STEP 15: Painting and Decals
Continued ...
The Erie Railroad boxcars part 4 - 2
using them. They can be contacted at
Since the decals are for 10’-0” interior-height cars,
I modified this portion of the decal set. I cut out the
offending interior height numbers and replaced them
with the appropriate numbers from a Rail Graphics
set that came with a Sunshine B&O M-53 Wagon Top
boxcar kit. I changed only these numbers because,
while you can’t necessarily read the numbers, the
eye can tell the difference between a two-digit and a
one-digit number.
The paint I used is a relatively new product named
Tru-color paint. I purchased it my local hobby store,
which is more a custom-painting business than a
hobby store. This is the paint they use; it’s similar to
the old Accupaint. The paint dries quickly and with
a gloss finish, and decals can be applied after one
hour. See their web site at
Before I began painting, I took time to wash the
parts with Windex applied with a spray bottle
and then scrubbed with a toothbrush. Windex
is great at removing oily fingerprints from glass
so I reasoned that it should do the same on the
castings. After cleaning, I allowed the pieces to dry
thoroughly. An advantage of using Windex or other
glass cleaner is that the product dries quickly and
leaves no soapy residue.
Now to choose the colors: Black was easy; I used
TCP-40 Black. On to the boxcar red: my beloved
Erie did not seem to be very concerned about
STEP 15: Painting and Decals
Continued ...
having a specific boxcar red. In reviewing the
Erie/
DL&W Color Guide to Freight and Passenger
Equipment
by Morning Sun Books, no two photos
appear the same color.
I know the colors can vary by daylight, film,
camera settings, and so forth. Since Tru-color paint
doesn’t yet have a “boxcar red” in its formulation
that looked correct to me, I mixed my paint using
a 50/50 mix of TCP-11 Boxcar Brown and TCP-88
Engine Maroon.
What I ended up with is a good match for the photo
of Erie 83014 as shown on page 46 of the book. I
thinned the paint with about 20%-25% Acetone, and
sprayed with an air pressure of 25-30psi.
I was very pleased with the coverage of the
paint and its overall appearance. The gloss finish
accepted the decals very well, and I used very little
Don Hanley is the Assistant Editor
for MRH, and is interested in the
Erie Railroad, specifically the
Huntington, Indiana area during
the 1950s. Don has had numberous
articles published in Mainline
Modeler and MRH Magazines
describing various structures and
rolling stock detailing projects.
MRH-Jul 2013
