Kit bashing a specific type flat car

Not all of the flat cars carrying military equipment are owned by the Department of Defense (DODX).  Trailer Train has a number of 89 ft flat cars that are classified as type F226 and lettered TTDX that are used in this type of service.  I wanted to model a couple of these types to add to my train.

Years ago there was a hobby shop near San Francisco Airport called Trackside Trains.   Even though it was over 20 miles away I visited frequently.  At that time it seemed like undecorated Micro-Trains flat cars were a great deal compared to the decorated ones so every time I visited the shop if he had one I would buy it.  So I ended up with a good number of these and had only finished a few.  I am now using a couple of these for this project.

The molded on detail was removed from the deck and .040 x .040 Evergreen styrene strip was glued along both sides along the edge.

Two flat cars bodies were modified this way then airbrushed with Accuflex Trailer Train yellow which is glossy enough that I could add decals without a gloss coat first.   All of the decals came from Microscale set 60-578 except for the "TTDX" which came from the Gothic letter.   It is surprising how may decals can be used on a flat car and this took quite a bit of time but is one of my favorite parts of the hobby.  Afterwards the car bodies were sealed with Dulcoat lacquer.

In the top photo of 253698 there does not appear to be wood decks but I have seen photos of others that did and I liked the look of it so I added wood decks by adding 3 strips of .156 x .040 styrene strip that had been raked with a razor saw and then painted roof brown.  The spaces be along the edges and between the deck boards represent the chaining channels.

So next I need to finish some more HUMVEES, trucks, or other wheeled vehicles to populate these new cars.

Securing equipment to a flat car

This is another installment in what will be a series of posts on my modeling of a military equipment train.  I was recently asked in a comment if I were going to chain these military vehicles to the car decks and what my technique was for doing that. 

The subject of this chain down is one of the Micro-Trains M1 Abrams tanks.  These kits come with some etched metal tie down chains but I found those to be too fiddly for me so I fell back on a method I used several years ago on another project and used the model chain from Clover House shown in the photo below.  I have used this same method on cast resin, 3D printed, and injection molded models.

I use a staple from a common desk stapler as a pin to hold the ends of the chains.  One end of the staple is cut short and bent at an angle then the end link of the chain is slipped over it as shown in the photo below.   Then the short end bent at an angle is pinched closed with a pair of needle nose pliers.  The long end is then cut off to a length of about 1/4 inch.

Using a pin vise with a .025 bit holes are drilled into the each side of the both of the body as shown in the photo below.  In the case of this model the body is hallow but if it is a solid body the hole should be at least 3/8 inch deep. 

The chain / staple assemblies are inserted into the body of the model and secured with a drop of CA (super glue).  Touch up the paint as necessary.

After all 4 of the chains are attached, the vehicle is attached to the flat car with a small amount of E6000 adhesive.  This adhesive will hold but can be removed if desired.  This M1 Abrams tank is actually slightly wider than the flat car so the E6000 is placed on the inner edge of the treads as shown in the photo below.

After the adhesive has set, the chains are pulled out across one another as shown in the photo below.  The chains are cut so that the last link is in line with one of the tie down tracks on the flat car deck.  A .025 hole is drilled at this spot and the other half of the staple is inserted through the chain link and into the hole.  This is then secured with a drop of CA.

After the CA has set the paint is touched up on the deck, the chains, and the pins as needed.  Here is the completed car on the layout.

Alternate vehicles for the Micro-Trains DODX flat cars

In the previous post I mentioned that I had purchased two sets of the Micro-Trains DODX heavy duty flat cars.  This is the second of what will be a series of posts related to my project to build up a military equipment train and vehicles to use as loads appropriate for my mid 1970's to late 1980's eras.   The US Army has a large maintenance depot near Susanville, California that has been there since 1942 and is rail served.  This depot is west of my modeled area on the WP/UP line.  It is reasonable to think that movements to and from the east would pass through my modeled area.

Again referring videos I have watched of these types of trains, it is noticed that there are other types of vehicles besides the ones offered in the Micro-Trains kits.   I discovered a great source for some of them at the on line hobby shop PnP Trains.  They offer a line of 3D printed N Scale military vehicle kits of great quality and reasonable prices when compared to other 3D printed vehicle kits I have purchased.

One of my favorites is this model of the M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle or IFV.   Thousands of these were built and have been in service since 1981 so could fit into any of my three layout eras.

The HEMTT (Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck) family of vehicles has been around since the early 1980's so it also fits well into 2 of my 3 modeled eras.  This version, the M977 is the only version offered by PnP Trains. Hopefully they will do some other versions in the near future.  I would really like to get a couple of the M978 tanker version.

The M106 Mortar Carrier is based on the M113 Armored Personnel Carrier which has been in service from since the early 1960's so could also fit into any of my 3 eras. 

PnP trains also has a 3D printed HUMVEE that I did not get as I already have the Micro-Trains version but I did get this HUMVEE ambulance.  I still need to put the red crosses on it.

PnP Trains has several other military vehicles besides these.  Some are too modern for my era but others do fit in and I'll be ordering those to add to the fleet.

Kit bash of a Micro-Trains HUMVEE

Recently I purchased two of the Micro-Trains heavy duty DODX flat car sets.  Each set had 3 flat cars and a number of military vehicles.  Between the two sets I got a pair of M1 Abrams tanks, a pair of M270 rocket launchers, and 9 HUMVEEs.

The Micro-Trains HUMVEE is a nice model of the 4 door sloped back version but there are several versions of this vehicle as shown in the photo below which is a screen shot from a YouTube video.  I wanted a variety of HUMVEEs for my military equipment train so set out to modify a few of them.

Because the model is injection molded it is durable and will tolerate quite a bit of modification.  The basic parts are the body, the chassis, and a clear window insert.  This is how I made a 2 door pickup version similar to the one in the far right of the above photo.  On the body he upper part of everything behind the front doors was removed to create an open truck bed.  A solid panel was installed on the back of the shortened cab and the turret hatch on the roof was sanded smooth.  Benches and side boards were added along both sides of the bed.   On the chassis a raised platform was installed to fit inside the bed.  The clear plastic insert was cut to fit inside the smaller cab.

This is what the almost finished vehicle looks like after painting and weathering.  I did not add all of the details as I felt they were going to be too delicate for handling.  I did add the front screen, the snorkel, and the spare tire.  And I still do plan to add some mud flaps.

And here is another photo showing one that I assembled, painted, and weathered without any modification.  I am planning several more versions of the HUMVEE as I build up my military equipment train and some of those will be subjects of future posts.