Take a look at the weathering job on this ex-Frisco covered hopper. Quite impressive! http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-Weathere...ewItem&pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item3effc053ac Rich
Truly impressive weathering skills and attention to detail. I invited the gentleman to join our forum and share his techniques.
OK, so it's a real nice weathering job, but is it worth $183? I'm not so sure any single model RR car is worth $183. Especially the way model railroaders howl about prices! Is this a "money's no object" thing?? Tom
Obviously more than one person really wanted it to pay that high of a price! For me, and I assume the greatest portion of us on this forum, it would be more than we can justify or pay. One has to admit, it was truly a work of art, but there is another seller on ebay that advertises weathering service for $7 + $5 shipping for your cars that will make them look virtually the same: http://cgi.ebay.com/Custom-Freight-...ewItem&pt=Model_RR_Trains&hash=item335c97c4e6
And I thought my new Tangent Frisco LO was expensive at $49 FOB house! That weathering job was truly impressive. Covered hoppers are difficult to weather as, in addition to road grime (quite obvious on gray cars), you have the effect of spilled lading on the roof of the car around the hatches and often even running down the sides. Ken
Impressive. But patched to BN. I would have rather preordered a GP15-1 with sound, which would be a cheaper, better deal.
There is a small but growing sub-group in our hobby that specialize in making freight cars and locomotives as realistic looking as possible. These guys, and gals for that matter, are really talented and fall into the artistic realm in my opinion. It may not be that well-known, but our own Nick Molo is one of them. Please take a look at the following link and you will see some of his work plus other models that quite frankly are hard to delienate fom the real thing. http://tangentscalemodels.com/shareyourmodels.aspx Another possibly little known fact is that these modelers travel to Proto-Modelers Meets that have popped up around the country and display their handiwork for others to see. These meets generally don't have judging but just displaying which I for one think is a great concept. Now that I have exposed Nick, maybe he would be willing to share some of his techniques with the rest of us. Hint!!! Hint!!!
Bob, Thanks for the exposure, now I have to explain myself. By the way Frisco modelers should really get some of those ACL PS4000s from Tangent while they still last. I have some examples of them on the Frisco carrying either feed or EPK Edgar Plastic Kaolin, which is a type of Kaolin that is used in glazes in porcelain bathroom wares. The two examples on the Tangent site are obvious which carries Kaolin and which feed. I basically start with some general airbrush spraying to give a small bit of road grime or dusting. Followed by hand brushing on streaks, blotching for rust spots or washes into crevices (this is where the dirt collects). In a final layer I use powder to soften everything. With the kaolin car I also added big clumps of kaolin (dried white paint) around the round hatches. Nick
We sold lots of phosphate products to the Kaolin producers down in Georgia - phosphates help keep the clay in suspension when it is slurried up with water prior to use as a paper coating, paper sizing, filter aid, etc. By its nature, and necessary in its major end uses, dry Kaolin is a very fine powdered white clay. It gets everywhere and seems to stick to everything. Nick's ACL kaolin covered hopper (ACL 89182) looks VERY real to me from my memory of my "clay belt" visits. Excellent work, nice job! Ken
Another ebayer whom I have been really watching his stuff on Ebay who does an excellent job of detailing and weathering is monsterpieces. On youtube you can watch some of his videos at Monster Railroad. His Name is Al and he does a fantastic job. He does how to videos on youtube and also holds legit contests to win one of his works of art.
Interesting Ken, In this type of use would the phosphate be a coarser granule than the pharm grade? Or was it already slurried itself and sent in tankcars to the Kaolin produces, like Georgia Kaolin, Theile, ECC? What type of car was used for this type of phosphate? The airslides again? From the St.Louis plants? I have seen quite a few Mopac ACF cylindrical covered hoppers in the Birmingham yard. Thanks for the compliments on the car, I had a great photo. Nick
Nick - As I recall, the phosphate sold to the kaolin people in Georgia was a granular tech grade of either tetrasodium pyrophosphate (TSPP), sodium tripolyphosphate (STPP), or sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP), or sometimes a blend. All three were free flowing, and easily soluble in water, so they were shipped in standard bulk hopper cars and bulk hopper trucks - no need for Airslides or PD cars. Our product was used mainly in kaolin destined for the paper mills to coat paper (shiny paper = kaolin coating) for magazines, books, etc. They dissolved the phosphate in water, slurried up the kaolin in it, and shipped the stuff to the paper mills in tank cars (remember the first HO Atlas tank car model? - a kaolin car). The phosphate kept the clay in suspension during transit and processing at the paper mill. That was a long time ago - I called on those people during my time in Cincinnati, 1974-1978. Those folks were great - real Georgia crackers. There was one purchasing agent (at Thiele I think, or maybe Huber) who had such a heavy Georgia accent that he never moved his lips while he was talking! Amazing. Ken
