Batch-building freight cars - 8
have an airbrush, painting by
hand works well; it just takes
longer to complete the job.
My favorite paint combo is
to start with engine black,
and then dust over a second
coat of rust (Testors “rust” is
my favorite).
Step three: Sort and unpack:
After you are familiar with the kit, it’s time to get to work.
Unpack everything from the boxes, then group the car bodies
and sprues of the same parts together. Be sure to keep like-
numbered parts like car ends and sides together.
Group the parts together according to when they will be
needed in construction. All the sprues for the underbody in
one pile, roof parts in another, etc.
Put the stuff you won’t be using right away in open boxes
out on the workbench, but not in the construction zone. The
boxes the cars came in work great for this. I also use lids from
copy paper boxes to keep the parts organized while I build
the batch.
13: Parts are sorted into boxes while awaiting assembly.
12 a
12 b
12 c
12a -12b - 12c: This is
my approach to painting
trucks. Left: A skewer
through the hole of the
side frame makes a good
holding tool. Middle: A
painting mask makes
quick work of wheelset
painting. While there
are several commercial
products available,
I made a makeshift
painting mask by drilling
holes in some styrene
scrap. The plastic
protects the wheel tread
while you spray the rest
of the wheel and axle. A
quick wipe of the paint
off the axle point and
you’re done. A side view
of a wheel in the mask.
MRH-Mar 2014
