Photos of my Central of Georgia Boxcar

[tom]

While I model the Penn Central my trains still need lots of cars from other railroads. I found a photo of a Central of Georgia boxcar but instead of the typical C of G paint scheme it was painted after the Southern took over the C & G. Later Mask Island released a well done decal set for this car so that was enough to make me want to model this car.



I started with an undecorated Kadee boxcar. The only changes that I had to do was shorten the tabs over the trucks and raise the end tack boards to match the prototype.



The car was painted with a Modelflex/Pollyscale mix of Light Tucson red, Light Freight car red, and Red Oxide. The roof was painted with a mix of Pollyscale Aluminum and Reefer Gray.



After painting the car was then lettered with the Mask Island decals. Like I said the decals are very well done and it is nice to see decals continue to be available from small companies. The ACI labels are from MG Decals (Highball Graphics). The car was then weathered mainly with water color pencils but I also used an airbrush. The water color pencils are easy to use and can be removed if you make a mistake or over weather. Because of this once I am happy with the finish I apply a clear coat to for protection.



I painted and weathered the roof to reprensent a car where most of the paint had worn off.



The door on the Kadee boxcars open and this can be a nice effect as the the floor has the boars cast into it but to make it look right I made sure to add a weathered wood finish to it.

Kadee boxcars always look nice and they are available as undec models. This "modern" Central of Georgia boxcar looks appropriate in my Penn Central freight trains.

[mrsocal]

Very nice model for its era. The subtleness of the weathering really sets the tone. Good job Tom.

[TBird1958]

Nicely done, it's so typical, yet unique.
What brand of watercolor pencil are you using? Great subtle effect!

[tom]

Apr 17, 2014 17:07:35 GMT -8 TBird1958 said:

Nicely done, it's so typical, yet unique.
What brand of watercolor pencil are you using? Great subtle effect!

Thanks!

I use "Sanford" Prismacolor Watercolor pencils. The pencils come in a wide variety of colors.

[buffalobill]

Another nice car, the weathering is subtle, but convincing. The Kadee cars make a great starting point for a Pullman based prototype. Still like that orange one though, it stands out.
Bill

[drolsen]

Tom - Another excellent box car! Excuse my ignorance, but I've never used watercolor pencils. Do you wet them and then apply the color to the model? I'm curious how they work. Thanks!

Dave

[tom]

Apr 18, 2014 9:40:07 GMT -8 drolsen said:

Tom - Another excellent box car! Excuse my ignorance, but I've never used watercolor pencils. Do you wet them and then apply the color to the model? I'm curious how they work. Thanks!

Dave

Thanks! I do not wet the water color pencils. I use them in a number of different ways. First I use them dry and just use them to color certain items like weld lines or rivets. Easy to control and can either be erased or simply wiped off with a damp Q-tip. Sometimes I just color a small section of the car and then use a wet finger or Q-tip to spread the color. Finally I have lately been using a damp Q-tip that I apply the color to and then paint on the color using the Q-tip. This is a very forgiving medium and if you totally screw up you can just wash all of it off.

Before using the pencils I first clear the model with a Dullcote or Dullcote/Glosscote finish. After I am done I then apply another clear coat using either the Dullcote/Glosscote or an acrylic finish. Depending on the finish I want I may apply more weathering using an airbrush.

[onequiknova]

I dig it. You have convinced me to try the water color pencils. You can never have too many weathering mediums in your arsenal.

[marknycfan]

That's a 10+ job on a real unique car!