Notes on Designing, Building, and Operating Model Railroads
A hobby adventure
I’ve seen and heard lots of good comments on the new Accurail HO scale, 36-foot, double sheathed, box car kits. But many people seem puzzled on building the underframe. As an Accurail kit, we have come to expect parts to fall together easily. This kit is no exception; there are just a few more parts to carefully set into place. Follow along on a tutorial to help you assemble the underframe on these fine kits.
Continue reading “Accurail 36-foot box car underframe tutorial”
The new Accurail HO scale 36-foot box cars kits are being released. I recently picked up two undecorated car kits with the fishbelly center sills and corrugated metal ends. It’s exciting to open the box on a new model for the first time, especially a model that fits into my modeling focus. Let’s take a look at this new kit.
After painting several freight cars recently, it was time to decal. I want to display a few of these cars at the upcoming RPM-East prototype modeler meet. I often field questions about decal application, so let’s review some tools and processes.
Dave Parker sent a summary of this fine new HO scale plastic tank car model. Here’s Dave with his impressions of the model.
For about a decade, Tangent Scale Models has developed a reputation for exquisitely detailed and meticulously lettered ready-to-run (RTR) freight cars (and kits) – at reasonable prices. Heretofore, Tangent’s models have largely appealed to transition- and modern-era modelers. The only offerings that (barely) made the cut for 1920s modelers were the 1930 STCX and 1929 COSX three-dome tank cars. A brief review can be found in the guide to 1920s HO scale plastic freight cars.
Continue reading “Tangent Scale Models General American 1917-Design Tank Cars”
It has been awhile since I tackled a resin freight car kit, so I dove into a Westerfield box and got something rolling. I’ve long wanted to build one of the Canadian Pacific 36-foot, single-sheathed Fowler design box car kits. There were plenty of prototypes rolling around in 1926. The kit built quickly with only a couple of head scratching spots. I liked it so much that I also built a kit for a similar 40-foot Fowler design clone! Follow along on the latest resin freight car kit build.