Cement Hopper Weathering Project

I wanted to try simulating caked-on cement that typically accumulates on the roofs of cement hoppers. My choice of material was chinchilla dust mixed with weathering powders.

Chinchilla dust was discussed in an earlier message post on Model Railroads of Southern California:

https://groups.io/g/ModelRailroadsofSoCalif/message/15090?p=,,,20,0,0,0::Created,,chinchilla,20,2,0,69402132

The car for this project was a Bowser HO scale two-bay covered hopper built from a kit. I gave the car a coat of Tamiya TS-80 flat clear sealer and then applied PanPastel gray media (Neutral Grey and Payne's Grey Tint). I followed this with another coast of Tamiya TS-80 flat clear sealer. This was the base for the cement weathering.

To make the imitation cement I mixed two parts white weathering powder with one part dark gray weathering powder and one part chinchilla dust. After thoroughly dry mixing these I added 91 percent isopropyl alcohol to make a liquid with the consistency of milk. Be aware that the liquid is much darker than the resulting dry finish.

I applied this liquid to the top and sides of the car and allowed it to dry. When dry I applied a second coat to the car roof.

When the second coat was dry I used a stiff brush to remove excess material, being careful to use light, gentle strokes.

When I was satisfied with the appearance of the car I gave it a sealing spray of Tamiya TS-80 flat clear sealer.

The simulated cement on the car roof is more grainy than would be seen on a prototype car but the exaggeration is for effect. This is nothing unusual as in this hobby we have exaggerated rivets, even high-end cars, as well as exaggerated wood grain on cars and structures. It's all for effect.

Corrugated Pipe Load Project

This was another HO scale open car load project. The corrugated pipe load came from Grain Belt Models, available on the Iowa Scaled Engineering website:

https://www.iascaled.com/store/GBM

All I did to the pipes was ream the ends to achieve a thinner, more prototypical cross section, prime and paint them. I then glued the pipes together in rows of three, attached to crosswise wood supports with space allowed for vertical spacers to be added later. The rows were then glued together with the vertical spacers added.

The car was an InterMountain/Red Caboose general service drop-bottom gondola. I weathered the car a bit and painted the wheel faces and trucks.

The wood cribbing, supports and spacers were based on prototype photos.

The steel bands were the narrowest chart tape I could find. They do not scale-out to a prototypical two inches and are closer to five inches wide. But they do provide a good visual effect.

This was a very easy project any modeler with a little experience and a few tools could accomplish.

Bob Chaparro

Scenery Material: Chinchilla Dust

I discovered this versatile scenery material while watching a video by Marklinofsweden on making Magic Scenery Dust. The video mentioned Chinchilla Dust as one alternative to making the Magic Scenery Dust seen in the video.

Here is a link to the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZgqDcNRNns

So what is Chinchilla Dust? It's volcanic pumice ground to a fine, non-magnetic gray powder that can be used for dirt roads and paths. It also could be used as ballast in scales smaller than HO.

I bought a twenty-seven ounce container at Wal-Mart for less than six dollars. Identical-looking (I checked) Chinchilla Dust also is available at PetSmart and Petco at a slightly higher cost per ounce.

I was hoping I could use it as a substitute for Monster Model Works "Dirty Dirt" as this fine scenery product no longer is available.

As it turns out, the Chinchilla Dust is finer and more gray than the Dirty Dirt.

But it still can be used the same way Dirty Dirt was used. And like Dirty Dirt, it does not darken when fixed in place with diluted glue or Woodland Scenics Scenic Cement.

I like the wide array of colors for various earth tones offered by Bragdon's and Doc O'Brien's weathering powders but these are much too expensive to use in large quantities to simulate dirt. But mixing these powders with the Chinchilla Dust at one-to-three ratio produces the same powder shades to use as dirt at a fraction of the cost. I found these mixtures can be applied just like the Dirty Dirt: Sprinkle on, dampen with wet water and apply Scenic Cement.

I assume powdered artist's chalk could be used in much the same manner.

Empty Gondola Project

Empty Gondola Project

I've been working on several HO scale gondola projects involving various loads. This particular project originally started out to be a gondola with a load of large earth moving equipment tires.

The car was an Accurail 3700 Series 41-foot steel gondola lettered for the Pittsburgh & West Virginia Railroad. Accurail's description and photo of this car had a build date of November 1948 and a reweight date of May 1952, good for my 1956 modeling era.

So that's what I ordered from Accurail. Imagine my surprise when the car I received had the same body but a build date of May 1926. Looks like I'll need to do some paint patch/decal work in the future.

The tire load came from a general hobby shop that carries R/C models. I had been looking for tires for several months and settled on eight tires for an R/C car that perfectly fit the gondola and looked OK, not great, for earth moving equipment tires.

Then the project took an unexpected turn. As I began weathering the car with special attention to the steel floor I realized that the rusted effect was better than my usual efforts. I had been using a combination of AK Interactive washes, Vallejo paints and Doc O'Brien's weathering powders built up in layers with each layer receiving a protective coat of flat finish.

All of this work would have been hidden with the tire load so the plan morphed in an empty gondola project.

The tire load is destined for another gondola awaiting inspection, weathering, etc.

Caswell Gondola Project

 

The Caswell gondolas were among the most distinctive cars in the Santa Fe freight car fleet. The Caswell system was marketed by the National Dump Car Company and the cars were built by American Car & Foundry. The dump system consisted of horizontal shafts with pinion gears moving on racks in the cross bearers to open and close the doors. The doors were opened by cranks on the ends of the cars. These controlled shafts that ran the length of the car. As the shaft was cranked towards the center sill, the doors opened.

 

From 1905 to 1927 the Santa Fe acquired 8,800 Caswell gondolas. Many cars were rebuilt in the 1940s with AB brakes and side stiffeners. As older classes were rebuilt, solid floors were laid on top of the drop floors but the shafts were not removed.

 

Some 8,450 of them were the basis of the model made by the InterMountain Railway Company.

 

I began with an InterMountain HO scale car. I've had the car for years, hidden away in a box. At the recent NMRA National Train Show I found a perfect resin used tie load from Monroe Models.

The load motivated me to liberate the car from storage and work on it.

 

I gave the car a base coat of Tamiya Clear Coat spray (TS-80). This is a dead flat finish that comes out as a very fine spray. It's much better than Testors  Dullcote, which was reformulated several years ago. I then applied a wash of Doc O'Brien's Rusty Red powder mixed with 91 percent isopropyl alcohol. This wash toned down the otherwise crisp, bright lettering. Then another Tamiya Clear Coat was applied to seal the powder.

 

I used various PanPastel artists' dry color media applied with soft brushes to weather the car. I gave the car an overall dusty look with a little dark grime along the bottom and some limited rust effects on the dumping hardware and side framing. The car's reporting marks became a little too obscure so I erased some of the PanPastel media with a soft white rubber eraser and then sparingly reapplied more PanPastel to that area.

 

I painted the wheel faces with Floquil Grimy Black and the truck frames with Krylon Red Oxide Primer. I've painted a lot of truck frames over the years with several brands of red oxide primer. I have had a few paint failures but that was due to being lazy and not cleaning the mold release off the trucks. The truck frames also received a little PanPastel treatment.

 

I added a few white chalk marks using a Prismacolor Verithin artist pencil.

 

The four-piece resin tie load was a little too long for the interior length of the gondola so I removed several protruding bottom ties with a rail nipper and sanded the cuts smooth. I painted a few ties with grimy black for a little visual variation and gave the four pieces a light spray of Tamiya Clear Coat.

 

The ties were secured with a small dab of Tacky Glue to allow later removal if needed.

 

Although there were a lot of steps involved, each step was quite simple. I'm pleased with the result.

 

A Smudge Oil Loading Facility For The Citrus Belt Railway

A Smudge Oil Loading Facility For The Citrus Belt Railway

I decided to upgrade my smudge oil facility by adding an area with a fuel loading rack from the Walthers truck-served fuel distributor and some details such as a small office, fire hydrant, fire hose, oil drums, pallets, light poles, people and vegetation.

I didn't want to assemble and install all the small parts inside the fuel loading rack so I took a cue from another modeler who placed a wall over the front of the structure and extended some pipes through the wall to the outside.

The overall design and arrangement is not based on any specific prototype. It's just my concept of how such a scene should be represented.

The next thing I need to do is to add some oil stains under the outlet pipes and some signage.

Below are photos of this area plus the smudge oil tanks and the unloading spur.

The two small smudge oil tanks are similar to the tanks that were in Redlands, CA, and the large tank is similar to the tank that was located in Claremont, CA. The small tanks are Rix oil tanks with roofs from Rix grain bins, as the original oil tank roofs were too steep.

Behind the smudge oil spur is the Genco Olive Oil Company. You may remember this company as the legitimate business front for the Corleone crime family in the Godfather movies. The sign was found on-line and made on my printer.

Some Random Scenes

These are some random scenes from the railroad.
Abandoned industrial spur.

Former spur used for circus-style loading and unloading

A work-in-progress cattle loading pen and ramp.

Leftovers from a recent track rehabilitation project.

One of two hobo camps on the railroad. I can't get these folks to move!

Along the mainline. In the background are several citrus packing houses.

A scene like this has been done to death but I just had to stage the 1956 Buick CHP car from the TV show "Highway Patrol" starring Broderick Crawford. I'm still looking for an appropriate HO scale figure of a man in a suit and hat.