3D resin rivets and louvres on decals

[Earl Marischal]

Although these are marketed for model railways, they could be adapted for vehicle use. They can be painted over too.

http://www.archertransfers.com/SurfaceDetailsMain.html

steve

[vintagercr]

Steve, what size do you use?

[Bernard Kron]

I've used the louvers for several years now. I use the 6" O-scale item #AR88037 ( http://www.archertransfers.com/AR88037.html ). Here's an example:

Curt Raitz built a superb largely scratch-built model of the 1923 Bugatti Type 32 "Tank" sports racing car using the rivets to very good effect (see http://www.modelcarsmag.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=25634 ):

[vintagercr]

Bernard, would you use the "O" scale rivets as well?

[Bernard Kron]

O scale is their largest scale (it's 1/48th scale). If you're working in 1/24th or 1/25th then their O scale details are half size. The 6" O scale louvers I use correspond to 3" louvers on my 1/25th scale models. Any other scale is smaller and risks being too small. I've seen Curt's Bugatti Tank which is 1/24th scale, "in the plastic" (as opposed to photographs) and the O scale rivets show up quite nicely.

One thing to realize about these parts is that they are fairly shallow in height. I wrote to Archer recommending they offer 1/24th scale versions of their parts for what I know would be a very large market where they would prove extremely useful, for example truck, race car, hot rod, kustom, rat rod and even fantasy and sci-fi vehicles. They wrote back and acknowledged they were aware of this but that the printing technology they used limited them to the thickness you see on their O-scale parts.

Another caveat is that they are offered only in black. This means for very dark colors, like black, very dark navies, very dark greens, etc. they don't contrast well with the underlying color. Obviously they generally should be painted the underlying color but they need to appear darker so as to simulate the shadow cast by raised detail. If you allow for this it compensates somewhat for the shallow 1/48th scale height. I asked Archer about offering white, light gray or silver parts but again they said the technology limited them to black.

Lastly, the parts are fairly fragile to apply. The good news is that Archer has published a video in YouTube (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aptnvFeEqio ) which shows a simple technique that is close to fool proof, at least for me. I use it exclusively now and always try to recommend it to new users of these products. It's critical to success with them!

In closing, I'll describe some observations about using these black, shallow surface details that will help use them successfully. As you'll notice in the photo above, they show up quite well under matte paints such as the hood above, which is finished in Testors Metalizer Aluminum Plate. I've found this is generally true, so much so that they cast a nice contrasting shadow even under relatively dark colors. When applying them under gloss paints you risk burying them under multiple layers of paint. To avoid this I generally will wait to apply them until just before my final color coat or even to just before my first clear coat. Then, after applying them, I spray a light final color coat to give them some of the underlying color. Because of their raised surface some of the color paint will crawl away from them, creating a darker hue and highlighting them. In the case of the louvers this simulates the shadow of the raised surface and/or the louver slot. Then I proceed with my clear coats. If I'm rubbing out my paint I try to avoid the louvered areas as much as I can. The result is what you see on the louvered trunk lid above.

I hope all this is useful and I highly recommend them for what is often otherwise an impossible task.

Edited January 2, 2015 by Bernard Kron

[southpier]

good youtube link; thanks

[Earl Marischal]

Thanks Bernard.

steve