N-Scale Product Review

by Max Magliaro
[Web master's note:
Max is the N-Scale reviewer for the Pennsyvania Railroad Technical & Historical Society,
review © 2000 The Keystone; appeared Autumn, 2000, pp. 4-5.]

Product: PRR X-29 Boxcar Decals

Price: $3.75 per sheet (major credit cards accepted)

Manufacturer:

To test these, I wanted to answer three questions:

I began by assembling two X-29 boxcar kits from Fine N-Scale Products. These are built from kit number FNR2900, which includes all the parts to build two cars. The cars are excellent X-29 replicas with fine brass roofwalks, stirrups, and brake wheels.

I airbrushed the cars with a 50/50 mixture of Scalecoat NYC Pacemaker Red and Floquil Roof Brown - a mixture I have come to rely on for "PRR Freight Car Color" that isn’t too brown, isn’t too red, and can vary a bit depending on how I do the mix (just like the real thing!) After mixing the paints, I diluted the resulting combination 50/50 with Scalecoat thinner. I airbrushed the assembled cars, and brush-painted the Micro-Trains #1000 trucks (not included with the kit) with the same paint.

The car kits come with their own decals, so I felt a good test would be to letter one car with the Fine N-Scale decals, and one car with William Mosteller’s decals.

I applied the decals, used Walthers Solvaset setting solution on each, and oversprayed both cars with Testor's Dullcote. The results are shown in the accompanying photos. Mosteller’s car is labeled "Rail Graphics" in the photo because I saw that name on his information sheet - but it should properly be labeled "Mosteller Decals".
 
 

Application Instructions

I found Mosteller’s instructions to be noticeably better, including a much clearer drawing of the car side showing where the decals are to be applied. He also includes variations for REA cars. Both Mosteller and Fine N-Scale include full details on appropriate car number ranges for various construction years, and car door and end styles.
 
 

Ease Of Application

I noticed right away, before I even removed the decals from the sheet, that the Mosteller decals are printed clearer, and the background paper is a darker color, which makes them easier to see and trim apart.

When dipping the Mosteller decals in water, I noticed that they don’t curl like most decals. This is especially helpful when applying tiny strip decals such as the car number. This appears to be due to the fact that these decals are printed on a full clear sheet of film. In contrast, the Fine N-Scale decals only have clear decal film around the exact spot where a particular decal is located.

This difference may or may not be preferable, depending on the user. One drawback to the Mosteller decals is that you must trim very carefully around them, because everything you cut from the sheet will have clear decal film around it. For example, when cutting out the circle keystone emblem, you should try to cut out a circle as close to the emblem as possible. If you cut out a small square around it, you will be applying a square of clear film (with the keystone in the middle of it) to your model. This makes for more clear film that you have to hide (hopefully) by applying lots of decal setting solution and clear overspray.

Because the Fine N Scale circle keystone only has clear film right under the emblem itself, you can just cut out the decal as a square, wet it, and then slide the perfectly-round decal off the backing paper and onto your model.

For lettering and straight-sided decals, this makes no difference. But for odd shapes and circles (like the keystone), the film does make the Mosteller decals trickier to apply.

The other side of this coin is that on very tiny decals such as the car data, the Mosteller film makes the decals easier to apply. This is because the film is a bit thicker and easier to handle.
 
 

Clarity - How Do They Look?

Looking at the larger print, such as the "PENNSYLVANIA" text, road number, and keystone emblem, both decal sets do a fine job. But I would have to give a slight edge to the Mosteller decals. The "PRR" inside the circle keystone is noticeably clearer, as are the other pieces of text.

The fine print for the car data is ultimately where the Mosteller decals really shine. The print size used here is just a tad larger than that used on the Fine N-Scale lettering. In fact, it is a bit oversized. But the end result is that the Mosteller small lettering is hands-down the best. It is clearer and much more readable. Another plus is that the lettering stays straighter when applied. I suspect this is due to the thicker clear film under the decal, which helps it stand up to the decal setting solution. The Fine N-Scale car data tended to curve and distort a bit. I have lettered other Fine N-Scale cars where the small print stayed nice and straight, so I can’t say this always happens, but it did in this case.

Sticklers may grumble about the fine print being a bit larger, but when you put the two cars side-by-side on a layout, the size difference is negligible, and I don’t think there is any question that the Mosteller decals just plain look better.

The Bottom Line

The Mosteller decals are a well-done product. They are crisp, clear, reasonably easy to apply, and result in a fine-looking lettering job. Bill tells me that he is eager to hear from modelers who know of other voids in the N-Scale decal realm. You can write him or email him with your suggestions. To be most helpful, try to find an HO or O-scale version of Champion Decals for the set you want, as Bill informs me that he can most easily adapt new N-scale sets by reducing existing Champion artwork.