I noticed an increase of completed models being shared on the Resin Freight Car Builders discussion list in October. I pulled together notes and photos for this blog post.
October 1
Clark Propst kicked off the month sharing an HO scale Funaro & Camerlengo Maine Central gondola kit. He had originally installed the brake details following an instruction drawing that viewed the car looking down through the floor. He realized everything was reversed so all those details were removed and installed correctly.
Several discussion list members noted they had done the same thing with other models.
October 6
Paul Doggett posted his completed HO scale Erie boxcar. This is a Sunshine Models kit with Viking roof, Buckeye steel ends, AB brake system, and a vertical brake staff.
October 8
Marc Simpson finished a set of three Sylvan Scale Models CN 57-foot auto transporter cars for his layout. The prototypes were built in 1956-59 for Canadian National and remain in captive service transporting vehicles to remote communities in northern Manitoba that have no road connection. These were some of the earliest dedicated auto transport cars that were precursors to the modern autoracks. Marc covers these models and prototypes on his blog.
October 12
Fenton Wells shared his progress on an HO scale Westerfield Models kit. This is an Atlantic Coast LIne O-15 class ventilated boxcar. The prototypes were built in 1919 and were the first 40-foot ventilated boxcars used on the ACL. Previous ACL ventilated boxcars were 36-foot cars.
Ian McKellar shared his completed HO scale model of the same kit Fenton was working through. Ian finished the model following the early 1930s paint and lettering.
October 19
Once Fenton Wells completed his ACL ventilated boxcar, he shared a few images of the final, weathered appearance.
October 21
The ever-productive Clark Propst posted about another project. Here are his notes.
A few weeks ago, Caboose Stop Hobbies in Cedar Falls, Iowa, bought a small resin kit collection. I bought a half dozen kits and decided to build this old Sunshine Models (kit #2.4) yellow resin kit first. Parts were warped and fit like a saddle on a sow, but I wrestled it together. Paint was an issue. The only paint available locally is the baby square bottles of Testors enamel. I bought a bottle of tan and proceeded to over thin it. I masked the sides and painted the rest with Tru-Color Paint box car brown.
Some of the tan paint came off with the masking. I did not prime the thing. I tried touching up with a brush and finally just resprayed the sides. The best piece in the kit was the decals. They were like new! I’ve always liked those rebuilt cars that were produced way before my time working with resin.
October 24
Lester Breuer completed a Spokane, Portland & Seattle (SP&S) boxcar using some of his own castings. Lester was inspired by the August 2021 Railroad Model Craftsman article by James Kinkaid. He cast resin ends, roof and doors. He installed photo etch ladders, under body details, and Archer rivets. Additional details are posted on Lester’s Minneapolis & Northland Railroad Company blog.
October 24
Nelson Moyer saw this Merchants Despatch Transportation reefer displayed at the Chicagoland RPM a few years ago, and he had to have one. This was a private, limited-run kit produced by Dave Campbell.
The kit consists of the one-piece car body and the floor. All else is left to the modeler to provide. I used a wood running board, which will be further weathered when I weather the rest of the car. Decals are from Micro Scale. I took liberties using this paint scheme relative to my era. I couldn’t resist. It’s one of the few MDT cars not yet repainted in the pumpkin yellow (or orange) scheme by my 1953 modeling era.
October 26
Todd Monroe posted an interesting announcement. Northwestern Models has released a Missabe Q Series four-bay hopper. These are HO scale 3D printed model kits with Tichy brakes, grab irons, brass rod, and decals to install and complete the model. Reservations are being taken through December 11. Contact them at northwesternmodels@outlook.com for details.
October 28
Nelson Moyer shared his work on an HO scale Milwaukee Road 50-foot composite gondola. Here are Nelson’s details.
I built Resin Car Works Kit 15.0 up to the priming step. It’s my first RCW kit, and it’s an easy build, in my case three leisurely days.
The castings are beautiful and the instructions include many clear photos, leaving nothing to your imagination. The most difficult step is installing the drop door brackets. They’re 0.05-inches short, so you have to glue one leg, let it dry, pull the other leg over and to glue it to cross tie or cross bearer. I didn’t glue the legs closest to the trucks because of clearance issues.
The lower grab iron bolt heads on the left end of the sides are wider than the top grab iron by 0.03-inches, so I shaved off the bolt head and applied a Tichy rivet head at the proper spacing. I used a 17-inch grab iron on the B end, as the kit-supplied part was too long to fit between the bolt heads. I added hand brake detail using a modified Kadee fulcrum and ran a chain from the Klasing hand brake to the brake rod.
I built five rung Yarmouth Model Works ladders for the sides instead of using the kit-supplied parts. I fit a two-ounce steel plate from my scrap box between the car bottom and the wood floor casting.
Both cast resin and Tichy brake components are provided in the kit, and I mixed them while building the underframe. The only other addition to the kit was the Hi-Tech Details air hoses. I haven’t decided on a load yet probably a pipe load.
Many thanks to the modelers for sharing their work. The text is just a portion of the conversations on each of the projects. The Resin Freight Car Builders discussion list is on the Groups.io platform. You will need to create a Groups.io user ID and password in order to join the discussion group. The projects and camaraderie are great inspiration for you to build resin freight car kits in any scale.
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Good models during the Covid shut down. Thanks for sharing\