Boxcar roof removal

[John]

Are the On30 boxcar roofs glued or snapped on? I need to repaint a few and it would be easier if I could remove the roof before repainting the sides.

[railtwister]

The Bachmann On30 roofs have tabs molded at each corner with fingers that reach down and snap into slots (running parallel to the sides) molded into the body. I've never seen any that were glued, but the roofs can be difficult to remove, and I have managed to break one of the tabs off on one car, so that particular roof will likely need to be glued on to keep that corner from lifting. If you are painting the roof to match the body, masking is not that difficult, and doesn't need to be perfect like it would with a contrasting color. Getting the first corner loose is the hardest part. Twisting the body gently may help during the removal process. I have airbrushed most of my roofs with Floquil's solvent based Southern Freight car brown (sku #270-110175), which is not an exact match, but under most lighting conditions is very hard to see the difference, and is all but impossible to tell if there is any weathering applied afterward. Test you color on a hidden area of the car first, because some of the  Bachmann cars use slightly different shades of brrown. Getting rid of all those black roofs certainly makes a big difference!

Good luck,
Bill in FL