I’m using Scalecoat 1 to repaint some old heavyweight HO passenger cars and it’s a gloss paint; yet most pics I’ve seen seem to show the cars with a non-gloss finish.
Any suggestions?
When the ex-CP Royal Hudson made a trip through Wisconsin in the late 1970s or so, the heavyweight CP passenger cars that accompanied it during its stop in Waukesha WI (on the Soo Line) were unquestionably glossy. But that was a special presentation train and might not reflect normal appearance.
Dave Nelson
New Glossy, old and used Flat.
These are train we are talking about after all.
So maybe a weathered mix, then; flat on the exposed areas & glossy in the ‘corners’…should I do this before or after decal placement?
Gloss sides…flat roof
My vote is for glossy passenger equipment with maybe a light application of weathering. Most railroads attempted to keep their passenger equipment as clean as possible. Some trains, the California Zephyr comes to mind, were washed mid-run just to get the dust off and clean the windows. If you model Penn-Central, well… all bets are off [swg] !
“The Canadian” traveled 2,775 miles on its run and it was sure to pick up some dust along the way but unless time or weather constraints interfered, it would have been treated to a run through the wash rack.
Many photos of GG1s I see show the sides of the engine clean and shiny while the nose tended to accumulate more grime since it had to be hand washed (less frequently) you could see the areas where the rotary brushes could reach. At Sunnyside, the whole train, including the engine would be run through the washrack before being broken down for servicing.
On my “ideal” miniature world, my passenger trains are kept clean… AND on-time!
Ed
Decals on the gloss, then light coats of clear (with Scalecoat you can mix gloss and flat to get the desired “sheen”) then light weathering as others have suggested, on the ends, roof and underframe.
Ed
Glossy on one side, flat on the other. Visitors will think you have two trains.
The Canadian went through the wash rack while leaving Calgary on every trip, and they hand washed the domes where the rotary brushes did not reach. I have pictures I took in 1979 while attending the NMRA convention.
No matter how bad the weathering, they paint is still shiny under all the gunk. Cars were painted with a gloss paint and the shine would still be there. When I want a glossy finish I will paint so that I have a glossy finish to decal over, then I dullcoat to hide the decal, and then give the model glosscoat for a shiny finish and the decal edges cannot be seen.
Rick J
There is a you-tube video that is an old home movie in colour showing a Sekirk going through the Rockies in the dead of a grungy winter. It looks pretty darn spick and span to me. I trying to find the video, it was about twenty pages in last itme I searched.
My Grandfather managed CN steam out of Winnipeg. Till the day he died he would often talk about how clean CP would keep their equipment compared to CN.
Guys…the OP is talking about heavyweights…not the Canadian. Heavyweights were kept glossy with a tar roof… David B
OK, the DOMINION was kept spotless as well…
Ed
Glossy locos and rolling stock just doesn’t look natural to me in miniature. At a distance, does gloss really look glossy? Does scale have an impact on finish? I think it does… Simon
To clarify a bit - old CP cars but in the TH&B livery; all the pics I’ve seen show some really ‘tired’ cars…here’s a Youtube vid that leans towards ‘gloss’, but it’s not so clear when showing non-excursion trains…
http://youtu.be/9YuMMgr3Du4