This weekend finally marked the first real free time I've had since buying San Juan Decals, the fall yardwork and the day job that I was actually able to sit down and do some modeling. This was a Lhee Do offering from many years ago that I picked up on ebay a while back. I added SJCC 4'-8" trucks and evolution couplers. I painted it PollyS Oily Black. There are a number of inaccuracies in dimensions like the main handrail is mounted too high which caused me to have to compromise on the location of the lettering. Speaking of lettering, the Thin Film decals I used were a lot of trouble. It took 6 sets to finally be able to finish the car. I have used Thin Film decals for many different projects and have never had the problems that I did with these. Something happened with the paper/substrate on these and they would either not lift or tear if they lifted at all. ( I know how this happens on my decals but can't say for sure for Thin Film. ) Fortunately both Coronado and Thin Film directly worked with me and all ended well. This was also my first try at using the Future Wax coating before lettering as many speak highly of it's ability to hide the lettering film before setting and matte final spray. Well as you can see from my picture this didn't work out so great. I have always had better results just lettering onto a flat finish. So I don't think I'll do this again. Over all I like how it looks and am working now on the weathering plan. It was a good learning experience and I now look forward to applying this on my 4 Grandt UTLX and Classic Miniatures CONX 5.
Very nice result, despite it all. From the picture, it looks like the result is quite satisfactory, nevertheless. Without your comments, one would hardly have noticed any problems. I presume you had to position the end number below the hand rail instead of above it?
Robert et.al., Thanks for the positive feedback. The handrail as well as the bottom seams on this car are situated higher relative to the lower running board when compared to pictures in the NGP Volume IV. The ladders are then also too long as they have to span a greater length to contact the handrail. As such I placed the decals as best as I could to retain positional accuracy. As such they all ride higher on this model than they would on the prototype. This also pertains to the TCX 72 lettering on the tank ends. They are above the rail but higher than on the real thing.
