Repainting Walthers Bi-Level Commuter Cars for Chicago Metra (current)

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

Hey all,

I need advise on paint.

The current Chicago Metra commuter cars are stainless…from what I see, since the 80’s. I bought some Walthers bi-level cars a while back (932-6253) with the thought that I could dissemble them and paint them to match today’s cars.

What paint should I be using? I’m looking for a silky-smooth shiny stainless steel finish on these. I’m looking for easy application with an airbrush.

Thoughts?

2

Rust-O-Lium (not sure about the spelling) makes a really great silver paint for passenger cars in “pint” cans so you can spray it through your air brush. Westlakes carries it here…

Mark

3

Guy,

If you’re looking for a realistic, stainless steel look then Alclad is the way to go!

I’m almost finished with 2 more cars that I just metalized with Alclad and should be posting a thread soon, but in the meantime, check out these threads:

http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/159534/1759082.aspx#1759082

http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/122979/1395803.aspx#1395803

My plan is to metalize every single one of my Walthers Budd and Pullman Standard streamliners.

4

seconded alclad check out their web site they have pics showing how great it looks

5

http://cs.trains.com/trccs/forums/p/86907/1029370.aspx

Another fun one to flip through of Antonio’s. It;s also short, but there’s a quick toss of Alclad and it’s uses between hobbies.

And thanks for putting this up. I went to pick up a rattlecan of the stuff (I know, I know…) and my Not-so LHS discouraged me from it, because all they had and that he could find was the chrome, and said it’s gonna be too bright for stainless. Seeinhg this, I googled, turned up the above old thread, and will be stopping in Hobbytown again on my next dash up to the Indiana Transportation Museum to claim that rattlecan. And possibly another of Glosscote.

6

Fluted sides?

7

While the actual commuter cars I’m trying to mimic are, I’m not sure the Walter’s 932-6253 I’m using as a starting point can be considered fluted, but they are not smooth either.

http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/932-6253

These cars have been in service in Chicago for decades, certainly since the mid 80’s when I was taking the BN into Chicago on a daily basis. Hopefully Walthers is monitoring these forums and comes out with a new offering. I would love to see those old green BN E9’s as well in a Proto 2000.

8

That picture you reference is the old ‘smooth-side’ cars that the C&NW had before Metra and were transferred over to the Metra. The are not the fluted stainless steel cars.

Jim

9

Yep, that very well could be. I could not find bi-level commuter cars in HO scale from Walters that fit the bill, this was the next best thing. I’m open to suggestions.

10

Union Station Products makes Budd and Pullman Standard fluting sides.

Did you see my thread on the AHM Amtrak observation car? I installed the Pullman Standard fluting kit on it. Worked out nicely.[;)]

Thisis info on Union Station Products Budd Fluting: http://unionstationproducts.com/budd_fluting.html

Here’s there Pullman Standard Fluting: http://unionstationproducts.com/pullman_standard_fluting.html

11

I did see your thread, some wonderful work. I must say I was concentrating on the paint however, not the fluting. I’m actually very dumbfounded (and delighted) that I can add fluting to my existing cars, but it looks I’ll need to budget more time and $ into the project now.

I will say, if Walther’s comes out with them, I’ll put mine up on ebay in a second and replace them. My time is very scarce now days.,

12

Flashwave, Crnkydad,

Thank you for the kind reference.

Flashwave since you’re using rattlecans, Alclad was available in spray cans, however, their website ( alclad2.com ) has been revamped. Though the site looks nicer, it’s rather sparse on details. You can email and ask them if the Chrome is available in rattle cans. From my understanding, modelers using them “with care” also got good results. [;)]

13

Here are some IMW kits I painted. The height of the cars is an issue (not sure if it will get resolved or not) but for now appear to be good stand-ins until someone like Walthers produces an RTR version (hopefully soon) www.isldandmodelworks.com

14

Beautiful work!

15

Fantastic!

When you say the height is an issue, do you mean they are not to scale, or they are but they exceed NMRA specifications for HO?

16

Ah, no I can get the chrome in hand, but the last time I tried, the floor walker told me that’s not what I want, and they don;t make what I want. I just meant I can go back and tell him this is for sure what I want and rub it in.

17

Thanks! They are built to scale and run on HO scale track and everything. For all intents and purposes they are scale models but somewhere along the lines the manufacturer somehow made the cars too tall. They should roughly be the same height as Amtrak Superliners (ideally without any modification to the trucks and or chassis which I had to make) but even with all the modifications I made, they still ride a bit high but not as badly as when I first noticed the issue. They still tower over my F40PH. I think they sit about 1/4" inch or less higher than they should. I was able to claim about 1/8" with the truck and chassis modification. The prototype cars are only slightly taller than the F40 and MP36s but almost appear flush at times. They’re still good stand-ins and will prove to be decent runners. I just fear that adjusting the height may have compromised their running performance as the snow plow on the cab car tends to scrape the rail heads at times.

18

Ugh! So annoying when modelers run into the same scene over and over! Most dealers that stock Alclad try to sell the Alclad 2 stainless steel formula to modelers modeling “stainless steel”. Fair enough, however, what they forget (or don’t know) about streamliners is that the SS is very highly polished. The Alclad Chrome works flawlessly because it’s finished can be easily toned down with clear coats, which result in a highly polished stainless steel appearance instead of a “chrome bumper finish”.

Flashwave, guys just politely tell the LHS manager that you want the Alclad #107 and let him/her know that we model railroaders are famous for taking products intended for one purpose and finding an excellent use for them on another type of application!

CASE IN POINT: Who would have thought that the polymer compound, ENVIROTEX, which was often used to coat tables and other hard surfaces in businesses…would be used to create scale model water!!