Four Flats - Finished!

 Feels fine to finish these four flats.  Forgoing alliteration, finally, the fotos:

This has been a great project, though I'm not in a hurry to begin another with so many cars in one fell swoop.  The next one like it will be the Purina (former freezers) ventilated box cars and that's only three cars but they will require more work to refurbish.  Look for that in 2022 when I will hopefully build the corresponding feed mill and delivery truck.  The Milk & Mail series continues and I've once again pushed aside the Shifter in favor of a different locomotive kitbash/detailing project.  More on that in upcoming posts.

As always, open the images in a new tab for a closer look, and feel free to click on the Four Flats tag in the Labels list for all the posts related to this project.  Thanks for following along!

Four Flats - Decals

After a few days waiting for the mail (and working on the Fruit Car in the mean time) I set to the task of applying decals to the flat cars.  Here's my setup:

And here's a closeup of the right-side data.  Note the decaling casualty, the vertical brake staff:

I've gotten pickier since I lettered box car 1603 a few years ago.  That's why I had to order new data sheets to go on these flats.  Research is wonderful and terrible, especially as a freelancer.  For these flats I came across a car builder's catalog with similarly sized and constructed truss rod flats that showed a capacity of 80,000 lbs, and a light weight of around 28,000 lbs.  The data sets I had from Rail Graphics (unfortunately out of production) didn't include a light weight anywhere close.  I would have had to chop up tiny little numbers and rearrange them - not fun.  Decaling already stresses me out a little.  I didn't want to complicate it any further.

Sure, some modelers would have said, "So what?  Just use any number, nobody's going to look that close, and once weathered it won't be that legible."  But, just like detailing building interiors, I would know it's there.  In fact, looking closely at box car 1603, I may go back and re-weigh that car.  Right now I've got it a little too heavy for its age and construction.  Wouldn't take long, especially since I've got all the tools and parts out and handy...

Four Flats - Decks Weathered, Sides Painted and Ready for Decals

 

A quick update to show the decks fully painted and weathered.  The first application of color was a thin coat of Mudstone over the gray primer with a few boards picked out in a lighter tan to show replacement work by the shop.  Next was an all-over wash with Burnt Umber acrylic ink, thinned with Matte Medium and water.  After that dried I applied a black oil wash, cleaning select boards with a pointy cotton bud for variation of the effect.  The black wash seeps into the cracks, defining the boards as well as all the gouges and distressing I had applied earlier.

The sides were brush painted with Brown Iron Oxide.  Brush painting took me about as long as it would have if I had taped off the decks and undersides, strained and thinned the paint, and applied it with an airbrush.  I noticed this time around that my brush work has improved; at least I'm more comfortable with it, thanks to the miniature painting I've been doing lately.  That, and using the Matte Medium and water mix to thin the paint.  This mix makes the paint flow well and settle down without losing coverage or showing brush strokes.  The craft paint I use is too thick straight out of the bottle and benefits from a proper thinning.

Once the sides had dried I gave them a coat of gloss varnish from a rattle can and have allowed that to dry/cure for over 24 hours.  I gauge the time to let it dry based on how well I can still smell the odor.  Not scientific, but it hasn't failed me yet.  Today I spent some time laying out the spacing for the decals and selecting what I will use from the Rail Graphics freight car lettering sets.  Funny thing - they didn't make a Flat Car set for the 1900-1920 period, so I'll have to cobble together the relevant data from other types of rolling stock.  I also spent some time looking at historic shots of other prototype flat cars to get ideas for what to include and how it might look.

Thanks for reading, if you made it this far, and check back soon for the next Four Flats installment or click on the tag in the list on the right to read any of the previous posts.  As usual, open the pictures in another window or tab to see them larger.

Four Flats - Shakedown Run!

 

Three of the four flats in this short clip have only been assembled, minus brake wheels and a couple minor tasks yet to do under the deck - adding a brake rod and additional weight.  However, at this point they are fully operational as you can see.  The car with the gray deck is the pathfinder model, built first to see how the rest should go together.  Up next, final assembly, priming, and then on to painting.

Oh, and if you want to know more about the engine pulling this train click on the 2-6-0 tag in the labels menu, likewise click caboose to learn more about the caboose.

Four Flats - Distressing Decks

The first image is a comparison shot I made to share on my Instagram account.  On the left is the wooden deck that comes with the kit.  Note the wood grain running perpendicular to the grooves.  Note the places where the grooves between the "boards" didn't quite go far enough.  Even if I were to cut in the grooves, then stain this and weather it, the single-piece construction would be blatantly obvious thanks to the out-of-scale wood grain.

The brownish piece on the right is card that I've scribed to match the board size of the kit-supplied deck.  Already at this stage it is an improvement.  The "grain" of the card stock runs parallel to the direction of the boards.  I could simply stain this piece with various browns and grays and it would look great.  However, I prefer to prime cardstock first, especially in this case, to avoid as much warping as possible.  This isn't Strathmore.  It's more like shirt cardboard.  I'm not even sure where I found it.

In this next image is the pathfinder car with its deck primed, and the other three card decks in various stages of distress.  Note the dental tools and Xacto knife I use to add nail marks, cracks, etc. to the boards.  I particularly like the tool with the conical heads, as it is useful for pressing down on a board to make it lower than its neighbor, as well as making drag and scuff marks to imply something heavy has been shifted that dented and gouged the deck.

This last shot is a close-up of the pathfinder model's deck, ready for some color and weathering.  My plan is to paint and weather the deck, then the sides, all brushed on by hand.  I just need to remember what shade of brown I used on the Ocali Creek box car I did a few years back as I want to match it. Honestly, I know I took a picture of the car with the two colors I blended and for the life of me I can't find it. 

Four Flats - A Twisted Tale of Truss Rods

 

Well, really, there's no twist.  I just assembled the truss rods according to the original kit instructions, using stock kit parts.  If there is a tale, it's that I almost used fishing line and Tichy turnbuckles instead, but that would have meant routing out a channel for the line, which would have really slowed down the build.  One of the cars I purchased was mostly assembled (guess which one), and I liked the way the original rods and turnbuckles looked.  I did have to replace the brass turnbuckles for one of the kits, but I had some in my stash of parts.

I know I mentioned a few posts back that I'd be talking about when wood doesn't work.  That's still the plan, but lately the whims have been having their way and I've built coupler assemblies and truss rod bits instead.  Eventually.  Maybe next time.  We'll see.  I want to paint and weather the primed deck on the pathfinder model first...

Four Flats - Pathfinder Primed

The first of four flats has been fully assembled and has received a coat of primer.  From above I sprayed gray to provide a good base for weathering the deck boards, while the underbody and sides (and trucks) received my favorite freight car base, Dark Walnut.  This rattle-can paint is nearly black with just a hint of brown, like the really good extra dark chocolate I eat.  Makes a nice starting place for a dirty black coated in road dirt and wheel spatter and all the accumulated crud picked up in service.

 

It may be hard to see in this shot, but I've added two things to the underbody beyond what the kit calls for.  First, I used the metal remnants cut from the detail castings plus some other metal sprue I'd kept just for occasions like this, to add some weight.  Not much, but every fraction adds up.  Secondly I added one wire from the K brake valve to simulate the rod leading to the brake wheel and ratchet.  I thought about adding brake levers and other rods, but decided it looked busy enough as is.

 

By the way, I haven't abandoned the Suydam Ice Factory kit entirely.  My attention has been on painting minis for my Star Wars Legion core set (one unit of troopers complete, another unit of rebels nearly there!) as well as starting a Binkley shorty baggage car, and a variety of other household tasks.  With so many aspects of life being externally influenced right now, I need my hobby to be flexible enough to accommodate my whims and shifting interests.  And it does.

Four Flats - The Ulrich Truss Rod Flat Car Project - Couplers

For a while now I've been collecting HO scale Ulrich Truss Rod Flat Cars, sometimes listed as "Old Flat Car" or just "Flat Car" by the manufacturer.  Strangely, these often command a high price on eBay, for such a small thing and being so old.  They're not particularly rare, or all that detailed, but I suppose they do weigh a bit more than an injection molded flat car due to their metal sides, ends, bolsters and details.  Perhaps it is the name - often associated with quality kits, and maybe some nostalgia from folks who remember this kit from their childhood.

For such a common car in use from early railroading days through the 1930s, there are surprisingly few manufacturers who make them.  Ulrich is long out of business and as far as I know the only other makers of similar cars are also "fallen flags", with Bachmann having been the most recent entity to offer a truss-rod flat of similar size.  IHC/AHM made one, but it is shorter, probably 34 feet, while the Ulrich car is 40 feet and the Bachmann Silver Series 41, I think.  Bitter Creek makes a 34' kit that comes less trucks, couplers and decals.  Campbell may have offered one, and JV did as well, but these are even more rare.

I also don't know if the Ulrich cars are based on any particular prototype.  I do know that Tony Thompson used one as an SP Maintenance of Way car as it was a close match for his prototype.  Being a freelancer, the prototype matters less or not-at-all; I'm just happy to have some.  My typical m.o. is to troll eBay for "truss rod" and see if these cars will show up in a lot or for sale by someone who really isn't sure what they've got.  That's the best chance of getting one for less than an astronomical amount.  If the listing includes the words "vintage" or "craftsman" and the car is still in kit form, expect to pay too much.  As of the writing of this post, there's one on eBay for $19.99 plus $5.66 shipping.  This is too steep for me.

Anyway, on to the build.  For this post I'm focusing on the couplers.  Ulrich's design is based around a multi-piece knuckle coupler that you had to assemble, complete with tiny springs.  I guess it is compatible with Kadee couplers, but I'm replacing it with Kadee's scale-head, whisker-spring coupler.  In order to make it fit I had to file the Ulrich coupler/end beam/bolster casting opening ever so slightly.  Then, I cut down a Kadee coupler box leaving the round post and a bit of the flat to which that's attached.  Once this post is placed into the Ulrich coupler box over the cast-on peg, the coupler operates as intended with little-to-no slop.

Up next...when wood won't work.