the making of DIY decals, contact me at john_mitchell@ntlworld.com

SOURCES OF SPARE PARTS

(see British Manufacturers for further details of the dealers mentioned below)

The following are valuable sources of spare parts that I [Iain] have used over the past few years:

Martin Brown can supply the complete range of masts and derricks for Tri-ang, including metal copies of the very useful goalpost with outswung derricks for the whale factory ship Vikingen. He also has the complete range of funnels and turrets. Recent extensions of his range are spare gun turrets in metal for the Tremos, copied from the originals: 15" twin, 16" triple, 8" and 6" twin, spare parts for Mountford Models [turrets, helicopters, LCAs and carley floats] as well as for Triang. [see Parts list]

For those who haven’t guessed it yet my model making skills are distinctly limited and thus the ability to use spares to enhance models is very important.

In the example above a relatively humble Trafalgar/MY HMS Glenroy [LSI(L)] is transformed by the addition of LCAs on daviots (they come with both Port and Starboard orientation) and a row of carley floats from Martin. He is also a valuable source of information on Tri-ang and Ensign models and is happy to answer questions. He has details of all Red Ensign ships and can give information re-ownership and livery. Contact: usbrownsat@btinternet.com.

Below – a range of lifeboats, motor launches, rowing boats from Martin.

Tim Hudson, who as well as his own Convoy range of models carries a complete set of Tri-ang spares: both masts (incl the metal ones mentioned above), turrets and funnels as well as Mountford. To contact him visit: www.photrek.co.uk

Notes on restoring Tri-ang ships

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