Paint Shop – 72 : Pennsylvania Railroad Boxcar 72732, part 1

: Sugarcreek, OH. Sep. 7, 2019

Here is another PRR boxcar managed to present, this time with the classic Circle(Ball) Keystone Herald lasted until January 1954: I had a stock Circle Keystone Herald decal produced by Gerald Glow who went out of business in 2016. Glow’s decal line is now provided by Tichy Train Group.

I chose Class X47, #72680-72999 series boxcars built in 1953 for the prototype of the model because it is the last equipment built new with Circle Keystone Herald. The Circle Herald on equipment might not survive into the ’70s, but the beautiful B/W builder’s photos of #72732 found at Hagley Digital Archives led me to model the particular car.

* 1953 photo of PRR #72732 found at Hagley Digital Archives site;
* 1974 photo of PRR #72851 from the same class but repainted to the “Plain Keystone” scheme found at Boxcars & Freight Cars of North America site;
* 1999 photo of condemned PRR #72870, later CR #146662 found at Conrail Historical Society site;


I used stock MTL 51’3¾” Rib Side Mechanical Reefer for the model. If you ignore the length, its ends, roof, and straight sill are the great advantages for the accuracy of the model. MTL #069 Rivet Side Reefer would be much better, no need to remove the ribs.

After removing all the details from the sides, I applied the 8’ Youngstown Door copied from Athearn PS-1 double-door boxcar. New door rails, strengthen plates, and trust plate badge are made out of thin styrene. New rivets on sides are the Archer product. I also removed the details from the diecast frame and added the MTL 50’ Underbody Subframe.

: body ready to paint
: modified underframe

I spray painted the body with Tamiya TS-33. I polished the surface of the painted body, where decals were going to be applied, with the compound before applying the decal for the better adhesion. Decal used is Gerald Glow, today Tichy #10012N. Some letters came from stock Microscale decals. I spray painted the matt clear coat after applying the decal and slightly polished with the compound as the weathering.

: body matt coated
: body polished
: finished model


PRRのボックスカーをもう１両Nスケールで制作した。以前購入していたGerald Glow氏制作のデカールを用いた制作である。選んだプロトタイプは、最後にCircle Keystone Heraldスキームを纏い登場したボックスカーである。

模型には在庫のMTL社製51’3¾” Rib Side Mechanical Reeferを用いた。車長は少々余分だが、妻板や屋根、シルがそのまま使える。側面のディテールを全て削り、Athearn社製 PS-1 double-door boxcarから型取りした８フィートYoungstown扉を貼り付けた。側面パネル割のリベットはArcher社製デカールによる。ダイカスト製床板に表現された足廻りのディテールも全て削り、MTL社製50’ Underbody Subframeを接着。

サフェーサーを吹いたあと、TamiyaのTS-33で塗装した。デカールの浮きを防ぐため、デカールを施す箇所は予めコンパウンドで磨いておく。デカールは件のGerald Glow氏制作のもの。Tichyの#10012Nに該当する。足らない文字はMicroscaleなどの在庫から寄せ集め補った。最後にウエザリングとしてつや消しのクリアコートを吹き、再度コンパウンドで軽く磨いてみた。