Joma Tanker Car

[j p]

Starting new "batch"

[TheKnighTT]

Another example:

[milwrd1]

Another example, completed during Covid.

Initial Painting

Welcome to Spencer Chemical SPENSOL SCJX 1016

Another photo, tried to eliminate some of the lighting glare.

Last photo, with a tree for reference.

Used Gold Coast PT-003 trucks, Gold Coast brake wheel, Precision Scale PS 48274 tank car washout plugs, Gold Model N scale #160-23 placards, end steps from 0.030 brass wire. PVM / Elmer McKay decals. MTL 1015 couplers. Added approximately 0.17 oz. to the center sill, total car weight is 1.16 oz. (it's always difficult to add sufficient weight to open frame type cars).

Tried Rust Oleum Black spray paint in a can. Worked OK, perhaps a little heavy.

Truck Mounting: Insert in the Joma bolster is a 2mm thread. Used a M2 x 4mm stainless steel screw, turning the head to 2.4mm. Bored the Gold Coast truck bolster hole to 0.079 (approximately 2mm).

[ConducTTor]

Yeah I think the spray can paint is a bit on the thick side. But a nice looking car.

[milwrd1]

Agree the paint on the Spencer Chemical (Spensol) tank car is a little on the thick side. It is common knowledge that the pigment used in the spray cans is not as fine as that provided by the hobby paint manufacturers, and that one could never obtain the quality of finish with a spray can with the quality of a finish obtained with an airbrush. Floquil (currently out of production) years ago would advertise about the fineness of the pigments in its hobby paints. The boys at Model Railroader have done several projects recently using spray cans (Rust Oleum model 2X?) and I decided to give it a try. The airbrush is one of the most inefficient tools available to use, one spends much more time preparing the paint, and cleaning the equipment afterward than actually spraying the model. The car looks fine when displayed at a normal "distance" on the layout or when operated in a train.

The camera is very good at pointing out all of the details of the car, whether good or bad.
Still haven't figured out the correct ways to "light" the subject, to be able to clearly view the details and eliminate the shadows. The photos were taken from a distance of approximately 9 inches, using the telescoping and wide-angle features of the camera.

[j p]

Why does the tank have number 1016 and the underframe number 1029?
I use spray paint for my models, it is spray paint for automotive use. I could get even Pennsy's Green Locomotive Enamel in spray (also known as PRR Brunswick Green). :)

[ConducTTor]

"The airbrush is one of the most inefficient tools available to use, one spends much more time preparing the paint, and cleaning the equipment afterward than actually spraying the model."

This. When I was still a teenager and obsessed with building plastic models, I saved up money and bought an airbrush and air compressor. After the first few uses the excitement was gone amd replaced with sadness and annoyance

[TheKnighTT]

As much as I hate the cleaning of my airbrush, there is no way I could have painted that tank car adequately with a brush.

And I think I should always remember the end steps and the brake wheel.

[milwrd1]

Why does the tank have number 1016 and the underframe number 1029?
I use spray paint for my models, it is spray paint for automotive use. I could get even Pennsy's Green Locomotive Enamel in spray (also known as PRR Brunswick Green). :)

Obviously, a mistake. A look at the other side of the car shows the correct information, the date the wheel bearings were packed.

SCJX 1016 wheel bearing packing info

Note that this is indeed the other side of the car, previous photos show a red placard, this side shows a white placard. Close examination shows that the lettering slightly above the truck says, "repacking date 10-20-51". So how did the 1029 info wind up on the underframe in this location on the other side of the car

I believe 1 of 2 things happened. First, I may have damaged one of the packing info decals (cut it in the incorrect place) when I removed it from the decal sheet. 2nd, and most likely, when I removed the packing info decal from the water, it folded up upon itself and I couldn't untangle it or broke it trying to untangle it. In either case, I substituted a piece of similar size in its location (the incorrect 1029 info on the underframe). Many of the decal sheets provided by PVM / Elmer McKay only had enough decals to do 1 car, with a choice of 2 numbers. I checked the remnants of the Spencer Chem decal sheet and could not find the other wheel bearing packing info decal. Anyway, this can be easily resolved with a little weathering at a later date.

Why would I use a red placard on 1 side and a white placard on the other side This provides 2 loads with 1 car. Red would be used to indicate the car is loaded (perhaps traveling eastbound), and white used to indicate the car is empty (perhaps traveling westbound). In most cases, only 1 side of the car is accessible to view.

Enjoy the questions, keep them coming. I had to use a little extra brain power with this one, since the model work was done sometime in 2020, and my memory isn't quite what it used to be. Now, let me find my brass HP 4-6-0 and take a picture of the Rumford motor, to answer a recently posed question.