I grew up in the Los Angeles area and saw long strings of black single dome tank cars pulled by the Southern Pacific or Pacific Electric Railroads. Always liked the look of these trains. Well, going through old Lionel stuff to sell I was amazed how many old 40's Sunoco #2555 type tankers I had. They are about scale sized but most were in terrible shape. They tend to rust badly. I knew I couldn't sell them for much so decided to do a little refurbishing. First I stripped the tanks down to metal. Then a coat of flat black paint was air brushed on. After that dried I air brushing of high gloss finish where the decals were to be placed. That's for the decals to sit snuggly on the car. When that dries a little Micro Sol is brushed on and then the decals are slipped in place. As the decals dry I lightly brush more Micro Sol on top of the decals. This makes them lay flat and snug onto any rivets or uneven areas. You will have to do this step a number of times. If any bubbles are notices at this point, take a needle and poke a small hole in the decal where the bubble is. Then more Micro Sol to get under the decal. Let everything dry a day or two. I rinse the tank body off in cool water at this point to clean any residue of Micro Sol. Let dry. Next air brush a flat finish over the tank. After it's completely you can reassemble the car. It's an easy and fun project and a way to save a really nice old Lionel car. Don
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