QRL&PCo Hoppers

[Steamtrains]

You Canadians keep coming up with some fantastic models....

Must be something in the water....

[sailormatlac]

You Canadians keep coming up with some fantastic models....

Must be something in the water....

Hum... and I thought it was chlorine!!!

@MasonJar: That could be feasible, however, gluing ribs over paint and decals wouldn't be a very safe way to secure them. I also enjoyed to use them as self-placing devices for the decals. Ribs are easier to put in place correctly when you don't have to mind about messing the decal. Depends on the model and paint steps. The most important thing about this method is to not get paint building up along the masking tape. I oversprayed the models a little bit and you can see the lines (no, it's not the decals, they blended quite nicely).

Matt

[sailormatlac]

Spotted the cars in revenue service yesterday at Hedley.









They were slightly weathered along B&O automobile boxcar (which was redetailled with various brass components).

Matt

[cn nutbar]

Excellent work Matt

[Steamtrains]

Keep up that fantastic work, and let's see so' more pictures...

[sailormatlac]

Keep up that fantastic work, and let's see so' more pictures...

Thanks! Bashing and upgrading freigth cars is probably my most favorite thing in this hobby. I particularly like when a model stops to look plastic and feels like steel.

I started to upgrade 6 Roundhouse boxcars similar to the B&O one today. Most redetailling have been done today, mostly replacing roofwalk, brake wheel and grabirons/stirrups. If everything goes as planned, they should be weathered by late tomorrow.

Matt

[jwb]

I'd be interested to see some specifics of how you do these things, Matt. I have a lot to learn from you and Dr Wayne.

[sailormatlac]

I'd be interested to see some specifics of how you do these things, Matt. I have a lot to learn from you and Dr Wayne.

No problem. It's rather easy to improve cars, it's much more about putting your efforts where it pays off. The good enough rule applies there perfectly. The biggest challenge is to overcome the fear to cut and alter models. It took me years to bahs without regrets! The same thing with weathering...

Most parts can be ordered in bulk pack for lower cost. Many things can be done with styrene sheets of various thickness. Even paper is a neat source of free thin sheet material. And never underestimate your junk box!

Otherwise, there's nothing that digusts me more than putting a lot of work on parts that will be hidden. It's why I hate to do underframe details thought Doctorwayne last entries show us it can be worthwhile when done reasonably.

When the boxcars are completed, I'll post them as a How To. Wayne is a great sourc of inspiration for me, it's amazing how he manage to transform rolling stock of humble parentage into great work. His 2012 challenge prompted me to upgrade the layout fleet. Over the years, I stacked up a lot of MDC and Athearn cars for bashing purpose.

Matt

[nkp_174]

Very nice. I definitely had my doubts at the solvent pictures...which only made the finished results all the more impressive. Nice modeling

[eightyeightfan1]

Nice job..Can't wait to see more.

[e-paw]

Here's an idea for the weathering. I copied these from some color pics of CNJ hoppers from the Late 40's early 50's. They were also used only in anthracite coal traffic. The paint was worn off right down to an oxide red primmer or what may have been the bare metal. The red color may be from the type of steal that they used, it had a high copper content to resist rust.    

[doctorwayne]

Nice work on those decals, Matt, and just the kind of innovation I'd expect from you.

I'd guess the inside of those hoppers to be mainly rusted. In addition to the abrasive action of the coal sliding over the steel plates and removing most of the paint, the acidic nature of coal would quickly cause the bare metal to rust. The next load would, of course, scrape away much of that, leaving the surface again bare and rusting anew.

Wayne

[sailormatlac]

E-paw and Doc, thanks for the weathering tips. I'll add another coat of pastel chalk to rust them a little bit more.

Matt

[jwb]

I airbrush the interiors of hoppers and gons with Floquil Rail Brown and then dust over that with rust-colored chalk. Railfan DVDs are good sources of examples, since a lot of shots are looking down at trains as they go under bridges.    

[doctorwayne]

That looks good, Matt.

.....since a lot of shots are looking down at trains as they go under bridges.

You're right, but this is usually what I get when trying to take photos of trains from a bridge:




Occasionally, though, I do get a useable picture. This isn't a hopper, but it is well-rusted. The part which interested me more, though, was the "empty" gondolas beyond:




Wayne