Over the weekend, I made a great deal of progress on the three N5B cabin cars I’m building.
Having drilled all the grab iron holes in the bodies, I spent Saturday morning locating, marking, and drilling the holes for the details on the cupolas.I filled the holes for the roofwalk with bits of styrene rod. The larger holes were rectangular and had to be drilled out to 1/16″ to get a smoother plug. I shaped the top side of the rods to match the contour of the roof.On Saturday, I washed all of the parts and let them dry overnight. Sunday morning I sprayed a coat of Polly Scale Light Grey Undercoat on all of the parts. By Sunday evening I was spraying Polly Scale Penn Central Green and Vallejo Air Black on the various parts.I temporarily assembled the carbodies and placed them on the trucks to let the paint cure. Stand by for more progress on these.
That’s the idea Chris. I had a difficult time finding photos of two that were exactly the same, let alone three. So I decided that mine should reflect the ragtag nature of prototype cars.
That Polly Scale PC green looks a little too blue for my taste. I had the same problem on an X72a I painted many moons ago. I imagine there was some fading and variation over time with PC green, but all of yours probably would be in fairly fresh paint. I wonder which brand of paint comes closest?
The Niagara Branch 
I see you’ve a subtle variation on each one: one with a roofwalk, one with no roofwalk, but remaining supports for one, and one with a clean roof.
LikeLike
That’s the idea Chris. I had a difficult time finding photos of two that were exactly the same, let alone three. So I decided that mine should reflect the ragtag nature of prototype cars.
LikeLike
That Polly Scale PC green looks a little too blue for my taste. I had the same problem on an X72a I painted many moons ago. I imagine there was some fading and variation over time with PC green, but all of yours probably would be in fairly fresh paint. I wonder which brand of paint comes closest?
LikeLike
By the time I fade these and weather them, the Polly Scale PC green looks passable. Scalecoat makes an exact match, but I’m not going to use it.
LikeLike
Hunter,
A most interesting project, completing a number of cars at the same is a great idea. I look forward to your progress!!
Scott
LikeLike
Thanks Scott!
LikeLike