My ONE and ONLY project ...


Hey there oplholik. Not to hijack Tony's thread, but that manufacturer of plaster structures is Downtown Deco. Easy to make but time consuming to paint. If you have the time to paint them properly, they make great structures. Randy, the owner is a great guy to work with as well.

Willie

Adding to the non-hijacking of Tony's thread, Randy has an excellent tutorial on building hydrocal kits: http://www.downtowndeco.com/site/2011/08/11/assemble-paintweather-hydrocal-structure-kit/
 
I have two Downtown Deco kits that I haven't assembled yet. I don't plan on getting many more from them only because Randy designs his kits with a "run down" appearance. In my world, everything is still in a period of prosperity. I don't do the run down decrepit weathering - just the light "I've been in existence for a while but I'm well cared for" look.
 
Kevin,

I am in the same mind set as you where my structures are concerned - old but maintained. If the Downtown Deco structures are more appropriate for a run down or slum area then I don't think they will fit into my layout. Thanks for bringing that up, saved me some dollars for other things.
 
Pullman Car Renovations:

Last night I ordered a bunch of Tru Color Paints and should have them by this Tuesday. As such, the renovation will continue and (with any luck) be completed on one car at least.

One set of Decals arrived yesterday (the inkjet printed ones) and they do look good. The Screen Printed ones should also arrive Tuesday as should (fingers crossed) the Dark Sea Blue Model Master Paint.

If this one car works out okay, looks decent at a small distance, then I will start stripping down the others. If I make a hash of this car the others will remain as is and "mine" will become a side show act :)
 
Regarding the Downtown Deco kits. They are definitely representative of "the other side of the tracks", but rundown is the result of how one chooses to paint and weather them. I have painted some in both the rundown look and the fresh but older look. Here's some pictures, first of the rundown look.
09-14-14 001.JPG09-14-14 029.JPG

Now one painted as fresh but older.
06-18-15 157.001.JPG

Choice is still yours.

Willie
 
Well, this is where I am at with the Pullman Car:

9eaCMbJ.jpg


JYdBgbz.jpg


Amj4PJ7.jpg


Personally, for a first attempt, I don't think it has come out too badly being that it is N Scale. I really want to put the white striping on it but am concerned about messing it up completely.

At this point, I don't know about the roof color. The Orient Express had white rooves but I'm not so sure about that. I am thinking one of four things but am open to suggestions:

1. Paint the roof the same color as the Blue,
2. Leave the roof white,
3. Paint it a medium grey or,
4. Paint it grimy black.

As said, I'm not settled on any of them so if anyone does have a suggestion, I'm all ears.

Also, if you want to leave a comment that would be great. All I ask is for your absolute honesty. If you think it is "crap" then say so and why it is. I truly believe that is the only way to learn and improve.
 
I really want to put the white striping on it but am concerned about messing it up completely.
pin striping would look great but might be impossible for N-scale

At this point, I don't know about the roof color. The Orient Express had white rooves but I'm not so sure about that. I am thinking one of four things but am open to suggestions:

1. Paint the roof the same color as the Blue,
2. Leave the roof white,
3. Paint it a medium grey or,
4. Paint it grimy black.
Hmmm, a much tougher question.
But one - if you go black, I would say flat black not grimy black. The only grimy black roof's I've seen are on cars sitting on the scrap line.
And two - why not consider the same cream color as the stripe?. The more different colors that get thrown into the scheme the more it starts to look like a circus train.
and three - blue for the same reason above, in addition that would leave the attention to the window sash stripe, and logo.
and four - A huge difference in model paint schemes versus the prototype type is the "view". Prototype equipment is very seldom observed from a bird's eye view, while that is the most common view for a model.
Medium grey would be yet another color.
 
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Looks to me like you are doing great on these. :)

Thanks Paul appreciate it.

pin striping would look great but might be impossible for N-scale
When I considered pin striping I bought 2 sets of "Empire Builder" stripes from Microscale and was going to use them. 2 problems immediately jumped out at me:

1. The stripes looked white in the pictures but were in fact grey as well as yellow/gold and
2. they weren't long enough to cover the width of the car.

As such, I might forego the "pin striping" idea and go with one solid color.

Hmmm, a much tougher question.
But one - if you go black, I would say flat black not grimy black. The only grimy black roof's I've seen are on cars sitting on the scrap line.
And two - why not consider the same cream color as the stripe?. The more different colors that get thrown into the scheme the more it starts to look like a circus train.
and three - blue for the same reason above, in addition that would leave the attention to the window sash stripe, and logo.
and four - A huge difference in model paint schemes than prototype type is the "view" prototype equipment is very seldom observed from a bird's eye view, while that is the most common view for a model.
Medium grey would be yet another color.

It's funny you should mention the part in bold. After I put (tried to put) the white stripes I sat back and thought 2 things, I am trying to do way too much on the car for a first effort and, secondly, I need to reduce the number of colors I am using from 4 (black, white, blue and aged/off white/cream) back to maybe only 2. If I do that, then I am thinking about stripping it all down and repainting it solid blue with the white "window section".

What I was attempting to create was something that looked "luxurious", something like the "Orient Express" visually. I think the number of colors and, possibly, the color choice has failed to achieved that aim. Bottom line, I think I have seriously confused my ambitions with my abilities with this idea so need to simplify it if I want to get a better result.

If I do that, then the roof (and ends) will be the same color as the car and, as you pointed out, it wont make it look like a circus train. Also, if I paint them all the one color I wont have to worry about trying replicate things (exactly) from one car paint to the next.

You've done a really nice job Tony, Well done. View attachment 63843

Thanks Chet, appreciate your encouragement. As I mentioned in my reply to Horseman though, I think I am going to strip it down and repaint it one solid color. It took a lot of time to do what I did and, at the end of the day, it didn't achieve what I envisaged for a paint scheme. I have 6 cars to paint and to be honest, I can't see myself spending the time trying to replicate the paint scheme as shown on all 6. I need to keep it simpler for the sake of the time factor and to ensure a much better and consistent result.
 
It's funny you should mention the part in bold. After I put (tried to put) the white stripes I sat back and thought 2 things, I am trying to do way too much on the car for a first effort and, secondly, I need to reduce the number of colors I am using from 4 (black, white, blue and aged/off white/cream) back to maybe only 2.
This is first hand experience on two counts. First I had a scheme I created for my own Pine Ridge & North River. It was a base green with sideways chevron stripes in gold/yellow or silver depending on the service. Simple elegant, it looked really good on paper. I designed this in the late 1970s and held to it until the mid 1990s - once again on paper. So finally the day came where that project finally made it to top of the list and I painted. Got all the stripes in perfect. Everything to my diagram spec, and...And from the bird's eye view it looked like a reverse Crayola Crayon box (crayola being yellow and green while mine was green and yellow). Gag how ugly. After the one real unit I didn't need to see another. I abandon it.

1984 different scenario. The Platte Valley Model Railroad club selected a logo. With that we wanted paint schemes. So I sat down and came up with passenger, fancy freight, simplified freight, and "modern" schemes. Freight units were dark green with two simple 6" yellow stripes horizontal down the side, or a single large white stripe down the side with yellow pin stripes. Passenger units were the opposite. White loco with large green stripe down the side, pin striped in yellow. So I painted two passenger units (SDP45s named "Spirit" and the "Phantom") for one of the other members, they looked great. One of the other members either misread the design standards or just decided to modify them. The passenger loco he came up with had the large green stripe lined with no pin stripes but 6" yellow stripes. Plus he made the roof a dark grey and lined it also with 6" yellow stripe. Too much. Especially where all those line met at the front of the loco. It looked like Bozo the clown going to a job interview.
 
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Yep, a lot of things look good on paper but then .....

So I have taken a step back and decided on a single solid color with a white roof. I am thinking about adding white stripes above and below the window section though, just to break the blue up a bit. Anyway, this is it as of now:

z98oCIB.jpg


You may note that I opted for a lighter blue as well. Just for interest sake, the blue I chose is VIA Blue.
 



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