Military Loads (Now Ten Cars) Added To Military in Munoz With Lots of Photos

Love the cars!

Peter

Terrific!  I love military equipment of all types, and the weathering is really superb.  

Thanks, Chris. I feel the weathering is a bit too heavy and on my next car I will tone it down.

I have found that when weathering very good lighting makes a big difference. By the time I realized I should have been more judicious with the weathering, there was already quite a layer. More subtlety next time.

Scfrappy

Beautiful job,Eliot!

Nice job, looks great. Love the military.

Looks awesome

Looks good. Nice to see someone other than Eric securing the loads properly.  I wouldn't worry about the weathering being too heavy. I am real sure during that time period  keeping railcars some what clean was the last thing on their minds. 

Very nice detail.

Great job, love the flatcar (nice use of a civilian one) and the background!

Just a few FYIs:

• If this is WW2 going on in your layout's timeframe, it's the War Department. The DoD didn't exist until after WW2 was over.
• Vehicles never got/get loaded with any weapons that can be removed.

Really, great job, can't wait to see your railhead to load-offload the equipment. You can drop me a line if you want into as I have all the TM's for that kind of thing for WW2 (as well as some modern ones from my Army days).

Mr Sher, these are beautiful cars and loads!

What brand(s) of military vehicles are those? Are they diecast or plastic Tamaya style models? Whatever they are, they are fantastic.

- timbo

Well done!! Looking forward to seeing your next round of efforts.

Lee,

Many thanks for your kind words. I will take you up on your offer because I love getting as much prototype and historical accuracy as possible. I hope the compromises I have to make in the construction of the cars and selection of loads are minimal.

Timbo and BigTruckPete . . . . Many thanks. These cars are a lot of fun for me. The weathering process is becoming more clear and pronounced. The cars and trucks I worked on tonight are better than my first effort. The vehicles are diecast and most of them come from searches on the auction site. There is a lot of searching to do for different styles. You might try "The Flying Mule."

Scrappy

As I look at Elliot's wonderful models, 70 years removed, I was thinking of this equipment today.  My how things and equipment have changed.  Still a dangerous, unfriendly world out there.   Thanks to those who have served. 

 Mike CT .

Scrappy

I just checked "theflyingmule" and no 1:48 tanks. That's been my problem: finding WWII vehicles at 1:48 scale. Very good on you for finding those diecast models.  !:72 in abundance.

Ed

Ed,

Hit me with an e-mail.

I think I may be able to hook you up with some tanks.

Scrappy

FYI, both the  WC-63 6X6 weapons carrier and M-16 halftrack were made by Eaglemoss. They're 1/43 scale and can easily be found on eBay.

The only thing I'd change on the weapons carrier is the hack off the top bows in the back as the top and ring mount for the .50 caliber machine gun are both way too tall for a real one. I'm not sure how they got that detail so badly off as the rest of that one model looks pretty good. The halftrack is pretty accurate as-is.

The company Victoria makes some really good WW2 stuff in 1/43, too.

Both paint jobs are for the European Theater, as stateside vehicles didn't have the circle surround for the star.

Eliot,

Great looking train.  NH Joe

Scrapiron Scher posted:

Thanks, Chris. I feel the weathering is a bit too heavy and on my next car I will tone it down.

I have found that when weathering very good lighting makes a big difference. By the time I realized I should have been more judicious with the weathering, there was already quite a layer. More subtlety next time.

Scfrappy

I understand, you definitely have to get it right to "your eyes"...I am going to be looking forward to your next project.  

Scrapiron Scher posted:

Ed,

Hit me with an e-mail.

I think I may be able to hook you up with some tanks.

Scrappy

Scrappy,

email sent. Thanks

ef

Eliot

Love the weathering on the cars. One thing I found with weathering is to look good in the photos heavier weathering will show up better (sort of the same theory used with Broadway make-up). I have photographed some cars I did which were lightly weathered and look great in person but you can hardly notice the weathering in the pictures. Cant wait for the entire consist.

BTW when you dismantled your Munoz lines layout you were going to embark onto On3. Is that still in the plans or are you staying with "O" ??

Steve

Ed,

Sorry, I cannot find your e-mail. Mine is scherbear@comcast.net

Scrapiron Scher posted:

Ed,

Sorry, I cannot find your e-mail. Mine is scherbear@comcast.net

Scrappy,

Thanks for getting back to me. I misaddressed the original. Just resent.

Ed

Hi Eliot,

Great looking cars, weathering looks great too !!!

Alex

Thanks, Alex . . . . . I found a couple of different ways to tone down the intensity of the weathering and make it look better at the same time. I now use a "Rail pen" with the brown rail color on the inside of the wheels and the outside of the trucks. I now wait until the paint dries fully before adding the Bragdon's powder. The colors are more muted and more effective. On the deck of the car in the photos I used a wash which intensified the striations of the wood Lionel uses. Now I apply the Bragdon powder directly without the wash and mix two colors. First a dark charcoal and then an earth tone. The outside of the car was airbrushed with "Dust."

Happy Holidays to you, Dina and the family

Scarf,

   Great Military rolling stock, just fantastic!  Your tie downs are seriously cool!

PCRR/Dave

Thanks, Dave . . . . I think the chains look pretty good although I want to work on the tension. Some of the chains are a bit lax. It is difficult to get the chains an equal distance and, also, get them into the receptacles on either side of the flat car, and also maintain tension. I did have some success with the last chain by getting lucky with the length and putting the car on an angle until the glue dried. You can see good tension on the chains for the "Deuce and a Half." For the next flat car, I will measure the length of the chain much more carefully and depend less on luck .

The "turnbuckles" are a bit too big but the ring clasps are way big. I have ordered 5 mm ring clasps but they are a bit difficult to work with. The chains are barely making it onto the clasp. I have to work on that problem.

Scrappy

I've been toying around with a way to model tie down chains that can easily be removed if you wanted to remove the vehicle. Was working on something with rubber band anchors, wrapping under the car, but nothing so far works for the long term...

I have a few tanks in 1:48 scale.  Hard to find.  Most tanks I have are 1:50 scale and don't look too bad as long as they are not right next to a 1:48 scale one.

But, nice job on the models!!!

Rick

Cool!

I'm sure the City of Muñoz will be sleeping well tonight

One thing I see very few modelers ever think of is to put enemy vehicles onto flat cars. War trophy tanks have been a staple of military victories since WW1. Plenty of German tanks, for example, were brought back to the US for testing and evaluation at places like Aberdeen proving Ground. Many of them are still in the Army's Ordnance Center collection:

Hey, they had to get there somehow from the ship across the pond! I'm sure most (if not all) were sent to Aberdeen via a train...

p51 posted:

One thing I see very few modelers ever think of is to put enemy vehicles onto flat cars. War trophy tanks have been a staple of military victories since WW1. Plenty of German tanks, for example, were brought back to the US for testing and evaluation at places like Aberdeen proving Ground. Many of them are still in the Army's Ordnance Center collection:

Hey, they had to get there somehow from the ship across the pond! I'm sure most (if not all) were sent to Aberdeen via a train...

I agree. I put a TigerII on a flat followed by a flat with a Sherman. Highlights the difference and reminds me of the guts and heroism of those Sherman tank crews battling those behemoths. 

Very interesting idea. Since my military train is really a traveling museum, it makes sense. My original thought was only US military equipment. Now I will rethink this. Thanks, Lee.

ToledoEd posted:

Scrappy

I just checked "theflyingmule" and no 1:48 tanks. That's been my problem: finding WWII vehicles at 1:48 scale. Very good on you for finding those diecast models.  !:72 in abundance.

Ed

Ed,

You can get 1/48 scale  WW2 US Army tanks ( M4 Sherman)  and tank destroyers ( M10 ) and 2.5 ton trucks or tanker model kits by Tamiya from Ebay or a good Hobby Shop.   Sprue Brothers, Squadron and Internet Hobbies I use and get great service.   Also Hobbyboss makes very nice M4 Shermans.   Expect to pay $25.00 to $38.00 for each kit.    Oh, Tamiya used to have an M26 Pershing kits but they are long out of production.   I made a few for one of our club members.   

Thread bumped to update with more info and stories

Photos are now viewable as enlargements. I had not clicked the correct buttons apparently.

Sorry

The new photos look good. What is the plan with the HEMMT? I have seen that diecast up close. Detail is great but also know that it cost a pretty good penny. It definitely well beyond the era that your running for the train. Also I have to find the link but came across M1A1 Abrams in 1/48 while searching for M60A3s. Both would work with the HEMMT. Look forward to seeing more.

I like it. Keep it coming. 

Mike

Scrappy,

    Lee definitely has a good idea, some captured Tanks and transports would look real cool mixed in with your US rolling stock.  One other note, having been at West Fort Hood, Tx for a while, the tie downs were really over sized in real life, when transporting, especially on the Tank loads.   The Turn Buckles were also extremely large on the Flat Cars, at Ft Hood, for the 2nd Armor Div Tank Transporters.  Yours are definitely a little big, but not as much as you might think.

Very serious Military Train you put together, I love it!

PCRR/Dave

Dave,

I am working on that idea. Right now I have so many cars in the train, I will have to have two trains.