Post by surlyknuckle on Oct 28, 2023 8:19:02 GMT -8
In 1967, the B&O's DuBois shops built 100, B75 class cars each for the C&O and B&O.
This car started out as the old Accurail 50' welded side boxcar kit, which I purchased over 20 years ago. It got an early attempt at weathering as a teenager, and languished for the last decade packed away.
A desire to turn it into something more useful resulted in kitbashing into a B75. The side sill was re-shaped, a new Kadee 10' door was added, with longer door tracks made from styrene. The side ladders were carved off and replaced with Branchline parts. I left the end ladders, but replaced the bottom rung with wire, so from the top-down, you can see through the bottom rung which is a good compromise.
The Kadee brakewheel I put on everything was also applied to this car. The side-mount stirrups are from Exactrail, and they are very sturdy, Luckily I was able to buy a sprue of them, and it should last me a decade. It may be an old "modeler's wife tale", but I reinforced the stirrups with a thin layer of CA spread on the backsides before painting.
A new underframe was scratch built from styrene, with parts from Branchline and Moloco. Tangent trucks and scale couplers finish that aspect.
The car was primed, then the roof painted aluminum. Then the carbody and underframe were painted blue, allowing for overspray on the roof and bottom.
The decals were a mix of Microscale and Herald King; luckily the yellows are just about a dead match. Both sets have strong and weak points, but cobbling the two sets together made the best product.
I am thrilled that a forgotten piece of inexpensive equipment from my youth has been turned into something practical. There were some shortcuts made, but I feel it was worth it considering how this thing looked beforehand.
I'd love to add a B&O "Cushion Underframe" lettered B75 in the future. I bet I could build it in half the time.
B&O 483112 (1) by Freight Engineer, on Flickr
B&O 483112 (4) by Freight Engineer, on Flickr
This car started out as the old Accurail 50' welded side boxcar kit, which I purchased over 20 years ago. It got an early attempt at weathering as a teenager, and languished for the last decade packed away.
A desire to turn it into something more useful resulted in kitbashing into a B75. The side sill was re-shaped, a new Kadee 10' door was added, with longer door tracks made from styrene. The side ladders were carved off and replaced with Branchline parts. I left the end ladders, but replaced the bottom rung with wire, so from the top-down, you can see through the bottom rung which is a good compromise.
The Kadee brakewheel I put on everything was also applied to this car. The side-mount stirrups are from Exactrail, and they are very sturdy, Luckily I was able to buy a sprue of them, and it should last me a decade. It may be an old "modeler's wife tale", but I reinforced the stirrups with a thin layer of CA spread on the backsides before painting.
A new underframe was scratch built from styrene, with parts from Branchline and Moloco. Tangent trucks and scale couplers finish that aspect.
The car was primed, then the roof painted aluminum. Then the carbody and underframe were painted blue, allowing for overspray on the roof and bottom.
The decals were a mix of Microscale and Herald King; luckily the yellows are just about a dead match. Both sets have strong and weak points, but cobbling the two sets together made the best product.
I am thrilled that a forgotten piece of inexpensive equipment from my youth has been turned into something practical. There were some shortcuts made, but I feel it was worth it considering how this thing looked beforehand.
I'd love to add a B&O "Cushion Underframe" lettered B75 in the future. I bet I could build it in half the time.
B&O 483112 (1) by Freight Engineer, on FlickrB&O 483112 (4) by Freight Engineer, on Flickr
