Paint Shop

[sarge]

I'd say you are one of the "Painters"!

Rich

I'd agree with that, Rich. Grin!

[De Bruin]

Thank you kind sirs! Sarge that C424/C630 powers is off-the-chart gorgeous.
Factory paint on the C630 or is this one of your jobs?
WOW!

[sarge]

I bought it that way, so not my work.

You might remember that one showing up on the 'bay with a drive with two motors shafted together, a clutch, and an independent flywheel. It got some discussion (albeit from folks some of whom didn't understand physics all that well) and little action, so I scored it pretty cheaply, spent a couple hours undoing the bits of the drive I didn't care for, and put it to work while discussions continued. GRIN!

[sarge]

Just finished another cement box for the 1960 LV/LNE scenario. That one pretty much fills in the freightcar requirements for that scenario. I have three cabooses to build; two LV and one LNE. Then we're ready to test it all out and tweak.

[De Bruin]

Nice! Manufacturer of the car? Interesting road scheme too, N and B. Stock, decal or dry transfers?
Inquiring minds.....

[sarge]

The Northampton and Bath was a cement hauler owned by US Steel in Northampton County PA. It was part of a pretty small geographic area that cranked out huge amounts of cement in eastern PA; Lehigh New England's cement operation was also centred there. They (and LNE, for that matter) maintained their own fleet of boxcars rather than load 100lb bags of cement into general interchange cars because bag cement, like food, was considered a "clean" load requiring dedicated stock. NB had some very old cars, steel versions of the USRA pattern cars built in the early 20s, and LNE had '23 ARA ("X29") cars that were still common in that service into the early 1960's.

The car itself is an undec Atlas "steel USRA rebuilt" box. Like a lot of their Jim Weaver era stuff (why he was such a hero the OSKs actually put him in their "Hall of Fame" next to the likes of Armstrong and Lobaugh beats the hell out of me) they have serious errors for the proto-modellers to resent; being too narrow the major one.

It came to me in a moving box quantity buy of project rolling stock representing that era and locale, so had to see what I could do with it as the general appearance is a signature variation of the bag-cement cars that ran out of that area. Some detail changes to better suit, Trucolor paint, Protocraft decals, weathered with Trucolor.

I've made the transition to the new generation of paints that backfilled what we lost during the China-bubble era. Trucolor as pretty much the only thing I shoot now, and the last of my Floquil is gone. I'm used to TC now, and I like it.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

.

[sarge]

Finally got back in the workshop for a post-Christmas painting session. A couple PRR H21a circa 1960:

These are RTR Atlas collaborations with Nick Seman. Weathering is Trucolor thinned and shot with a couple sizes of Binks Wren airbrushes.

[De Bruin]

Final Reading hood in the work order, this one took longer than I wanted due to finally getting some real vacation travel in this year.

USH/KTM SD-45 using the same recipe as the C630, GP-35 and NE Caboose- MicroScale decals, Scalecoat Reading Green and C&NW Yellow.

This one got a headlight harness, glazed windows and wipers added, but thankfully no car body mods like the GP-35.

Once again the safety stripes were still the biggest tedium here, moreso on the complex end plate pilots on EMD’s than the Alcos. Live and learn.

[sleepmac]

Very nicely done!

Dan Weinhold

[E7]

Pete, Looks great, and those stripes are a testimonial to a man who has much more patience than yours truly! Those Reading colors really go well on the modern diesels.

[De Bruin]

Thanks Guys.
This past fall has been slow for me modeling wise but some things did get done, albeit not as interesting or noteworthy as some of the other paint jobs done earlier this year.

I’ve posted pictures of Maroon’s Clark Benson dba "Custom Services" PRR streamliner here in the past (above shot taken around 2019 at the SOS Canton Club layout) but I believe most were lost in one of the storage culls, so pardon the repeat postings here. Having returned the set to Jim for the SW Meet I decided to finish the one remaining car project for it, a grill diner.

This was scored off Ebay, just the extrusion and fiber board floor no other parts.

The kitchen service door was fabricated from a plastic CD gem case

In keeping with the build characteristics of the rest of the consist I used craft paper for the window treatments.


Other than a little scouring needed to find those matching dopey Lionel end caps (located at local hobby shop specializing in three rail, thank you Legacy Station!) I had or fabricated the rest of the car and underbody details.
Of course these are derived from Lionel extrusions and the PRR (likely the accountants looking at maintenance costs in the late 1950’s) sobered up about painting stainless steel fluted cars and most if not all of the PRR’s early Budd cars were stripped to their silver mist natural metal. Still imo a decent looking train in a 1930’s or 40’s “South Wind” sort of vein. Decals by Champ, stripes by MicroScale

[bob turner]

Beautiful. Are you still using Scale Coat? How do you simulate the window casing?

Shame Benson didn't use the baggage car extrusion. That one was as accurate as the Mac Shops extrusion.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

........those matching dopey Lionel end caps....

I think somewhere I may have a mold for those - did some custom work for someone 8-10 years ago who sent me the stuff to cast 30-40 pairs of ends. Last I saw them was on eBay being sold as an estate find. Odd seeing stuff you've made listed on eBay....every so often I see one of my kits,

[De Bruin]

Thanks Guys

…Are you still using Scale Coat?

I recall priming with Rustoleum Pro’ Grey, wet sanding the flat letterboards, window and side panels and then applying Floquil; ½ Clearcoat and the other half four parts “Tuscan” and one part "Caboose Red” in order to get the best match to the redish tint of the original five cars, a lot of trial and error and not a perfect match either.

How do you simulate the window casing?

Again trying to match the originals I applied silver enamel with a brush, albeit evidently not too well these days, as my hand shakes more as I age. Alternately one could narrowly mask off the window edges prior to priming or carefully sanding off a strip of primer and paint, I may try that on the next aluminum car project.

Shame Benson didn't use the baggage car extrusion. That one was as accurate as the Mac Shops extrusion.

Agree yes indeed, one of those mysteries that only Benson and the ghosts of Irvington would know I guess

........those matching dopey Lionel end caps....

Harder to find these days, and pricey they are when you do