Hi All,
I recently painted and lettered a brass flatcar and aside grooves to simulate boards, it does not have much for deck detail. I'd like to add a deck, and though my go-to for other models are the wonderful decks from American Model Builders I didn't see one that even looked close to use as kitbashing fodder, so I'm thinking of building up one from stripwood. The strip wood part is easy enough I'll just get strip wood of the same width as the "boards" on the model. It's 9" but I'll get HO 1x10s and just sand them a bit. The part that feels quite daunting is replicating the 100s of little bolt heads. Any ideas on how best to do that?
Alvie
Not that doing the deck with individual boards doesn't look great, but a less tedious option is Northeastern Scale Lumber's 1/32" thick 1/16" scribe sheathing. A straight edge and awl works fairly well for making the 'bolt holes'. If after staining the deck the 'bolt holes' aren't prominent enough they can be enhanced with the sharp point of a dark pencil.
Regards, Peter
Depends on the bolt spacing, any chance you know someone with a Pounce Wheel? It must have the exact spacing or it will stretch out or close up the bolt pattern.
Another option for the decking:
https://www.micromark.com/Ship-Decking
Good Luck, Ed
cats think well of me...The part that feels quite daunting is replicating the 100s of little bolt heads. Any ideas on how best to do that?
The bolt heads don't appear to be all that prominent on this car...
...and this one looks like it might be steel rather than wood...
...while this one looks like it's wood, but with an even more complicated way of securing it...
In an effort to get rid of some leftover stripwood, I did several of these bulkhead flats with wooden decks, but didn't bother with bolt heads...
...and did several of these Walthers flatcars (the source of those bulkhead ends) by simply painting the decks using a brush...
Wayne
"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."
doctorwayne...while this one looks like it's wood, but with an even more complicated way of securing it...
Also note how age tends to chip away the edges of the decking, and some processes of aging or rot selectively affect some boards more than others. Just as with ties in track, it pays to be prepared to address each one individually if the car is to be weathered.
I'd be at least tempted to use a paper or decal overlay of a photograph (or even painted rendition) of a weathered deck that has been Photoshopped or whatever to the right dimensions. This might be very thin, likely a desired consideration. Then tool this lightly to produce the fine surface detail in three dimensions.
My feeling in situations like this is, you pick your realism level.
If you want the little bolt heads (which as a practical matter need to be oversized to be seen from what would be "scale distance," as Dr Wayne's prototype photo makes clear), then absent some really tiresome hours at the drill press drilling into the brass deck, and then filling those holes, you are looking at adding a detailed deck on top of the undetailed deck.
So a deck twice as thick as prototype in the name of realism. Hmmm. As I say you have to pick your realism.
I think the more immediate challenge would be to find a way to bring realistic texture to the brass deck which you say is grooved but nothing beyond that. In a sense that is a challenge also with the old Varney metal kits which also have a grooved deck.
By texture I mean two things -- the surface "tooth" that even well maintained wood has that does not look like metal, and the wear and tear on the edges of a wood flatcar deck - the original clean crisp 90 degree angles on the wood pieces soon get worn away.
I paint my metal decks with a Tamiya rattle can "Deck Tan" paint, although khaki camouflage would work. A second coat is light gray. I then attack the deck with a stiff wire brush in strokes that parallel the grooves of the wood decking. The end result is a mix of the tan of freshly exposed wood and the gray of weatherbeaten wood. Grinding with a harsh file at the edges of the deck gets the wear and tear I see on the prototype. It may need a bit of touch up paint, and weathering powders and chalks as well. I do not obsess about getting a "separate board by board" look because most wood flatcar decks look pretty uniform in color and texture from scale distance.
If you do decide to add a deck above the metal deck, I'd go with the thinnest stuff possible. Similarly when I add one of those nice laser cut decks to a plastic flatcar, I do try to (carefully) sand down the original deck a little just to avoid a deck that towers a scale foot or more too high.
Dave Nelson
styrene might do the trick
These O.E.M. painted plastic decks were made to look like wood following and tweaking the late Harold Minkwitz's (Pacific Coast Air Line Railway) terrific techniques.
doctorwayne ...while this one looks like it's wood, but with an even more complicated way of securing it...
Nailable steel floor, not wood. Where the paint is worn off is rust, not exposed wood.
The squares and cut-in bits are for load tie-downs, not securement of the deck itself.
Chris van der Heide
My Algoma Central Railway Modeling Blog
I was going to post a picture in this thread, but I am glad I read all the replies first.
There is some really amazing modeling on display here. I need to up-my-game on flatcar decks.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Hi all,
Thank you for the replies, I do appreciate it. I think I'll go with board by board construction. I did that on a flatcar model years ago and loved it. However, I'll forego the bolt head detail. The model will have a load on top anyway.
I can't wait to see it when it's done! Please post pictures.
cats think well of meI'll go with board by board construction.
Alvie, I admire your fortitude. 2016 saw me doing a loading dock plank by plank and I loved that project too. Fearful of errant glue I stained the strip wood before cutting. The strips bow when the stain is applied, but quickly weighting them down onto a flat surface helped; a piece of sheet glass works well as the strips pop off easily after drying. With each strip taking the stains differently and the pieces placed individually a natural varied look is created. My regret is not distressing the plank ends to portray a more timeworn appearance.
As the flatcar will have a load, I'm thinking I'll paint and weather the deck on the model. I'd already had some paint on there and earlier tonight gave it a layer of gray Tamiya Surface Primer from a spray-can. Next step is weathering it substantially with paints and weathering powders. I may just forego the board by board construction for now and just stick with the paint and weather plan.
HO-Velo...2016 saw me doing a loading dock plank by plank and I loved that project too....
Great-looking results, Peter.
I did a somewhat similar loading dock, likely at about the same time as you, but I used styrene...
...then distressed and painted some strip styrene...
...and hacked it into individual planks...
...I also painted the support framework...
...then added the deck...
Doctor Wayne,
Those results look spectacular for the loading dock on the model.
I did some weathering work on the flat-car deck. I may leave it like this for now and if nothing else, it's good practice. The base coat is Tamiya Surface Primer from a spray-can. I love that shade of gray. I made a wash of acrylic black paint thinned with alcohol (Model Master but any brand will do I think) and I went over it again with Monroe Models Sooty black weathering powder. It had gotten both paint and primer applied on the deck before and I'd gone over that paint with emory boards and sanding in various directions to add some wood grain.
Thanks for your kind words, Alvie, and right back at ya, too, as that flatcar deck turned out great!
I built these flats from Tichy kits. They are intended to be used as idler flats for loading and unloading the carfloat. The decking is made from NESL sheets, cut to size and teated with a wash of India Ink.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Mister Beasley,
Thank you for sharing, those look great!