If you want cars that are correct for the Daylight, models of cars that actually ran on the train, there are three sources: Broadway Limited did the train some years ago, as did MTH. Both train sets are accurate, though the MTH cars roll much better, and the articulated joints on cars so equipped are better. Both runs are long sold out, so you'll need to scour your local swap meets, train shows, and e-Bay. MTH did all of the special cars in a set the same as their O Gauge marketing. The triple unit, combine, Parlor, tavern, and Obs and a standard coach all came in a set and you added articulated coaches as you wanted. I think I paid around $600 for my MTH set, and added four articulated coaches for a correct train. BLI did their train in individual packages, so you didn't take that big hit, but they still aren't cheap. Pricing on e-Bay can run from reasonable to ridiculous. Athearn did one coach, the 77-C-3 I think. That's a nice model, I have a bunch of those, and they did it in Daylight, SP Coach Green, Overland yellow & gray, two tone gray, simulated stainless with red stripe, and even red over silver for the short-lived Golden State scheme. Rumor has it that car was to be the start of an entire train, but things got shuffled around at Athearn, and the train never happened. Pity! Last is brass, and some of the older SOHO cars are correct and not that expensive, but you'll likely have to do what I'm doing here in this thread to bring them up to snuff! There's a fair amount of stuff on e-Bay right now, including one of those 8 car MTH sets. $750, which is reasonable for what you get.
Espeefan's Passenger Car Modeling
- Thread starter Espeefan
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When I used to custom paint for others, I had one or two clients who really pushed me to sharpen my skills. At some point I got tired of my best work shipping off to someone else's house and decided to do for myself. By and large I think we are our own worst critics. I also like to have models that people don't see every day. I like to be different. That sort of thing will get you to where I am. 
Now for the record most projects aren't as demanding as these may appear. Daylight is a demanding scheme, but because of these stripes, not the paint itself. Good decaling takes a fair amount of work to master. The yellow cars I did were actually quite easy. The trick is to go slow, take your time, and walk away for a while if you get frustrated. We all get frustrated from time to time. It's the nature of the beast! BTW, my wife says the same thing: "I couldn't do that, I don't have the patience!" Once you get into teh work it's not so bad. I only do this kind of stuff when I'm in the mood. If I'm not in the mood, and try to force it, I'll get frustrated and turn out crappy work, so sometimes I step away, sometimes for months at a time.
I had thought about these as they are more modern, and the paint scheme might be a little easier to imitate.
I find this thread a very good read, and I love your SP models. I do have a few Brass cars, most noteworthy a B&O PS 5DB-Buffet Observation used on the Capitol Limited. Some Plastic models Walthers put out turned out better for less, but as you pointed out, that's not necessarily so.
Keep showcasing your models and techniques. I'm learning more about SP and Overland Route trains thanks to your efforts.
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JimKrol
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the info, now where can I get a second mortgage?
PS: BrassTrains.com has a coffee shop tavern like my car with the antenna, and a coach for $60 each. The clinic on how do paint and letter the cars is right here! Feeling adventurous? I've put together several trains I'm a fan of. A 1941 Lark, a 1941 Daylight, a 1941 City of San Francisco, an Overland, circa 1955, and I'm working on a San Joaquin Daylight, circa 1951. These trains took years of finding the cars I could afford, parts, decals, and the time to do the work. It takes some commitment! PPS, there's an observation car painted and ready to go for $95, and a tavern unpainted, $95. Not a bad start there.
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Well it was somewhere between 5 and 6 hours per car but the Daylight cars are decaled. Can I get an AMEN?! Like I said, tedious. The last car, the coffee shop was a stinker. The top stripe kept wanting to curl down into the top girder sheet. Much swearing and fiddling later I got it to stay where it belonged. If I were to do this again with Champ stripes I'd leave a large film border on the roof side to better hold the stripe where it belongs. Hindsight is a beautiful thing! The thin stripes are not easy, but worth the effort. Below is a comparison with the wrong stripes in the wrong places for reference. I also test fit the chassis on one of the cars, sort of a preview of what the car will look like. Next up, the steps and grab irons get painted silver, windows and blinds installed, resistors, and diaphragms. Looks like I'm going to try some interiors on these. too much window area not to! A little history on these cars: They were originally on the 1937 Daylight. They were so popular that they were always overcrowded, so they were replaced with the triple unit diner/kitchen/coffee shop cars, and a separate Tavern for first class passengers only. These cars went to the San Joaquin Daylight for a while, and could be seen on the Sacramento Daylight, and eventually wound up wherever they were needed. The car with the antenna is a Coffee Shop/Tavern/Lounge, which to me is an unusual combination, but as it had a kitchen, it was considered a food service car even though the external lettering said "Tavern". Well, I'm decaled out so I'm calling it a night! Maybe some easy work tomorrow!
Here's how it looks when done wrong!
G'night all!
Here's how it looks when done wrong!
G'night all!
TLOC
Well-Known Member
As of this morning I found a little more 911 rescue to do. a section of stripe had folded over into th top girder panel AGAIN! (frustration font) I tried my theory of a broader film as shown below.
Note the wide film border above the stripe. I figured this wide piece of clear film would grab enough of the roof to keep the little bugger from folding over again and I was right. HAH! Take that! The striping took one complete package of Champ BRH-86 stripes, plus four pieces from a second package. I had no casualties from applying the stripes. I did have two or three where I got too close with the scissors and thinned the stripe. In those cases I was able to salvage most of the stripe and use the shorter pieces for fill in areas. I used the Micro Scale setting solutions to set the decals, but these proved not up to the task of setting the Champ film. They did make it more workable in most cases, and did help with positioning, but to get them to really settle down I used Walthers Solvaset. Solvaset is more aggressive, though not as aggressive as Champ's Decal-Set was. I still have a bottle of that stuff but was afraid to use it as it gets meaner as it gets older and I have had it mar the finish of some models when used. It took multiple applications of Solvaset in some areas, and lots of work with the hobby knife. If they get stubborn and you get silvering or bubbles, let it dry, then with a new (new...NEW...did I say NEW) X-acto blade in your knife poke any bubbles and gently slice through the decals anywhere you have silvering or raised decals so the solution can penetrate. Be gentle here, and be careful not to damage the paint. The champ stripe film could also be worked when wet, but carefully, and with a very light touch. Here is the repair complete:
It may be difficult to see the diference here , but with the model in hand the problem was quite visible!. You can see some of the film, but I believe a second clear coat will blend it in, and if it doesn't I'll shoot the roof with a 50-50 mix of clear and flat. Car roofs were generally flat anyway, as they didn't get washed in the car washers.
Note the wide film border above the stripe. I figured this wide piece of clear film would grab enough of the roof to keep the little bugger from folding over again and I was right. HAH! Take that! The striping took one complete package of Champ BRH-86 stripes, plus four pieces from a second package. I had no casualties from applying the stripes. I did have two or three where I got too close with the scissors and thinned the stripe. In those cases I was able to salvage most of the stripe and use the shorter pieces for fill in areas. I used the Micro Scale setting solutions to set the decals, but these proved not up to the task of setting the Champ film. They did make it more workable in most cases, and did help with positioning, but to get them to really settle down I used Walthers Solvaset. Solvaset is more aggressive, though not as aggressive as Champ's Decal-Set was. I still have a bottle of that stuff but was afraid to use it as it gets meaner as it gets older and I have had it mar the finish of some models when used. It took multiple applications of Solvaset in some areas, and lots of work with the hobby knife. If they get stubborn and you get silvering or bubbles, let it dry, then with a new (new...NEW...did I say NEW) X-acto blade in your knife poke any bubbles and gently slice through the decals anywhere you have silvering or raised decals so the solution can penetrate. Be gentle here, and be careful not to damage the paint. The champ stripe film could also be worked when wet, but carefully, and with a very light touch. Here is the repair complete:
It may be difficult to see the diference here , but with the model in hand the problem was quite visible!. You can see some of the film, but I believe a second clear coat will blend it in, and if it doesn't I'll shoot the roof with a 50-50 mix of clear and flat. Car roofs were generally flat anyway, as they didn't get washed in the car washers.
Only one way to find out, right?
When I used to custom paint for others, I had one or two clients who really pushed me to sharpen my skills. At some point I got tired of my best work shipping off to someone else's house and decided to do for myself. By and large I think we are our own worst critics. I also like to have models that people don't see every day. I like to be different. That sort of thing will get you to where I am. Now for the record most projects aren't as demanding as these may appear. Daylight is a demanding scheme, but because of these stripes, not the paint itself. Good decaling takes a fair amount of work to master. The yellow cars I did were actually quite easy. The trick is to go slow, take your time, and walk away for a while if you get frustrated. We all get frustrated from time to time. It's the nature of the beast! BTW, my wife says the same thing: "I couldn't do that, I don't have the patience!" Once you get into teh work it's not so bad. I only do this kind of stuff when I'm in the mood. If I'm not in the mood, and try to force it, I'll get frustrated and turn out crappy work, so sometimes I step away, sometimes for months at a time.
Smudge617
Well-Known Member
This is the one I want to try and imitate, but the cars I have are the wrong era, and type, not that anyone in the UK would notice unless they were North American rail fans.Only one way to find out, right?
I had thought about these as they are more modern, and the paint scheme might be a little easier to imitate.
Two color schemes, and the yellow strips are not as thin. Now that your masking is up to par, it should be do-able. Depending on what sleepers the heavyweights are you should be able to find something, maybe old Branchline, or now Atlas, Rivarossi, or something like that. If the window arrangements aren't right on, don't worry about it. Most people won't notice, and there's nothing wrong with stand-ins! I still use some of those.
Boris
Beach Bum
Great definitions. Some are obvious PRR Slumbercoach or PRR Dome car. others...Walthers came out with a PS Smooth sided Dining car for their upscale line, and it was offered for the prototype and the Holy 13. PRR had 5 single unit PS built smooth sided dining cars built during the early 1940s. The strange thing was that the prototype Walthers selected was the IC and there was only 1 built. I considered it a stand in, until I received a few cars out of their "General" series, and finally took it out of the box. it screamed Foobie, placed in the middle of PRR prototype ACF and PS cars.
I find this thread a very good read, and I love your SP models. I do have a few Brass cars, most noteworthy a B&O PS 5DB-Buffet Observation used on the Capitol Limited. Some Plastic models Walthers put out turned out better for less, but as you pointed out, that's not necessarily so.
Keep showcasing your models and techniques. I'm learning more about SP and Overland Route trains thanks to your efforts.
Boris
Beach Bum
Which Athearn are you referring to? Athearn Blue Box 72' of dubious prototype, or Athearn Genesis Prototype non articulated SP Coaches? They offer a run of the Genesis cars every now and then, the BB cars keep getting cranked out, as they still sell. Check out Walthers for HO - City of SF, also Rapido is offering a Prototype SP Dome.
Got the windows in the Daylight cars this morning. They went quickly. .005 clear styrene. Canopy glue for the adhesive. I'm really getting hooked on canopy glue. It's easy to handle, dries clear, it's reasonably strong, and if you make a boo-boo it washes right off. No wonder Rapido recommends it for re-attaching wayward detail parts. I put a dot on a business card and apply small dots with a toothpick, then drop the clear styrene into place. The Daylight cars will get those venetian blind decals. Photos soon! Windows in the Yellow Pullman coach next!
I have a friend at the club who did the entire Capitol Limited. He modified E-6's to the EA's, or E-1's (whichever the B&O used). He bashed most of, the cars out of Rivarossi 12-1 sleepers. There's a video of it somewhere on the club's YouTube channel. He did a beautiful job on it. The observation car is usually the tough one on these name trains. A Lark Observation car was difficult to find for me. The SP had bad luck with boat tail observation cars. They kept getting wrecked. Both original Lark Obs cars were lost in accidents. SP eventually went to blunt end cars that could be put anywhere in the train, and eventually did away with them completely. I'm glad you're enjoying the thread. I will eventually move the 1941 COSF project over here. That one was a long project and will require sorting out photos and putting it in an order that makes some sort of sense to a reader. I started that train with one car and one locomotive and gradually put the consist together over some 15 years. When I had enough cars, I started painting and lettering them en masse.
Window and blind installation is complete. Photos as promised. After I did all the windows on the Daylight cars, I realized I had forgotten to clear coat them to seal the decals! Oops! This required some careful masking to cover the windows without touching the stripes. Tape would lift them right off the model. That wasn't too bad, and a good reminder to not hurry. I'm awaiting interiors from my interior guy for the Daylight cars. If I can get what I need it will be lots of cutting and splicing as these had unusual interior arrangements. A coffee shop lunch counter on one end and a lounge on the other, A curious combination. The other one is even more unusual: A kitchen in the center with a 1/4 bar, and a coffee shop on one side and a Tavern on the other. No wonder they got crowded!
AirbrushNo5
Well-Known Member
These look great…!
My friend gave me a handful of interiors last night, hopefully I can cobble together what is needed from them.
Special equipment used for this project:
It could not have been done without these:
Because you need things like these to do interiors:
I won't do this often, because it's probably a copyright violation. The SPHTS has taken quite a bite out of my wallet over the years, but the investment has been well worth it! That lunch counter is interesting. I'll probably have to scratch build part of it. I can skip the kitchens, as those windows have been blanked. should be fun!
Special equipment used for this project:
It could not have been done without these:
Because you need things like these to do interiors:
I won't do this often, because it's probably a copyright violation. The SPHTS has taken quite a bite out of my wallet over the years, but the investment has been well worth it! That lunch counter is interesting. I'll probably have to scratch build part of it. I can skip the kitchens, as those windows have been blanked. should be fun!
trailrider
Well-Known Member
Beautiful work! Congratulations on getting it done. More patience than I would have. Fortunately, I model the C.B.&Q. in the Zephyr era, Only thing I have to worry about is getting the BURLINGTON decals on straight, and the few stripes on some of the diesel locomotives.
Sirfoldalot
Days Gone Bye!
ALAN ... That is an AWESOME reference for you - even impressies me!
Thank you for posting it ... need more time to study your photos and reading!
Thank you for posting it ... need more time to study your photos and reading!
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