That really looks great–very nice work, inspirational
Jon,
It is coming along rather nicely. Looks great. Almost seems a shame to cover such a nice flat with a tank 
Ralph
Jon, that car came out great… beautiful workmanship…
Wow nice details!
Good work, Jon.
Thanks for all the comments. It’s been fun and a real learning experience. I’m hoping to paint this weekend if I can get my portable booth set up in the basement. It’s way too cold to paint outside.
Until the tank arrives it will be run as a flat - if the ice ever melts so I can find the track
This weekend the C.V.S.Ry. shops moved the paint booth in to heated space and made a first attempt at painting the flat. This is still a work in progress and not ready for pictures. The frame, couplers and trucks all went just fine. Painted all with Krylon Ruddy Brown primer. I left the wood parts in that color but gave the trucks and couplers my patented flat-black spatter spray to darken them up some to look more rusty.
For the deck I wanted a natural weathered look. I did some research and found a modeler that thought white acrylic followed by an India Ink and alcohol wash gave him very natural looking weathered wood, so that’s the approach I took. I diluted some white acrylic craft paint with alcohol and started painting the deck with a brush. At first the coverage was very thin. I should have stopped at that point, but while trying to even it the cover became opaque. Next I tried the India Ink and alcohol wash. Not having a clue as to mix, I diluted the ink 1:1 with alcohol. This didn’t even put a dent in the ink color :o As soon as I made the first few strokes with the brush, I knew I was in trouble, so I dumped on some alcohol from the bottle and wiped with an alcohol soaked paper towel until I had what you would might call a wash. I let this dry several hours.
When I came back I was disappointed with the result. The ink did a nice job of highlighting the imperfections in the wood, but I had distinct black on distinct white. Not the ashen gray I was looking for. To try and save the deck I wet it down with acetone and used a paint remover brush to clean away most of the ink and a lot of the paint. The look I ended up with is very interesting. If the goal was a deck that had once been white but got dirty and worn from use, I would stop here and be happy, but I’m still hoping to get somewhat of a gray weathered look.
I think I will not put down any more white, but try the ink wash again. This time I will use one drop of ink in several ounces of alcohol and pretty much flood the surface.
I’m going to have to spray the Ruddy Brown again when the deck is done. Between runs of the white paint and all the chemicals, it’s not looking too good any more 
Before I started on the deck, I was very happy with the spray paint job. The details look much more real when they don’t have the wrong colors.
So, if the ambition strikes, I’ll experiment some more tonight. When there is some positive progress I’ll report back with pictures.
Also -
Rumor has it that the WV&K Shops has completed the tank modifications and will be crating it up for the trip north this week. Then I’ll need to work out the mounting details and railings.
“Rumor has it that the WV&K Shops has completed the tank modifications and will be crating it up for the trip north this week.” Didn’t you two send a caboose on a 15 month trip?
On your paint dilemma, you might try quit painting and use some 200 grit sandpaper to take off some of the layers. You may find what you wnat is under what is there. Work with the grain.
Ric Golding said:Nope - That was the Jackson & Burke via the IPP&W :D An yes that was a major shipping SNAFU !! I do believe this transfer will be by road truck since the car remains dissembled.
"Rumor has it that the WV&K Shops has completed the tank modifications and will be crating it up for the trip north this week." Didn't you two send a caboose on a 15 month trip?
Ric Golding said:I think you are right, I've already found some of it with the acetone. I've resisted sanding to preserve the unevenness of the deck. Early on a cutting error, the result of an un-square fence, made the the thickness of the deck boards vary slightly. I used this to my advantage creating a slightly rough deck. Keeping in mind that this is a home-built car from the early 1900's, I'm assuming they didn't plane the deck boards, but rather rough cut them in the mill. That was probably good enough for a flat car deck. If I sand, I'll take that edge off unless I do it with a small sanding stick to each deck board individually.
On your paint dilemma, you might try quit painting and use some 200 grit sandpaper to take off some of the layers. You may find what you wnat is under what is there. Work with the grain.
Never had any time tonight - ended up with homework. They are starting to miss having me there on Fridays
Jon,
You might try an acrylic color by the name of ‘Barnwood’. I don’t remember the brand name. I think I found it at Michaels. It gives a nice base coat that can be followed with the wash. I’ve used it for flat car decks and roof walks. The thanks for these tips go to Kevin and Bruce. Happy painting!
Well, there has been a spot of bad news from the WV&K shops. It appears that the chief engineer in the shop had one too many Sam Adams before laying out the cuts for the tank extensions. As luck would have it, the error was on the short side which makes for quite a bit more work than had it been on the long side and only need a fresh cut. This will delay shipment of the tank for an undermined amount of time.
Back to the deck - I took Ric’s advice and judiciously applied some fine sandpaper, being careful not flatten the deck’s un-evenness. That seemed to work well to get the last bits of opaque white off. Next, I tried one of John’s suggestions - Coffee. I soaked the deck with black coffee and let it soak in for 10 minutes or so. Then I blotted it off and applied some carbon dust scrapped from drawing charcoal with an exacto knife. I followed that with an alcohol wash which dissolved the dust and allowed it to further stain the wood. I blotted off the excess alcohol.
With the exception of the board ends, I’m pretty happy with where it is now. I’ll try and get some pics tomorrow.
Mario - Thanks. The Barnwood color might help me with the ends. If I can’t get the white on the board ends toned down to where I want it I’ll look for that color.
Jon,
I found my bottle of Barn Wood. It is #936 and is the Folk Art brand. Hope this helps.
The weather today in Southern New England was a perfect spring-like day. Mostly sunny with temps in the low 50’s. I finished with the deck and re-painted the frame Saturday late in the day. Today I put together a consist of all my 1:20 stock & a 1:22 caboose and took the new flat out in the line for progress photos. I appologize for the number of pictures. I took over 100 and it was a real chore to trim it down to these :o [url=lsc.cvsry.com/EBTTank/Wood_Flat_25-1280.jpg]
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[/url][color=blue]FF: Click to Enlarge - IE: Right Click Photo and select Open Link in New Window to Enlarge[/color] I think it compares quite favorably to the Bachman 1:20 flat. I could probably use to add a brake cylinder to complete the low-angle look. I’m still undecided about cut levers.
Nice job, Jon! It looks great!!!
Cool Jon,
The rolling stock is lookin good.
I run some trains outside yesterday. We have around 70 degrees today and yesterday also.
I was having too much fun to stop and take pictures.
Ralph
Nice work, Jon. It ended up looking great. Now you need to do a similar treatment on that Bachmann flat. 
Bruce Chandler said:Thanks Bruce. I agree about the other flat. The new guy John, with the animated mask avatar, posted some nice shots a few weeks ago of painting the deck on the Bachman to look like weathered wood.
Nice work, Jon. It ended up looking great. Now you need to do a similar treatment on that Bachmann flat. ;)
I’ve ended up painting all the roofwalks that way on all of my AMS boxcars…they do look better.
Pictures look great. I hjave to agree with Bruce I like how you painted everything
Yep, decks and roof walks weren’t painted, because they get slick when wet if they are. The brake wheel platform should be raw wood, too!