Lionel 2465/6465 tank car body with "chrome" finish ?

Inclined to go with a repaint. Probably 1970's

didn't MPC have a chrome tank car?

MPC issued several chrome-plated tank cars.  Borden, Texaco and Gulf to name three, but the chrome finish was more of a mirror finish than the one shown above and they had single domes.  There were others painted silver (e.g., Humble, Chevron) that looked more like that one but had single domes, too.   

The one Ace posted does resemble a Postwar Sunoco tank car body without decals or markings.

What, me worry?

The finish looks more like a shiny metallic paint than an actual chrome finish.  I have quite a few chromed tank car, and they have a different look than this.  They look plated.

Alan

Yep, got several chrome cars, specifically the Texaco and Borden ones.  They are actually plated as Alan says, not painted.

ThAt car looks like a nice spray paint job in Silver and similar to the 6465 Sunoco tank cars produced in the 50's. What decals if any will you place on the tank car

I think I've figured this out: the tank body looks like the postwar 1946 - 1956 version that attaches to the frame with two screws. It has definite threaded screw holes underneath. In 1958 (according to Greenberg book) the parts were modified so that the tank body attached to the frame with two frame tabs bent inside the tank, and the tank had molded-on railings instead of wire railings.

I also figure this was an early version with decals, and someone soaked the decals off, perhaps because they were yellowed and in poor condition. There is no trace of stamped numbers. On close inspection it does not look like a repaint. The finish is scuffed from rolling around in a parts box for 20+ years.

I have all of the chrome-finish Lionel tank cars, as far as I know. Without taking the time to check, that's seven or eight of them, I think. [They look pretty neat running behind the Lionel MPC-era chrome Burlington F-3s, BTW.] Most of these tank cars were done during the MPC era (one of the many innovations done during that period), but there have been several done more recently. The Shell and Lion Oil versions shown below were cataloged in 2001.

To my knowledge, all the Lionel chrome tank cars have been single dome cars. [Incidentally, these cars are quite accurate versions of what was a common 8,000 gal. tank car - and are in fact scale-sized, which many folks don't realize.] Lionel did some silver two-dome tankers, like the one Steve pictured above, including some made during the MPC and later periods, but to the extent the photo Ace first posted is accurate, it shows a somewhat chrome-like finish, more so than the silver tank cars.

In the second photo Ace posted, the exterior doesn't appear as reflective as in the first photo he posted, but it's taken from a side angle. The first photo seems more chrome-like. It's really hard to tell without actually seeing the car, but based on the first photo and the lack of any sign of decals or lettering paint, it seems the exterior would have been altered at some point. Below are a couple shots of the 6425 Postwar three-dome Gulf car. These exterior finishes could be shiny, although not chrome. The one photo below is a 6425 with almost everything missing, except remains of a very faded Gulf logo. The 6465 Sunoco two-dome is shown at the bottom. These don't look as shiny as the shell in Ace's first picture, but they might appear close if both were seen in person.

To me it looks like a time-worn factory finish, very uniformly applied all around with no evidence of a typical spray-can application. The appearance in my photos varies somewhat depending on the lighting. My general impression is that it seems shinier than most of the postwar tank cars. The part number on the inside of the end caps is 2455-6 if that tells us anything?

Ace posted:

To me it looks like a time-worn factory finish. .....My general impression is that it seems shinier than most of the postwar tank cars.

I'd agree that it appears shinier than the post war silver tankers. Also, time-worn bright silver finishes don't normally get shinier with age, do they? It seems they normally get duller. For these reasons, it seems this might have been refinished at some point.

   While ideally you have uniformity in painting, especially with silvers, the pigment count is harder to keep uniform. A few cars brighter than normal, near the end of a paint container, one not re-stirred often enough, wouldn't surprise me a bit. Short of a good microscope, a pigment reader at a custom paint supply house, and readings off a few examples, may be able to tell you whats there as a pigment. I'm not sure though, I never used it myself. Most shops don't charge for this check either.

   Silver and gold auto's paints were once two very hard paints to match well for touch-up or repair before the pigment readers. Chances were good you'd see a repair pretty easily, even new and repaired with "factory paint".

Adriatic posted:

   While ideally you have uniformity in painting, especially with silvers, the pigment count is harder to keep uniform. A few cars brighter than normal, near the end of a paint container, one not re-stirred often enough, wouldn't surprise me a bit. Short of a good microscope, a pigment reader at a custom paint supply house, and readings off a few examples, may be able to tell you whats there as a pigment. I'm not sure though, I never used it myself. Most shops don't charge for this check either.

   Silver and gold auto's paints were once two very hard paints to match well for touch-up or repair before the pigment readers. Chances were good you'd see a repair pretty easily, even new and repaired with "factory paint".

That's an interesting thought, which would account for some variations in factory finishes. Metallic pigments are heavier and prone to settling.