Pullman Heavyweight Detailing

[meng]

Hi all,

I recently purchased a brass pullman heavyweight, my first, and I'm unused to the sparse interior. Are there any places that I can obtain the various pieces needed to construct the interior furnishings? Walls, windows, seats, etc.?

Thanks for any help!

Matt

 

[Cjcrescent]

Matt,

http://www.walthers.com/ Try this link, and search for passenger car details. Sometimes their website is hard to search on, so I would also recommend that you get a copy of a Walthers Catalog. They have many detail parts in the catalog that you'll need. I'm not saying that you buy from them, but they have a lot of what you're looking for in the catalog. Some lines to look for would be vendors like Grandt Line, Precision Scale, and others.

 

[souleman1948]

I just did a quick Google and it directed me to several listed on eBay. There is also a company called The Palace Car Company that make interiors for the Pullmans. Their website is http://www.palacecarco.com/
Hope this helps.
Mike

 

[meng]

Thanks for the help! I ran out and got a Walther's catalog and it is amazingly helpful. I'll have to look into the other vendors you both pointed out. This will be a fun project for me to work on. Are there any books that would help me with the layout of the interior and undercarriage that you could suggest? I have found a few websites with the technical layouts, but any ideas on colors of the interior? Where the majority of these cars painted in the standard Pullman green? Were they ever painted in different livery other than the Pullman green or PRR Tuscan red?
Thanks again.

Matt

 

[Cjcrescent]

Matt,

For detailing hints, there are two books, (I think that they are OOP, so you may find them on Amazon and other similar sites.) The name of the books are; Some Classic Trains, and More Classic Trains. Both are by Arthur D. Dubin. They were published by Kalmbach, but again, I don't know if they're still being printed or not.

Each book covers several classic heavyweight trains. They have layouts of several cars in each train. While there are no color pictures of the interiors, he does discuss colors. They are worth finding and buying if you're a passenger train fan.

 

[souleman1948]

Depending on what railroad you are modeling you should be able to get some good color photos online. For example you can go to your search engine and type in "Great Northern passenger car photos". What will come up will be diff erent sites with, pictures of Great Northern trains and cars. When I was making my Polar Express, one of the guys on this forum said that the artist used the Erie Lackawana passenger car color scheme for his heavyweights. I Googled "Erie Lackawana passenger car photos" and a great color photo of, a business car popped up. As to interior colors you should be able to do the same. Good luck and keep us in the loop as to your progress.

 

[meng]

Some Classic Trains ordered from amazon! More Classic Trains will have to be found on eBay I suspect. I'm not certain what line I want to model just yet, though I was thinking of modeling a line that would pass close or connect to a National Park or such, was thinking Southern Pacific or Great Northern. I leaning towards painting the cars, I've amassed about 8 brass heavyweights, in Pullman Green livery so that I could be more flexible with their usage. Any suggestions on a brand of enamel paint? I'll test my painting skills out on a piece of sheet metal before I start on the cars.
Again thank you for all your help!
Matt

 

[Cjcrescent]

For brass the paint of choice has always been Scalecoat. Once baked on to the model in a low temp oven, kept below 200`
the paint is extremely glossy. Ready for decals.

 

[meng]

Do you suggest a primer before the Scalecoat? If so, which works best?

Thanks!

 

[Cjcrescent]

Scalecoat I is designed normally not to need a primer, but I've always applied a neutral shade of primer for colors like yellow and red, that doesn't cover as well as other darker colors. These colors are, at times, hard to get a uniform, even coat of color without applying too thick a coat of paint. Always apply the lighter colors first, including red, to avoid using more paint that is necessary. Also to get the paint to cure properly, I've always baked brass in an oven set about 175`and baked it for at least 2 hrs.

 

[meng]

Wonderful! If I was to use floquil primer, I can bake that as well as the enamel?

 

[Cjcrescent]

Yes you can, but I would bake the primer before spraying on the Scalecoat.

 

[souleman1948]

I may be wrong here (not sure if painting brass is different than other metals) but I would think that after the primer is baked it will need a light scuffing (800 grit scuff pad) to reopen sealed primer pores which will accommodate adherence of top coat to the primer. This is what is done in body shops when repainting a car or truck. Usually they will get a top coat applied to the primer with in a couple of hours after priming which in turn saves time for them. In the event a car or truck gets primed and left overnight, the body man will have to scuff before applying top coat. Baking promotes "sealing" of the paint, even primer. So, like I said, brass might be different than other metals but if it isn't this step should be done if you are in fact going to bake the primer.
Mike