Cooler water

In the spare time I have had, I painted the top of the tender's water tank. I used Scalecoat I "freight car red" which is a Pennsylvania railroad color that they used on freight cars as well as on the tops of tenders and cabs of the PRR locomotives (I'll be making this a PRR locomotive). I am told this is because it was a lighter color than the dark green locomotive enamel and allowed the water in the tender to stay cooler. Cooler water is better for the injectors which would take the water from the tender, mix it with steam and feed it to the boiler. I think it looks good too. I got the scalecoat paint in a spray can form from Weaver models. I partially followed their application instructions which called for baking the painted surface in an oven for several hours on a low heat of 175 degrees. I did 170 and only let it bake for 1 hour and 30 minutes as it was a very light coat on top of the factory paint. The scalecoat I colors are for brass and other types of metal. Scalecoat II is for plastics. So, if you are purchasing this paint, be sure to get the proper paint for what you will be using it on. I left the screws which attach the top to the tender black because I think it looks OK that way. I may change it later which should be quite easy.

I also have modified my coal load for the tender by crushing some smaller pieces and adding to the top for a more scale look.

after

before