GSL gets a large scale tank car.

Un petit peu est mieux.

In my January 2^nd post elsewhere on ‘YMR” I stated that I have chosen to have a go at building a small Fn3 (1:20.3) layout indoors which limits the operational space, offers a design challenge and requires fewer models and hopefully models better done.
 



My first project has been re-working an 'out of the box' G scale Bachmann tank car measuring approximately 14 inches long.  This is an excellent looking model that would be compatible with large scale trains.  Model was completely disassembled and repainted. 








The deck and undercarriage were painted using four shades of brown lacquer base paints.  Then after the paint set I went in and did the rust detailing and other accents by brush, these done in acrylic. 












The tank itself was a combination of airbrush and brush by hand.  I did a light overspray of dull aluminum then went at the rusting using orange, brown and black acrylic paints using airbrush and hand painting details.  After the paint set-up I finished off with a very light over-spray of grimy black.  Set the pieces aside in a large covered vented container for drying for about four days.  The last step was to seal the paint work with Krylon Matte Finish spray. 








Now that the model is re-assembled I can see things that I would have done differently, most regarding adding more details to the model itself.  All in all working on a large model is not as easy as I thought it would be.  The size requires a lot more painting time, detail blending and painting of details.  Also a great deal of time was spent designing and building many holding jigs as this size model is not easy to handle.  With this one ‘under my belt’ I have just started another tank car which should offer an interesting test to see if I can now work faster since I have had this experience.

Nicely done Larry.

The details on that wagon is amazing Larry - right down to the bolt heads and tightening buckles for the stretcher rods.

Do the axles run in bushed or roller bearings ?  They look to be flat ended suggesting they're not pin-point bearings.

The weathering looks excellent but, for a tank car, do you think it's a bit heavy ?  In Europe, the Health and Safety guys would certainly have condemned an oil carrier in that state to say nothing of Texaco themselves attracting a few "raised eyebrows" about how much they care about their image and the environment ……………………….or am I just being silly ……..:roll::roll:

I know what you mean about the problems associated with large scale modelling.  The sheer size of it demands far more detail than do the smaller scales but, at least you can see what you're doing plus, you don't need many cars to fill a 6ft shelf layout …………….:roll::roll:

These Bachmann large scale models keep getting better with each new edition.  I think that 55+ years of trying to create pristine finishes on models has turned me to the ‘Dark Side’ of painting.  I would like to look at this weathering work more as a characterization of reality rather then any prototype example.  I have started on the second tank car which will be a little lighter then the first.  Will also try adding some weather worn grey color to the decking. 

 


   



 


You can see one of my holding jigs tor working on the tank.

Excellent, Larry.  :thumbs