Pay attention…

I’ve been moving a few models forward on the production line. A pair of Nickel Plate Road wood gondolas have been decaled. With momentum on my side, I was excited to decal a pair of Funaro & Camerlengo PRR GR gondolas next. They are in the lead image, all painted and ready for decals.

I was about to start cutting up the sheet of custom decals when I noticed something amiss. Why weren’t things lining up where they are supposed to go?

Sheesh….. I installed the side stake brackets in the wrong panels and the decals would not fit. See the vertical lines in the photo that line up the side stake brackets on the prototype and the model. The failure was repeated on both sides of both models.

AAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGHHHHHHHHHH!

Just a suggestion to pay attention when you let the prototype be your guide.

Removing the brackets wasn’t difficult. They are above the car in this photo. I used a single-edge razor blade to pop them free and to scrape the areas flat. Now to touch up these spots with paint then gloss so decals can be applied. I might install the brackets after the decals are in place, then touch those up with the freight car color.

This hobby sure is fun.


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6 thoughts on “Pay attention…”

  1. Eric, we’ve ‘all’ done something similar. One gets involved with a certain detail or two and you miss the obvious.

  2. I have a Westerfield USRA triple hopper that I built with the hoppers facing the wrong end (two face one way, and a single the other). I realized it much later. I now have a second one Ted Culotta built to go with it.

    I’m looking forward to seeing who notices this and other mistakes I’ve made when they come to operate.

    Although it’s a lot harder to leave it if it messes up the lettering like that…

    1. We all have one or two mishaps that have made it to the rails. It would be fun to have a designated area at an RPM model display room for these models. As someone has noted to me privately, they have learned as much from the mistakes I’ve posted as the features with detailed models that were completed properly. – Eric H.

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