Home Page › Forums › Modeling the Missouri Pacific, Texas & Pacific, etc › HO Scale › Building an HO FMC Covered Hopper TP715000-715999
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July 28, 2019 at 1:45 am #5567peggyrothschildParticipant
After a few emails from Nate Obermeyer and Gary Herron where they shared their thoughts on modifying a PS 4427 covered hopper. I decided to tackle the FMC TP 715000 series covered hoppers. The Mopac bought a 1,000 of these cars from the builder in 1967 and placed them in Texas & Pacific ownership.
At Nate’s suggestion I started with an Exactrail HO PS 4427 but you can also use the Walthers HO PS 4427 as well.
My first step was to removed the factory lettering which wasn’t budging with Joe’s decal remover. I remembered I had some 220 aluminum oxide that I bought with an air eraser and decided to try it with a damp Qtip dipped in the 220 and went over the Joe’s decal remover and all the factory lettering was gone in a few minutes.
The PS covered hopper differed from the FMC version in several ways so this is the modeling steps to took to modify the Exactrail car.
– the side ladders and rungs were removed and placed in an old plastic Chinese carry out box I keep around for such projects.
– the high mounted brake wheel and supports were cut off and tossed in the box.
– the PS end ladders are wider at the last three bottom rungs than the FMC ladders I cut off this portion and removed the rungs.
– the top of the ends were carved to removed cast on parts and sanded smooth.
– Tamiya gray putty was used to fill all the unnecessary holes.
– sometimes it pays to be a model RR hoarder; the many of the Sunshine Models had photo etched running boards which I didn’t use (substituting with Kadee ones). So the PE ones were tossed in a growing box of spare parts. I took one of the PE parts and cut it down to make the platform for the brake (the pattern even matched the roof walls on the model).[attachment=0:2b8mgohn]38B06077-B8C6-4C30-892A-A01FAFC362D6.jpeg[/attachment:2b8mgohn]
Due to the numerous side rods (6 on each side) I made up a bending tool to ensure all the rods from the carbody to the end cages were uniform. I also made a template to show where to drill the appropriate holes.
To form the horizontal rods I used Tichy bronze wire .0125. You’ll need a supply of 18” drop style hand grabs, the putty, Evergreen HO 1”x3” strips, paint (TruColor makes a Mopac covered hopper gray) and decals.
[attachment=9:2b8mgohn]0A86676C-623E-4964-BB7D-F14920245FAC.jpeg[/attachment:2b8mgohn]
[attachment=8:2b8mgohn]07F7D7E3-E1D9-4B6B-B74C-3A79FB30D86E.jpeg[/attachment:2b8mgohn][attachment=7:2b8mgohn]8829AAA7-8EA6-406F-A883-60F9DDBDF027.jpeg[/attachment:2b8mgohn][attachment=6:2b8mgohn]9B4398C3-AD6B-4F46-9A51-5823BFFD2EC0.jpeg[/attachment:2b8mgohn][attachment=5:2b8mgohn]6A778E50-E751-4C9A-898D-794C9100D25C.jpeg[/attachment:2b8mgohn][attachment=4:2b8mgohn]79C3FD02-E4FB-4624-91D6-B15B0443A8F6.jpeg[/attachment:2b8mgohn][attachment=3:2b8mgohn]2CBC1032-CBBA-4C6B-856D-B7EE3B0E393F.jpeg[/attachment:2b8mgohn][attachment=2:2b8mgohn]B7F6D44D-57E9-43A4-B3CC-C3577B97DFB0.jpeg[/attachment:2b8mgohn][attachment=1:2b8mgohn]60138154-CFED-40CE-8865-F3DE8D55EC3E.jpeg[/attachment:2b8mgohn]July 28, 2019 at 1:54 am #7398peggyrothschildParticipantHere’s the template I made from scrap styrene to form the side rods and ensure they were spaced correctly. Just determine where the two bends are and drill a hole for the first one, then add a small ‘v’ cut on the end for the second 90 degree bend. Note too the three evenly spaced cutouts on the side – this is for the spacing for the three horizontal side rods. I use two pin vices; one with a sewing needle to mark the hole and a second with the drill bit.
Nate worked closely with Hubert Mask of Mask Island Decals to develop the correct decal set for these cars. These are available in the company store.
[attachment=0:3mer0j9b]90F09238-1E87-41C1-BA29-00FFFD1F4753.jpeg[/attachment:3mer0j9b]
July 28, 2019 at 2:14 am #7580peggyrothschildParticipantHere’s some prototype shots provided by Nate Obermeyer that were invaluable to building this model. [attachment=5:2i3t1itu]4321B10D-7A17-417F-AED7-AA2A80E0655A.jpeg[/attachment:2i3t1itu][attachment=3:2i3t1itu]4D62B0C8-3D6F-432B-AC86-F17BA7ED8C52.png[/attachment:2i3t1itu][attachment=4:2i3t1itu]33647921-D20C-4677-8836-7CF22D42C3F3.jpeg[/attachment:2i3t1itu][attachment=2:2i3t1itu]A948616F-6F7B-4929-9181-3F3BB09F8438.jpeg[/attachment:2i3t1itu][attachment=1:2i3t1itu]12610767-320A-4113-A37D-46B25D855702.png[/attachment:2i3t1itu][attachment=0:2i3t1itu]542B0227-DA2E-4D2F-AA30-4AA6AF1EFF61.jpeg[/attachment:2i3t1itu]
July 28, 2019 at 2:41 pm #7619Mike VanaParticipantSuch good work! These were very common around the elevators and rice driers where I was reared in Louisiana and if you’re modeling the MoPac you’ll be needing several.
Jim Ogdsn
July 28, 2019 at 9:18 pm #7242peggyrothschildParticipantTruColor makes a MP covered hopper gray (274) so that’s what you see here. Tomorrow I’ll put down a few coats of Tamiya Clear X-22 as it provides the best surface for decalling. [attachment=0:362jzxf5]F5635DC1-C754-470C-A785-787CD8ACB4A6.jpeg[/attachment:362jzxf5]
[attachment=5:362jzxf5]B52270C9-0895-4696-8B51-3A13A6ACDED3.jpeg[/attachment:362jzxf5][attachment=4:362jzxf5]03D9BAA8-E542-4FCD-B594-BB1FD6AFF2FC.jpeg[/attachment:362jzxf5][attachment=3:362jzxf5]74A180E1-51EA-4A2B-A4E7-29A7C94DF20B.jpeg[/attachment:362jzxf5][attachment=2:362jzxf5]FC13B965-600A-4D24-8846-622EC6C35EE1.jpeg[/attachment:362jzxf5][attachment=1:362jzxf5]B5FE06AC-2E71-4229-B6C7-F399B0628530.jpeg[/attachment:362jzxf5]July 29, 2019 at 11:48 am #7061peggyrothschildParticipantFew more prototype shots from the Missouri Pacific Historical Society
[attachment=2:3t83dpe8]381373EA-2ED3-4306-B80C-67F44F2F03C2.jpeg[/attachment:3t83dpe8][attachment=1:3t83dpe8]AB53637F-803C-4004-B481-136119C19718.jpeg[/attachment:3t83dpe8][attachment=0:3t83dpe8]05A3319E-A679-4627-877B-C73A8B5891B5.jpeg[/attachment:3t83dpe8]July 29, 2019 at 12:05 pm #7056princessclyne69ParticipantI used to want to build one of these, until I realized they’re a couple years too new for me. I have a question on the gray cars — when these cars were painted gray, did they all get the MPL buzzsaw? I presume the answer is yes. Then cars that got painted a second time probably got the screaming eagle, so probably relatively few did.
But, were all these cars delivered in bare aluminum? My recollection is that they were, and as they sat out in the rain during the summer heat, they gradually turned that very dark gray color that aluminum cookware gets when you put it in the dishwasher, which made the stenciling almost unreadable. is that why they were painted?
Unrelated comment: I can’t log in to the BB from my office, which I presume is due to my company firewall. So I always wait til I get home to read or reply to these messages. But, when I get notice of a post, which comes to me by email at my office address, I can click on it and I get right in.
RG7
July 29, 2019 at 1:08 pm #7756peggyrothschildParticipantRon
Builders photos and slides of these cars show they were delivered painted light gray. Being built in 1967 they’d received the larger buzz saw and all were TP stenciled. The Mechanical department diagram (below) shows all steel construction.Interesting a few variations pop up in slides; some show a small buzz saw after being repainted and a similar small Eagle logo after the MP started using the new logo.
July 29, 2019 at 7:23 pm #7757mcaff1952Participant@mopacfirst wrote:
I used to want to build one of these, until I realized they’re a couple years too new for me. I have a question on the gray cars — when these cars were painted gray, did they all get the MPL buzzsaw? I presume the answer is yes. Then cars that got painted a second time probably got the screaming eagle, so probably relatively few did.
But, were all these cars delivered in bare aluminum? My recollection is that they were, and as they sat out in the rain during the summer heat, they gradually turned that very dark gray color that aluminum cookware gets when you put it in the dishwasher, which made the stenciling almost unreadable. is that why they were painted?
Unrelated comment: I can’t log in to the BB from my office, which I presume is due to my company firewall. So I always wait til I get home to read or reply to these messages. But, when I get notice of a post, which comes to me by email at my office address, I can click on it and I get right in.
RG7
Aluminum???
I thought they were just plain old steel-sided cars.July 29, 2019 at 9:54 pm #7121peggyrothschildParticipant[attachment=2:6w6d5yll]97DEC138-4A5D-46AE-8E07-26D1E26C7E96.jpeg[/attachment:6w6d5yll]Mask Island decals 87-303. Hubert Mask, owner of Mask Island Decals, provides enough decals in one set to do two complete cars. His decals are some of the thinness I’ve ever used so I used lots of water and slide the decal directly off the paper onto the surface of the car. If the decal starts to curl it’s very hard to get it back in shape. I ended up using most of the set to do just this car. After the decals dry overnight I’ll seal with Dullcote and then start some weathering.
[attachment=3:6w6d5yll]3D888BF0-86FB-453A-8D09-A74BC2942B60.jpeg[/attachment:6w6d5yll]My decalling tools
[attachment=1:6w6d5yll]D4B20B9F-472C-4579-9C2D-7E68AFF97242.jpeg[/attachment:6w6d5yll][attachment=0:6w6d5yll]F1BF1915-0A9E-4770-821C-34A431B7A678.jpeg[/attachment:6w6d5yll]July 30, 2019 at 2:04 am #7893peggyrothschildParticipant[attachment=1:32vrak2l]99FFE2A2-1E24-4C0C-B60A-76D1D08BD08D.jpeg[/attachment:32vrak2l]Shot a thin coat of Dullcote this evening and took the car out for a test drive. [attachment=2:32vrak2l]E4502B03-2246-413C-A579-A0B1CB0194F9.jpeg[/attachment:32vrak2l]
FMC spotted for loading at the MFA elevator in Eldon.
[attachment=0:32vrak2l]24FAEDF0-F169-493D-B539-694D404EEEDF.jpeg[/attachment:32vrak2l]July 31, 2019 at 1:39 am #8372peggyrothschildParticipantSo the second FMC car is much easier to build as all the measurements have already been determined while building the first one. I did reuse the original side ladders off the PS version on the ends as the leg was straight vs trying to splice in the three bottom rungs as I did on 715086.
[attachment=0:1gvvg6uc]CD8938D8-A55F-4A73-B29F-C012BC38CF1C.jpeg[/attachment:1gvvg6uc] -
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