Detailing the Lionel "City of Miami" Passenger Train by John Rowlen

Detailing the Combine Baggage Car allowed me to use my four color "wet mixing technique" to create the wood floor in the baggage area.  Using Tamiya flat acrylic paints in a Cream, Yellow, Buff and Red Brown, I apply the cream color first, add a streak of Yellow, blend with a streak of Buff, then add the darker Red Brown.  I draw the 1/4" Flat paint brush straight across the floor of the baggage section of the car.  I need to work quickly since the paint dries, so I add more paint to keep the blending showing hints of all four colors, but no color as the prime original paint.  The key effect is the blending and streaking of the paint at 90 degrees to the car floor.

My hand may not always draw the brush perfectly across the floor, but on average the brush travels straight across the wet floor.

I also painted two sinks that are in the bathrooms at the end of the car. They are barely visible through the windows.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

February 12, 2025 ... I had planned on leaving the Lionel Little People in the City of Miami passenger cars until I opened the Observation which has no people and discovered too much red plastic and not enough contrasting details UNLESS I painted the seats.

I decided that the Observation seats needed to be painted along with the tables and desk in the Observation.  It could be that I prefer the contrasting colors that help create a "depth of Field" inside the car that makes it easier to see the various details.

Here are some pictures for you to evaluate if I made the correct decision by painting the seats.  I am not installing Preiser 65602 Seated people I painted until I work on a Coach Car next  I mixed a new batch of paint for these seats that is a little darker than normal and reminds me of the Illionois Central brown paint.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

February14, 2025 ... I decided that the seats needed to be painted to counteract all the bright RED in the Observation and re-opened the Combine and painted the seats last night.  I had to remove the Lionel People with an EXCEL #1 knife and scrape the residue glue off the seats.

I also scored the front wall of the Combine seating area and turned the big red box behind the wall into a bar/refreshment counter.  I also took a conductor from a scrap Heavyweight baggage car and glued him by the snack bar at the front of the seating area.

I chose a chocolate brown that I mixed from Tamiya Flat Acrylic Red Brown and Flat Acrylic White for the seats throughout the City of Miami passenger train. The subtle and subdued color enriches the interior of this brightly colored train.

Here are a few pictures and a video of the two cars that have been completed.  I will be opening the dining car and painting the seats in that car.  Have a good weekend.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

February 14, 2025 ... I decided to paint the seats in my City of Miami Coach cars after looking at the cars as manufactured from a couple of angles.

From the side, the red seats are contrasted by the green interior shell.  From above at a higher angle, the red seats blend into the floor and are more difficult to see.  The red interior in the Observation needed to have the seats painted to make them more visible because the bench seats run along the interior walls and are difficult to see., no matter the angle at which the car is viewed.

I decided to add more Tamiya Flat acrylic Red to my mixture used on the Observation and Combine. The resulting Rose Tan was applied to the first Coach to see the effect.  I removed all Lionel Little People and scraped the residue glue off the seats before giving them two coats of paint.  The first coat of paint was thinned by the oils left from the plastic molding process.  The second coat left a fully covered surface without bleed through of the red plastic seat.

When the interior was dry, I re-glued the Lionel Little People in their previous positions in the car.  I am using the Lionel Little People in order to make this thread of useable value.  The Preiser 65602 Unpainted Seated People that I usually use are not available and therefore, showing them makes no sense and is of little help.  Using the Lionel People already inside the car was the logical solution.

I have pictures of two coaches seen from a higher angle.  Painting the seats helps show the seat detail more clearly at that angle.  There is a brief video that shows the two coaches from the side at window height.  It becomes a matter of preference whether to paint the coach seats.  I like the warmth of the Rose Tan seats without the plastic fire engine red seating.  Perhaps an off-red or burgundy would also have been a good choice of color.

Have a Happy Valentine's Day.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

John I like the way you painted the wood flooring. Not the way I was thinking. I’ll have to give that a try. That and the way you did the table cloths with the brush strokes. I’m getting ready to do my weaver NH Bradley’s so this is always helpful.

Great work John.

I attempted to do something similar with a NJ Transit Comet Coach about 5 years ago but never completed the job.

@John Rowlen posted:

I decided to add more Tamiya Flat acrylic Red to my mixture used on the Observation and Combine. The resulting Rose Tan was applied to the first Coach to see the effect.  I removed all Lionel Little People and scraped the residue glue off the seats before giving them two coats of paint.  The first coat of paint was thinned by the oils left from the plastic molding process.  The second coat left a fully covered surface without bleed through of the red plastic seat.

With the interior separated from the body and frame, do you wash the interior in Dawn dish detergent or equivalent before painting? Would this remove the oil left in the molding process?

Terrific work as usual, John. Always enjoyed the radical City of Miami IC livery. Thanks for sharing.

February 16, 2025 ...  Thank you for the comments.  I liked the addition of the Tamiya Flat Acrylic RED to my tan Seat paint that I re-painted the seats in the City of Miami Observation.  The new Rose tan color has just enough red in it to blend well with the red floors and walls.  The first picture shows the old tan on the left interior piece and the new Rose tan on the right.

I am concerned by the large seats and wide-open space in the Observation and the smaller size of the Lionel Little People used in the Coaches and Combine.  The 1/43, 1/45, and 1/50 Preiser Seated People that I usually use are a little big, but I feel the Lionel Little People may be sized a little too small for the Observation seating.  The exact scaling of people for model trains is not an exact process.  I will start with the Lionel Little People, but there has to be a reason why the factory did not install them in the Observation or Station Sounds Dining cars.

Tomorrow I will paint the seats in the Dining car.  Have a good Sunday.

Sincerely, John Rowlen

February 16, 2025 ... I finished painting or re-painting the seats with the Rose Tan paint I finally decided would look the nicest in these City of Miami passenger cars.  I was so busy painting that I forgot to take a picture of the finished Dining Car seats.  The video is of the 5-car train as it runs on my railroad today. 

Have a good evening.  Sincerely, John Rowlen

Beautiful work John! It really brings this set up several notches to where it belongs.

Wow!  That looks so awesome!  Great work.