A quick and simple method to get rid of the plastic new freight car look is to spray a light coat of Dullcoat.  This will take away the 'toy' train look of your layout.  If you don't have any Testor's Dullcoat you can use any Matte Finish spray to get the same results.  Just a simple spray to each side and let dry.  This can be done to any plastic kits also.

Passengers in MTL Empire Builder dome cars

By Mike Scully

June 2009

Step 1: paint passengers on sprue. 

This is my project to add passengers [ ... ]

I've finally added as much plaster cloth as I expect I'll need, and have moved on to priming the base before painting it.  Priming made it look unfamiliar, [ ... ]

Adding Panel Lines to ACF Hoppers
Bill Mock
January 2010

Here's [ ... ]