How can I improve RTR plastic reefers?

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

G’day folks,

I received a gift of a Walthers 2 pack of Milwaukee road reefers ( stk No. 932-22575).

I plan to use them on my '50’s era layoutnd would like to improve their appearance and operating quality. To begin, I would install KD couplers and add weight. Are the trucks worth keeping and/or can they be modified?

What procedure would you use to lightly weather them? I say lightly because I think they would have been rather

2

i would replace the wheels with metal ones. I don’t know about the trucks though. If you have a airbrush you can lightly weather it that way. If you don’t have a airbrush then you can weather it with chalks.

Hope this helps,
dekruif

3

If you want them to look new just put a little bit of rust on the trucks and couplers and a little road dirt on the sides near the bottom.

4

Some Walthers cars has metal side frames. Replacing those with Kato’s trucks did wonders.

5

I think the RRs tried to keep the reefers fairly clean. You hardly find an " over weathered reefer" maybe because it carried food it would give a better impression. Definitely change the couplers & wheels, if they are plastic. Also replacing the oversize stirrup steps with wire ones give a lot of return for little cost & effort. Jerry

6

A BIG hammer? I’m sorry…I couldn’t help myself. [}:)]