In December I sold a few models to raise money to buy things for a new layout.  During that time I met online a fellow modeler named Eric Reinert.  Eric asked me if I could finish a few models for him, and sent me a box models all the way from Illinois for some work and weathering.  Here are three of the six cars Eric sent.

First is a completed Tichy NYC rebuilt box car.  Check out the real-life weathering!  The build is good but the model needs a little help.  I’m going to re-detail this car to a minor extent and then sandblast, paint, decal and weather it.

The biggest problem with this model is the builder probably used the plastic grab-iron template to drill the holes on the side of the car.  The template gets the job done fast, but it drills holes that don’t align with the grabs on the ends.  The builder also used the Tichy door, which has details that are a little “heavy”.  It needs a little TLC.

Below.  This model is a Branchline Yardmaster car.  I’ve already applied Dullcote and some basic weathering, and shop and reweigh decals.  I’m going to do salt weathering on the roof; the gray is the undercoat simulating galvanized steel.  Other than a new brakewheel and running board I don’t think I’ll add too many new details.

Below.  Eric also sent this Intermountain box car.  Like the SP car above, this car already has a shot of Dullcote and some additional decals and weathering applied.  I’m going to salt-weather this roof as well, but it’ll be a little more tricky since the roof is permanently attached.  I replaced a few of the grabs on the left side of the car already, and I’ll add a new running board per the prototype.  This car and the two above will get Tahoe Moel works trucks with semi-scale wheelsets.

Meanwhile, I’m happy to report that my friend Fenton Wells is recovering from heart surgery and is already back to modeling.  Fenton’s first “post-surgery” build is this B&O M-59.  Fenton used an Intermountain car as the core model; the doors, ends and lower side sill were resin-cast by Chad Boas.  Fenton did a great job on this model and he motivated me to get going on my own version.

Below.  Here’s my completed built prior to sandblasting.  The core kit is a Branchline Blueprint six-foot-door car kit.  I also used the Chad Boas doors and side sill, and used the kit-supplied ends.  The additions to the door track are Evergreen .020 x .030 strip.  The door stops are included in Chad’s casting set and are finely-cast.  Note that prototype photos indicate that there were no door stops used on the left side of the car—I assume because the door could be stopped by the grabs.  Trucks are again by Tahoe.

I used a Kadee Apex running board for my car.  I kept the tabs on the underside of the running board and drilled matching holes in the roof, and just fit the two parts together.  I fixed the running board from underneath, gluing the tabs in place using canopy cement.  The installation took about 15 minutes; the glue took a day to dry.

Here’s a closeup of the end of my M-59.  The air hose and bracket are Hi-Tech parts, the brake step is from Plano, and the stirrups are from Yarmouth.

Here’s another car under construction.  This is the Accurail car core kit included with the Resin Car Works Illinois Central single-sheather box car mini-kit.

I’d like to say that this is a GREAT kit.  It comes with all the parts needed, Tahoe truck sideframes, and a whole lot more.  Frank Hodina has produced a real winner here.  A lot of cutting and shaping is required, but that’s what prototype modelers are supposed to do, right?  Lester Breuer did a blog post for Resin Car Works on his build; that nice article can be found at http://blog.resincarworks.com/illinois-central-single-sheathed-boxcar-mini-kit/.

Below.  Construction is underway.  I’ve already cut the ends off the Accurail body and removed the cast-on ladders, and am ready to build up the underframe and apply the brake gear.  I worked on this model tonight and the brake gear, coupler pockets and replacement cross-members are installed.  No photos yet…

Below.  The model below is a Sunshine Models Rock Island 53′-6″ flat car.  This is Sunshine kit #45.9.  This models a series of CRI&P flat cars, series 90000-90249, that were spliced together by the railroad from two 40-foot cars.  The cars look unique because of the two large splice plates in the center of the car.

Here’s the prototype of the RI car above, photo courtesy Bob’s Photo.  This was taken at Ft. Bragg, No. Carolina, on 15 Sep 1951 by Col. Chet McCoid.

I’m excited about this build, shown below, which represents a series of Missouri Pacific 50-foot, double-door box cars.  There’s a nice photo in Ted Culotta’s The Postwar Freight Car Fleet book.  I’m using the old MDC model as the starting point.  It requires A LOT of carving and sanding.  The motivation for the build is the recent release of a Speedwitch decal set made specifically for the MoPac prototype.

The biggest problems with this model are the side sheathing (what’s up with those gaps between the boards?!), the poorly-represented door guides along the bottom sill, and all the cast-on parts of course.  Also, the kit-supplied doors are horrible so I’m cutting up doors from an Intermountain 40-foot box car to get something more fine-scale.  Thanks to Elden Gatwood for sending me a big bag full of the right doors so I can cut-and-splice doors that’ll fit.

And finally, here are a few O scale models still on the workbench.  The model below is a Rich Yoder C&O/Nickel Plate car that I bought for a song on eBay.  It had a lot of problems that took quite a while to repair.  I finally applied decals and dullcote in December.  The model still needs some air line work so it is still “in the shop”.  Trucks are Proto 48 fine scale by Protocraft and decals are by Microscale.  Chalk marks are hand-drawn.

Below.  This photo has been seen on the blog before.  The Speedwitch HO scale Wabash automobile box car is in front, and the Rails Unlimited O scale car is in the back.  Cool just got a whole lot bigger!

Below.  As of Valentine’s Day the O scale car now looks like this.  Decals are again by Protocraft.

Here’s one of a series of proto-photos I took back in 2004 in Atlanta, Illinois, that I used to guide the build:

This model had some problems, most notably that the pre-drilled grab iron holes didn’t line up on the sides and ends.  That’s a recurring problem in multiple scales.  I first applied the grabs on the car sides per the photo above and then built the end ladders using Evergreen plastic strip for the stiles.  The brake lever was extremely difficult to find; this was was provided by Jim Leners.

Next for the Wabash car is a shot of Dullcote and then a whole lot of weathering.

That’s it for now.  There are a few more builds on the workbench that I’ll cover next month.  Meanwhile here’s parting shot, courtesy Mike Gruber of Mainline Photos.  This is P&E Train #50, in Urbana, Illinois on April, 1949.  The photo was made by my friend Joe Collias.

On the subject of freight cars…check out the pipe load on that second car back.  Iowa Scaled Engineering now makes corrugated culvert pipe in HO, which can be found at https://www.iascaled.com/store/GBM/CulvertPipe.  That is a must-do load!

Have a great week!  – John G

Over President’s Day weekend my wife and one of my daughters and I took a long day trip to the famous city of Colmar, in the Alsace region of France.  Colmar is famous for a lot of reasons; among them, according to tourist sites, is picturesque half-timbered houses, romantic canals, flower-laden windowsills, a labyrinth of cobblestone lanes and delicious food.  

They weren’t kidding.  Colmar is amazing.  Scenes like this are around every corner.  It’s also the capital of Alsatian Wine Country and we’ve resolved to go back this summer for a weekend of wine and cheese and touring.  And train-chasing.  I can’t wait!

In a slightly more modern part of Colmar is the Musee de Jouet, a museum for the history of toys–with the entire top floor devoted to model trains.  My wife read about it online and suggested we check it out.  

Above.  The first floor is full of games and old, fun toys–many French, and some American.  After dueling my daughter in an ancient version of Connect Four and a few other games, I shuffled my way upstairs to see the trains.  Seems like every museum in Europe has a few glass cases devoted to old model trains, and this place is no exception.  They have a very nice collection of mostly French model trains–some going back to the 1920s.  There is also a massive LGB-style layout running all over the place–you can see part of it in the background.

Below.  French-made Lionel look-alikes from the 1930s.

Here’s the ubiquitous HO layout.  During my visit it was the favorite attraction for the men and boys, and plenty of women too.  Unlike in America, model trains are still cool here.

Below.  Here is a beautiful brass model of a British 4-6-2, fully operational and set up on rollers.  Press the button at the bottom and the case lights up, and the drivers and valve gear turn.

I also enjoyed this display, below, which is devoted to French-made tinplate airplanes.  It is fabulous.  There are many more cases of airplanes in the museum, reminding this American that the French have been a pioneer and innovator in aviation since time began.

Back in Ramstein Village…

I’ve been doing a lot of freight car work since Christmas.  The rest of this post and the next post will be devoted to the new work.

The model below is an old Ribside Models car that I bought on eBay.  I rebuilt it with Detail Associates ladders, Yarmouth stirrups, Smokey Valley coupler pockets, Cal Scale brake gear, a bunch of wire details, Tahoe Model Works trucks and a running board made of Evergreen strip.  I painted it with Scalecoat PRR Freight Car Color, which I think makes a good “weathered” Milwaukee Road color.  I don’t have decals yet and am still searching for a manufacturer that makes the appropriate decals.  I’m really happy with the model and am eager to finish it.

Below.  Another recent build is this Proto 2000 Mather stock car kit.  I recall meeting Larry Grubb at Naperville back around 2004 and he showed me the test shots.  I was speechless.  Too bad Life Like only made six or seven freight car models, right?

Anyway, I bought this particular kit at a German train show in 2017 and finally assembled it last December.  Replacement parts include Cal Scale brake gear, Yarmouth stirrups, a new strip-styrene running board, lots of wire grabs, a whole lot of Detail Associates nut-bolt-washer castings.  Trucks by the way are Tahoe Andrews with semi-scale wheelsets.  I had a little difficulty securing the doors and door guides so I glued them and taped them on overnight, and that did the trick.

Below.  Here’s a closeup of the end work.  I placed the grabs in the original grab iron holes, being sure to line them up across the side and end, and simulated the attachments with n-b-w castings.  The grabs are Tichy 18-inch drop-style.  I use these because I think they have the best prototype contour.  The coupler pocket is from Smokey Valley.

Initial weathering included a shot of Testors Dullcote first, followed by a wash of 5% black artist’s oil paint thinned 95% with paint thinner.  The Dullcote protects the decals and lettering from the thinner, and the black paint reside settles into the details.  I love the effect.

I finished the roof using a variety of oil paints and weathering powders.  I’ll get a photo of the completed car uploaded soon.

Below.  This car has been seen before on the blog.  This is the Funaro & Camerlengo B&O N-13 model.  This car is a one-piece casting and is easy to build.  I replaced the kit-supplied ladders with Detail Associates parts, added a lot of wire grabs, and also installed stirrups from A-Line.  The air hose brackets are Hi-Tech Details #6040.  Trucks are Tahoe Andrews with semi-scale wheelsets.

I got a huge set of B&O hopper decals from a friend on the B&O list named Ed Sauers.  The set has one of every marking ever used on a B&O hopper–but only one.  Technically I used the entire set on just this car.  Chalk marks are a mix of Sunshine decals and hand-drawn marks using a white artist’s pencil.  I weathered the model using a mix of Dullcote mixed with about 5% flat black.  I call this a finish coat and I think it blends the decals into the car color nicely.

Below.  This is an old Sunshine Models B&O M-27 box car.  I bought this off Mont Switzer at a St. Louis RPM event 4-5 years ago.  I finished the car, below, but didn’t like the weathering at all…

…so I stripped it and repainted it.  I stripped the paint in my North Coast sandblasting booth–the best money I ever spent–and repainted the model using Scalecoat Oxide Red.  Decals are from a variety of Speedwitch B&O decal sets.  The chalk marks on this model are all hand-drawn with a white artist’s pencil.

Below.  WRNX 249 was an impulse buy at St. Louis RPM 2017.  The Tangent guys were packing up at the end of the meet and I said, aw what the heck!   I relaced the TSM trucks with Tahoe 40-ton trucks and that was it.  I gave the model a light spray of 50% DUllcote-50% Glosscote, and a lighter spray of weathering using Testors Dark Tan, and that was it.  I don’t like to heavily weather colorful cars.

Below.  I finished this Milwaukee Road car in the fall.  Like many box cars I made my own running board out of strip styrene, but it sagged between the supports (see below), necessitating a replacement.

Here’s the replacement running board made of .020-inch thick Evergreen styrene strip.  The roof was weathered using the “Salt Weathering technique”.  I think it looks pretty good.

Here’s the finished model below.

I wanted to include this closeup because it shows the Speedwitch “Tilted Box” monogram that is included in the Speedwitch Milwaukee Road auto-box set.  Ted did a masterful job on the monogram—it’s the best rendering on the market.  The rest of the decals are from that set, plus a few from Sunshine and Westerfield.  Trucks are Dalman from Tahoe Model Works.

I’ll cover the rest of the new models, and some models under construction, in the next post.

Before closing, I’d like to return to Colmar for a minute.  In addition to the toy museum we also visited the Musee Unterlinden, which is a large archeological and art museum downtown.  I am always interested in Roman artifacts and they also have a nice, well-rounded collection of classical European art.

One of the portraits I found particularly impressive was this, called Jesus in Prison.  I felt the portrait to be wonderful and expressive, especially since it covers a very short time in Christ’s life that is rarely discussed.  The lighting is exquisite.

Matthew 20:18-19 says Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will hand Him over to the Gentiles to mock and scourge and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.  

I pray you and your families have a blessed week.  – John G

The boys on the Proto-Layouts list on IO were asking about salt weathering, so I thought I’d whip up a quick post on using the technique to weather freight car roofs.

I’ve used the technique successfully on a few models.  Here’s one example:

The model above is a Sunshine Models 80-series kit of the Missouri Pacific 90000-series single sheathed box car.  Here’s a link to the Sunshine Models flyer on Jim Hayes’ Sunshine Models website: http://sunshinekits.com/sunimages/sun80.pdf.  Man, I wish I had a couple of those Sunshine Frisco cars right about now…

I recently applied salt weathering on a Sunshine Milwaukee Road box car that’s still under construction.  

Here’s how to do it.

1 – First, paint the roof with the underlying rust or galvanized color.  This is the color  you want to “show through”.  Usually this is a rust or galvanized color, or sometimes black.  My choice for this car was a galvanized color; my homemade mix was about 80% white and 20% silver.

2 – Let the paint dry completely.  Meanwhile, gather salt and rubbing alcohol.  I use two kinds of salt (fine table salt, and coarse sea salt).  I use a sprayer to apply the rubbing alcohol.  

3 – Next, spray the roof with the rubbing alcohol.  I understand most guys use water but I had a problem with surface tension and tried rubbing alcohol, and it was very effective.  I put the roof in an old baking pan to contain the mess.   

Note.  I didn’t mask off the running board but it would’ve been smart to do that.

4 – While it’s wet, sprinkle on salt.  I use two kinds of salt—tables salt (small granules) and Sea Salt (large chunks).

Here’s how it’ll look.  Again, masking off the running board would’ve been smart.

5 – Let the whole mess dry completely.

6 – Once dry, carefully airbrush the roof with the original car color (such as Box Car Red, or black).  Yes, some of the salt will come off if you’re not careful when handling the roof. 

7 – After painting, this is how it’ll look.  Let it dry completely.  

8 – When the paint is dry, rub off the salt.  The color underneath will show up when the salt is removed.  I didn’t take any photos of that process because it was too hard to do while holding a camera.  Here’s how it looked, below, when all the salt was removed.

9 – Above.  Next, go back over the running boards and seam caps with the original car color.  This will provide a nice contrast between the weathered roof and the painted seam caps and running boards.

10 – Here’s how it’ll look–splotchy and irregular.  That’s perfect.  Next, you may want to go back over some areas with the original galvanized color and fill in a few spaces and gaps to blend everything together a little better.  I used the little yellow brush to blend in the colors.

11 – Above.  I also added a little black to simulate soot/dirt.  I use AIM Powders applied with a small brush.  

11 – Finally, to keep any delicate paint and especially the AIM powders in their place, I sealed the roof with a shot of Testors Dullcote.  

And that’s it!  If you’re going to try this, I recommend you practice on a few models first.  The first time I tried salt weathering I finished three roofs–one was good, and two were “fails”.  However, I learned how much salt to add, and where to add it, and that was really helpful for later attempts.

I’m still working on the rest of the car, as seen above, but should have it done this week.  Meanwhile, below, I am also finishing up my Yarmouth ACL O-16-A auto car.  Weathering is underway.  This is a lovely model and I’ll post more on this later this week or next. 

I’m also finishing up an antagonist to the ACL auto car above.  Below, I have repainted my old Kadee SAL B-10 box car and decaled it with the new Speedwitch SAL B-10/AF-4 set.  The decals are spectacular.  The car needs a Superior door though, and that’s the next scratchbuilding project.  I’ll post more on this car when I get the new doors built, painted and installed.  

Enjoy your week!  – John G

It has been over a month since my last modeling post.  Work, Christmas celebrations and a ski trip to Austria the week before Christmas kept me busy, plus I spent a lot of spare time finishing up a freight car project for Frank Hodina’s Resin Car Works blog.   Look for that article soon at http://resincarworks.com/.

Meanwhile my buddy Jeff Kuebler sent a photo of some of Union Pacific’s engines at the old Missouri Pacific yard at Dupo, Illinois, which is right across the river from south St. Louis.  They were on the way back from special duty moving President Bush’s funeral train to Texas.

Jeff wrote, “Merry Christmas!  Union Pacific sent me an early present this year as #4141 and #1943 paused in Dupo, Ill for two days this week.  I stopped by the yard on the way home from work on Friday and was allowed in to make a couple of photos.  I searched for them again this morning, but they had moved on to fill other stockings.  Happy holidays and hope to see you in the new year!” – Jeff K

Nice photo, Jeff, thanks for sending!

Back at the shops north of Ramstein Air Base, I was able to finish a bunch of freight car models after returning from ski week at Kitzbuhel.  I’ll cover them all, but for now here are two of my favorites.  Both are old Sunshine Models kits that I’ve been working on slowly for some time.

N&W 90547

N&W 90547 is an early Sunshine Models kit, #12B, issued in the early 1990s.  These were unique cars at 46 feet interior length, three feet interior height, and nine feet, ten inches wide.  N&W built 1,500 cars total in two series—99000 to 99999, delivered in 1937, and 90500-90999, delivered in 1941.  All 1,500 cars were placed in class G-1 by the railroad.

The G-1s were built with drop doors for carrying coal and other commodities, but were designed to carry steel and other manufactured items that were 40 feet long or longer.  Neighbor Virginian like them and built 100 copies in their own shops.

I assembled the model per the instructions.  I used a number of aftermarket detail parts, including Tahoe Model Works Double-Truss trucks with semi-scale wheelsets, a Cal Scale brake gear set, a Kadee brake wheel, and A-Line stirrups. 

I built the car in early 2016 and didn’t get around to sandblasting and painting the model for another year.  I primed it with Testors Light Gull Gray and then added a light finish coat of Testors Gloss Black.  Why Testors?  It’s all I had on hand, and paint is extremely difficult to get here in Germany.

Here, below, is a photo of the car painted and ready for decals.

I bought the kit on eBay and it did not include decals.  Instead I used decals from Westerfield—their N&W H-1 hopper decal set—and added a few Sunshine Models chalk marks and a shop date from Mt. Vernon N&W H-2 hopper decal set.  The finished car is below.

I gave the car a couple of light coats of my special dullcote mix (40% Testors Dullcote, 40% Testors Glosscote, and 20% thinner).  Then I added a few drops of Testors Gloss Black—the original car color—the the dullcote mix and gave it another complete coating.  I call this last coat a “softcoat” because it tends to blend all the finishes, tone down stark white decals, and provide a soft weathering effect.  The model below is after the softcoat was applied.

Here’s another view of the car finish after the softcoat.

The model is hard at work now on my Ackley, Iowa layout.  Before it went on the layout I added Kadee “scale” couplers, polished the wheelsets, and checked the coupler height to complete the operations check.  Here’s the model being picked up by the local below.

Yeah, that’s a PRR GP-7…and this looks more like a scene from central Illinois than Iowa.  But there’s that G-1 being hauled away, along with the subject of our next feature, NYC 194679.

NYC 194679

NYC 194679 is another Sunshine Models car, kit #93.1, which was issued in the later 1990s.

The prototype cars were built as low-interior-height Michigan Central autocars in 1922 in lots 440-B, 464-B and 465-B.  MCRR rebuilt them in 1932 with an additional 18-inches of height, along with new doors and modified ends.  This car represents one of over 1,300 cars that were further modified in 1943 with Youngstown doors and a straight panel roof.  In the year I’m modeling, 1950, NYC still claimed over 1,250 in revenue service.  

This build was about as straightforward as you can get.  Like the N&W gon above, I built this car per the kit instructions and added some improved parts, like a Cal Scale brake gear set, Hi Tech #6040 air hoses with brass brackets, Tahoe Barber trucks with semi-scale wheelsets, Smokey Valley Model Works coupler pockets, and a running board and latitudinal running boards made from Evergreen styrene strip.

Here, below, is a photo of the completed underframe and running board installation in progress.

Track testing…

…and now paint.  I painted the car with Tru Color NYC Freight Car Red.  That brand goes on great and dries fast–within an hour.

I applied the decals that came with the kit.  I also used a couple of decals from the Speedwitch NYC Box Car set, specifically the shop and repack dates.  The old Sunshine decals went on without any problems.

Like the N&W gondola above, I gave this model a couple of light coats of my special dullcote mix (again–40% Testors Dullcote, 40% Testors Glosscote, and 20% thinner).  Then I combined, in a separate container, a few drops of the Tru-Color paint and lacquer thinner and mixed that up well, and then blended that solution to the dullcote solutions.  I then airbrushed the model with this mixture to provide the “softcoat”.  The photo below shows the finish after the softcoat was applied.  Everything looks nice and smooth.

I finished the model by applying a little weathering along the bottom of the car and a little AIM weathering power (Soot Black) on the roof.  I also applied some hand-written chalk marks like I did with the N&W gondola.  Then I added the couplers—Kadee #78s—and the trucks, and polished up the wheelsets, and that finished up the project.

This photo came out a little dark, but let’s just say this photo was taken in the evening.

Here’s the above photo converted to black and white.  It looks better! 

Hope you fellas had a great weekend!  – John G

One of Seaboard Air Line’s most famous and most-recognizable freight cars was the AF-1 and AF-2 class “turtleback” auto car.  Sunshine Models released an HO scale car kit in the early 2000s and I was fortunate to acquire one and finish it this year.

Above.  Wilbur C. Whittaker photo, Dunsmuir, Cal, 05 August, 1951.  Courtesy Richard Hendrickson.

The Prototype

SAL received a total of 1,200 turtleback auto cars in two series the 1940s.  The first series of 700 cars were delivered from Pullman (Bessemer, Ala.) in March, 1940, PS-Lot #5617.  The cars featured 10’ 6” IH, Pullman “Turtleback” roof, Apex running board and brake step, Youngstown doors (12’ 6” door opening), proprietary corrugated Pullman ends, AB brakes, Ajax handbrake, and AAR spring-plank type trucks.  The cars were painted Dupont Tufcoat Metallic Brown (entire car, including trucks) and received white stencils with the train slogan Route of the Orange Blossom Special.  Car numbers were 1100-11699 and were placed in SAL car class AF-1.

The second series, car numbers 11700-11999 and 22000-22199, came in 1942.  These cars also came from P-S Bessemer, and were identical except for the use of Blaw-Knox running boards and brake steps on 22000-22199, and paint.  These cars were placed in SAL car class AF-2 and were painted with Sherwin Williams Metallic Brown (entire car, including trucks), and as delivered featured the slogan Route of the Robert E. Lee on all cars.

The Model

Much has been written about SAL car classes and paint schemes so I won’t go into all the details again here.  I wanted to model a car in original paint and lettering, circa 1949, so that is what will be described here.

I got this AF-1 kit from my friend Gerry Fitzgerald in 2014.  I reciprocated by sending Gerry a finished car as a way of saying thanks.  I sent him a car I considered a “keeper”–a very-much rebuilt Atlas 1932 ARA box car, shown below.  I milled the frame for Kadee #78 couplers, replaced the trucks with prototypically-correct coil-elliptical trucks from Tahoe Model Works, installed a new running board, and added a lot of decals and TLC to this model.  I loved it, but Gerry sent me a one-of-a-kind kit and knowing he was a C&O fan I sent this car to him as a way of saying thanks.  

A few weeks later Gerry told me he entered the model in a model contest at a local NMRA event near his home in Richmond, Virginia.  That’s C&O country.  It was a “sure winner” he told me…but it won second.  We both had a good laugh!

Back to the AF-1

My new AF-1 model was built per the kit’s instructions.  The kit includes typical resin box car kit parts—two sides, two ends, two doors, an underframe and a roof.  Thankfully the roof casting was perfectly flat and square.  I built up the basic carbody and added all the additional parts, like ladders, wire grab irons, and the Apex running board included with the kit.  I secured the running board with canpoy glue.  The finished build is seen above.

I added a number of aftermarket parts, such as a Cal Scale brake gear set, Smokey Valley coupler pockets with Kadee #78 “scale” couplers, Kadee ARA trucks with Kadee semi-scale wheelsets, and a Kadee Apex brake wheel, among other parts.  When the build was complete I sandblasted the model to etch the surface and prepare it for painting.

Finishing

After sandblasting I painted the entire carbody, underframe and trucks with ScaleCoat 2 Box Car Red #1.  I think this natural brown color best matches Seaboard’s freight car color circa 1949 or 1950.  The shot below shows the painted car ready for decal application.

I used the outstanding Speedwitch SAL Box and Auto Cars decal set D103, SAL 40′ Steel Box & Auto Cars, found on the Speedwitch Media site at http://speedwitchmedia.com/.  I applied them per the manufacturer’s instructions and used Microscale Decal Set to settle the decals down. 

After the decals were dry I cleaned the car off with a soft, wet towel to get all the decal residue off the model, then I shot it with several light coats of Testors Dullcote.  Testors Dullcote is my preferred dull coating solution, but I dilute it.  I use about 40% Dullcote, 40% Glosscote, and 20% or more thinner.  That keeps it thin, and not too flat.

After a couple shots of Dullcote, I sprayed the car with a second Dullcote-Glosscote-Thinner mix with a few drops of the Scalecoat 2 Box Car Red added.  This tends to kill any remaining decal gloss, hide decal ends, and blend all the car colors together nicely. 

Below.  Here’s the car after the last shot of Dullcote-Paint mix.  Looks good.

I used Smokey Valley coupler pockets on this model.  I fixed these to the underframe per the kit instructions.  You can order these parts online at http://smokymountainmodelworks.com/HO_draft_gear+cplrs.html.

After applying the Dullcote I used a white artist’s pencil to apply a few chalk marks and scribblings, then sealed the finish again with another light shot of Dullcote. I also applied a little AIM Soot Black weathering powder to the roof, and sealed that again with another very light shot of Dullcote. Finally I sprayed the underframe, including the trucks and couplers, and the lower portion of the car sides and ends, with Testors Earth to simulate a little road grime. 

Below.  Here’s one more view of the mostly-completed model before chalk marks and final lettering were added.  Notice anything missing?  I didn’t…

And finally, here’s an in-service photo that was taken back in June.  

Smashed

I brought the model to display at the St. Louis RPM meet in July of this year.  I wrapped up the model in foam sheet, like the stuff you get out of a computer box, and put that in a heavy cardboard box in my suitcase.  The model made it to St. Louis in one piece, but on the trip back it got smashed.  The ground crew on my jet must’ve previously worked for ACL.  Anyway the underframe broke off and got smashed up inside the superstructure.

I was able to carefully pull the underframe back out of the car, clean up the edges of the underframe and interior edges of the superstructure, and then re-glue the floor into the car body.  It took a couple of tries to get it perfectly placed. Also broken was one of the Smokey Valley draft gear boxes so I had to replace that too.

I tested the balance of the car in an unusual way.  I used my iPhone “level” feature and placed it as flat as possible on top of the model.  It’s not the most accurate way to check the side-to-side and front-to-back balancing, but it’s kinda fun.

I touched up all the new parts and cleaned up surfaces with the original paint, Scalecoat 2 Box Car Red #1, hit the newly-painted surfaces with a shot of Testors Dullcote, and then weathered them with AIM Weathering powders “Delta Dirt”.  I reapplied the trucks and the model was ready for service.

The things I forgot to add in the original build were shop dates and a route card holder.  I added those decals and parts, and added a few more chalk marks, and called it complete…again.  Here are a few back-in-service photos with the Ackley layout dressed up in a southwest Georgia setting.  

I hope you’re all enjoying a safe and wonderful December!  – John G