In last weeks post I promised to share with you some of my newly-weathered stock so that is exactly what I’m going to do.

I have a range of rolling stock from different manufacturers and a lot of the freight cars,  although they are very nice, some do seem a bit brightly coloured.  To be fair a lot of them would have been this way when they rolled out of the factory for the fist time.  But after spending some time of the rails everything gets dirty,  and even rusty as they get older.

I think they should look more like this.

Here are some closeups shots.

The next three where identical before weathering.

As a comparison; below is a factory weathered freight car, on the left, alongside my weathered freight cars.

One of the things I didn’t like about the factory weathered freight car was the trucks, they look too shiny and new compared to the rest.

Below is a short video showing a train passing with regular stock followed by a train with the new weathered stock.

So how did I do this?  Well given that time is precious, as those waiting for projects to be draw will appreciate, I’ve found the best solution.  Get somebody else to do it!

These were all airbrushed by Model Railway Solutions. MRS provide all sorts of modeling solutions from flat pack baseboard construction, all the way up to complete model railways built to exhibition standards.

The weathering service is very reasonable and they are happy to work with large batch projects which can reduce the shipping costs when sending models from overseas.

Here are some of the other models that were on the work bench when I collected this batch.

This is an N gauge southern region Merchant Navy class locomotive.

This is a OO Gauge 9F made by Hornby.

Although the main body is dull and dirty the running gear looks wet and oily, these photos don’t do the locomotive justice.

Here is a BR Standard Class 4MT made by bachmann.

I liked the rusted areas around the tender water filling area.

The real coal in the tender was also added by MRS.

Coaches also get dirty and below is a OO Gauge collett coach made by Hornby which has also had the air brush treatment.

And to pull a train of these coaches, what could be better than a GWR Castle class. Again this OO gauge model was made by Hornby and is now in a typical representation of what it would have looked like when these engines where nearing the end of their life.

Of course freight engines where not looked after anywhere near as well as the passenger locos.  Below is an image of a brand new OO Gauge Hornby 2-8-0.

MRS spent some time on it and now it look like this.

It still runs as smooth as silk but in this condition you can just imagine it has seen many years of use.

MRS are happy to be contacted by phone or email and both can be found on there website.  Alternatively you can always drop me a message through my contact page and will be happy to talk to them for you.

In last week’s post I said I was going to share with you the test fitting of the N Scale Alco C-855B body onto the modified chassis and that’s exactly what this week’s post will be about.

The C-855B is basically a C-855 without a cab. It’s exactly the same length and all the trucks and parts are in the same place.  However, as there is no wide cab this section at the front end of the chassis will need to be modified.

The donor chassis is from a Con-Cor U50 or Turbine and has been extended using my 3D printed stainless steel parts. You can read more about that here.

The rear of the chassis doesn’t need any modifications. The front needs to be cut to resemble the rear.

In the image below you can see the top section of the extended chassis.  I’ve also started to modify it by cutting off the front right lug which used to fit inside the cab area.

In this close up you can see I’ve cut it so it tapers in very slightly from the side of the chassis.  This helps with the fit.

Repeating the same cut on the left hand side will finish off the top section.  To make these cuts I simply used a cutting disc in a Dremel-style tool.

The bottom section will require a bit more work.  Again you can see in the image below I’ve already done the right hand side and I am working in the left. To get the cuts in the right place I fixed the top and bottom halves of the chassis together and marked the bottom with a pencil.  The cuts should line through vertically.

Using the cutting disk I cut along the top of the chassis following the same line as I did with the top section which was marked in pencil.  You only need to go down as far as the lower flat area.  Then, cutting horizontally, I came in from the side.

When you are almost through it should look something like this.

Once the unwanted section has been cut out the area can be cleaned with a file.

The last section to remove is part of the front.   Again I marked the cut line with a pencil after fixing the two halves together and then used the cutting disk to slice in from the top.

The last cut comes in horizontally to remove the unwanted section.

The chassis is then assembled and is ready for a test fit.

I found that my chassis was about 0.5mm too long for the shell; this might be caused by a slight shrinkage in the 3D print when it first cooled or too much glue between the chassis extenders and the original bits.  The shell should be a nice fit and shouldnt need to be forced. This was easily fixed by cutting a thin slice off the front as you can see below.

The shell and fuel tank then fitted perfectly over the chassis.

It’s important to make sure the chassis is fitted in the correct way round.  Both the chassis extender parts have arrows which point forwards and on the C-855B the front is the plainer of the two ends.  In the photo below this is on the left.

All that is left to do now is to have it painted, fit the last bits of brass and add a DCC chip and it will be ready to join its C-855 companions to complete the trio.

This has been a fun project to work on even though it has taken a long time.  I’m looking forward to seeing all three working hard uphill on the layout ‘Somewhere West’.