I also added a simulated wood floor using .060″ Evergreen scribed styrene that I painted and weathered prior to installation, and I replaced the trucks with Tahoe Model Works Buckeye Trucks with code 88 wheelsets. I left the kit-supplied coupler boxes in place and replaced the supplied Accumate cou- plers with Kadee No. 58 couplers. After I added all the detail parts I
This view (above) shows the K-9 model after the Dullcote, chalk marks and initial weathering had been applied. When used in conjunction with the Sunshine chalk marks, the hand-drawn chalk marks look very convincing. They provide a different color and tone. While most of them are simply scribblings, they are drawn diagonally to the right since that’s how a right- handed person tends to write on a vertical surface. When highlighting the model (below), the brush should be barely wet with paint. With light, even strokes, rivets, corners, and other stand-out details will pick up the color, but not the flat surfaces–providing a “highlight.”
washed and cleaned the car, then added new re-weigh and re-pack data from Sunshine Models’ Southeastern Data decal set to update the car dates to my modeling era (mid-1950’s). I also added chalk mark decals from a vari- ety of Sunshine Models chalk mark sets. After the decals were dry I washed the car thoroughly to clean any decal adhesive off and prepare it for painting. Then I airbrushed the entire car with a wash of 50% thinner, 25% Testors Flat Black and 25% Testors Gloss Black. This secured the decals and hid the decal film, plus provided a uniform satin finish. After applying the finish I added hand-drawn chalk marks using an artist’s white pencil, then sealed them on the car with a light spray of Testors Dullcote. Once the finish coat was dry, I lightly weathered the car with a variety of col- ors, attempting to simulate a car that had been in service for ten years. First, I lightly stroked the car with Model Masters Raw Sienna on a flat brush (I use a No. 8 flat, synthetic artist’s brush) to lighten up the stark black paint and provide a little contrast be- tween the panels and the rest of the
These views show the finished K-9 car with the floor installed. The interior detail and relief cast into the car’s ends are very visible after the subtle weathering is done (below). In the end view of ACL 93276 (right) one can see how the highlighting work really makes the cast- on grab irons pop-out and gives them the appearance of being separately-applied parts. The rest of the details, with the exception of the uncoupling lever, are included with the kit.
and to highlight the difference between the popular brands.
ACL K-9 No. 93276
I began this project by building the car per the instructions included in the kit. I removed all the parts from the sprues, cleaned them up, and assem- bled the car in about 15 minutes. I had some difficulty with the underframe
RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN
linkage–it distorted a little during as- sembly, so I cut off all the linkage and replaced it with .012″ diameter brass wire (Detail Associates No. 2504). I also hung a chain between the brake cylinder and the brakewheel rod, added uncoupling devices, (commonly called “cut bars”), and sanded down the top chord and replaced the top corner gussets with Tichy No. 3063 gussets.
car. I wiped off most of the paint so only a little bit of paint appeared on the model. I slightly overdid it in a few areas so I went back over the car again very lightly with Model Masters Flat Black to blend the colors together. I oc- casionally mix Bragdon’s powders into the paint to further blend the colors, but I’m always careful when mixing paint pigments into wet paint because
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