MDC/ROUNDHOUSE locomotive rebuilds

[sailormatlac]

Thanks Wayne. I was thinking of painting the plate in red and carefully wiping it with a solvent-dampened q-tip but your way sounds a lot easier.
I am a bit stuck on the smokebox color on this model though. I've seen most of these engines having a black smokebox, a slightly different shade than the rest of the boiler but other engines with the silver smokebox. One top of that most color photos are of engines that are 'stuffed and mounted' in parks and could have been repainted. I do know that some of these have their running gear painted white to look good but wasn't prototypical.

Glen, the recent pictures of your model are really impressive. I don't know why, the it really has the CNR look at first glance.

About the smokebox colors, I've just completed reading too much books on CNR steam locomotives. It seems smokebox graphite mixes were lighter in the West than in the East, but seriously, you hardly see a difference in pictures. Nevertheless, color pictures from the 50s show the locomotive with very dark smokebox. It's the same on older pictures. All black, but with difference in shade and glossiness. And yes, most cosmetic restorations in city parks are real unreliable. I recently visited Exporail and all the steamers had flat black smokebox. I wouldn't certainly paint them gray, but rather a warm black.

I remember Doctorwayne once explained how he painted CNR locomotives with different shade of black. I followed it when I painted my CNR 2-8-0 a few years ago and I'm still pleased but the realictic look of the locomotive. His approach takes in account variation in glossiness which really bring a lot of realism.

Matt