Even start a project that becomes a nightmare but, like a good horror novel, you just can't put it down...?
Meet my CPR Horse Car project......now officially called the horse's ars....you know...... This is the one I showed some initial shots of in Weekend Update.........
Scratchbuilds are not supposed to be easy; but man, did I bite one off this time....
You see; besides having to build the body, a curved roof; add 0.010 wire panel dividers to said roof (that's 48 pieces cut and applied)having to build little tiny windows in 0.020 thin scribed styrene and add grabs, ladders etc..... you then have to get the dang thing on the Athearn frame (more about that selection later) and get it on level...
Um..."no".....
The thing is slightly off and thus, the $#@%$#! car leans.... I will have to fix that..."hey; I think"... "I can fix that with adjustments to the trucks... you know those arch bar trucks and...ah...um....now say...those look funny....." ???
The Athearn frame (told you we'd get back to it) was made for passenger trucks.... the bolsters are in the wrong spot.....
Of course this is only obvious after I build and glue the $#@#! thing together..... >
You ever hack off the bolsters of; try and sand the frame floor of, and then drill and construct a new bolster on a car already built with 48 little tiny pieces of wire on the roof; thin pieces of sytrene everywhere and do so without cuting a digit off with a # 11 blade....? Didn't think so............
It can be done..........the question of "if" it should have been done is still up in the air......
Ok; so; we prime and paint.. a mix of Lt Frt Car Red and Freight Car Brown...........it's "vibrant"............
The car was allowed to dry and then we went at it with the weathering - washes, pastels and powders....it will get final weathering after decals....that will help dull down the white lettering and some hot spots.
Speaking of decals....... now; would you find it hard to believe that NO ONE makes decals for a 1919 Canadian Pacific wooden side horse express..........? I mean, really; isn't that something ?
A trip to the decal scrap box; lots of solvetset; some serious squinting and we get..............
The darker weathering will fade after I give it a final weather coat.
I still have to figure out how to adhere the trucks; pray some MT couplers works, build the trusses and then test run the thing but it IS starting to shape up.....
So is a nice JD - Rocks; so if you'll excuse me..........
I really have to start to embrace RTR rolling stock..There's a lot of good stuff out there and I mean it's not too hard to open a box or your wallet................. :
