[PRCo] Re: 'Jones' car paint scheme

[Dietrich, Robert J.]

-----Original Message-----
From: hwandrews1 at cs.com [mailto:hwandrews1 at cs.com]
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 7:59 AM
To: pittsburgh-railways at dementia.org
Subject: [PRCo] 'Jones' car paint scheme


Please, forgive me if I'm asking questions that have already been answered,
but I am rather new to the list.

I recently obtained one of the Fairfield HO scale models of a PRC Jones car
- which is now cleaned, repaired and re-motored.  So, I'm now ready to begin
the process of painting it, and would like some help/advise from the more
knowledgeable folks here.

1st question - is this model patterned after a specific series or is it a
generic representation.

2nd question is simple - any advise or suggestions on the paint scheme for
this car would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance for any and all assistance,
Howard Andrews
Howard:

I'm really surprised that no one responded to you're query.  I guess I'll
wade in since I've been through it.  The list experts can correct me but
until about 1923 most of the PRCo cars were red.  About that time they
standardized on the familiar orange cars - I think the smog got into the
eyes of the people who started calling them Yellow Cars. 

My belief in painting these cars is to "paint them dirty".  They got dirty
the first day out of the shop and didn't improve much after that.  This
approach gives us great latitude in selecting a color.  I start with
traction orange in your favorite brand.  Most people are going to Polyscale
but Floqil still has its advantages.  Add a few drops of black until it gets
to the shade you want.  Brush some on a scrap and let it dry before
deciding.  Don't make it too dark at this point, just cut the brightness off
the orange.  Primer the car then spray it with your "Jones Car Yellow".
Mask the body and paint the roof engine black.  I paint the window frames
and doors by hand.  They were stained wood so find something that gives that
effect, I don't remember what I used.  I then apply 1" black decal stripes
all around the car.  You don't have to worry much about lettering, PRCo
didn't.  Seal the decals with a good coat of dullcoat.

Now the fun, and scary, part - weathering it.  After the car is completely
dry I use very thin Floquil black in a random streaking pattern.  You may
also want to do the same with a light gray to the roof.  Floquil grime looks
good along the bottom to represent road dirt kicking up on the car.  If you
don't want weather the car then consider making the base coat a little
darker.

Here is a shot of my West Penn car with a Jones car poking its nose in.
http://www.eastpenn.org/bobdtour/bobd013.html  I didn't vary much on these
two cars.  You can also find a good many photos, in color, at Dave's Railpix
-- http://davesrailpix.railfan.net/pitts/pitts.html.  It looks like Dave is
an Eagles fan, need to straighten him out...

If you have any more questions just ask.

Bob