I have an 8-pack of Micro Trains PRR H31 hoppers, so I decided one of them would be my entry.
Here's the clean model:
The inspiration comes from this 2-bay hopper in Morning Sun's
Pennsy Steam Years 2:
I decided to keep it simple. Weathering was done with acrylic craft paints (thinned to water consistency) and layers of Dullcote. The colors I used were black, "esspresso bean," and "country twill (a tan that I used to cut the black a bit on the final coat). I masked the data with painter's tape to represent restencil.
I used
@davefoxx's idea for the coal, using black play sand from Hobby Lobby:
It's not much, but I figured I'd throw it out there. I expect it'll be blown away by everyone else's work.
Now I have 7 more MTL hoppers to do...