Howdy, Just wanted to share a few shots of one of the projects I'm working into the book. This is the MTL 60' Bulkhead Flat Car extended to 71' by grafting the ends of a sacrificial 60' on an existing frame. I cut the ends off the center car back to the wood deck detail, added 5' on each end from the doner car and filled and sanded. This keeps the trucks closer to the center as was prototypical for these kind of cars. The bulkheads are the ones that come with the kit, cut down to the horizontal support with a small piece of styrene added to the top. You can see the difference between the two cars. The Colorado and Wyoming is a shortline that merges with the BNSF and the UP delivering steel products. I'm currently working on a flat steel plate load hense the lack of a line going all the way across the bed of the car. I painted it Model Master Bright Blue and then added a little weathering and made custom decals to finish it off. I like the way this thing sets and am surprised that it makes it around 195mm turns even with body mount couplers. I think I will need a few more of these! This makes 12 different modifications to the standard MTL 60' flat/bulkhead car so far, seems the easiest and most fun to convert...more to come. Cheers Joe MTL
Thats a very nice and long Car Joe. BTW I can see part of a Grande Engine on the left... can you tell us more?
I like it! The paint and weathering, as well as the wood deck all come together for a very appealing car. I also made some 73' cars, and found I had to make extended shank truck mounted couplers to get them around the 9" radius turns. It's nice you were able to get the body mounts to work!
Joe, excellent work on the flat. It looks great. The paint job on the wood looks very realistic. Jurg, it looks like a DRG&W GP9.
That is a great kit bash, Joe. It's the type of thing I really enjoy doing. I just posted the photo on POTW for models. It was definitely one of the best.
ha ha ha. you have a point there, john. on the other hand ... "IT'S NOW MY (OUR) TURN TO GET THE REAL DEAL FACTORY FRESH". now that's a reason to celebate!! dave f.
Eh, only 5 of the 24 Grande GP9s had the large logos, so we can always repaint for the other 19 locos (especially anyone modeling before 1974).
joe, i really like the kitbash flat car. nice weathering and details on the deck too. very nice. re: model painting: i'll paint up some of the older smaller logo GP9s one day, but i'll just wait for a while as i enjoy the current offering! fyi: there was also an early scheme with yellow stripes the full length of the body, not just the nose/tail. i did one for joe, i'm considering doing another again for myself. in the mean time i have an F7A&B in the old black/yellow-stripe scheme that i'm working on, and a caboose that i messed up and now have to completely repaint. so with the off time i have, i'm keeping the paint bottles shaken. there is one small painting error that the D&RGW guys will easily pick up. others will have to search to find it. we love the new GP9s just the same. dave f.
Go Rio Grande Go Joe that's a nice kitbash, but relative to the magnificent Rio Grande loco it has to take a back seat. Man I love that scheme. Am going to pick up a couple of these. Will be my first purchase of MTL GP-9's. Joe you hit the jackpot on these. I am more excited than David F. on this release. Why didn't you release the GP-35 in this scheme? I wish I could find the right size decals for this scheme. Anybody want to make these for me. If so send me a PM.
I like them too. If Brandt can afford a couple on a grad student's income, then I can afford a couple out of my NP and BN budget!
Wow, that's really nice of you to do that. Flatcars are really interesting and they were modified so much, you could spend the bulk of your construction budget just making a fleet of them. Once I get things cleaned up I'll post pictures of some of the other ones. They really add something to the yard. Thanks again, I really appreciate what you said. Cheers Joe
