Brynn

So never mind my internal debate about painting Gideon (my 201-2 in a sorry state) something other than black, I need to get decals for him! I found a seller, Keeler Sales, who has two kinds of decals for a 201, linked below.

Indian Star
Regular Paperclip

I'm really torn. If I paint him something other than black, I will probably go with the regular decals, but I just love the Indian Star decal. Sigh. Will I be committing an unforgivable sin if I put decals other than the authentic and original ones on him?

Charlee

I think you should do as you wish! If you want Indian Star decals, no matter what color you go with, then you should have Indian Star decals!!

Muv

Gosh, what a dilemma.

I have a very soft spot for the Indian star decal because it shows the machine was manufactured for export to India, so unless you are replacing decals on a machine that already had the Indian star it will look as though you are giving it a fake history. I have checked the Needlebar website and found that that decal was only used on 201s manufactured in 1942, although they are not always 100% accurate.

If you want to make it individual, why not go for another colour and use the standard paperclip? Then it is obvious that it is a refurbished machine and no-one will think there is any false claim being made about it.

Brynn

Exactly Muv--I don't want to ever misrepresent the machine, although if someone cared that much about it they would look up the serial and discover there's no way my machine could truly be one of the Indian machines. It would also be cheaper to just go with the paperclip design. Ah, the agonies of decision!

Okay, I think I'll go with the paperclip decals, if only because my father would kill me for the Indian decal (he restores Model A's, he's very touchy about that sort of thing). And I think I'll stick to black; if I ever find another machine in bad shape I might just give in and go for the hot rod red treatment. Thank you both!