Eric Hansmann

Resin kit builds – Missouri Pacific cars

I’ve built several HO scale resin freight car kits since the summer of 2023. For some reason, I’ve forgotten to share the overall progress. Some details have appeared on the blog, but overall summaries have been lacking. Let’s start with a couple Missouri Pacific cars that were enjoyable builds.

Cranes

*Eckington Yards, 6/4/23. United States Washington D.C. Photograph. https://www.loc.gov/item/2016847637/*

I’ve been noticing various types of cranes in prototype photos of team yards and tracks. They do not show up everywhere, but cranes are a detail to consider when modeling a scene in the 1900-1940 years. The 1923 image above documents passenger cars parked at a team yard in Washington DC for a Shriner’s convention. They aren’t easy to spot. but there are several cranes in the background.

Repetition

Many aspects of model building are repetitive. These might be details or processes used across several similar models, or many of the same details applied to one model. Sometimes I will procrastinate completing a model because of all the same small details that need to be installed. Like installing 36 small brackets on a gondola. Those are the brackets in the lead image.

Brake rods

I’ve been building several HO scale resin freight car kits over the last several months. I’ve always had a problem determining the length of the center rod on the brake gear. I figured out a simple way to make these the correct length. I know if I’ve had a problem with a modeling detail, others have also experienced a similar issue.

Being picky

*Photo from the Westerfield Models AC&F builder photo collection*

As I started an HO scale resin freight car kit, I noticed something odd about the grab irons. The drop portion of the grab iron wasn’t at a right angle to the legs of the wire detail part. When I look at a prototype photo like the one above. I see drop grab irons at right angles.