What about using a fine brush

What about using a fine brush and some gloss coat or Future to wick under the numbers. That would allow adjustment while keeping them adhered to the cab side. Once that dries, I would apply clear decal film over them to seal them in place.

may be a tacky glue

May be try to use a tacky glue, the  kind we use to glue glazing on Windows.

Let it dry and finish with a spray of dull or satin varnish.

I think this will be far enough to glue them and let an invisible gluing work.

Gold Decals

Hi Deemiorgos,

Do you need 8414 gold decals?  I have an ALPS printer and would be happy to help you.

@Bruce Thank you kindly for

@Bruce

Thank you kindly for the offer, but I have the decals; just got them on standby for option 2.

@Marc,

I will include that in my experiments. Thanks.

@beenthereCNthat,

I have Pledge floor gloss, which I believe is the equivalent? Or perhaps airbrushing a clear coat over the numbers and entire cab instead of decal film?

I experimented with a way to place the tiny thin numbers. I used the equivalent of Blue Tack putty on the end of a tooth pic. (See below image)

So far I used Testors clear parts cement on scraps with overspray, but it ate into the Tamiya acrylic. Then I used diluted PVA and seems to be holding well and did not eat into the paint.

I will also test using Pledge floor gloss as an dhesive. My next experiment will be to paint a piece of stiff styrene with Tamiya black and let it cure then apply numerals with three different adhesives - epoxy, PVA, and Pledge; after the adhesives dry put a Tamiya clear coat over the numbers.

I think Pledge is the current

I think Pledge is the current brand, but it is labelled "with Future" as they re-branded it.

. . .

I would scour the back of the numeral with sand paper (medium)  to give more surface for the pledge to grab.

Marc

@beenthereCNthat, My bottle

@beenthereCNthat,

My bottle just says Pledge. I've used it for some decals once and it worked well.

@Marc,

Good idea.

I painted a strip

about the height of the area of the cab where the numbers will go - between the window and the bottom lip of the cab.

After the black painted strip is completely dry, I'll apply a clear coat to it.

The crucial part of the experiment will be to see if there will be enough time for adjusting the numbers to be perpendicular before the adhesives gets too sticky.

In the meantime, I will apply the different adhesive "contenders" to the back of some extra numbers I have and see how much time they give me to adjust the numbers on a smooth surface like a piece of styrene.

Future/Plege/whatever it is called now?

  Is not a very strong adhesive. I'd probably start with epoxy. Mix a small batch and apply a very tiny amount to the back of the numerals with a straight pin. Once they are stuck on you can seal the edges with gloss or dullcoat ....DaveB

Using Pledge was the easiest

Using Pledge was the easiest way to apply a number.

Diluted PVA was a tad more difficult.

Testors adhesive for clear plastic was difficult in regards to moving the number around; not much time to work with.

Epoxy was just to thick and sticky making it almost impossible to move the number once placed.

I will spray all of them with a clear coat tonight, and tomorrow will see which numbers pop off the easiest.

The clearcoat over the

The clearcoat over the numerals is cured. 

I am surprised that I cannot knock off the numbers or pry them off with a strip of wood. 

The numbers glued with PVA and Pledge are the tidiest/cleanest in appearance.

I'll try later to pry them off with a blade and note which one came off the easiest.

I tried to pop them off by

I tried to pop them off by placing the point of an X-Acto blade up against the sides of the number and they won't come off!

Stay tuned, as I will later try to wedge the blade under the number to remove them.

Glue stick then CA

GLUING EPOXY NUMERALS

Hallo Deemiorgos.

We would suggest to continue your tests with 2-component epoxy. Epoxy exists in a variety of viscosities and set time, from minutes to hours, does not attack plastics or paints, does not contain solvents. To glue tiny pieces into position we use either CA (if solid positioning can be assured) or fluid 5-minute epoxy (unstable positioning by hand/tweezers, and adjustment during curing of the resin). When gluing brass, as already mentioned in another post, sanding the metal surface is advised. We would NOT recommend CA and accelerator for this aesthetic application; CA has the nasty habit of undergoing an exothermic polymerization, and almost always smears whitish sprays of resin out of the glued joint. Also, un-polymerized CA attacks some plastics.

Keep us posted with your results.

All the best from MIlan

Mario & Bice

@Milan, I will purchase some

@Milan,

I will purchase some of the fluid 5-minute epoxy next week and keep you posted.

@Yaron,

I will keep that in in mind for other projects as well.

thoughts

It looks like you are trying to mount and position the numbers right on the loco.  Have you tried putting them on a piece of tape first to get the spacing and alignment right, then put the glue on the numbers while they are still on the tape.   Apply the strip of tape with the numbers still on and weight for the glue to dry.   

Good luck, we are rooting for you.

@cboyan43, I like that

@cboyan43,

I like that approach and will experiment with it. The biggest challenge will be to place them on the cab and make sure they are not laid askew.

"The biggest challenge will

  I've never had any luck trying to pre align decals( or aligning  dry transfer looking thru the paper) . I always end up tweaking them by eye once they are on the car in place. So I'd stick to something that gives a couple of minutes or more of adjustment time. If the Future proved strong enough for the job then it's probably as good as anything else you'll find. I've had windows glued with Future fall off but they are a lot larger than the numerals so subject to more stress. .......DaveB

Keeping the numbers from

Keeping the numbers from falling off after the Future cures was why I originally suggested putting clear decal film over them. When the CN SIG first had brass cab numbers produced by Athabasca Scale Models, that was the recommended practice of fellow custom painters.

I used one more adhesive for

I used one more adhesive for the experiment.

I like it because it gave me much much more time to align the number before it got too sticky.

Still cannot pry any off the numbers with my finger nail, toothpick, or tip of an X-Acto blade. Seems I would have to dig the blade in under the edge to pry/pop them off.

To sum up, all the adhesives

To sum up, all the adhesives were equally strong, the most user friendly and tidiest for me is the Clear Gorilla Glue.

I applied the numbers and was please I had so much time to work on getting them perpendicular using my eye while they were glued to the surface. After I placed them, I check them with the iPad's camera.

You certainly seem to have

You certainly seem to have gotten it sorted out, but another option would be to use a very small drop of thin ACC, applied with a small wire loop. Put the number in position, hold it there with a toothpick or tweezers, and touch the wire loop carrying the ACC to the very edge of the number where it meets the cab side. Capillary action will draw it under the joint and around the side of the number, always in the joint. It'll be at least as invisible as decal film and probably even less visible. You might need a second almost-drop on the other side of the number, but probably not.

Clear Gorilla glue?

 Hi Dee,  What is the clear Gorilla glue designed for? Does it say what kind of glue it is? ......DaveB

@CandOfan I just don't have

@CandOfan

I just don't have the dexterity I used to have in order to use ACC. With the Clear Gorilla glue I had up to about ten minutes to readjust the numbers, which pretty much is how much time I needed.

@DaveB, It says on the bottle

@DaveB,

It says on the bottle it is only for gluing non-porous surfaces and dries clear. What I especially like about it, is it is almost watery like Pledge, but does not run or spread and stays wet for a long time, but not slippery. I have no idea if this is a new product.