48' Spine Car Detailing Project

[tehachapifan]

For those who didn't see it on TB, I wanted to try to add brake gear details and my own N-02 hitches to an Alan Curtis (now N Scale Kits) 48' Spine Car. Here's the finished project (no pizza cutter comments allowed! :p )...


Unit B shown.


Close-up of brake gear detail on Unit B.


Unit C shown


Unit C brake line detail.


Close up of MLE N-02 hitch in raised position. Installing MLE hitches on these kits requires that you file the cross brace down where it passes over the center spine (use caution as I believe some earlier AC Models versions may have contained a small amount of lead).


View of Unit D.


Brake gear detail on Unit A.

Russ

[sundowner]

Very Nice.

The pizza cutters got to go though

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Even regular MTL or ATL Lo-pro's won't do it, man, this is where the Fox Rive Valley Wheels will REALLY shine.

That's a really nicely done car.

[Nato]

  Yes, a Super Nice UPGRADE. Yes treat it to Fox Valley Wheels. I have been converting cars on layout used for OP Sessions to these.                                                                                                    Nate Goodman (Nato).

[Walkercolt]

Very nice work, Russ! I honestly can't do that kind of detail work in N...or HO. Playing around with some piping on my On30 engines is about my limit. I could never build 1/72 scale aircraft either. 1/48th, I used to be OK with...probably not now.

[ednadolski]

Nice work Russ.   For piping, do you prefer brass or phosphor bronze wire?   I find brass is easier to shape, but PB is more durable (esp. in smaller sizes).

[Allentown Hump]

Ugh, those pizza cutters really do kill a chubby though...

Love the rest of the car though!

[Sokramiketes]

Bump for updated pics with FVM wheels.   

[tehachapifan]

Thanks, guys! ;D

Nice work Russ.   For piping, do you prefer brass or phosphor bronze wire?   I find brass is easier to shape, but PB is more durable (esp. in smaller sizes).

It's bee a while since I put the piping on, but I believe I used both broze phosphor wire and brass wire (the smallest being the phosphor).

BTW, I wanted to beef up the weathering a bit as the real ones get pretty dirty. Here's unit D with added weathering using chalks (original light weathering was done by airbrush and Pollyscale water-based paints)...

Before...



After...



Opinions welcome.

Russ

[Sokramiketes]

Opinions welcome.

Russ

Those wheels are hideous.

Oh, about the weathering... Fantastic!   

[GaryHinshaw]

Russ:  Much better!  I thought the first shots were too clean. Even now I think you're only about halfway there (but great for a lightly weathered unit!)  Here is a decent shot of what one of these units looks like ~today (assuming you're modeling today):

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=360460

Given where you are now, I would airbrush the underside with a thin mix of raw umber, mars black and a bit of burnt umber (or rail tie brown, grimy black, and a dab of rust) then hit the whole unit top to bottom with Bragdon powders, about 3 parts Weathered Brown, 1 part Soot, and 1 part Dark Rust to give it that rusty/sooty patina.  In my experience it's difficult to overdo it with these units.

Cheers,
Gary

P.S. Chuck - if you're listening, send Russ 2 12 packs of FVM 33" wheels for MT trucks and put it on my tab (seriously).  Then, if he doesn't post a photo of these with the FVM wheels within 30 days of receipt, he owes me a 5 pack of his 02 hitches.    Russ - you can put the pizza cutters back on for ops.

[tehachapifan]

Thanks for the weathering tips, Gary! I may mess around with it some more.

I might also have to give the FVM wheels a try, as you suggest.

I saw what I'm guessing are FVM wheels on your 53' spines over on TB. They do look good! ;D

Russ

[GaryHinshaw]

Russ - those are the FVM wheels in that shot.  As many here have said, they're one of the best new N products on the market.  (Your hitches are also on my short list!)  They really shine on units with exposed wheels like tankers, hoppers, and spines.  Now if we only had MT quality 100T trucks to go with those 36" wheels... (and 125T/38"!) but that's another thread.

-Gary

P.S. As you can tell, you've inspired me to get back to work on my spines.

[tehachapifan]

Gary-

Glad to have inspired! ;D

I'm definitely going to give the FVM wheels a try once Chuck gets them back in stock.

As far as the weathering goes, I've found there's a very fine line between just right and overdone...at least with my rather limited skills at weathering. I have some stuff that I've pretty much ruined with a weathering attempt. So, I'm a little nervous about going too far....although I realize it could look great.

I agree that a great many real spines are almost black, but here's one that looks like it is weathered about the same as mine....

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=131162

If nothing else, this level of weathering makes it easier to make out all the decal work that was done. :-\

Russ

[GaryHinshaw]

Russ - further validation of your weathering choice: I came across this album buried in my bookmarks:

http://www.pbase.com/espeeboy/ttax76272

It's your unit!  The only comment I would make is that even when they're not completely grimy, they still have a very orange/brown cast from the thin layers of soot & rust.  So here's my last bit of advice (and feel free to ignore it, of course!): dust the horizontal surfaces with a blend of Weathered Brown and Dark Rust Bragdon powders:





You can easily remove areas you don't like with a Q-tip dipped in Windex (like I did on the rub rail).  You can also tailor the intensity pretty easily - I applied the above coat pretty vigorously.  Regardless of what you do, you've produced a stellar model. 

-Gary

P.S. These units are indeed decal rich.  But I'm bummed the MS set doesn't include this one:

http://www.pbase.com/espeeboy/image/25386593