Exceptional upgrade of a fantastic old Revell/Tyco flatcar. The original tooling for the deck remains outstanding, and all of your upgrades are absolutely perfect to polish it up for this era.
Sometimes you can find real scribed wood to use for the deck, that always looks nice. With the cost of cars these days, it's worth the work to upgrade a cheap car.
Very nice work. I’ve done a number of these. One thing I do is use coffee stirrers for the deck. Slightly out of scale, but I generally put a load on them and tends to make it less noticeable. Honestly I don’t even swap out the trucks, I just cut off the horn hook and put in metal wheel sets.
Nice work as always. I have a bunch of those Tyco bulkhead flat cars. I plan to keep them as bulkheads. I will do the truck and couplers, but I'll not do the super detailing. I'm a cluts, so those nice little parts would wind up on the layout or the train room floor. I will paint and number them for my freelance railroad NESX.
Nicely done. I got bit by the procrastination bug and so have not begun to take the needed pictures of my own kitbashing of these flatcars. The test model turned out really well, though. I was out of the gray etching primer I normally use, so I used regular red primer and I liked the result so much that I think that will end up being the carbody color. I'm also now involved in local school district activities and so that eats into my time. Unlike you, I was thinking of just doing a series of still shots and a script read by text-to-speech software, as I hate the sound of my own voice.
We all hate the sound of our own voice! This is because we normally "hear" ourselves mostly through bone conduction, so hearing a recording of our own voice sounds *really* odd. Making a video of still shots is still (no pun intended!) of value - see Greg Cassidy's Workshop. Which red primer did you use?
@@rwissbaum9849 While waiting for the Rustoleum Self-etching Automotive primer to arrive, I used their "rusty metal" primer. It goes on smooth and fine details still show through. It ends up a nice rich oxide red color (boxcar red).
That's a great question - I skipped over the details because I have addressed this in several of my previous videos. In the case of these flat cars, the original horn-hook couplers were truck mounted (some call these "Talgo" trucks.) I stay way from truck mounted couplers because they can cause problems, especially on reverse curves (sudden switch from left-hand curve to right-hand curve). Therefore, I had to add coupler gear boxes (also called draft gear) to the underside of the flat cars. I use Kadee #242 gear boxes - at time stamp 6:00 I mention drilling the mounting holes for these gear boxes. If the car includes body-mounted couplers, you can almost always use the cast-on coupler pockets. I use Kadee #5 or #141 couplers. #5 couplers use the phosphor-bronze centering spring; #141 use the whisker style springs. The shanks of the #5 and #141 couplers are the same thickness, so without the extra thickness of the phosphor-bronze coupler centering spring, the #141 coupler might sag just a little bit, leaving the coupler too close to the rails. I ususally shim this up by inserting a phosphor-bronze spring (Kadee #634 with the side tabs cut away) - this prevents that sag. Some modelers use a piece of Scotch tape to make up the thickness. Once you've mounted the gearbox using a #2-52 screw, just put the coupler in the gearbox and snap on the cover. See this video where I detail the process: ua-cam.com/video/ck0Y-daCIP0/v-deo.html
Enjoy your videos, with an eye on modeling on a budget and using affordable models as starting point for your projects. Are the brake ratchets Tichy parts?
As I mentioned in the description below the video, I found these parts in Tichy part #3007 Tank Car Detail Set. I happened to have a bunch of these on hand, so I used them. (I got my brake wheels from the same sets.) It doesn't make a lot of sense to buy a $6 set of parts for just these two items... You might drop Don Tichy a note to see if that particular part is available in a different part set. This is part C11 "RATCHET PLATE" in both the detail set and in the tank car kit. Also, Tichy #3003 is a set of 4 brake wheels and 4 brake staff brackets; it's not very clear but the brackets might include the ratchet detail. These would mount on the end sill, not on the deck.
UPDATE: Tichy #3003 contains 4 brake wheels, 4 brake staff support brackets, and a length of 0.015" wire sufficient to make 4 brake staffs (staves?) The support bracket mounts on the end of the car, and has the ratchet plate cast into the top of the bracket. At $2.50 per set, that's a pretty economical way to get some good brake detail. Had I used these on my project, I would've waited until after the painted deck was snapped onto the painted car body, then cemented the bracket at the B end of the car deck. You'll need to paint the bracket ahead of time, and use a *tiny* bit of CA glue.
Boss, your the reason why i have so many "cheap" cars in my roster. i plan on remaking most of them with your tips and methods so im not spending $90 per car. nothing against the newer cars or manufactures, but hot dam, id be broke after only a few. Would you by chance do a video on a Ore Jenny if you come across one? i have quite a bunch of those president choice red ore cars that could use the makeover Cheers, from Canada
The only ore cars I own are the Tichy kits - $16.50 for a two pack. If you'd like to email me a few photos and a copy of the instructions, I can tell you what I'd do.
Exceptional upgrade of a fantastic old Revell/Tyco flatcar. The original tooling for the deck remains outstanding, and all of your upgrades are absolutely perfect to polish it up for this era.
wow wee!!! Good Job
Sometimes you can find real scribed wood to use for the deck, that always looks nice. With the cost of cars these days, it's worth the work to upgrade a cheap car.
They turned out great!
I like when simple modifications make a really great model.
Nice work.
Thanks!
Great video, like the technique of weathering the decks, they so realistic it would be a shame cover them up by putting loads on them LOL 👍
Very nice work. I’ve done a number of these. One thing I do is use coffee stirrers for the deck. Slightly out of scale, but I generally put a load on them and tends to make it less noticeable. Honestly I don’t even swap out the trucks, I just cut off the horn hook and put in metal wheel sets.
Check out this video to see how I do wood decks: ua-cam.com/video/BKtaABN5E_g/v-deo.html
Nice work as always. I have a bunch of those Tyco bulkhead flat cars. I plan to keep them as bulkheads. I will do the truck and couplers, but I'll not do the super detailing. I'm a cluts, so those nice little parts would wind up on the layout or the train room floor. I will paint and number them for my freelance railroad NESX.
This is the best part of the hobby!
@modelrailroader5619 I second that!
Those really turned out nice! I have both cars under my layout. Time to start digging them out. Thanks for sharing this!
Nicely done. I got bit by the procrastination bug and so have not begun to take the needed pictures of my own kitbashing of these flatcars. The test model turned out really well, though. I was out of the gray etching primer I normally use, so I used regular red primer and I liked the result so much that I think that will end up being the carbody color. I'm also now involved in local school district activities and so that eats into my time. Unlike you, I was thinking of just doing a series of still shots and a script read by text-to-speech software, as I hate the sound of my own voice.
We all hate the sound of our own voice! This is because we normally "hear" ourselves mostly through bone conduction, so hearing a recording of our own voice sounds *really* odd.
Making a video of still shots is still (no pun intended!) of value - see Greg Cassidy's Workshop.
Which red primer did you use?
@@rwissbaum9849 While waiting for the Rustoleum Self-etching Automotive primer to arrive, I used their "rusty metal" primer. It goes on smooth and fine details still show through. It ends up a nice rich oxide red color (boxcar red).
@@whiteknightcat Thanks!
Top work, a great transformation 💪🏻👍🏻
Great work!
Thanks!
Very nice and well done. Do you have plans to do the same rescuing to boxcars?
Check out ua-cam.com/video/rwr10iJjM0g/v-deo.html and ua-cam.com/video/ck0Y-daCIP0/v-deo.html and also ua-cam.com/video/apGqEDu_Q_Y/v-deo.html
@@rwissbaum9849, thank you so much!
How do you go from old horn and hook couplers to kadee couplers ?....there's no information on this in the video
That's a great question - I skipped over the details because I have addressed this in several of my previous videos.
In the case of these flat cars, the original horn-hook couplers were truck mounted (some call these "Talgo" trucks.) I stay way from truck mounted couplers because they can cause problems, especially on reverse curves (sudden switch from left-hand curve to right-hand curve). Therefore, I had to add coupler gear boxes (also called draft gear) to the underside of the flat cars. I use Kadee #242 gear boxes - at time stamp 6:00 I mention drilling the mounting holes for these gear boxes.
If the car includes body-mounted couplers, you can almost always use the cast-on coupler pockets.
I use Kadee #5 or #141 couplers. #5 couplers use the phosphor-bronze centering spring; #141 use the whisker style springs. The shanks of the #5 and #141 couplers are the same thickness, so without the extra thickness of the phosphor-bronze coupler centering spring, the #141 coupler might sag just a little bit, leaving the coupler too close to the rails. I ususally shim this up by inserting a phosphor-bronze spring (Kadee #634 with the side tabs cut away) - this prevents that sag. Some modelers use a piece of Scotch tape to make up the thickness.
Once you've mounted the gearbox using a #2-52 screw, just put the coupler in the gearbox and snap on the cover.
See this video where I detail the process: ua-cam.com/video/ck0Y-daCIP0/v-deo.html
Enjoy your videos, with an eye on modeling on a budget and using affordable models as starting point for your projects. Are the brake ratchets Tichy parts?
As I mentioned in the description below the video, I found these parts in Tichy part #3007 Tank Car Detail Set. I happened to have a bunch of these on hand, so I used them. (I got my brake wheels from the same sets.) It doesn't make a lot of sense to buy a $6 set of parts for just these two items... You might drop Don Tichy a note to see if that particular part is available in a different part set. This is part C11 "RATCHET PLATE" in both the detail set and in the tank car kit. Also, Tichy #3003 is a set of 4 brake wheels and 4 brake staff brackets; it's not very clear but the brackets might include the ratchet detail. These would mount on the end sill, not on the deck.
UPDATE: Tichy #3003 contains 4 brake wheels, 4 brake staff support brackets, and a length of 0.015" wire sufficient to make 4 brake staffs (staves?) The support bracket mounts on the end of the car, and has the ratchet plate cast into the top of the bracket. At $2.50 per set, that's a pretty economical way to get some good brake detail. Had I used these on my project, I would've waited until after the painted deck was snapped onto the painted car body, then cemented the bracket at the B end of the car deck. You'll need to paint the bracket ahead of time, and use a *tiny* bit of CA glue.
Boss, your the reason why i have so many "cheap" cars in my roster. i plan on remaking most of them with your tips and methods so im not spending $90 per car. nothing against the newer cars or manufactures, but hot dam, id be broke after only a few. Would you by chance do a video on a Ore Jenny if you come across one? i have quite a bunch of those president choice red ore cars that could use the makeover
Cheers, from Canada
The only ore cars I own are the Tichy kits - $16.50 for a two pack. If you'd like to email me a few photos and a copy of the instructions, I can tell you what I'd do.
@@rwissbaum9849 For sure, will do that when im home, used my lunchbreak for the video ha, i couldnt see your email in the description however
@@tesleywhompson9555 My email used to be available under the "More" link, but it seems to have disappeared: rjw31415926@gmail.com
@@rwissbaum9849 Sent you a inquire, thanks again 👍