19thCentury locomotive sandhouse - 5
7: Stain the car
sideswith dilutions
of PollyScale Light
Freight Car Red. I
use airbrushmedium
to thin the paint.
Start with a high
dilution. Brush from
top tobottom; avoid
covering all the boards near the bottom of the
sides. Repeat this process a few timeswith less-
dilutedpaint. The object is to coat the siding at the
top of thewall more heavily than at the bottom,
leaving some exposedweatheredwood.
STEP3:Paintinganddecaling
Continued ...
10: Tocompletely
dissolve thedecal carrier,
applyasmall amount
ofmethyl ethyl ketone
(MEK) to the lettering.
Essentiallyyoudry-brush
MEKonto thedecal.
This isaveryaggressive
technique, sopracticeon
somescrapandonlyuse
it onmodelsconstructed
fromwood. The letteringon theupper car sidehas
been treatedwithMEK. The letteringon the lower
sidehasnot, andstill showssomesheen.
STEP4:Paintinganddecaling
7
8: These are the car sides after staining. Paint the
shed door, window castings, andpersonnel door
filler withPollyScaleD&HGray, thenweather with
Ben’s solutions.
9: I lettered the
car for aChicago,
Milwaukee, andSt.
Paul predecessor line.
Replace thecutout for
thewindow, taping it in
position from theback.
To serveas a straight
edge, tapeacardboard
strip to the side. Apply
thedecals; I usedMicroscaleRailroadRoman
letters. Cover thedecalswithWalthersSolvaset;
whendry, slice the letteringalong the scribes and
reapplySolvaset.Whendry, cut aroundand remove
thewindowplug.
8
10
9
MRH-Apr2014
