@trumptrain posted:Thanks @rail!
I used decorative black stone which I bought at Michael's Crafts. It's located back around the floral arranging section of Michaels. They offer many different colors of stone ( various sizes ) and sand. The black stone costs considerably less than the coal I've bought at hobby shops and definitely looks the part. I used the cardboard insert that came with the new Weaver 4 bay hopper as a platform on which to glue the stone. I first painted the cardboard flat black. To give the coal a "piled up " look, I then applied/glued some black rubber strips to the center of the cardboard. ( Modeling clay would have been my first choice, however, I didn't have any handy. ) For a rounded contour ... I angled and glued some more rubber strips between the cardboard platform and black rubber strips ... Next I brushed on some Elmers glue and then finally sprinkled the black diamonds onto the glue. I think it came out well enough. I have one more of these cars to do, although I may weather that car before adding the coal.
I'll have to check that material out. I use Black Beauty; fine to represent "Chestnut", and the coarser grit for "Egg, or stove coal. I use a 1/4" luan base with 1/4" legs at each end for Weaver 2 and 3 bay hoppers. The 4 bay don't require legs. For a humped load, I use a 3/4" wide strip of 1/4" luan, about 2 inches shorter then the base. For mounds, I use 3/4" X 3/4" squares spaced evenly. I use water base urethane sprayed with a plant misting bottle, and build the load gradually, spraying the urethane on each layer until I get the profile I want. Many folks use foam, but I am very leery, as I had some foam base loads that the foam started to disintegrate, and then the coal broke off.
