These particluar tank cars did not have a separate coupler box. The coupler box is incorporated into the tank frame. So the horn hook couplers were near permanent when the frame was glued together.
Fortunately I did not glue the heck out of everything and coupler box cover could be sawed open.
I purchase a variety of small screws from Amazon that seemed to be a good fit for trucks and couplers. I drilled the post at a small diameter and the cover a larger diameter according to the chosen screw.
The larger hole on the cover allowed for some adjustment of the cover. And here is the result after graphite lubing the moving parts of the coupler.
Eric Miller, on Flickr
One of the flats is a Rivarossi and the other a Tycho but they look otherwise identical. They were those piggy back flats with the two trailers. I removed the rather unrealistic looking trailer hold downs. The trucks pop out. I removed the wheels and cut off the coupler housing and coupler with sprue cutters.
I used Inkscape to make a vector graphic for relettering the cars. Printed out at as high resolution my epson printer would go 720 dpi. Test fit with paper first.
I used the white decal paper from MicroMark. The inkjet results, not so great. Coated with clear gloss. Used Microscale Microset and Microsol according to instructions. Also painted the decks with Testors wood. You can see quite a difference this alone makes.
Trucks were tuned with MicroMark truck tuner. KayDee metal wheels installed with graphite lube. Kadee #5s with couple boxes mounted without any shimming needed. Couplers passing coupler height and clearances testing.
And now the freebie BN 40' gondola. Pop the trucks off. Remove the wheels.
Saw the horn hook couplers off.
The Kadee #5 coupler box was shimmed with styrene spray painted with some green I have laying around. Not real concerned about the bottoms of these cars. It was nice that the outer lower portion of the car, with box, is the correct hight which was tested by a coupler hight check tool. Trucks tuned. Metal wheels installed. Everything graphite lubed. Weathering discussed later.
The black $3 boxcar was an undecorated model somebody tried to put Rio Grande decals on. I removed the trucks and couplers. I stripped the decals off with fingernail polish remover. Before painting, wash everything with some dishwashing detergent and an old paint brush on the stiff side.
Sprayed the car with Model Master boxcar red diluted 20% with an acrylic paint thinner formla modified from Joe Fugate recommendations. My version of the cheap thinner is: 30% DI Water, 30% Anhydrous Ethanol, 30% Armor All Glass Cleaner Clear, and 5-10% Vellejo Acrylic Retarder Medium. This worked great!
I made a GPM&C herald using the vector graphics program Inkscape and printed on MicroMark decal paper at 720 dpi. In order to hide the white edges, chopped the graphic using a razor blade and hammer.
At the end of the various weathering of the cars road dust was applied to the lower parts of the cars by spraying diluted 50/50 Model Master raw sienna while rolling the car by the stationalry air brush. All cars were sealed with diluted 50/50 Model Master flat clear.
And now the final results. You might be able to see the added air piping under the tank. Corrosive chemical placards from the 1960s were ink jet printed and applied.
The tanks were first weathered with some diluted 50/50 Model Master light grey and made to streak down the sides. Dribled over the hatch making spots. Lightly applied and fanned down the rest of the tank. Also diluted 50/50 Model Master grimy black was fanned vertically down the tank. Very subtle hard to tell in the photos. Some Bragdon powder rust was also applied over rivets and trucks.
The two flats. These got the Bragdon powders and some of the grimy black wash.
The gon was weathered with Bragdon powders light and medium rust. The clear sealer blew out some of the powder inside the gon and also tones down the outside so, some repitition may be necessary.
For decals apply microset on the surface, place, and allow to dry. Apply microsol over the decal while soaking up the excess with paper towel. Too much and the decal can curl and be ruined. Repeat over rivets and braces to settle.Boxcar data and lettering was Woodland Scenics dry transfer RR Gothic. Weathering with grimy black 50/50 wash applied with car upright to settle into cracks naturally. Some Bragdon powders. All cars recieved 50/50 raw sienna sprayed low and sealed with flat clear.
Thats it for Intermediate Modelling 202 ;)
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
Thanks kindly Bear!