I don’t know the correct answer, but I have a suggestion as to why that would happen. The slogan stencils had to be split to accommodate the Z-channels on single
sheathed box cars, so perhaps the painters used some of the old stencils on the new steel cars. The slogans were quite large for a single stencil, though I suppose they could have used single stencils. In any event, the separations you observed are pretty
small in HO scale, so I wouldn’t cut decals to try to duplicate the split effect.
Nelson Moyer
From: CBQ@groups.io [mailto:CBQ@groups.io]
On Behalf Of Robert Heninger
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2018 2:18 AM
To: CBQ@groups.io
Subject: [CBQ] CB&Q XM-32 lettering
Hello,
As many of you know, a new kit for a CB&Q XM-32 in HO scale was recently released by Resin Car Works. I've been studying the photos I have from this series, and I've come across an interesting lettering variation. in a couple of photos that I have (which I
can't post here, unfortunately), there are stencil breaks in the lettering. One is CB&Q 31181, taken in 1952. This car was built in 1941. In this picture, the breaks in Everywhere West are very thin, perhaps less than 1/8". The second picture is of FW&D 8019,
also taken in 1952. This car is an October 1944 Havelock graduate. The stencil breaks are much larger, maybe an 1"-2".
The rest of my photos show solid lettering and slogans. Are these two cars anomalies, or is this an allowable variation? Were the car painters supposed to fill in the gaps with hand painting, and didn't in these two instances?
Thanks in advance for your time.
Regards,
Bob Heninger
Minot, ND