by inhiding12884
Hello all. I'm on a quest and would really appreciate any help and advice that you all could provide. Now in my mid-20s I'm returning to model railroading after a long absence as a way of bonding with my father. Since he's a former Metro North employee, we're looking to accurately model a full consist of an FL9 and 6 or 7 bomb coaches as would have run in the early 90s.
So far, we have several of the Walthers horizon coaches and are working on detailing them. We've added fiber optic lighting for the maker lights (and headlights on the cab car) and used 1/8" heatshrink tubing for the diaphragms. The biggest trouble has been the cab car, which is inaccurate insofar as the model has an extra window. We've been able to patch that up, but are having trouble figuring out which color paint to use that would be most accurate for both the aluminum and blue stripe down the car side. (Even with an accurate color, what is the best way to apply it, as oil paint looks really messy?). We're also trying to make decals from scratch and are also struggling with which font to use for the car names/ numbers and the different font for the RR name atop the windows. At the moment, there are out two biggest concerns. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Eventually, we plan on moving on the FL9s and I guess we'll need the accurate color for the red they use(d) too. Seeing as it's the only option I've found, it looks like we're going to purchase from Imperial Hobby Productions.
We are new to kitbashing and we recognize that what we are trying to tackle is a long way from what we used to do with model railroading when I was a kid. However, that's what makes it fun. I've mined this forum for enough information to get this far and I've been thoroughly impressed with the immense amount of knowledge and general helpful nature I've seen. Thanks! Anything else that you can help with would be really wonderful... answering the questions posed or anything else that you think might aid us in our quest.
So far, we have several of the Walthers horizon coaches and are working on detailing them. We've added fiber optic lighting for the maker lights (and headlights on the cab car) and used 1/8" heatshrink tubing for the diaphragms. The biggest trouble has been the cab car, which is inaccurate insofar as the model has an extra window. We've been able to patch that up, but are having trouble figuring out which color paint to use that would be most accurate for both the aluminum and blue stripe down the car side. (Even with an accurate color, what is the best way to apply it, as oil paint looks really messy?). We're also trying to make decals from scratch and are also struggling with which font to use for the car names/ numbers and the different font for the RR name atop the windows. At the moment, there are out two biggest concerns. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Eventually, we plan on moving on the FL9s and I guess we'll need the accurate color for the red they use(d) too. Seeing as it's the only option I've found, it looks like we're going to purchase from Imperial Hobby Productions.
We are new to kitbashing and we recognize that what we are trying to tackle is a long way from what we used to do with model railroading when I was a kid. However, that's what makes it fun. I've mined this forum for enough information to get this far and I've been thoroughly impressed with the immense amount of knowledge and general helpful nature I've seen. Thanks! Anything else that you can help with would be really wonderful... answering the questions posed or anything else that you think might aid us in our quest.