New, undecorated box car. Oxide color right out of the box. Is there a problem with applying decals directly to the car without painting?
I've had pretty good luck with undecorated Red Caboose and Accurail boxcars. Haven't tried any others. You didn't mention whose car you are decorating.
Regards,
Jonathan
It's a Front Range 40' box car. I didn't think brand would make a difference. Styrene is styrene. What I don't know is if undec cars are painted before shipping and if that makes a difference.
If it is painted, it should be no problem applying decals. You can normally see if is painted by looking inside the body. If its a different color, then it is painted. If it is cast in colored plastic, I would give a quick bath with dish soap and warm water to remove any parting compound from the casting process before decaling.
Just took it out of the warm soapy, Dawn, water. It has not been painted, color in and out is the same even color, oxide. Hope it works. I decaled an undec last week and it came out lousy. The Dullcote looked like I sprayed it with a light coat of powder and, the decals never "snuggled" down. I think I was getting a dry spray from being too far away. If the decal film on the first one would have been hidden by the Dullcote, it would have looked OK, a little weathered. Thanks for your input.
Walt
Always apply decals to a cleaned then glossed surface. I usually apply a gloss coat, then decal, then a second gloss coat before final finishes.
NJ John
Thanks.
Walt