Post by JNXT 7707 on Jun 10, 2016 19:04:02 GMT -5
I'm calling this a Blue Line but at this point it is just a guess. It was thrown in with a purchase at a train show as a 'freebie'. What I got was an unpainted extruded aluminum shell, a wood floor and ends, and some full-width black foam rubber diaphragms. Although the shell was in great shape as it was, the ends were cracked/broken and one of the diaphragms was pretty misshapen.
The cracked/broken end pieces were replaced with sheet styrene. I had to fabricate some bolsters for the Con-Cor trucks, to which are mounted Kadee 508 couplers. Weight was added as well.
Since it is completely smooth, there are no door lines or other details, and although I've had it a couple years it didn't dawn on me until this week that it was a diner - the small window on one end is actually a door window.
After taking stock of the decals I had on hand, I decided to go with a L&N scheme. It's fantasy, since the L&N never had a dining car like this, but I took the 'what-if' approach - and numbered it in accordance with that too.
It's a simple paint scheme - flat black on the roof and Testor's Chrome Silver on the sides. I gave it a coat of Future to seal and blend in the decals a bit more without flattening the chrome shine like a solvent clear would have done. BTW, I tried out Tamiya's 'Aluminum Silver' spray paint first - it was kind of a disappointment, as you can get the same look with plain old Testor's metallic silver that is then oversprayed by a coat of clear.
The L&N decals were done by me, the rest came from an old Champ Southern streamliner decal set. I like the full-width diaphragms - the Tenshodo cars came with them also but could not be salvaged. I'd like to find a source of those somewhere. I defined the door with silver decal lines, I thought black lines would be too stark.
So here it is, the glue (Model Master Clear Parts Cement) on the diaphragms is not 100% dry yet so you might see some whiteness showing. I like the simple, stylized look it has.
The cracked/broken end pieces were replaced with sheet styrene. I had to fabricate some bolsters for the Con-Cor trucks, to which are mounted Kadee 508 couplers. Weight was added as well.
Since it is completely smooth, there are no door lines or other details, and although I've had it a couple years it didn't dawn on me until this week that it was a diner - the small window on one end is actually a door window.
After taking stock of the decals I had on hand, I decided to go with a L&N scheme. It's fantasy, since the L&N never had a dining car like this, but I took the 'what-if' approach - and numbered it in accordance with that too.
It's a simple paint scheme - flat black on the roof and Testor's Chrome Silver on the sides. I gave it a coat of Future to seal and blend in the decals a bit more without flattening the chrome shine like a solvent clear would have done. BTW, I tried out Tamiya's 'Aluminum Silver' spray paint first - it was kind of a disappointment, as you can get the same look with plain old Testor's metallic silver that is then oversprayed by a coat of clear.
The L&N decals were done by me, the rest came from an old Champ Southern streamliner decal set. I like the full-width diaphragms - the Tenshodo cars came with them also but could not be salvaged. I'd like to find a source of those somewhere. I defined the door with silver decal lines, I thought black lines would be too stark.
So here it is, the glue (Model Master Clear Parts Cement) on the diaphragms is not 100% dry yet so you might see some whiteness showing. I like the simple, stylized look it has.