I am wondering How does one find hoppers in N-scale? I like 33' hoppers I know MT. makes them but they are hard to find. I would like to know also how hard it is to paint and apply decals to N-scale equipment. I am wanting to setup for operation and know to do this I will have to renumber alot of cars. Thanks for any info..........
Finding the cars will be the hard part. But painting and decaling N scale cars is easy, assuming the decals you need have been produced. Practise makes perfect Have you tried eBay, or maybe swapmeets to find old production cars? ------------------ Alan Curtis. Moderator. Member #12 The perfect combination - BNSF and N Scale! www.alancurtismodels.com Andersley Western Railroad Alan's American Gallery
I think ModelPower made a 33 footer, go to some model train shows and you may find some there. The one I have is a PEABODY Coal in Yellow. E-mail me and we'll talk about a swap or something. I model current times and it's just a "relic" on my railroad. Like Alan said, Decaling takes practice. Follow all the steps on the instruction sheet and you'll get the hang of it, just takes a little time. Painting's the same thing, start simple and work your way up. And one other thing...WELCOME TO TRAINBOARD! ------------------ Brent Tidaback, Member #234 BNSF Railfan-to-the Max and a N-Scaler to boot! Ship it on the Route of The Roadrunners! The Aransas Odessa & Western, a division of the BNSF
I go through the same thing a lot, trying as I am to model a Missouri Pacific coal train. A couple of hints: 1. Swap meets and on line are good places to look. Also, try your local hobby shop, see if they can order stuff for you. 2. Take the hoppers in whatever road name you can get. Even if you're going to change the road name, the data (weight, capacity, etc) won't fundamentally change. 3. Remove any unwanted letters or numbers with a cotton swab and brake fluid. This step takes some time and patience, but has worked well for me. 4. Carefully repaint the stripped areas. On most coal hopers this is gloss black, but match the color as best as you can. 5. Give the car a spray with clear gloss after removing trucks and couplers. This helps in applying decals. 6. Using an alphabet set (like MicroScale 60-70 series)apply the new numbers and letters. A little research is in order here to make sure the size and type style matches. Use Solva Set or MicroSol to set the decals down properly. 7. Spray the whole car with a clear flat and weather as you like. This last step should blend any slight mismatch in the paint. BTW, I've used this technique on 58 Precision Masters hoppers, which started off as UP, NS or CSDU cars, and are now all MP cars with seperate road numbers. Best of luck and Have Fun! ------------------ Jenks - the REAL Big Blue
Another good place to look is the back of Model Railroader magazine, in their classifieds. Didn't Atlas make a 33 foot hopper as well?? Anyway, good luck with your search, let us know how it turns out and Happy Modeling!! John ------------------ The Santa Fe and Southwestern, Chief of the Southwest!!
Yes, ATLAS make 33 footers Ore Car. I bought 3 used cars for 3.50 each last week. Otherwise you can look at ATLAS online catalog with the URL: "http://www.nscalesupply.com/ATL/ATL-RollingOreCarW-Load.html". They cost 5.32 for now. -------- Happy New Year Helge SR&WF [This message has been edited by HelgeK (edited 31 December 2000).] [This message has been edited by HelgeK (edited 31 December 2000).]
