hello all, I've been wondering myself, and thought i'd ask for some ideas. What are some good cheap ways to replicate loads? For example, i'm participating in my Local NMRA division contest this month which is a Flat car w/ load. i have a 50' Bulkhead flat and all thats left is the actual load. Any ideas to replicate pipes, or plate steel? As well, loads for any other cars would be nice to know.
Use Grape Nuts cereal to replicate ground scrap metal. Spread some cereal on a paper plate and spray lightly with silver, stir it up when dry and spray with black, then do it again with gray. Add other colors to taste. When dry, fill up a gondola. Looks pretty realistic. (Warning: don't eat the "load" after painting.)
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]These are from my Hints and Tips Page... http://www.xdford.digitalzones.com/hintsandtips.htm[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Hope these help,[/FONT] regards from Australia Trevor [FONT=Arial, sans-serif][/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif] [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Line the interior of a wagon with three layers of cling film. Build the load inside this. [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Pit props: Short thin buddleia twigs glued together with PVA.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Coal: Plaster base painted black with coal on top.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Timber: Matchsticks at an angle glued with PVA.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]When set and painted, the load can be removed and the cling film peeled off. It should then fit back into the wagon with a working tolerance. With coal and similar loads, I also set in a small wire loop. This can be used to hook it out. Painted black it is quite unobtrusive.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The long wooden stirrers you get in McDonalds or Starbucks etc. make excellent plank loads when cut up.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Recycle your washed aluminum foil or foil chocolate wrapper. Roll your foil into tight balls about 1/2" or so diameter then take a pair of slip joint pliers and using the jaws mould them into cubes. [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Being Scrap metal, they would be discoloured so paint them with a rusty orange/brown colour. A number of cubes and you therefore have a load of scrap metal for that otherwise unemployed open wagon... and you can enjoy your way on two fronts to make them![/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Those extra long and thicker match sticks, which are used for lighting the barbecue or fire (depending on your season of course) can be used as coarse timber loads for model building sites or used for model fence or billboard posts. It would depend on your scale and needs as to what length you cut the sticks and where you place them. You could go so far as to glue a set of 4 or so together and make model tree trunks. To do this, glue and allow to thoroughly dry before sanding them to shape, painting and adding foliage. Perhaps you could make log shapes or stumps... just paint the outside a suitable bark colour and the ends to a tree ring colour![/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Other sources are ice cream type sticks and/or stirrers given out by coffee shops, it just needs modellers to look out for other normally thrown away items. [/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Gears and misc. parts from old computers can be gondola or open wagon junk loads when painted a rust color.[/FONT]
Soda straws make great pipe loads. Stack them, separate them with scale dunnage (2x4/4x4, etc), wrap with thinn chart tape to simulate banding. Sheet stock (styrene, cardstock, even thin plywood), stacked, separated by scale 2x4's, painted a steel color, banded with chart tape, and lightly weathered is a great plate steel load. Don't forget dunnage so your poor, overworked forklift driver can get his forks in!:lightbulb: Pencil sharpener shavings could make a good shredded scrap load. Make a blank of styrofoam, fit it to the car, (remove the blank) pile the shavings on the foam, glue them down, and use a series of silver or rust paints, washes of india inks, and highlights of small pieces of various colors to add variety. Squishy foam fubber, the open-cell kind, makes good hopper loads. Cut to fit the car, trim to make a heaped or tipple-filled, or a flood load, spray with rattle can gloss black. Stuff the load in the car. I haven't tried this in HO scale, but it works great for N! Don't forget to add serious weathering to your gondolas, and leave some empty, with only bits of banding, dunnage and trash laying about.
Here is a japanese page showing how to make great looking log loads in HO. No english text, but you can get the idea of it. The paper "bark" seems to come from the string, but I guess any thin crinkly paper would do. I've not tried this yet, if anyone does, post pics here! Kondoura‹ß“¡‚̬Œ^ŽÔ—¼‚Ì»ì
I've made pulpwood from cherry tree twigs. And broken glass for cullet in an hopper. Also removable. Wolfgang
Hi Wolfgang - Neat use of Kindereier containers for a flatcar load! Our kids used to love those toys inside! (But not as much as the chocolate eggs.)
I use the leftovers from laser kits for wooden crates. I measure them to scale by using a Model Tech crate. Stain to desired color with actual wood stains and your set. Sorry don' t have any pictures to show at the present time.
Here's a couple pics of a rebar load I did using 14 and 22 ga stranded wire and some scrap wood. It's for N but would be the same in any other scale, just bigger wire. I unwound and straightened the larger wire then tied a peice of the smaller wire to band it into bundles. Lengths can vary, these are around scale 40 ft-ish
I have taken Aluminum beverage cans and chopped them up to replicate scrap. Problem being the aluminum will short the rails if a derailment occurs. So I made a foamboard insert and punched the scrap into it. I also have used old rail ripped all of the plastic ties and used the rail in open end gondolas and on flat cars. You can buy I-beams at the hobby store to simulate loads also. You can use wood from clementine oranges for your lumber loads. The orange mesh is good for construction fencing. Im experimenting with old coffee grinds, painted to suite to simulate coal or slag. Again a cleanup after a delrailment would worse for you than on the prototype. So Im working with some sort insert idea for this. I will try to photo some these ideas and post to this forum when completed.
