Resin Car Works blog manager Eric Hansmann has been working on replacement boxcar roofs. Here are his notes.
I model the mid-1920s and have benefited from recent Accurail models of the Fowler boxcar and the 36-foot double-sheathed boxcars. Several have been added to my fleet with detail upgrades but some of the Fowler models need a metal roof to reflect the prototypes. I thought I’d build a few Murphy XLA roofs for the models.
Bill Welch, the Xxtreme Modeler, shared more images of his M-K-T boxcar project. Here’s Bill with a few notes.
Better door rollers were created by harvesting these small pieces from a Tichy Youngstown door set, part #3055. The locking levers were made from 0.015-inch diameter wire that was heated and flattened.
Small details can add to the look of a model. Grain clips were made from small rectangles of thin styrene and glued into place. A defect card holder and towing loops were also installed. Rivets were harvested from an old Athearn boxcar kit and installed where the bolster and cross bearers connect to the side sill. Gussets and diagonal braces on the original car body have been carved off.
Placard boards need to be installed on the car ends and doors. These are easy to build with some styrene and replace kit parts that are often too thick with exaggerated space between boards.
Here’s a view of the right side of the car. The new prototype appropriate details are easy to spot and have improved the model appearance.
Here’s the link to Bill’s previous post on this M-K-T boxcar project. He promises to share more soon.
What’s on your workbench?
Chief Resin Car Works minion Frank Hodina has been busy finishing off one of the new tank car kits. Sales are picking up and additional lettering schemes will be coming soon. Ordering details can be found on the Kits page of the Resin Car Works site.
As with all Resin Car Works kits a page of prototype info is available to assist your efforts in building the models. PDF instructions are also posted as downloadable files. Here’s the extras page for the latest AC&F Type 27, 8,000-gallon, insulated tank car kits.
This color image has surfaced to help you with the light gray color of the tank. There are few color photos of Warren tank cars. Frank recalls the gray as being a shade off of white. YMMV.
What’s on your workbench?