I would like to make the plastic coal loads that come with many of the open hopers look more realistic. Any suggestions on how to do this?
I know there are several modelers here that have coal loads on there layout, and some use real coal, is there any way of making the plastic loads passable? Thanks, Mike
Plastic loads usually don’t show nooks and cranies. Add some ballast or gravel, use 70% rubbing alcohol to wet it it and 3 to 1 Elmer’s and water to glue it in place.
Spray or brush on flat black throughout, then with a fine brush, dot individual chunks with the glossiest gloss black you can find.
Real coal sparkles under the right light.
I’ve seen some very convincing coal loads that were made from foam, like the foam that pads electronic equipment. It is cut to shape and painted black.
I buy a sheet of thin balsa wood and bags of coal, which comes in different sizes. I cut the balsa wood to fit into the hopper, paint flat black, and then use a mix of water and Elmer’s white glue. I usually glue in layers. Looks much better than the molded shapes which are sometimes included with a hopper, and it’s pretty cheap.
Tom
The big problem with the plastic loads that come with the cars is that they sit too high in the car. Most loaded cars in the real world have about a foot or two of the inside of the hopper sides showing with the coal loaded. The plastic loads look like the car was filled to the very top which would have the car be over loaded. If you could somehow lower the load into the car some You could then glue some black ballast onto it to make it look better.
Dan Pikulski
[#ditto] That green florist foam is great for making your own base. If your dressing up plastic, just get a bag of WS coal and glue it on.
Depending on the grade of coal I would want to mode, I’d use either real coal for large lumps, or ballast for finer load.
For the most realistic loads I have ever seen or used take a look at what Jeff from Motrak Models has to offer. He used to be one of our club members. Quite a skilled craftsman in carving the masters for all his various castings. Loads of coal, sand, ballast for any style hopper and scale are available. Hydrocal castings of wall, stone and concrete also. Much of his work is incorporated in the club scenery.
http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=motrak1962
HO Scale: Alright…now for the new stuff. Here is the latest load that is available now. (8706-9) is a new gravel load for the Walthers 100 Ton Twin Hopper. Motrak Models will be the first to offer this… You can now pick your color for ballast loads. Here are the samples.
When you place an order for ballast loads
Here’s some coal loads to consider. Easy, cheap and fast to make.
I make my own. Cut a piece of soft pine to fit into the car. Then use anything (knife, plane, surform, wood rasp, drum sander, anything you like) to shape the wood into a rounded moundy pile-of-coal shape. Paint it black, cover it with Woodland Senics coal. Secure the coal with white glue.
For those occasions when you want to remove the load without picking up and inverting the car, imbed a nail in the load (it can be glued to the underside of a plastic load.) Then you can lift it out with a magnet while leaving the car standing on the track, fingerprint-free.
Not all coal is shiny. It depends on the variety. Anthracite IS shiny, harder bituminous (like Pocahontas coal) may have a lot of shiny lumps, Powder River sub-bituminous doesn’t shine much and the soft, friable coal I saw being mined in Japan was dull and dusty with not a shiny spot in sight. (Since I’m modeling the latter, and used pool filter charcoal is readily available, that’s my material of choice - loose, and glued to fixed loads.)
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
Ooops, almost forgot the most important part.
If you six the plastic loads and make your own, make at least twice as many of any given size as you need at the time.
Three quarters of the effort is in setup and teardown, not actually sprinkling coal, gluing coal, or painting coal.
Make lots extra and that way, you’ll only have to do it four or five times by the time you get all the coal cars your layout actually needs, and all the coal cars that you don’t need but buy anyway.
Thanks for the tip - I just ordered ten cars worth from Jeff to try them out. I have a 60 car train of Walthers HO RD4s that need removable loads that sit low enough in the car without removing braces. The pics of Jeff’s load for this car look great!
Heavyduty,
A good tip for proper fit and easy removal of the loads is gently dry fit, if tight just drag the sides accross fine sandpaper to remove any stray coal or ballast. It is also a good idea to mark the backside of the load with a Sharpie to designate the car/ model type. After you end up with 50 or more from all different manufacturers, believe me, you won’t remember what hoppers they belong to. Some in my club have upwards of 200 loads for all their varying makes of coal drags.
Thanks, Bob - in this case they’ll all be for a single car type, so at least I won’t have to worry about intermixing!
I ordered them based on a comment by Jeff that they sit as low in the car as shown in his auction - I’m trying to find loads that don’t require removal of the car’s cross-braces to look right.
Jeff notches the castings just for this reason. He is quite an artist at creating all his masters for the molds. I had the pleasure of working with him when he was a member of my club. Many of the intricate castings used for our scenery (abutments, retaining walls, building foundations and some stonework viaduct) are all one done by him. It was amazing to watch him carve some of the masters.
I’ve used coal from Walthers as well as real crashed coal. There’s the steel weight under the coal load. This way I remove the load with a magnet!
Wolfgang