Sunday Photo Fun - June 9th
Jun 9, 2019 7:38:21 GMT -8
Donnell Wells, valenciajim, and 22 more like this
Post by fr8kar on Jun 9, 2019 7:38:21 GMT -8
I actually had a pretty productive week during my days off and the wee hours after work. I finished construction on three carbon black cars I've been planning on building for months (years?).
The first is a 1974 Thrall 4727 as Cabot 470582. Scale Trains made this one pretty easy when they released the far more common 1996+ Thrall 4727. The majority of Thrall's 4727 carbon black cars dating back to the 70s and 80s look almost identical to the 5750 version Scale Trains has also produced. The difference is the 4727 has fixed slope sheets inside the carbody compared to the 5750 version which uses the entire boxy carbody to load carbon black and inflatable bags to force it out of the corners and out of the hoppers. Anyway, Thrall created a lightweight design of the 4727 that looked more like a hopper than a boxcar but only about 100 were built in 1974. The design was dormant for 22 years until Thrall recycled the design in 1996 but updated the construction methods to the current style at the time, which included internal carlines and tubular side stakes compared to external carlines, channel at the bolsters and H columns for side stakes. I replaced the roof with a 3D printed version matching the 1974 style and replaced the tubular side stakes with channels at the bolsters and columns made from Evergreen T and strip styrene for the remainder of the side stakes. I decided against removing and replacing the center angle iron on the end cages since it would likely result in destroying the ends. Fortunately the 1996 end cage design is very similar to the original design.
Here's the Scale Trains car with new roof and sides completely cleaned of side stake detail:
New side stakes have been installed, the car lightly primed to highlight any blemishes, and the running board reinstalled.
Next up is a 1965 ACF 4589 Centerflow as Sid Richardson 457. These are very similar to the 4650 in terms of overall length and Plate C cross-section. In fact, Atlas offers their 4650 in a couple carbon black schemes, but the hatch arrangement and hoppers/outlet gates are not correct. The height of the vertical portion of the hopper body at the ends is closer to the 5800 pellet car than the 4650, but I decided to live with this discrepancy. On the next one of these I'll probably start with the 5800 and rework the sides to match the pre-71 style carbody. Anyway, for this one I filled the roof hatch holes and installed new hatches and 3D printed new hopper bottoms and outlet covers. I also reworked the end cages to reflect the high mounted handbrake style with side ladders and no crossover platforms. The trucks are either Kato or Exactrail 70 ton trucks.
Finally, the real challenge was this 1963 ACF 3390 as Sid Richardson 345. I started with an Atlas cylindrical hopper shortening it by four scale feet. The hopper bottoms were removed and replaced with 3D printed versions. Some hatches from an Athearn 5250 I had originally planned to use as the core for an ACF 4589 were used instead on this model. The beautiful running boards and supports are from Plano's upgrade kit. All I did was cut the rectangular running board into two L shapes made up of the end platform and one side, then I shortened the side running board to fit. I don't think it's reflected in these photos, but this model got Exactrail or Kato 70 ton trucks, whichever ones didn't go on the ACF 4589.
I started off by plugging the holes in the roof with a block of styrene I made from several strips then sanded to a long conical shape. I'd secure the plug in a hole and let it dry for a day, then come back the next day and cut if off, reshape it and insert it into the next hole to repeat the process.
I also filled in the vertical seams on the carbody since I didn't think they would be very noticeable if they were in the right place and the right size/depth, but they'd definitely look bad if they weren't right. Anyway, the entire carbody was sanded smooth, primed, then sanded again. Even though the model will be flat black I want the body to look good.
All that's left to do is fashion some inspection spigots for the sides of the two ACF cars then paint and decals. Of course I'll use Wade Griffis' Black Swamp Shops decals.
Scale Trains bringing out the 1977 and 1979 Thrall 5750 carbon black cars was a great thing for me, personally. It's difficult to model a manifest freight on the UP in Fort Worth without several carbon black cars. And even though the Thrall 5750 was the dominant carbon black car during my era, it's nice to break up the solid blocks of those cars with some of the less common cars like these ACF cars and the odd hopper style 4727.
The first is a 1974 Thrall 4727 as Cabot 470582. Scale Trains made this one pretty easy when they released the far more common 1996+ Thrall 4727. The majority of Thrall's 4727 carbon black cars dating back to the 70s and 80s look almost identical to the 5750 version Scale Trains has also produced. The difference is the 4727 has fixed slope sheets inside the carbody compared to the 5750 version which uses the entire boxy carbody to load carbon black and inflatable bags to force it out of the corners and out of the hoppers. Anyway, Thrall created a lightweight design of the 4727 that looked more like a hopper than a boxcar but only about 100 were built in 1974. The design was dormant for 22 years until Thrall recycled the design in 1996 but updated the construction methods to the current style at the time, which included internal carlines and tubular side stakes compared to external carlines, channel at the bolsters and H columns for side stakes. I replaced the roof with a 3D printed version matching the 1974 style and replaced the tubular side stakes with channels at the bolsters and columns made from Evergreen T and strip styrene for the remainder of the side stakes. I decided against removing and replacing the center angle iron on the end cages since it would likely result in destroying the ends. Fortunately the 1996 end cage design is very similar to the original design.
Here's the Scale Trains car with new roof and sides completely cleaned of side stake detail:
New side stakes have been installed, the car lightly primed to highlight any blemishes, and the running board reinstalled.
Next up is a 1965 ACF 4589 Centerflow as Sid Richardson 457. These are very similar to the 4650 in terms of overall length and Plate C cross-section. In fact, Atlas offers their 4650 in a couple carbon black schemes, but the hatch arrangement and hoppers/outlet gates are not correct. The height of the vertical portion of the hopper body at the ends is closer to the 5800 pellet car than the 4650, but I decided to live with this discrepancy. On the next one of these I'll probably start with the 5800 and rework the sides to match the pre-71 style carbody. Anyway, for this one I filled the roof hatch holes and installed new hatches and 3D printed new hopper bottoms and outlet covers. I also reworked the end cages to reflect the high mounted handbrake style with side ladders and no crossover platforms. The trucks are either Kato or Exactrail 70 ton trucks.
Finally, the real challenge was this 1963 ACF 3390 as Sid Richardson 345. I started with an Atlas cylindrical hopper shortening it by four scale feet. The hopper bottoms were removed and replaced with 3D printed versions. Some hatches from an Athearn 5250 I had originally planned to use as the core for an ACF 4589 were used instead on this model. The beautiful running boards and supports are from Plano's upgrade kit. All I did was cut the rectangular running board into two L shapes made up of the end platform and one side, then I shortened the side running board to fit. I don't think it's reflected in these photos, but this model got Exactrail or Kato 70 ton trucks, whichever ones didn't go on the ACF 4589.
I started off by plugging the holes in the roof with a block of styrene I made from several strips then sanded to a long conical shape. I'd secure the plug in a hole and let it dry for a day, then come back the next day and cut if off, reshape it and insert it into the next hole to repeat the process.
I also filled in the vertical seams on the carbody since I didn't think they would be very noticeable if they were in the right place and the right size/depth, but they'd definitely look bad if they weren't right. Anyway, the entire carbody was sanded smooth, primed, then sanded again. Even though the model will be flat black I want the body to look good.
All that's left to do is fashion some inspection spigots for the sides of the two ACF cars then paint and decals. Of course I'll use Wade Griffis' Black Swamp Shops decals.
Scale Trains bringing out the 1977 and 1979 Thrall 5750 carbon black cars was a great thing for me, personally. It's difficult to model a manifest freight on the UP in Fort Worth without several carbon black cars. And even though the Thrall 5750 was the dominant carbon black car during my era, it's nice to break up the solid blocks of those cars with some of the less common cars like these ACF cars and the odd hopper style 4727.
