WP Silver and orange boxcars

[Charles Smiley]

This was once a old "post WWII" VARNEY metal kit that some fellow built up many years ago and I bought it for 5 Dollars a few weeks aback at a train swap meet.

It still had good paint on the side graphics that I wanted to preserve. It is all metal but the underframe is molded plastic. So I figure it was a later version of the kit made around 1955 when plastic was encroaching on the manufacturer's material of choice. I added better scale Plano roof walks, scale grab irons and ladders, brake rigging, lift bars and new paint on the roof and ends to match the sides. Testors enamel "Aluminum" airbrushed on was a good match. The sprung trucks got Kadee metal wheels and Kadee whisker couplers. Many of the punched holes had to be filled where the old ladders and grabirons and roofwalk mounting pegs once were. I used foil aluminum cut into tiny pieces. They are hard to notice.

 

[goscrewyourselves]

That is a great looking Box Car and you have done it justice.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Alright, Charles, your going to have to do better. If you want to tell me you filled in holes, them you are going to have to show me. I cannot find one. Beautiful job!

The tires in the gondola are first class. Nice modeling!

 

[Charles Smiley]

Thanks Tony...

sirfold... Here are a couple of early steps in patches with CA glue and Campbells roofing tin crushed flat as I could in a machinist's vise. The ladder and roof walk holes were HUGE!!! The grab iron holes were filled with epoxy and drilled in better locations. Once the new ladders and roof walks are making shadows on the patches they are hard to notice. I might find a better way to do it because I have lots of theses old cars left to rebuild.

PS the tires were a detail set I bought and I had the saw the ties off a cast base. They are nice ones like earth movers used.

 

[Rico]

Very nice Chas!
I have some similar projects on the back burner, maybe next year...

 

[GN.2-6-8-0]

Very nicely done,the patches look very prototypically done.

 

[Charles Smiley]

Thanks.

BTW... I made an error in the original post that I edited.

It's an old metal Varney kit not Athearn metal kit. The metal stampings of Athearn in the same era were much crisper and things like the rivets were smaller and more pronounced on Athearn cars. But I like the Varney cars too and have so many 'hospital" cases I bought and revived I get them mixed up.

 

[Sirfoldalot]

Your really quite a master at this. I think it is wonderful to take basically a "throw away" and make it a showpiece with a few details and a little elbow grease. That is a very nice lettering and paint on a 50-60 yo car. Good find!

OK, one other question. Your ballast looks really good too. Homemade or commercial?

 

[Charles Smiley]

Thanks for the comment.

The bagged Woodland stuff. Medium to fine grit. The secret is to 'preen' the grains as near the top of the ties as possible and leave none on top of the ties. Small sable hair brushes help a lot. All that before to drizzling of the Woodland "Scenic Cement".

I tried making my own with thinned white glue and I can say it never worked as well as the Woodland stuff. I use these plastic "pipettes" from a LHS like an eye dropper. Keep the flow very slow and low so it does not disturb the ballast grains.

I never do more than a few feet at a time. Once the glue goes down I stop messing with it or it gets out of my control. I fix 'issues' after it dries. I usually put on another thin layer of glue once it dries. Thinned India Ink - days later - can bring out some highlights and make it look more like rock and less like small-curd cottage cheese.