# How to deal with an Undecorated PCC



## Tom Bray (Jan 20, 2009)

I am kind of going through one of those "what was I thinking" moments. 

Earlier this week I decided to order one of the few remaining PCCs. The choices, which I was told were what Aristo still had in stock, were either one of the California (LA?) models or an undecorated one. St. Aubin's still had a few their Green Hornet versions but that wasn't much of an improvement. Since I really want to paint it with Shaker Rapid colors, I figured the undecorated one was the best choice. 

So, I now have a completely assembled but unpainted Aristo PCC sitting here. I have run it back and forth so I know that the electrical and mechanical portions work correctly.


Based on building models while growing up, the ideal approach is to somehow disassemble the body, removing all the windows and the light pipes used for the exterior lighting. 

How is that accomplished without breaking something? I haven't taken the body off of it yet but it appears that the windows are glued in just like the fully painted ones. 

It also appears to be the raw plastic, assuming that it is naturally a light gray color (seems to match the early pictures of the prototypes). I am planning on painting it with acrylic paints, probably one of the Tester products and use an airbrush to apply the paint. I have gotten some advice that I should prime it first but haven't figured out what to use as a primer. 

The closest colors I have come up with appears to be cadmium yellow lite, and a generic dark gray for the roof, at least based on the picture that I have.

Any suggestions?

Tom Bray


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## W3NZL (Jan 2, 2008)

At best its a major PIA to do one of these, I've just finished painting the body of one I'm doing up in a Capital Transit scheme, 
(DC) its a 4 color scheme, thats always fun, an a ton of windows to mask... I tried for years, without success, to get AC to make 
the undecs in kit form, but they won't... I had to take out some windows on mine as the car was getting shortened in the bargain, 
fortunately I was able to get the ones I needed out without destroying them... I'm just in the process of unmasking it now... 
I'd strongly recommend U mask the windows rather than try to take them out, its hard to see how U could remove that many 
without destroying some of them, and there probably won't be any replacements available for some time yet... It was a lot of 
work for something thats going to be mostly a shelf queen, but so far its been a long, cold winter, an it was something to do...
Good luck with the project...
Paul R...


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## JackM (Jul 29, 2008)

While it definitely is a major pain in the, uh, neck to paint your own, you'll be glad you gave it the effort. My avatar is a USAT S4 - my first-ever paint job - and I'm close to reassembling this winter's project: an Aristo GP-40. Everytime I handled the S4 I managed to put a finger in the wrong spot and popped out another window. This proved to be very helpful. The Jeep's windows didn't want to come out, so I had to mask them. I wonder if all USAT windows are more pop-out prone that Aristos. 

Ninety percent of painting is the masking. Once you've got that done, it starts to be fun. 

I use PollyScale for particular railroad colors, 99 cent acrylics for ordinary colors. With the final coat of Krylon clear, they both seem to hold up well. Not having any sort of (RR) yard last summer, the S4 received a lot of manhandling between track and garage but still looks like it's fresh out of the paint shop. 

I don't bother with a special primer coat. I figure the best primer coat is the color you're going to start with. 

Good luck - be sure to post some photos when it's done. And be sure to take many MANY photos during disassembly. 

JackM


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

I have gotten some advice that I should prime it first but haven't figured out what to use as a primer. 
Tom, 
I haven't tried Aristo plastic, but I've been painting the Accucraft coach plastic and I use regular primer in spray cans from the hardware store. The 'ruddy brown' is a good match for freight cars - you sometimes don't even need a top coat if it is going to be weathered. I usually use the general purpose grey primer. 

One reason for the primer is that it covers all the different-colored parts uniformly, so the top coat will be a uniform color. When you've added a window or a made a styrene addition you get all kinds of colors! 

However, if you're painting one homogeneous plastic car, then a primer may not be needed.


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## George Schreyer (Jan 16, 2009)

The AristoCraft plastic is plain old ABS. It paints well with oil based paints. Make sure that you clean the car well, paint doesn't stick well to fingerprints. 

Just mask the windows and lenses. 

The shell comes off easily, 4 screws (see instructions) and one connector at the rear. You will probably want to remove the trolly pole.


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## Tom Leaton (Apr 26, 2008)

If masking windows is too much of a bore then maybe you c,iuld leave the window are body gray, and accent it w/a white roof and a colored bodyside stripe like auto pinstripe tape. See:


http://www.bowser-trains.com/hoother/trolleys/pcc/pcc_17.jpg


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## Tom Leaton (Apr 26, 2008)

Sorry, what I meant to say was that if masking windows is too much of a bore, then maybe you could leave the window area (or even the entire body) gray. Then you might accent it w/a white roof and a colored bodyside stripe, similar to auto pinstripe tape. See:

http://www.bowser-trains.com/hoother/trolleys/pcc/pcc_17.jpg


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## Tom Bray (Jan 20, 2009)

Are there any tricks to masking the windows so they aren't damaged in the process? I am more worried about removing the masking, not putting it on. 
I picked up some special tape at the hobby store and I also got some of the liquid masking stuff. I was going to try both on a model I picked up at the same time, in particular the windows. 

I assume that I should also mask the inside of the model. I think I may take the doors out and paint them separately. 

I did think about just doing an overall mask over the window area and then hand painting that area but maybe masking everything is a better approach. 

Tom


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## Ltotis (Jan 3, 2008)

Doesn't Tamiya offer a paint on mask? 
LAO


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

I've used Rubber Cement as a masking agent. Test first on an unseen area to make sure it won't craze the plastic. 
Nice thing about RC is if left thick, it can be rolled off with a rubber eraser. 
It's cheap and available everywhere. 

John


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