Flatcar Sidequest

 

I think one more layer of weathering might be needed

After presenting at the Susquehanna Division's hands-on session on weathering last month, I felt the urge to experiment. (Yes, a total diversion from either infrastructure or Phase Two advancement.) I found a likely candidate in this InterMountain flatcar in my current roster's stash of rolling stock that needed to be checked for standards including weathering. This post  discusses both the roster and my standards. 

The flatcar came with metal wheels and when I checked with an NMRA standards gauge, they were fine. When I checked the car on my test track and coupler height gauge, the trip pin was very low and the couplers were off as well. I found the InterMountain gear boxes frustrating to work with. To make a long story short, I ended up drilling and tapping to be able to add screw mounting to the cover before installing Kaydee #58 couplers. The car's weight was below the RP 20.1 recommended weight. Even after gluing lead shot and Liquid Gravity to the underbody the car still measured underweight.  It was closer though. 

While dealing with operational standards, I went back and reread an article from the January 2025 NMRA Magazine. Charles Goodrich, MMR wrote about making the plastic deck on a flatcar look like a wooden deck. I decided to follow his techniques. After applying Dark Gray Vallejo Wash to the sides and ends of my flatcar, I tried distressing the wooden deck. I used a triangular file to deepen some of the gaps between the boards, a fine razor saw to scratch in some wood wear, and fine sandpaper to smooth any plastic snags and add variety to the paint coverage. 

The key to his technique to make "plastic flatcar decks look like wood" appears to be using Tamiya Panel Line. As the Panel Line paints were part of the weathering products I shared at the meeting, I found this to be the perfect experiment. Panel Line is typically used to emphasize shadows in molded lines, louvres, grating, and other details by allowing the paint to flow through capillary action by touching the brush to the area. Instead, I followed Mr. Goodrich's suggested approach of painting the entire wood deck, first with brown and then black. 

I took this photo after the Panel Line Accent Colors had dried overnight. It looked pretty good, but I was trying to match the look of a prototype photo. So, I tried some additional techniques as well to get to the point seen in the opening photo: 

• Scuffing the deck with steel wool
• Application of Pan Pastels, Neutral Gray Extra Dark, Neutral Gray Tint, and Raw Umber to the deck
• Brushing on Grimy Black acrylic paint, both a couple of individual boards and dry brushing the stake pockets
• Application of Bragdon Powders to the trucks, a light gray overall and a rust color to the springs

Much like scenery techniques, once a base layer of weathering is down, adding additional layers can add to the appearance of realism. I see a couple of things that I would like to take care of in that initial photo. Yeah, one more layer!

Ingleton and New Module Updates

Ingleton shelf ready for "action"

While it has been awhile since my last post, some work here in the basement has gone on. In addition to helping my wife with gardening and rewilding, I have been getting some things done. I cut, painted, and installed a "baseboard" for the stud wall behind Ingleton, and I installed a hardboard valance above the shelf. While the long term plan for this area is to be the final TOMA section, a harbor scene, for now I want to try out the design concept for a valance here to both hide the LED light fixture and suggest a a more finished presentation of the scene. My feeling is that I'm ready to either bring out some rolling stock for trial operations or renew scenery work here on this independent shelf layout. 

Although I am not that far along with the new module, some progress has been made there as well. I moved through the first phase of trackwork and wiring starting with the two turnouts. They are both in place and soldered to a short spacer between them with frog feeders and feeders in the spacer dropped. In addition to drilling holes for the feeders, I cut slots in the roadbed and plywood below the throw bars so that the spring wires from the switch machines can later be installed.

Once the turnouts were in place, I added a full length of flex track to the main with feeders dropped and temporarily fastened everything in place with a couple of track spikes. Then I turned the module up on its side and installed the DCC bus. I went ahead and attached the power feeders with suitcase connectors. The next step while the frame is still up on its side will be to wire and install the Tortoise switch motors. I found that I do have the two necessary switch motors, but they may not have long enough spring wires. 

My thinking now is that I want to get a lot of the work done under the module, before mounting it in place. Before mounting it, I should extend the backdrop behind it. Once it is in place, it will be time to prep and paint another section of the basement floor. To keep up with our plans outside, I need to put in a fair amount of time teaming with my wife on those projects, but I can still make progress with the railroads.