Tonight I started a tank car kit produced by Silver Crash Car Works. It's just right for TOTC era and I'll use the Peerless decal set from YesteRRails. The kit is has nice cast on detail but no detail parts are included....none. Not even queenpost castings or any grabs. The deck has nice detailed wood plank texture. Here it is so far. The tank is just sitting on it for the photo.
Last night I painted the tank and tonight I attatched the tank to the deck and added the tie downs. Soon I'll add the decals. This is fast becoming one of my favorite cars. Resin kits are a blast to build.
This morning's mail brought my YesteRRails tank car decal set. The decals are very high quality and crisp and go on like a charm. The directions were accurate and included photos of a completed model. Nice touch.
Nice work Jim What is interesting to me is how big they made the lettering and graphics back then, I mean you could see those reporting marks from a long way off. On today's stuff you gotta be standing beside them to see some of the lettering. Thanks for posting your efforts Jim.
Thanks, guys. Tonight I got it as finished as it's gonna get for a while. I had to order some brake details and turnbuckles and some grabs need to be added but this is it for now. It was a challenging kit to build and included absolutely no detail parts but I really like the resulting model. The stanchions lean outward to allow more room for crews to use the walkway. Each of the 12 stanchions were made from three separate parts and making them was a drag. They are backed by a strip of brass for added strength. Some of them required four holes to be drilled. Maddening but I like the results. I think it looks unique.
8,000 gallons. I wonder if they kept a boxcar between the locomotive and tank car like they do nowadays?
No. Back then, there were no restrictions to the placement of tank cars. Today, no hazmat tank car can be placed closer to the locomotive than five cars back, and cannot have a flat car or a bulkhead flat fore or aft of it.
I don't mean to drag this out but tonight I just remembered to add the brass cap on the dome lid and the chain that kept it from getting list. I know the chain is a bit oversized but the overall appearance looks OK to me. It gives it more character.
Thanks, Tom. I used a small flat brush about the width of the boards and used three different colors. I think they were earth, and wood. I just brushed a quick stroke along the boards, randomly spacing the various colors. This took a couple of coats. After painting the molded on steel tank cradle I used a black wash to tone down the colors, reveal wood grain detail and add depth and shadow. At least that was the idea behind what I did. Here's a closer look. I kinda like the effect left by the wash.
Jim, glad you defined your efforts. I wondered if it came that way, or not. Excellent work .. Very realistic looking.