Kadee Lake Superior & Ishpeming PS-1 Box Car Completed

I recently completed my model of a LS&I PS-1 that I started a couple years back. The prototype info can be found via this link and the original modeling info can be accessed via this link. This post highlights the finishing of that model, most notably the painting and weathering. The task was to blend the "bare" areas of the doors, lower doors tracks, and other details in with the decorated portions of the model and to also create the sharp transition between oxide and black at the corners that was rather sloppy on the model as it came from Kadee.

For the oxide color, I experimented with an acrylic ink product that I anticipate using again in the future, as it airbrushed beautifully. It comes in a rainbow of colors and is incredibly convenient for me since I can buy it at my local Blick's, about three blocks away in Brooklyn (Blick's also carriers my preferred super glue, airbrushes, PanPastels, and kabuki masking tape, making it a go-to stop for many of my hobby needs!) The inks are called abstract acrylic ink by Sennelier. The color I used was 645 - Chinese Orange. The color is not a 100% match, but I was able to get it closer by using some Pan Pastels to lighten it enough to be passable. I sealed everything with a coat of Future and added a few chalk marks. These were sealed with a flat coat.

For the weathering I used Bragdon's grimy grey powder. I applied it in vertical streaks to simulate light streaking. I sealed that with a flat coat and then applied another coat of Future. I added several more chalk marks. I also masked around the existing repack stencil and applied a thin coat of oxide red for a newer repack. I added the new repack stencils from a set of New York Central decals. I sealed everything with a final flat coat.

A couple other notes of mention: I used Kadee's ASF A-3 trucks, but replaced the wheelsets with Kadee ribbed back 0.088" tread width wheelsets. I also used Kadee screw mounted draft gear ("coupler boxes") in place of the kit's original boxes. A keen observer will also note that I need to add the angle cock/air hose parts (from Hi-Tech) to the brackets to actually complete the model!

Now I have another mostly ready-to-run Kadee PS-1 for the fleet. I plan to replicate this model exactly, but letter it for New York Central (if you read the prior posts on the LS&I prototypes, you will find that the LS&I cars were piggybacked on a NYC order.) I will blog about that model when I get around to building it.