Is paint overspray protypical?

[Scottl]

I was admiring the latest postings on Railpictures and this photo caught my eye:

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=386080&nseq=9

The DWC boxcar in the foreground has a sharp paint line that separates the roof from the walls.  For years, I have been lead to believe that overspray from painting the walls was the norm.  Has this changed, or was there an era when it was the case?   

[ljudice]

I've definitely seen it - I think it's a matter of the care or lack of care of the paintshop doing the work....

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Different shops do things differently. Some shops changed depending on who was supervising that day. I think CN was a little more anal than most when it came to good paint though.

[Puddington]

I have seen a broad range of paint "overspray" from none whatsoever to "did they miss the center of the roof"..... really have to see a proto photo of a particular unit at a specific time to get it 'right"....

[Bremner]

as others said, it depends on the shop/painter

[Scottl]

Thanks all.

[central.vermont]

Sure is Scott,

Here's a couple of shots for you with varying amounts of over spray.
The first one you will notice has a small area of the roof in the middle that missed the paint and
the second shot has vary little over spray.

Jon

[Mark5]

Definately proto. Watch trains from a bridge above the tracks and you'll see it.

Cheesy link:
http://modeltrains.about.com/od/Detailing-and-Weathering/ss/Modeling-Paint-Overspray-On-Freight-Car-Roofs.htm

Mark

[Specter3]

That is not so much overspray as notspray. Overspray would be getting a color of paint somewhere where it wasn't supposed to be. If in those two real world examples the roof was supposed to be the lighter rustier color then the side paint on top would be classified overspray. Since I would think they would want the car all one color it is more of a "who sees the top" attitude from the painter. Or it could be a lack of surface prep up there where there would be more rust and chalky oxidized paint that has inhibited the new paint from adhering well and led to now evident loss of the new paint.

[Scottl]

Great photos- it definitely varies.  I'm not surprised by that, given how the roof would be hidden to most viewers.  It is interesting though how much variation there is.

[eja]

A few years ago one manufacturer (can't remember who) was hyping over-spray as a  " feature" on a new line of box cars.

Anyone remember who it was ?

[randgust]

Yeah, I'll reopen this can of worms.

I got a pair of IM 57-footers, and I'm modeling 1972.  This was the first year of the Santa Fe "billboard" lettering that replace all the passenger train names and the 'Ship and Travel" era with a simple "Santa Fe".     This is to represent a car right out of the paint shop on a shop repaint, with the roof overspray.   THis was done on the STOCK IM paint with Testors Go Mango with a mask job, and a roll of tissue secured to the repainted roof center to make sure it didn't get hit.    Some more roof weathering was added after, but generally this is to be an older 60's car that just got a spray-bomb and repaint job with the new lettering.



The original IM paint 'Ship and Travel' was taken off with 91% and a Microscale "Santa Fe" substituted, this is a scheme that isn't offered to my knowledge.  Stock scheme is : http://www.intermountain-railway.com/n/html/68824.htm

[rogergperkins]

Recently purchased a set of FVM CSX 50' boxcars and notice immediately this overspray of blue onto the silver roof.
MTL did not do the paint in that manner of release of similar CSX paint scheme.

[SkipGear]

That is not so much overspray as notspray. Overspray would be getting a color of paint somewhere where it wasn't supposed to be. If in those two real world examples the roof was supposed to be the lighter rustier color then the side paint on top would be classified overspray. Since I would think they would want the car all one color it is more of a "who sees the top" attitude from the painter. Or it could be a lack of surface prep up there where there would be more rust and chalky oxidized paint that has inhibited the new paint from adhering well and led to now evident loss of the new paint.

The roofs of new cars are generally painted silver to reflect the heat of the sun so it is certainly overspray. The roofs are not normally the same color as the rest of the car. I think some of the ammount also depends on the color being painted. Some colors float a lot farther in the air and remain wet than others. Blues happen to dust up the area a lot more than many other colors. Reds are another color that tends to create a lot of overspray.

[nkalanaga]

MDC did "overspray" on some of their modern boxcars.  On the other hand, when I paint a car for my lumber company, I expect the paint to be NEAT.  That means the roof is either all silver, or all black, depending on the age of the car.  Silver roofs on WRLC cars came in in the late 60s.