# Converting an LGB tankcar into a French wine "wagon citerne"



## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

I started with the conversion of an LGB/ToyTrain tankcar into a French (looking) narrow gauge "wagon citerne".
It has to look something like this:











This is the donor car, LGB #94040 "Lehmann Benzin"











The tank after taken the car apart. You can notice the rivets/popnails on top of the tank are interrupted. I made some replacements using drips of waterresistant white glue.
I also sanded away the molding seam (visible on the first picture) on top of the tank and on one of the topsides. The other topside can be removed like a lid and was molded in another way so it did not have a visible seam.




















The new rivets:




















The first layer of paint was applied last thursday. I decided to paint the whole tank white, than tape of the places that have to stay white and then re-spray the tank in blue. I used a gloss white rattlecan bought in a DIY store.
I also bought a rattlecan of Tamiya "French Blue"; because that looked and sounded like the right color! 


Perhaps I had to prime the tank first because the "Lehmann Benzin" sign shines a bit through the white paint...



















I gave the tank a second layer today and the paint covered.
Now the hardest part: WAITING!


I ordered myself to wait a few days to let the paint hardening to prevent I rip the paint of again after removing the tape. Meanwhile, on to making some "Margnat" decals! 

Paul


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

I finished the designing of the decals. I used a picture of an old Margnat commercial sign and converted into a very simple 16 color BMP file (so actually the photo is simplified into a sort of drawing). Than I spend hours of filling pixels in the right colors....
But all that work is pretty rewarding and this is how it looks afterwards. Next I printed it a few times on normal paper in different sizes to see how it looks like:












After chosen the right sizes (some big for the sides, a smaller for the topside) I printed the signs on a piece of Testors transparent decal paper. After printing I let it dry for 30 minutes and than I sprayed varnish over the decals to seal the not waterproof printer ink so it's not washed away when the decal gets in the water. 


The decals:














Paul


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Great work Paul!


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Update on the progress of the last few weeks:

For the topside I took an old cup as masker. Spraying the blue paint (Tamiya French Blue).










After spraying and decal in place:










Taping of the place what must stay white. The rest will be sprayed blue (not sure if I do this a next time again this way).











The Tamiya paint was not very easy to apply, but even worse; on some place the first paint react on the Tamiya paint


















I cleaned of the damaged paint and resprayed it. On some places damages still show but it looks a lot better!




















I took some plastic putty (Revell) and applied a very thin layer of putty on the damaged spots. Than sanded it with very fine sanding paper. I had to make some rivets because I sanded them of in the process...

After removing the tape it showed the blue paint had bleeded a bit. A little touching up with white paint helped a lot.















Two close ups of the final result after spraying. It's still noticeable but less than before but I decided to leave it this way. Some rust will be applied on these spots ;-)






















Overall picture: 











Than on with the banners on the sides:










Painting / weathering the undercarriage:










And some subtile weathering on the tank.




























Next: bordes and brakinghouse...


Paul


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Darn, that really looks good Paul, after the weathering and all the slight imperfections just fit in and add to the realism.


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes Steve, after spending time at a rail car repair facility for work a couple years back, the "prototype" modellers worry WAY to much and probably put more care, attention and effort than the 1:1 guys that have to crank the things out quickly for their owners. Color matches, level markings, bleed-through of paint, correct spelling, sheesh! 

Looking good Paul.


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

FINALY FINISHED!!!! :razz: 


































































Paul


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Paul;

That is a very nice wine wagon. I like the way you weathered it to give it a "used but not abused" look.

David Meashey


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

If French wine will rust a tank car like that what must it do to your insides









That is a real nice job that you did on the car. It looks great. 

JJ


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## SteveC (Jan 2, 2008)

Hey Paul

The wine car really came out very nice, the guard is a good idea don't want anybody taking samples now.


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By John J on 26 Nov 2010 04:21 AM 
If French wine will rust a tank car like that what must it do to your insides









That is a real nice job that you did on the car. It looks great. 

JJ 


As we discussed for a few pages on the Conti garden railway forum, most were glass lined, as several broght up the concern JJ!!!


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Thanks for all the nice replies! 
It was a fun project to work on and indeed we had some research on these tankcars. Also we noticed there is a small difference between wine and domestic cleaning products ;-) ;-) 

Although most have the idea bottling is done at the winery central bottling is more common. Bulk wine transport is still done, also in the USA (steel tanks, don't know if these are glass lined...). See for instance: http://www.eagle-redwood.com/ 

Paul


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Oh, I forgot the flexi tank wine transport in containers.... 

http://www.cortahojas.com/eng/granel.html# 

Image: 
http://www.cortahojas.com/eng/imagenes/flexitanks.jpg 

One container can carry 10,000 liters of bottled wine, compared with 24,000 liters in a Flexitank. More than twice the capacity that naturally produces considerable savings in transportation costs. Also CO2 emissions are estimated to be reduced by up to 50%.he Flexitank transforms a 20-foot ISO container into a single transport system for bulk wine.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Posted By Paulus on 27 Nov 2010 06:23 AM 
Thanks for all the nice replies! 
It was a fun project to work on and indeed we had some research on these tankcars. Also we noticed there is a small difference between wine and domestic cleaning products ;-) ;-) 

Although most have the idea bottling is done at the winery central bottling is more common. Bulk wine transport is still done, also in the USA (steel tanks, don't know if these are glass lined...). See for instance: http://www.eagle-redwood.com/ 

Paul 

Would anything less than Glass lined taint the wine taste? Would stainless steel taint the wine also?


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Would anything less than Glass lined  taint  the  wine taste?     Would stainless steel  taint the wine  also? 

There is a very interesting article on bulk wine transportation on: http://www.winebusiness.com/wbm/?go=getArticle&dataId=56235 
According to this article stainless steel tanks are preferred: 

_"It is no surprise the two companies have moved far beyond the old, used milk tankers. As in any business, demand drives growth, and trucking companies have worked hard to keep pace with the needs of the winemaker.*Today's fleets are custom-fabricated stainless rigs, designed specifically with the winemaker in mind.*The result is improved sanitation, better temperature control, individual compartments and even satellite logistics. Winemakers, after all, want to know at all times where their shipment is."_ 

Aluminum is totally not done: _Tanks are no longer fabricated from aluminum because they were too porous and can retain wine._


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes, wine is made in stainless tanks now, don't ask me how I know.


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