SFE "Surprise Valley" Pullman 6-6-4 Shadowline Sleeper (Part 2) - Decaling Left Side & Reassembly

This is a continuation of SFE "Surprise Valley" Pullman 6-6-4 Shadowline Sleeper (Part 1), which I'm covering decaling the left side of the car this time.

Left side of masked and painted Walters 6-6-4, ready to start left side decaling of Santa Fe's "Surprise Valley".

So we pick up the project with the car painted Tamyia Gloss Aluminum and already 'color sanded' to get any surface flaws cleaned up.

Lower Decal Stripes

Starting in the middle this time...

I reversed the application method from the right side of the car.  This time I decided to start with the center 3-stripe section, below where the car's faux name panel will be.  Notice the two light pencil marks to show where to align the ends of the decal.

Lower left decal stripes applied next.

Now I'm applying the full height 'dense' stripes between the door post and the center faux name panel stripes.

... and the right side lower stripes.

Next the full height stripes from the faux name panel to the blind-end of the car.

Overview of lower decals coming together.

Here's how the car's looking at this point.  Notice also that I'm using the Walthers' box foam patches to keep the completed decals on the other side of the car from getting scratched or damaged.

Upper 3-stripe decal applied, finishing the faux name panel ready for the car name.

Completing the upper 3-stripes of the faux name panel.  Looks like I missed the cut by about 0.010" there just above the left edge.  I'm not sure I really want to try to fix that small of a flaw with another overlay of 3-stripe decal.

Car name applied into the faux name panel.

The car name applied, which completes the lower car side.  Decaling in this order I feel went faster, as I had the center low stripes to align the end full height stripes with.

Upper Decal Stripes

Upper left decal stripes applied.

Upper stripes, notice the mark on the upper right end of the decal, which shows me how long this one should be.

Upper right decal stripes over the upper berth windows.

I was running a little short on decals, so I applied this upper decal over the windows, but it will be short and requiring a patch piece of decals.

Close-up of the short spliced piece of upper stripe to reach the end of the faux letterboard to the left.

Patched in piece, which brings the upper right decals all the way to the pencil mark on the upper lip of the car side.

Aweee... Bummer!  And the Fix...

Accidents happen

I ended up damaging a section of the stripes... sigh... So I removed the damaged area and then painted over the area with a coat of Gloss Aluminum.  

There's still a little sink in the area, the depth of the decal film.  Oh well.

Then replaced the section of striping decals.

Here's an overview of the finished decals on the left side of the car.

All in all, this side was easier than the other side.  At this point I pulled out the masking tape, and reassembled the roof onto the body.

In Closing

Reassembled car for photographing.

At this point the car does not have the windows installed.  I plan to do some of the interior detail/painting.  Then I'll be installing the windows, window shades, diaphragms, grab irons, couplers, etc in future posts.  So while the exterior's looking very sharp now, there is still much to do before this car is complete and ready for service.

Jason Hill

Related Shadowline Scheme Articles:

SFE 1458 Diner in Shadowline scheme

Kitbashing SFE 1456-class HW Diner (Part 1) with a Rivarossi Model and Opening Thoughts - My on kitbashing a Rivarossi HW Diner into a Shadowlined Santa Fe diner, circa 1948.

Kitbashing SFE 1456-class HW Diner (Part 2) - More Body Work and Paint - My Part 2 on kitbashing a Rivarossi HW Diner into a Shadowlined Santa Fe diner, circa 1948.

Kitbashing SFE 1456-class HW Diner (Part 3) - Mechanical Upgrades - My Part 3 on kitbashing a Rivarossi HW Diner into a Shadowlined Santa Fe diner, circa 1948.

Kitbashing SFE 1456-class HW Diner (Part 4) - Shadowlines - My Part 4 on kitbashing a Rivarossi Diner decaling the car into Shadowline scheme.

SFE 1524 Snack-Coach Diner in Shadowline scheme

Kitbashing SFE 1524 (Part 1) - Shadowlining a HW Chair Car - My kitbash of Walthers 3060-class HW Chair car to a Shadowlined Snack-Lounge/Coach car. In Part 1 I am focusing on window changes and decaling the car.

SFE "Surprise Valley" 6-6-4 in Shadowline scheme

SFE "Surprise Valley" Pullman 6-6-4 Shadowline Sleeper (Part 1) - Painting & Decaling Right Side

Starting my long-time planned project to make a Shadowline 6-6-4.

SFE "Surprise Valley" Pullman 6-6-4 Shadowline Sleeper (Part 2) - Decaling Left Side & Reassembly - 

Continuing the Shadowline 6-6-4 project with more decaling!

Articles from Other Authors:

SFE 1456-class Diner kitbash by Colin Kikawa, along with multiple other interesting kitbashes - Enjoy!

Tom Casey's ATSF_hwt_Diner.pdf - SFE 1404 Kitbashed Diner