Took these at the Musselman plant while on a Gettysburg RR excursion trip in 2007. Thought you might like the weathering. They are vinegar vats but the same bird.
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Thanks Rooster. I have saved those pics for future reference. The pickle car will belong to “Miss Martin’s Orchard”. I have long thought about doing a facility for it.
A ventilated boxcar would be a nice edition as well.
OK, so I messed up the paint while fitting the first ring. Turns out the salt brine crystals (dry brushed white paint) was super thin. The layer of clear matte did not provide any protection from the floral stem wire as I wrapped it around the tank and then tightened it into place.
Take two. I have brushed on a heavy coat of water based gloss varnish. Hopefully this will protect my decades long build up of salt brine proving the longevity of this car’s service.
The coating is now dry and tomorrow I can try wrapping the rest of the bands. Those of you with delicate constitutions should probably cover your ears between the hours of 9:00 am - 4:00 pm. Not trying to be fatalistic but I anticipate a difficult task ahead. One down. Fifteen more to go. What could possibly go wrong?
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Nice to see you in the saddle again cowboy!
Varnish is dry and it is time to put the tension rings on. Part of the paint scratching problem before was wrapping the wire around the tank to shape it. To eliminate the possibility I found that a Bmann tank was close to the same diameter. I made a bend in one end of the stem wire and poked it through a screw hole in the tank. Then I wrapped it around the tank and made a bend in the other end. The excess was cut off.
Working my way from the tank bottom to the top The wires were installed in sequence. The first end was inserted into the hole in the tank and twisted back on itself with some needle nose pliers. This keeps the first end in place and snug against the tank body. Working my way around the tank I held the wire to the shape of the tank until I could push the other end into the same hole. Once it was started I pulled it tight from the inside using the pliers again. Both ends were torqued to take up the slack. If you do this technique make sure the wire is where you want it. It will be to tight to move easily.
In fact this worked so well that I broke the center seam on one tank. Delays were imposed while I waited for superglue to cure.
This turned out to be an easier job than I thought. The varnish worked great to protect the paint job and the stem wire has a nice natural sag and rise as it circles the car. Looks like it has gone through years of expansions and contraction with irregular maintenance.
Next I had to figure out how to make the tightening mechanism on each ring. In real life these are made of metal and tighten from both ends. This stye is more modern. It is mostly used for straps.
This bow tie style is a much older design. Here it is on a wooden hot tub.
The second design is certainly more common on the prototype but if you look closely at the base of the tank in the first picture it looks like a strap style.
Since I am already committed to round rods I will go with the bow tie. No mistaking them on this car.
The good news is Ozark Miniatures makes this item in 1/20.3 scale. The bad news is they are out of stock and Dave has no idea when or if he will make more. Time to get creative.
I was able to buy a bag of these Chama water tank strap style double tighteners. The cylinder with the NBW was cut off and I glued them on to each side of the tension rods covering the hole where the wire passes through the tank body. A little Milliput to make them look like a single piece and I will be in business.
To hold them on I first tried Gorilla Glue Gel. It was to runny. Next was Gorilla Glue Clear Grip. It worked great although I could have used E6K or any of the industrial paste glues.
All four tanks done.
I will give them overnight to cure and then shape the tensioners with a little Milliput. Paint on some rust and fix a few alibis and this part is over.
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Alibis my ass you acted alone so don’t drag us into this!
Milliput is now sanded to shape. The tensioners were painted black then dry brushed with some rust red. I did a coat of brown ink over the tensioners and bands. Then a little black ink on the tensioners just to bring out the detail. The bottom band got some white lightly dry brushed on to represent salt crystals building up from the bottom.
Aside from being a little more clubby than the real thing they look pretty good.
To finish the tanks I need to add the pickles to the one tank. A support made of foam core was glued in. A disk for the fake bottom was cut from card stock. Finally a seal of TB3 was added to keep the water from running into the tank.
Wish I had set this a little lower in the tank but the wire from the top ring is in the way. It will have to go like it is.
While the glue dried I finished the frame on the car body.
Tomorrow I will do pickles and start adding the details on the car.
