I was just gifted a Polar Express starter set. I was thinking this might be a good donor for doing a custom paint job. In the vein of the Black Bonnets this is my Midnight Limited. The re-paint would be pretty simple and I'm pretty sure I can have the lettering and badges done in vinyl.
What do you think satin black or gloss?
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Stephen, I like your idea but I'm confused. Is the BlackBonnet car pictured above a rendering or your actual attempt?
Re the paint - I usually prefer satin, but the gloss might look pretty good on that car. Either way that livery is one of my favorites and I look forward to seeing what you come up with.
Paul
Satin for sure,
Thats just a photoshop... I'm going to go satin black w/ red gloss and hopefully vinyl letting and satin clear the whole thing. I'll post pix when I have something real. 
Stephen, If your painting skills are as good as your Photoshop skills this will be a real winner. I vote for satin also since it sounds like a mysterious ghostly night train. Well done!
I finished painting the cars and added waterslide decals to the first car. Here is a sneak preview... Yes, this one is an actual photo of the finished car!
I used all Rust-oleum rattle cans. Rust-oleum Self Etching Primer, Metallic Finish (roof), Satin Black, Gloss Sunrise Red, Gloss Sunburst Yellow, and Matte Metallic Gunmetal Gray (trucks). The waterslide decals were printed from my art by Fusion Scale Graphics. Once I finish all the decals on the cars I will spray them with matte clear.
For reference, I asked a couple of questions along the way:
When it's done... I will add some photos of the whole consist and maybe a video of it running on my layout.
Stephen, that looks terrific. I don't know what came out better - the paint job or the decals. Thanks for sharing.
Paul
Paul - Thanks I'm very happy so far... I was pleasantly surprised at the waterslide decals. I not-so-fondly remember trying to use them on model cars when I was a kid. But the MicroSol and MicroSet recommended by Fusion (and 50 years of learning to follow directions) made it go pretty well.
That's gonna be one beautiful and unique consist. Very nice work Stephen.
Looks great .... were you not able to get the window silhouettes off in one piece to re-use ?
If I had a vote I would prefer a black roof. The metallic detracts from the overall presentation.
Richie
Unfortunately no. The silhouettes are printed on the frosted windows also one of the cars had all the "puppet" people so I decided to go with plain windows. Removal was done with a wipe of Acetone.
To save them I would have needed to replace the windows... if I were taking it all the way I'd like to do clear windows with 3D printed interiors, people, and do a GRJ LED lighting conversion.
Bill:
Good point, my original sketch was with black roofs. I kind of liked the contrast of the Silver but I could always shoot them black.
Here's a couple more cars... these were the hardest because of the vertical lines on the sliding doors allowing the yellow stripe to run. These were not part of the PE cars. They are a couple of mismatched MPC-era Baby Madisons I got cheap off the Bay. I scuffed the baggage car before applying the waterslides so you can see the gloss of the decal against the flat black. I'm curious if the satin clear coat will blend these or if I'll need to start over. It's a fun learn-as-you-go project.
The Berkshire, tender, and last three cars were the original PE donors. I bought the Baggage, Combo, and Private Car off the bay for $10-$15 each. I'm still missing the Diner car as I haven't found a cheap donor yet.
Future plans might include doing GRJ conventional LED lighting upgrade and if I want to really blow the budget doing 3D printed interiors for the cars would be fun. But for now... this one is complete.
For my first repaint with waterslide decals, I'm pleased with the results. Spraying the matte clear really made the cars look great!
That train looks great! JohnA
True to your last name...very Sharpe!!
...and very well done!!
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FWIW, though, I tend to agree with Bill DeBrooke...black roofs would complement the 'Midnight' image.
KD
Great job!
Nice work Stephen
John
I am BEYOND impressed!! Looks like something Lionel produced from the factory. I'm all about custom paint jobs to make a very interesting set and conversation piece. I recently had 6 Williams 15" aluminum cars and the matching Lionel full-vista dome car painted from the Daylight scheme to the Black Widow scheme to go with my factory Lionel F3 ABA's...with a little something extra to REALLY set them apart. Thank you for sharing.
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