Models and Kitbashes by NightOwlModeler: Modeling MoPac "Eagle River" Pullman 6-6-4 (Part 2)

Continuing from Part 1, I've decided to go ahead with an "in for a penny, in for a pound" plan of work on this car in terms of trim molding by fashioning the lower side trim bar-shape molding.

Fraternal twin sister 6-6-4s - Santa Fe's "Surprise Valley" and the new MoPac "Eagle River" as it looks starting into Part 2 of the construction blog.

This was tricky to do as I had to set up the offsets and use my calipers to 'snap' the scribe line along the body to mount the molding to.

Lower Fluting Installation

I fabricated the lower trim strip from 0.010" x 0.040" styrene.

Two scribed lines to form the boundaries to the lower trim molding.

I scribed two lines, one 0.285" from the bottom of the belt C-channel, and another line offset another 0.040", so about 0.315". This results in the lower scribed line about 0.040" from the lower car side panel's bottom edge. I was primarily working from the 0.040" offset from the bottom panel joint, because I wasn't 100% sure of how precise I did the work of keeping the vertical position of my applied C-channel from last post. Thankfully it turned out to be very accurate and also was very straight, as I checked the position in the previous post by eye.

Welding the lower trim 0.010" x 0.040" styrene strip in place.

Applying the liquid Tamyia glue to weld the lower trim in place.

My checking gauge to position the lower trim molding.

I used a square strip of 0.040" x 0.040" styrene to form my visual offset checking gauge.

Another view of the gauging strip.

I was regularly checking the position vertically of the molding strip every couple inches as I applied the Tamyia liquid welding glue, and then moved down the car another couple inches. Each point I checked, I could very subtly change the position, and then I would try to keep it held with my finger, while I applied the liquid glue. A few times I had to gently push the strip to remove slight bowing and keep it straight.

Left side of the completed molding.

I'm actually pleasently surprised how straight the molding came out on this model.

Right side of the completed molding.

Not that by this point I've actually already painted the trucks. I used a AppleBarrel Asphalt (dark gray), and then applied a straight black wash over the whole truck to darken it more. As the prototype should be black, but I wanted it a bit weathered for an 'in service' look, plus it will highlight the details of the trucks better this way.

Against my photo white-booth, left side.

At this point the trim molding is complete. I still made a couple finishing passes with a bit more glue to ensure that the whole strip is welded down to the carside.

In the photo white-booth, right side.

At this point, I was also doing some sanding work along the edges of the trim molding to remove any of the crazing and flaws that come from where the brush touched the carside when applying the liquid glue, or got out onto the carside itself. - As we'll see later, I could have done more at this point with this... but the first witness coat of paint exposed all the problems.

Disassembly for Painting

Completed trim molding, left side.

Disassembly of the Walthers cars is always fun... and I possibly should have done this before applying all the trim molding.

Completed trim molding, right side.

However, having faith that my previous experiences with twisting the tar out of the Walthers passenger car bodies to get the roof clips to release. This time I was a bit more nervous anmd needed extra care to avoid damaging tge trim molding with my hands' gripping of the body.

Roof

I marked the inside of the roof end, as to the vestibule.

As I want to be clear which way the roof fits, I went ahead and marked the inside of the roof as to which end is the vestibule.

Car Ends

Removed car ends for painting.

On this project I removed the ends from the car as well, to paint.

Inside of the ends with the steel springs to operate the diaphragms.

These early 2000-era cars had spring steel plates to provide tension on the diaphragms when they're installed. I always found that these were too stiff, so either soften the shape of the springs or remove them and replace the diaphragm springs with other options. The diaphragm springs were eventually retooled to place plastic springs into the diaphragm's outer striker part itself. That version seems to work perfectly well without any modifications.

Disassembled for Masking

Vestibule of the car with the end removed.

As I was twisting the main body, the ends actually volunteered to remove themselves early in the process, so off they came!

Blind-end of the car with the end plate removed.

The main roof clips are pretty aggressively holding on and basically pinching the edges of the roof against the sides. You almost have to twist the body enough that the clips hit the end of the notches in the side and spring themselves off that way.

Body with the roof unclipped and ends removed.

With the ends removed and the windows not mounted, I was actually able to go through the section windows and tease at the clips... it ended up not helping, as the roof came off from the body at the other end of the car first anyway.

Another overall view of the car dismantled for masking.

The far side of the roof wanted to stay, but it was eventually carefully unclipped and removed too. I gently filed some of the mating surfaces of the clips to keep them from locking quiet this tight ever again! Just so when it's time to pull the car apart again, at least two more times, it won't be as dangerous to the body of the car that I've already put so much effort into modifying.

Masking for Paint

While I have Tamyia Masking Tape for much of the finer details and the exterior striping, I used generic low-tack blue tape everywhere else on this car.

I started masking around the 6-sections of the car.

In this part of the car I applied the blue tape with the adhesive towards the windows from the inside.

Double Bedrooms masked off.

Along the rest of the interior, I applied the blue tape with the tape adhesive towards the interior of the car, not towards the wall.

Other side of the 6-section end of the car.

In this shot I'm working my way forward on the left side of the car. I broke the tape into several smaller sections to more easily work around the various side-core clips and around the interior wall sections that made it harder to get the tape into place. During this time, I was flexing the carsides outward to gain the needed space to insert the tape.

Close-up of the 6-section end with the end taped over.

I also placed small bits of tape down into the end of car restrooms, to cover over the windows there.

Roof is fully masked over with blue tape.

Right side of the car with all the masking in place. I applied a full-width tape strip down the top, tying the masking from both sides together and keeping any paint from getting into the interior of the car.

Vestibule end of the car masked off, additional masking placed over the door's windows too.

I covered over the ends of the car with the blue tape as well. This tape fits basically perfectly on the width.

Blind-end of the car with end removed and taped over.

In Closing

I'm going to be sneaky and end this blog post here. However, I'll give you a quick preview of the witness coat of paint on the "Eagle River" from next post, where I'm checking to see how close I was on positioning the trim molding for the windows. Not too bad.

Checking the size and spacing of the stripes on the MP Express Boxcar from Walthers with the new trim molding on the "Eagle River".

On this project the painting has turned into its own project and novel... So with this post already being as long as it is with all these photos, I'm going to save the painting for next time.

Jason Hill

I've done a number of Walthers 6-6-4 sleepers, as well as other arrangements of their cars. Here's a recent one that I've been working on...

MoPac's 6-6-4 "Eagle River" in The Eagle scheme