Empire Belt RR / Atlantic Pacific RR Paint Project. Part 1

Greetings All,


We're at it again! 1:1 Sir Neal has scored big time at a local train show and the N.Y.C.T.L. Paint Shop has been contracted to paint three groups of freight cars for 1:1 Sir Neal's Atlantic pacific Railroad and my own freelance Empire Belt RR. 

And so it begins... 1:1 Sir Neal has sent this large box of freight cars for me to paint and letter according to our agreed upon specifications.

Note how 1:1 Sir Neal carefully packed this box of model railroading goodies. Damage free shipping is the goal for any packages being shipped. You want your trains well protected in transit. Too many times improper packaging has led to our models arriving with broken parts. 

A large painting project is in the works!! 1:1 Sir Neal does most things on a grand scale and he did not disappoint here. All items have arrived damage free. Group one is seven coal hoppers, group two is the eight 50' boxcars on the right and group three is the two 86' auto parts boxcars. 

To get the project started I disassembled the Atlas 50' double door boxcars being used for this part of the project. Note the horn hook couplers, these are new old stock cars. 

Next I disassembled the coal hoppers. If you can get the metal weight off the car without damaging anything do so. If not leave it like this.

Boxcars and coal hoppers disassembled. A bucket of soapy water waits. First you put your boxcars in then you add in your meatballs and sausages, a cup of sugar and there it is. Wait, wrong recipe! Dunk the cars into the water clean carefully and rinse well. Note the hoppers are also new old stock with their horn hook couplers.

All cars are now cleaned, rinsed and air drying. I wash the cars to make sure any mold removal agents or other contaminants are removed prior to the painting process. Once thoroughly dry the cars will be ready for painting on the Patti-O Paint Shop just outside the window.    

Seven coal hoppers are now painted and drying. This is the most basic of rattle can painting. I used a flat black to paint the cars while they were in their various sub-assemblies shown above. I put the cars back together and then painted them gloss black. Here they are drying and waiting for the next step.  

Next for this project is the mock up. (Are you mocking me!! No judge I wore this ridiculous suit just for you) The A.P.R.R. decals come in two sizes per sheet and will letter two cars per sheet. I've sent this picture to 1:1 Sir Neal for his review prior to lettering the models.

While I was waiting to hear back from 1:1 Sir Neal I painted the boxcars according to our project's guidelines. Six orange cars to be lettered for the A.P.R.R. and two cars for my E.B.R.R. All cars were painted with gray primer prior to their finish coats.

Having received approval from 1:1 Sir Neal the coal hoppers are lettered and in their SolvaSet phase. SolvaSet is a decal setting solution that allows the decals to soften and snuggle down over the rivets or seams of the freight cars. This part of the project is huge. Patience grasshopper!!! It will take several days at least for these decals to be totally snuggled down with no air bubbles. Use a pin to prick any bubble AFTER several coats of SolvaSet has been applied and the model is dry. Sometimes the decals will settle on their own and the pin prick will not be required.

Back to the boxcars the all important mock ups and decal cutting is under way. The green Empire Belt car is mocked up using the decals for the project. The orange A.P.R.R. car will follow the lettering style of the white A.P.R.R. cars in the background. The A.P.R.R. decals have been cut and each car is represented by a container. All decals for that car are included in the individual container so when't it's time to decal you're ready to go. 

Two E.B.R.R. cars are almost ready for the next phase of adding a clear spray like Testor's Dullcote to protect the decals and dull down the glossy finish. Both cars are numbered 358160 as one will stay with me and the other will go to 1:1 Sir Neal for use in our virtual ops or Penn Central Car Movements. (P.C.C.M.s)

All the orange A.P.R.R. cars now have a white roof and the orange has been sprayed with Testor's Glosscote. I'm not a fan of orange rattle can paint but in the end the cars came out pretty good. The coal hoppers are lettered and in the Solvaset phase.

The first AP car being lettered. Next installment I hope to be able to showcase the new AP fleet of boxcars and coal hoppers. There's still a lot of work to be done but the project is moving along at a nice pace. 

Thanks for Reading!!