I was just at the Lima, OH train show and picked up a bunch of paper boxcar sides made by Red Ball. So, of course I took a gander on the internet to find out how to apply these paper sides but was unable to find any thing related to these in N scale. Has anyone had experience using these? Thanks, Hans
Red Ball was around in the 1950s but probably do not exist anymore. Having some experience with assembling paper kits unless these are stout cardstock material then most likely they are to be laminated on a smooth surface. However if they are the stout cardstock they were meant to replace the sides of a donor car by milling off the sides leaving the ends, roof, and floor. Thin paper were meant to be laminated onto a sanded smooth side.
Well tried a internet search and hit pay dirt the 2nd try. https://www.oldmodelkits.com/blog/p...ll-ltd-pioneer-ho-kit-manufacture-since-1939/
Me neither, outside of NMRA Bulletins I've seen from the mid-1970s where they bound multi-colored cardstock pages like those below to carry on a time-honored tradition. Neat roadnames that Red Ball chose!
Howell Day was the gentleman who made and sold the Red Ball line of car sides in several scales. I almost bought some back when I saw those in MR but never did. I agree the sides were great-looking with interesting schemes. Doug
I can't say that the Red Ball artwork was directly used by others who offered models, but there was a lot of commonality. These were even mentioned in the book Billboard Refrigerator Cars. Some of these sides were first made available in the late 1930s which is not long after the actual Billboard Refrigerators operated. While the usual grain of salt is recommended it's noted that "Though printing limitations doubtless hindered exact rendition of the original colors, these model products likely do represent some idea of the colors used on many of the more notable billboard reefers." There were more than 200 different schemes offered by Red Ball.
