Certainly most locomotives lose all their shine in pretty short order, but I saw a photo by Preston Cook (Rob Sarberenyi collection) the other day that made we wonder if anyone had successfully achieved realistic looking results in a model. Rob's photo of all things, was of a Southern Pacific tunnel motor coming straight off the assembly line. Gleaming in bright sunlight with a bit of snow on the ground, the sides of the fuel tanks were almost a perfect mirror, and certain portions of the sides looked the same way.
I would think this would be difficult to obtain and I was just wondering if anyone had tried. I think glosscoat would be a bit too much and lack any control. Maybe an airbrush? I also suspect the "ripple" look of the hood panels would be virtually impossible.
Any ideas?