Espeefan's Passenger Car Modeling

[RhB Michael]

Do you sand between the primer and paint coats?

 

[Espeefan]

Do you sand between the primer and paint coats?

Not unless I screw up and get dry spray. Then I’m just as likely to dunk in solvent, strip and respray. Scalecoat levels very nicely with baking (205 degrees for 90-120 minutes). The goal on model painting is to cover with thin coats. There isn’t much to sand! I know the car model guys do this, but they’re going for a high gloss finish on their models. We aren’t. Mostly we dull things down and weather on top of everything. Plus there are all those rivet lines, seams, etc. Car guys usually have more smooth surfaces to work with.

 

[Espeefan]

I got the cars painted SP Sark Olive yesterday. It's a bit of a warmer green than Pullman Green. Sort of reminds me of an Olive drab or Army Green. Spraying Tru-Color is in interesting experience. It's a bit different for me every time, mostly because the thinning is a bit of guesswork. You also have to get the airbrush closer to the work than with just about anything else I use. It goes on very thin, so at least to me I had to apply it heavily enough that any other paint wound have run. It's was like walking a fine line between keeping a steady hand and panic. Since it's an acetone-based system it stinks, but it drives very rapidly. Beginners may get dry spray. You also want to use their thinner, as I've stated before. Some cheapskates use straight acetone, but there are other things in their thinner (I believe some retarder and possibly other things as well). I've tried both ways and I find biting the bullet and buying the proper thinner gives the best finish. It does not require baking but I wanted to make sure it was ready for masking, so I baked for 90 minutes at 205 degrees. Baking time is set by the old rule of thumb (or rule of nose). If it stinks, bake it some more. I got a nice gloss finish, perfect for decals.

Now on to masking for the roofs, which will get flat black, and I have to paint the diaphragms. I use Coach Yard's diaphragms. Yes, they are expensive, but there are none better. The old Walthers paper ones are too crude for cars of this detail level, and the American Limited and Hi-Tech Details sets break if you give them a dirty look. They are usable if your cars stay on the layout, but they can't tolerate transport. The factory ones from PSC, well they just plain suck. Like the trucks!

 

[Espeefan]

Got the roofs painted yesterday. Also found a few misses on the floors. Once again the floor detail level is so high that it's easy to miss a spot. Since the wet paint is glossy it's also easy to "miss the misses" when checking under light. A few spots revealed themselves after the paint dried flat. That meant stinking up the kitchen again, just before dinner which was not well received.

These old cars have interesting roof detail. The parlor is air conditioned, so no roof vents, just external electrical conduit, and the access hatch for the air conditioning equipment, and vents for the kitchen/food prep area in the Parlor car. You could get a cocktail or a sandwich in this parlor. The Oliver Millet operated on the Del Monte, which ran from San Jose down to Monterrey. It's an interesting little train, and a good one for a small layout. I have a photo of a four car consist, a News Agent coach, a non AC coach, one AC coach, and the Oliver Millet, with a 4-6-2 as the motive power.

The RPO coach is an interesting model. That's a Texas & New Orleans car. No, it isn't air conditioned. Can you imagine riding in that across West Texas in August? In researching it I found something else interesting. The interior diagram as shown in the SP Coach book:

Two seating compartments each with its own set of restrooms. Know what that means? It's a Jim Crow car. I'm going to model it this way. It would make a neat car for mixed train service, or a short passenger train for that T&NO Pacific I modeled.

I need to check decal inventory and make sure I have enough lettering on hand. The RPO coach came with decals, but I'm not sure if I'll use them. I may use Thinfilm sets here for reasons previously discussed. Next task: Start cobbling interiors together! decaling will be dead last, as handling the cars could damage lettering.

 

[DeaconKC]

Alan, thank you for that interesting bit of history. "Man learns nothing from history, but that man learns nothing from history."

 

[JimKrol]

These cars remind me of commuting on the SP to SF. The running joke at the time was "You can still see the Arrowheads".

 

[Espeefan]

These cars remind me of commuting on the SP to SF. The running joke at the time was "You can still see the Arrowheads".

You rode the Subs? That's cool! I rode in one out at the Orange Empire RR museum. No AC. In the summer. They rode us out into the desert on their little spur with an electric locomotive. It was so hot the power went out. They had to come get us with a diesel. On another subject, Golden Gate Depot (the division of Sunset Models) is doing the Subs, and some other cars as well. I have an order for four of them.

 

[Kusojiji]

Awesome work and attention to detail! Sorry if I missed it as I am still working my way through all the posts, but where are you getting your interiors from? I have some Rivarossi UP coaches that have the cheap, flimsy plastic stuff that I'd like to change.

 

[JimKrol]

You rode the Subs? That's cool! I rode in one out at the Orange Empire RR museum. No AC. In the summer. They rode us out into the desert on their little spur with an electric locomotive. It was so hot the power went out. They had to come get us with a diesel. On another subject, Golden Gate Depot (the division of Sunset Models) is doing the Subs, and some other cars as well. I have an order for four of them.

I rode the SP commuter train from Sunnyvale to San Francisco, in the early 70's. Trains contained a mix of double decker commuter cars, and some cars that looked like what you are modeling. Great work! The train was pulled by a diesel; I know not what it was. I worked for Southern Pacific, in IT.
Had a pretty good time.

 

[Espeefan]

Awesome work and attention to detail! Sorry if I missed it as I am still working my way through all the posts, but where are you getting your interiors from? I have some Rivarossi UP coaches that have the cheap, flimsy plastic stuff that I'd like to change.

My interiors are mostly from Walthers cars. A friend gave me a big bag full of interiors, and I cut and paste what I need. Some are pieces and parts from Red Cap and Palace car company. I think Red Cap is now out of business.

Palace Car Company can be found here: https://palacecarco.com/

 

[Kusojiji]

Thanks!

 

[Espeefan]

Morning All! After posting photos of the three painted cars I noticed thin spots in the paint which showed under the Ott Lite. Side note: Ott Lites are very useful for modelers. They are color corrected to what your project would look like in sunlight, and are easy on the eyes. I have one in my office (now the upstairs work bench) and on the downstairs bench as well. Older ones used a color corrected fluorescent bulb. Newer ones use LED's. But, I digress! I do that sometimes. Anyhoo... Back to the paint booth we went! Tru color is an ink, not a paint as previously mentioned. It goes on very thin, so multiple coats are necessary. It can't be brush applied! I might have gotten away with not doing this but in a club environment people will certainly see your mistakes, and it was easy enough to fix. With that done, I found I had to order decals for the three cars, and while I was at it, some more diaphragm sets. I thought I had some decals in my stash, but no. Murphy strikes again! It'll be a few days before that stuff shows. I'll be taking that time to do a little maintenance. Shown here is a Precision Scale coach I got a good deal on at Brass Trains. It's original, and probably test run only. It has Kadees installed, which is nice, and the original spare parts bag. The bag has spare kingpins and springs, which is nice, as well as the old Walthers paper bellows type diaphragms.

Those paper bellows go in these Sh*tty things, which I hate more than the McHenry coupler! Behold the Precision Scale Diaphragm assembly:

They suck worse than the soldered together brass trucks! Those huge cylinders house springs which give some spring action, but they are too short to give proper engagement with other cars. This thing is one of those compromises I've mentioned that builders to for operability. Looks like crap though, and getting those paper bellows installed in these things will call forth adjectives which will fill the swear jar. The cylinders leave holes the size of Nebraska in the car end when removed. I'd love to meet the wiener who came up with these. Probably graduated the Marquis de Sade school of Engineering! Well, you get the idea. I don't like them.

 

[Espeefan]

I'lll be replacing them with those Coach Yard sets previously shown. I have about a dozen or so PSC cars, mostly 60 footers, and split between head end cars and coaches. I'm putting these diaphragms on all of them. They are a nice upgrade. Check out the holes the factory units leave:

Fortunately, the Coach Yard sets cover them completely. I install them with Canopy glue. I apply it, let it set for five minutes until starts to tack up, then stick them in place. Canopy glue is what Walthers Goo should have been! Other things I'll need to do are, get the wheels painted black, and open the car to do an interior. These open pretty easily. Six or eight screws (depending on the model) and you're in! Coach seat interiors are pretty easy, even if you have to cut strip styrene and do individual seat pairs. I believe I have enough Walthers interior parts for these. If not, I have other parts in the stash!

 

[Espeefan]

Coach Yard diaphragms installed. A quick and easy job! Once you let the canopy glue set up for five minutes or so it will grab immediately like ACC but still allows you to make minor setting adjustments if you need to. It dries clear and is surprisingly strong. Note the big nasty holes are covered up, and the diaphragm yields a nice prototypical appearance. Note also where the coupler knuckle is in relation to the diaphragm. The diaphragms will touch on similarly equipped cars. This makes a big difference on the appearance of a running train!

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Getting really close now. Decaling done. I need to spray over them now to seal the decals. I'm deciding what to use. Probably Alclad flat. I also have a few other things to do. Minor touchup, and I have to paint the smokebox front silver. I'll do this with a brush, as it's pretty small, and silver is so thin you can brush it on smoothly. Lenses and marker jewels after that, then that light weathering. This is an older 2-8-0, built in 1899, and lasted until 1951. Most SP 2-8-0's had straight boilers, but this one has a pronounced taper at the third concourse, which I found interesting. I also loke the whaleback tender, a very SP-ish feature. Whalebacks were cheap and easy to manufacture, which made them irresistible to the railroad. I was surprised at the size of the tender lettering. By tender class this tender should have been lettered with 9" letters, but this one has 15" letters. This isn't the standard, but photos don't lie. Probably a result of using what stencils were on hand. Roundhouse foremen had a lot of latitude when it came to stuff like this.

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Very nice job. Your posts are some i get my inspiration from.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

They suck worse than the soldered together brass trucks! Those huge cylinders house springs which give some spring action, but they are too short to give proper engagement with other cars. This thing is one of those compromises I've mentioned that builders to for operability. Looks like crap though, and getting those paper bellows installed in these things will call forth adjectives which will fill the swear jar.

I can always teach you some special Polish words which i tend to use interchangeably with English. The swear jar will not understand them

 

[wheeler1963]

Especially, a question for you on these older passenger cars I'm doing up for a friend.

They give you thread to make the truss rods. Would brass rods be more practical to make them? You can see the supports in the second picture.

Thank you in advance, Jerome

 

[Espeefan]

Especially, a question for you on these older passenger cars I'm doing up for a friend.

They give you thread to make the truss rods. Would brass rods be more practical to make them? You can see the supports in the second picture.

Thank you in advance, Jerome

Looks like old MDC Palace car kits. You can try brass rod. It will be more durable but if it gets bent in handling it will want to stay bent, and would likely need replaced to get the proper look again. Thread may sag after time. I would suggest some elastic thread that can be mounted under tension and spring back after careless handling.

 

[Espeefan]

Very nice job. Your posts are some i get my inspiration from.

Thank you. I also finally got that headlight resistor swapped out so I have a functioning headlight now!

 

[wheeler1963]

Looks like old MDC Palace car kits. You can try brass rod. It will be more durable but if it gets bent in handling it will want to stay bent, and would likely need replaced to get the proper look again. Thread may sag after time. I would suggest some elastic thread that can be mounted under tension and spring back after careless handling.

Yes they are Palace Cars. I do have some stainless steel rod that is very strong. I never thought about elastic thread. I'll see if I can find some. Thank you for your help.