Marine Industries 51'6" bulkhead flatcar variants



I recently completed a 6 car set of the newly released Kaslo Shops Distributing Marine Industries 51'6" IL bulkhead flatcars in several variations.  They are nice kits and go together well.  You can do as much or as little underframe detailing as you want.  I did the full underframe detailing on a few and just installed basic underframe details on the others.   

The etched ladders and other bits are very nice and are close to scale size.  The cars go together quickly and the parts have good fit.  The center post cars are a bit tricky to get the posts vertical in all directions, I would recommend using a glue that has a longer working time than CA so you can get everything lined up.  

The cars are quite light and finding space to add weight will be challenging.  There is space in the centersill for adding weight, and you could also add some weight behind the side sills.  These cars may need to  have permanent loads to get them up to appropriate weight for operation.  Running them empty on the tail end of trains (like the prototype) maybe a good idea as well.  

I primed the cars with Mr. Surfacer 1000 by Mr. Color - this is fast becoming my favourite primer for models inspite of it's strong odor.  I painted the CN cars with Tamiya Oxide Red primer from a spray can as I was in a rush to get all the cars completed.  This is very close to CN Red #12.  The car was decalled with Highball Graphics CN/DWP bulkhead flatcar decals.  This set has all the necessary decals for most variants of these cars.  

The DWP and exDWP cars required a bit more work.  There are a couple of options for the green used on the bulkheads of these cars.  If you can find any, TLT had a good CN Green #12; TruColor also has a version but I haven't found any of it yet.  

I had Vallejo Sickness Green in their spray can recommended as a reasonable facsimile as well as TruColor BN Cascade Green. In my opinion these are a bit too dark but are fairly close. 

After some testing some Tamiya paints I came up with what I think is the closest match to the green other than the actual CN Green #12.  A mix of 40 parts Tamiya X-15 light green with 1 part Tamiya X-1 black gives a very close match to the green used on the Walthers and TLT 52'6" DWP bulkhead flatcars.  I would recommend this paint mix for this colour as well as the green on CN boxcar doors.  

I weathered the decks on the as delivered cars with a mix of grey, black and brown paints to represent cars that have hauled a lot of loads without being totally wrecked.  On the Ingot and Center Beam cars I left the decks painted the same colour as the car as the prototype photos I have seen that show the decks generally have little weathering or damage.

The cars were matt coated with Vallejo Ultra Matt Varnish.  I still need to weather them up at some point (eventually).  These are unique cars that have not been previously available.  They are a nice addition to the flatcar fleet hauling lumber and general cargo.  




CN As-Built Bulkhead Flatcar



CN Aluminum Ingot Car 




CN Ex-DW&P Aluminum Ingot Car 



CN Center Post Car 




CN Ex-DW&P Center Post Car 




DW&P As-Built Bulkhead Flatcar


Full disclosure: I built the kits for Kaslo for their use as box art so I am not a disinterested party.  I do like what Kaslo is doing to add to our selection of freight cars that are unlikely to get done as RTR cars by the big manufacturers.  We are living in a golden age for model railroading.




Comments

  1. Anonymous7 March 2024 at 14:21

    Those cars look great, Mark! Although I wish they were still rolling past here, it's good to see them living on in model form.
    Eric

    ReplyDelete

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