# Another boxcar kitbash



## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

As part of my ongoing effort to make 1:29 40 foot steel boxcars look a little more varied, I took another crack at a USRA single sheathed boxcar. Not done yet, but it's coming along

I bought an aristo stock car kit for cheap at the ECLSTS--Nicholas Smith was selling them for 20 some bucks. I used a combination of bondo and Durham's "water putty" to fill in the spaces between the slats. I wanted a worn car, beat from use


something like this: 














Here it is so far--waiting on decals and lettering from Stan Cederleaf



















it was a messy job and not easy, but I'm fairly happy with the results. It needs to be lowered. I filled in the slats reasonably well, touched them up and then ran 80 grit sandpaper over the whole thing. Not bad, but a lot of work. i think at this point it woudl be easier to just scratch build the sides


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

Looking grand! Can you post a pic of what you started with, would be fun to see the total transformation


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

cool!


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Nice! You captured the worn out, beaten character very well.


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By jimtyp on 30 Mar 2010 01:45 PM 
Looking grand! Can you post a pic of what you started with, would be fun to see the total transformation  
Doh!! Should have taken a picture.

The kit was just a standard aristo stock car, unpainted, in gray plastic. The body came with the roof, the sides and the ends as one piece


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## xo18thfa (Jan 2, 2008)

That's a nice job. Very good in all respects.

How do you put decals on such an irregular surface?


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Posted By xo18thfa on 30 Mar 2010 02:45 PM 


How do you put decals on such an irregular surface? 


That remains to be seen!

I plan to try a base of future floor wax and/or krylon spray gloss. May not work


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## San Juan (Jan 3, 2008)

Looks great. I barely recognize it as the Aristo stock car.


Durhams Water Putty, now that is an interesting use. Last time I used it was for my sister's 4th grade California Mission project. Good stuff for HO scale mountains too. 


http://www.myatomic.com/images/bad/bad16802.jpghttp://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-37481201299324_2099_375571961

I think you'll be fine with the decals over such an irregular surface if you use a softening solution. Might take a few applications. I like Badger Softening Solution. Another real good one is Walther's Solvaset. Both work well with Stan's decals.


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Mike......... I think I'd use Krylon Acrylic Cyrstal Clear Gloss over the paint. Spray 3-4 light coats over the car, let it dry for 2-3 hours and then apply the decals as Matt suggested.

Test the Krylon on the paint to see if it's compatible. If it starts to reticulate then use Future but let it cure first.

If Krylon is compatible with the paint, then seal the decals with Krylon Acrylic Cyrstal Clear Satin after they've dried for 24 hours or so, followed by Matte (can #1311) for a nice dull finish. 

Should look real nice.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Great idea and follow through! 


John


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## Richard Smith (Jan 2, 2008)

Mike, 

You are fast becoming the "on site steam era rolling stock guru" (there's a mouthful for you - hehe!). Nice job and adaptation.


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Richard it's all your doing. You made a really generous post about rolling stock in the 40s-50s that helped me figure out where to go with it. A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!


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## m ledley (Jan 18, 2009)

great job  one of my favorite aspects the scale/hobby kitbashin---but no matter how hard you try or do the best job you can some one always finds FALT..thats why i don't post much anymore !! it used to be fun at this site>>>


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## ORD23 (Jan 2, 2010)

Nice! What did you use to paint it, air brush/rattle can? What color was used. Thanx. 

Ed


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Thanks! The color is from a rattle can--it's primer, and the brand is unclear. I love the stuff--great color, goes on well, covers well, drys flat, durable. I don;t know who makes it. The label looks like this, except it's primer:


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## RimfireJim (Mar 25, 2009)

Neat project, lownote. I have to admit, when I read your description of your approach to the project but before I saw the end result, I thought, "No way!" But, you made it work, and quite nicely. I can imagine that it was not the easiest way. 
You might be interested in the series on steam era boxcars that _Railroad Model Craftsman _ran (is still running?) I don't have any of the issue numbers, because I checked them out from my local library, but each issue had a multi-page article on a specific car, with prototype photos and how to model it in HO scale. All the info would be pertinent to creating a large scale model.


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