Guys, thank you kindly for the replies.
Marker,
Thank you. If you can handle an airbrush, you'll be fine! Just takes a little practice. It's helpful to take your time and to make certain that the basecoat is "smooooooth"!
Re Walthers units: Something I respectfully suggest to modelers to keep in mind is that, except for when brand new, stainless steel cars within the same train did not always match, finish wise. Look at the two units in this photo:
From the factory, the "sheathed" Pullman Standard units tended to be slightly darker and "bluer" than Budd units. The sheathed ACF cars were "whiter" than PS and Budd units. I worked with metals (welding/fabricating) and have seen that the percentage content amounts of Chromium, Nickel and Molybdenum influenced the final appearance after polishing. It almost drove me nuts when I saw modelers bickering on forums as to what "real SS" looks like (warmer, colder, bluer, browner, faded, shiny, slightly shiny, mildly reflective, highly reflective, duller than Penn Central.......etc). The answer I often gave was: "Why are you arguing? Generally you are all correct!" They could not seem to fathom that SS exhibits a wide variety of appearances depending on a number of factors. Again, that's where "dialing in your finish" with Alclad2 yields the advantages.
BTW: I learned from a creditable photographer that railroads taking publicity shots of their streamliners performed quite a bit ofcreative editing in their photos (especially Santa Fe!). In those shots, the streamliners looked nearly flawless even if they were already 7 to 10 years old. But pay attention when you see photos of streamliners "snapped shot" by railfans that did very little photo editing. The differences are quite noticeable. This is one reason why in my research I've looked for ways to duplicate multiple appearances with Alclad2 and have been encouraging modelers to give it a go as well. So if the SS cars on your train don't match.......you can easily say that in many instances the real ones didn't either.
Bob (Burlington Route),
You've had some really cool results with experimenting on aircraft. If you've posted them on one of the model aircraft forums please send me a link.
Yes, the Aqua 600 works well over the Chrome #107 with no problem. One thing to keep in mind is that for model rail cars, slightly toning down the brilliance is actually a good thing if you're going for a realistic stainless steel look. If you prefer a finish that is similar to my Baggage-Dorm unit, don't use Chrome. Formula 105 is a better finish to use (sealed with clear).
Bob2,
RE: Plating of plastic. Actually the reflectivity and DOI (distinctiveness of image) is easy for the manufactuer to control. Have you seen Rapido's HO passenger cars for the Canadian? They're plated to a moderate sheen with a warm hue.
http://www.rapidotrains.com/canadianvia2.html
Regarding "But I am with Lee - nothing matches shiny metal like shiny metal". I respect your view, but will say that we've come a long way and technology advances within the past decade has made it possible to match metal more closely with refinishing products than in years past. As a tech that often worked with metals, I was skeptical when I first tried Alclad2. But as I improved my technique, I was intrigued by the surprised reactions from people when they viewed my passenger cars. They actually thought that the cars were constructed of metal that I polished.
(1st photo, prototype unit: used with permission from Stan Jackowski)
