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It’s been a few weeks and I am happy to finally report on the progress of the Penn Central X58 project in this last installment.

Because I am painting inside a small apartment, I decided against using the solvent based Scale Coat Penn Central Green sold by the Penn Central Railroad Historical Society. Instead, I painted the car with the water based Floquil Polly Scale paints Penn Central Green for the car body and Flat Aluminum for the roof.

Rail Yard Models Penn Central X58 after paint job (click to enlarge)

A few days later, I added a glossy finish using Badger Modelflex paint. The outcome was less than desirable as the glossy paint seemed to crystalize in some spots. In my next project, I am going to mix Model Master glossy paint with the Polly Scale green to save me a step and minimize the risk of messing up a nice paint job.

I let the glossy finish dry for a few days as recommended in the X58 instructions and then started to apply the decals.

The decaling was an easy albeit slow process because I was customizing the lettering based on a prototype photograph. After cutting the decals, I prepped the surface with Micro Set, slid the decals on it and let Solvaset work its magic. Excess fluid was sucked off using a cotton swab. The cotton swab did a great job in removing fluid but occasionally left tiny fibers behind. Next time, I will try a micro fiber cloth used for cleaning lenses instead.

Putting the decals on the X58 was a slow process

Two evenings later, I was ready to decal the other side. I thought about a way to peek at the other side without turning the car over all the time. The solution was to make a copy of the decaled side. Make sure you cover the area around the car with blank sheets of paper to avoid wasting a lot of black ink.

Copying the decaled side for reference

The copy turned out to be just a tad smaller than the actual model but I found that when referencing lettering to other parts such as ladder steps it was still helpful to use and sped up the decaling process. Every now and then I did take a digital caliper to measure key proportions on the other side, though.

Using a copy of the decaled side of the car sped up the process

So here it is, the finished product complete with roof, brake hoses and extra weight.

Finished Rail Yard Models Penn Central X58 36 18 25

For a first try at a craftsman kit, I am very happy with the result. Let me know what you think in the comments below. I hope you will join me when I report on the weathering after I return from the FREMO:87 meet in Glottertal, Germany.

I have taken the last few weeks off from modeling because I was finishing up some coursework. With my class completed, it’s time to turn my attention back to my Rail Yard Models Penn Central X58 project. Today, I am installing a pair of Kadee® Barber® S-2 70 ton trucks outfitted with PROTO:87 wheels, the end platforms, handbrake and the Sergent couplers.

The Kadee® trucks look good and even better with with the PROTO wheels. They have a working suspension, which is pretty cool even though the springs look a little too large. Check out the difference between the factory-installed RP25 wheels and the PROTO wheels. There is no way I am going back to RP25…

Barber® S-2 70 ton trucks with RP25 and PROTO:87 wheels. (click to enlarge)

The hole in the Kadee® trucks is too small to fit over the pin under the X58. A #30 (3.3 mm) drill bit will widen the hole just enough. When installing the trucks, make sure that the screws aren’t too tight so that the trucks can still move freely under the car.

The hole in the trucks needs to be widened to fit under the X58.

So far the X58 project went quite well – until it was time to install the end platforms. Bending the platforms just right was a problem and I messed up a few of them in the process. Gene Fusco from Rail Yard Models sent me updated instructions to better illustrate the shaping of the parts, which did help me in my final attempt.

During installation, I also had trouble fitting the parts over the alignment pins on the car. The urethane body is pretty soft and the pins got damaged in the process. Eventually, I decided to completely remove them and install the platforms using scale screw imitations instead.  I shaved off the remains of the pins using an X-acto knife and drilled holes with a #79 (0.37 mm) bit in their place. Then I mounted the platforms with the scale screws, which also makes them feel sturdier.

Preparing the X58 for the installation of the end platforms.

B end with with handbrake and end platform installed.

As a last step, I installed the draft gear with the Sergent couplers prepared a few weeks ago. Looks nice doesn’t it?

The Sergent couplers are installed and the car is ready to be painted.

In part III, I am going paint and decal the car.

Back in January, I bought my first craftsman freight car kits from Rail Yard Models. During the Vancouver Olympics, I started working on the first project – a Penn Central X58 50′ box car. I will tell you more about why I chose a Penn Central freight car in a future post. For now, let’s start with unboxing the kit.

As you can see in the following picture, Rail Yard Model kits contains everything you need to build the model. Besides the obvious urethane body, roof, shear plates, bolsters, coupler pocket lids, the two piece bolster alignment jig and many smaller cast parts, the kit comes with trucks and near-scale wheels, brake hardware, etched metal parts, several strands of wire, styrene strips, brake hoses, decals and a CD-ROM containing a 60-page manual, line drawings and a 14-page history of the car.

The only things not included are couplers, which isn’t a big deal. The coupler pockets are designed for Kadee #78s but I am going to use Sergent couplers instead.

Unboxing the Rail Yard Models Penn Central X58. (click to enlarge)

After consulting the history, I decided to model the Penn Central 361825. This car is from the first series built by the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1964 and was equipped with the Hydra-Cushion. The kit comes with parts to either model the Hydra-Cushion or the Keystone underframe details giving you the flexibility to model different versions of the car.

My X58 is outfitted with the Hydra-Cushion.

Installing the brake hardware is fairly easy. All you need to do is put together the plastic brake appliances and mount them using etched metal parts. Getting the brake piping just right was a little challenging because the instructions did not provide a bending diagram. In the end it worked out fine, though.

X58 with brake hardware and piping.

Adding the brake rigging wasn’t that hard either but I made one mistake when bending a brake lever support the wrong way. When I tried to fix it by bending it in the opposite direction, the part broke. Luckily, I was able to reorder the etched parts and Gene from Rail Yard Models quickly mailed them.

X58 with brake rigging installed.

The doors are detailed with styrene rods and strips, which is easy enough. I didn’t measure the strips and inadvertently used one of the pre-cut door tracks as door handles. Once I discovered my mistake, I carefully removed the thicker strip from the door, removed remaining glue and replaced the handles with the correct strips. For the door tracks, I got replacement strips at the local hobby shop. Lesson learned – now I got my digital caliper handy at all times.

X58 door opener details.

In the late 1960s and 70s, some cars including the PC 361825 had the hand brake lowered and the tall ladders cut down when the roof walks were removed. The manual provides clear instructions where the etched ladders need to be cut and how the hand brake needs to be modified.

Cut down end and side ladders.

The PC 361825 had its roof walks removed but the roof walk supports were left in place. The etched supports are bent into an l shape and inserted into holes I had previously drilled.

Roof walk supports without transverse walking panels.

In part II, I will install the end platforms, hand brake, PROTO:87 wheels and Sergent couplers.

Recovered from last week’s disappointment with my first salt technique results, I tried adding Bragdon weathering powders which I had bought a few years back.

I first applied spots of light rust, medium rust and dark rust with a small round paint brush which I trimmed down to about 1/16″ (1.6 mm) stubble. Then I used a soft bright brush to spread the rust.

Hopper weathered with Bragdon powders.

Once I was happy with the results, I added the soot powder on top and spread it all over the side of the car. The picture above shows the side of the car with less soot. Below is the side with a thicker and more even layer of soot. Not sure which one I like better.

Hopper with a thicker layer of grime.

The trucks first a got a layer of soot and then a mix of medium and dark rust which I applied with the bright brush. I held both trucks in one hand so that a got a matching look for each side.

In summary, I think adding the weathering powders saved the day. It brings out various shades of colors and works very well with the pattern created with the salt technique. Even some of the remaining salt crystals no longer bother me. In fact, they give the weathering job a realistic three-dimensional feel.

Let me know what you think and which side of the car is your favorite.

My first airbrushing experiment continues. After successfully applying a first coat of rust color, I tried to use the salt technique to achieve a weathered chipped paint look.

Hopper in covered in salt.

I let the salt fully dry  - it’s best to do that over night – and then sprayed the car with the final color. I chose a dull gray in this case.

Hopper with gray coat.

Allowing ample time for drying, I then carefully washed off the salt. The salt didn’t come off as easily as I thought and I used a soft brush under warm water to get the salt chips mostly removed. After another round of drying the car looked like this.

Hopper after removing the salt.

As you can imagine, I am not happy with the outcome and here are a few things I think went wrong:

• The underlying rust layer was too even  (this could still be remedied with weathering powder)
• I wet the entire car instead of using small amounts of water in fewer spots
• Using the salt mill gave me not enough control on where the chips fell
• The salt mill produced tiny chips of salt which I wasn’t able to fully remove after the final coat of paint was dry

Luckily, I only spend three bucks on the kit so I don’t feel too bad about this mishap. If you have any suggestions to help me improve my technique, leave a comment below.

A box car will be my next victim… Stay tuned.