Hey Trussman, one more thing I should have added, is that it will take several sprays of gloss coating to make that flat paint suitable for the decal work. I don't know what decals you'll be using? There's a Microscale set for HO (PRR 50 foot box cars) that I have found to be quite suitable for the non-full scaled traditional rolling stock.
Another trick I do when searching for potential decals on the Microscale website, is to open the illustration of the decal set and then enlarge it on my screen to the approximate size of the actual decal sheet - which does vary a little bit. But the Pennsy set I mentioned measures 5 inches by 7-5/8 inches. The word "Pennsylvania" measures 2-3/8 inches in length.
Putting on decals is an art in itself, but like anything else in life, practice makes perfect. When placing decals, I look for things on the train car like rivets, grab rails, etc. to use as measuring points so that I can put everything on straight and level. I use a elongated push-pin to make the fine-point adjustments to decals while they're still damp.
Here's a recent one I did that I should add to my on-going photo thread. It was an Industrial Rail tank car. I chopped the frame to mimic the appearance of the modern-type tank cars. I removed the handrail supports along the side of the car. The decal set was a Microscale HO Procor set, with some added O scale decals, and as you can see, it looks just fine.
But I'm not a precise scale purist either. I used to paint, doing watercolors. Some of that has carried over into my train projects: I'm going for an impression of the real thing.
Good luck in finishing this project. Everyone's idea of fun in the hobby differs, but I too rather enjoy taking either a beat up car, or something extremely common and turning it into something I really wanted.
