SP 15469 (Part 1) - Lettering Changes & Backdating Rapido B-50-15

In the two previous posts in this series I've covered the History & Roster of the SP/T&NO fleet of B-50-15/16s in Part 1 and the Review of the new Rapido models in Part 2.  This could be considered Part 3 of that series, but I will be specifically working on the SP 15469 model. 

SP 15469 Left side with the finished decals

Stock Model

Stock Rapido SP 15469 with post-1946 lettering and AB-brakes.

Rapido didn't offer the proper pre-1946 lettering scheme, which used only reporting mark initials, not the whole railroad name spelled out, which came in 1946.  So in this post I'll cover the changing of the lettering, backdating it and weathering.

Removing & Painting Underframe

As-Built K-Brakes - painted FCR

The K-brake version of the B-50-15/16 has a very nicely rendered dirt collector 'can' hanging from the trainline pipe on the valve.

Rebuilt car after 1936 with AB-Brakes

I actually swapped underframes with SP 15564, which has K-brakes.  I want the steel resheath car with AB brakes and this backdated wood car to have the older K-brakes.

Disconnect bottom of brake staff

This requires popping out the base of the brake staff from the bracket, which is part of the underframe assembly.  

Underframes removed for painting

Once that is released, the normal method of spreading the sides of the car slightly allows the shell of the car to be removed from the underframe.  

Masking & Painting Body

SP 15469 masked up for blanking out the 1946 lettering.

I masked off the capacity and car number that I wanted to keep with Tamiya masking tape, along with a shortened section of the upper white bar over the initials.  I cut the tape into smaller pieces with a sharp No.11 X-acto blade.

Left side masked and painted

With the underframes removed, I painted them with a lightened StarBrand SP Freight Car Red (FCR) mix in my airbrush. 

Right side masked and painted

The masked body was also shot with the lightened SP FCR, working around the sections of the herald and car measurement blocks.

3/4 view of the left side of the car masked and painted.

I did paint out the "AB BRAKES" stenciling at the far right, next to the ladder as this car will now be equipped only with K-Brakes.

Weathering & Redecalling

Masking removed, right side

The masking was removed and weathering with various earth/brown colors of Apple Barrel acrylic paints were used to cover the color change between the lightened FCR and the original Rapido FCR color.

Masking Removed, left side

This naturally resulted in the car appearing faded and moderately weathered.  I also did a quick pass on the roof, trucks, and ends.  I may add a bit more to the roof.

SP 15469 Right side with finished decals

As part of the weathering to blend the color of the masked parts, I used the acrylic paints to highlight the boards and get a bit of worn out board look, or at least the paint starting to fade and fail.  I also highlighed the trucks with some lighter dusty tan.  This is a quick first pass on the weathering, so I might do more after a pass of dullcote to add some shadow washes on the trucks and boards.

SP 15469 Left side with the finished decals

I used some of the OwlMtModels #1219 SPMW Supply Car decal reporting marks and some remnant decals from the Era-D tare mark & station set.  I selected "BKN 11-47", which is Brooklyn as the reweigh station in November, 1947.

In Closing

I'll probably put some chalk mark decals and routing cards on the car to finish it up before a quick shot of dullcote.

SP 15469 weathered with retare dated SP 15564.

That covers the work on I'll be covering the mechanical modifications in SP & T&NO B-50-15,-16 (Part 3) - Mechanical Modifications of Rapido Models.  I'll also be covering some other smaller changes to the other cars in a upcoming blog posts.

Jason Hill

Related Articles:

SP & T&NO B-50-15,-16 (Part 1) - Modeling, Research, & Rapido

SP & T&NO B-50-15,16 (Part 2) - Arrival & Review of the Rapido Models

Freight Car Overview Index - SP & Multiple RRs Cars.

Ted Culotta Review of Rapido B-50-15/16 - Ted points out several issues with the Rapido model that I missed.