The tank needed 4 more tiny holes for a step, installed later. It was then ready for painting. The final color being predominantly white, I primed with Mr. Surfacer 1500 White & Mr. Color leveling thinner in many thin layers over 2 days. #ZeroleneBuild #HOScale #ModelRailroad #ModelRailway
HO scale resin tank car casting with half of the handrails installed.
HO scale resin tank car casting with all of the handrails installed.
Side view, HO scale resin tank car casting with handrails installed.
HO scale resin tank car casting being given a bath in 91 percent isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to thoroughly clean the surface.
Installation was a lot of careful effort. The rings ended up being just a tiny bit oversize, but I think it is better than the irregular hand-rolled stanchions I have seen in the past. After installation, 2 thorough cleanings: dishsoap then IPA. #ZeroleneBuild #HOScale #ModelRailroad #ModelRailway
A package of A-line D-1074, a collection of tiny gray metal rods with eyelets at the end. One example of a clipped and prepared stanchion is shown for illustrative purposes.
First, we need to prepare the stanchions by clipping and then molding the rod, which is flattened metal, into a round peg. Then, to determine the drill bit size needed and drill out the resin tank casting. #ZeroleneBuild #HOScale #ModelRailroad #ModelRailway
Model building has nothing but moments of truth. Let's see if I can pull off the handrail installation. Using Arrow Hobby stanchions intended for diesel handrails: will this work well enough? ppw-aline.com/products/d11... #ZeroleneBuild #HOScale #ModelRailroad #ModelRailway
HO scale narrow gauge tank car disassembled into flatcar and tank parts, next to the decal set and a bottle of Microscale Liquid Decal Film.
HO scale Zerolene tank car with decals applied to the flatcar portion reading N.C.O. A9.
The moment of truth is the decals. Now that the flat car is ready, it's time to find out. First, a layer of Microscale Liquid Decal Film (www.microscale.com/Merchant2/me...) because I wager they would crack from age. It worked: we have lettering. #ZeroleneBuild #HOScale #ModelRailroad #ModelRailway
Inverted HOn3 flat car being airbrushed with Tru-Color CNJ 1940s-50s freight car red with leveling thinner. The leveling part of leveling thinner is a drying retarder that improves paint distribution on plastic and resin parts. It doesn't have much effect on the wooden parts.
Test tracking of the HOn3 Zerolene tank car before it is complete, next to finished standard gauge equipment on dual-gauge track. This shows the small size of narrow gauge equipment.
Broken HOn3 arch bar truck with two segments missing. Next to it is Evergreen strip styrene of dimensions .010 x .040" (0.25 x 1.0 mm).
Repaired, but as-yet not repainted, HOn3 arch bar truck.
Progress on the flat car portion while waiting for delivery of aftermarket tank rail stanchions. Underside painted. One of the arch bar trucks did what they do and broke, but I am able to patch it with some appropriately-sized styrene. #ZeroleneBuild #HOScale #ModelRailroad #ModelRailway
HO scale resin tank casting, the channel filled with a liberal quantity of Weld Bond.
HO scale resin tank car with weights added, allowing the Weld Bond to cure.
First, to fill the channel with Weld Bond, then the weights. (They had been test fitted of course.) Now, I need to wait a long time for it to cure. #ZeroleneBuild #HOScale #ModelRailroad #ModelRailway
HO scale resin casting of a tank car being drilled into with a Dremel burr attachment, outdoors with a rated mask and eye protection.
The finished channel that was carved into the underside of the resin HO scale tank model. It is surprisingly cavernous.
Yes, let's drill a channel into the resin tank casting. This was risky, but the old resin is as robust as ever. Routed with the burr attachment of the Dremel tool. Glad I did this as an adult: requires proper safety precautions for resin dust. #ZeroleneBuild #HOScale #ModelRailroad #ModelRailway
Half-finished HOn3 tank car model next to the number of fishing weights that will be needed to get the car up to NMRA standards: 10 of them.
A silent problem is buried in this model: it is way too light to operate. So it either needs to be a static model, or I need to find a way to weigh it down to the tune of 1.14 more ounces - ten medium fishing weights. Do I have the guts? #ZeroleneBuild #HOScale #ModelRailroad #ModelRailway
Before and After pictures of an inverted HO scale flat car. In the before picture, only some brake details are applied and the stake pockets are not there. After, the brake detail is complete and the stake pockets are present. The side of the flat car planks has been straightened.
So, where do I begin? My work was a lot less precise and knowledgeable, but actually holds up surprisingly well. The first order of business was so dig out of some mistakes in the flat car portion. #ZeroleneBuild #HOScale #ModelRailroad #ModelRailway
I once found a reference to this car being called the White Elephant, but I lost the source and have not managed to refind it. #ZeroleneBuild #HOScale #ModelRailroad #ModelRailway
Completed models of this prototype are hard to find online, and all erroneously have the tank silver whereas I am virtually certain the tank was white for the Zerolene ad campaign. I have only seen finished models in #OScale or larger, never HOn3. #ZeroleneBuild #HOScale #ModelRailroad #ModelRailway
It likely carried gasoline or other fuel on the delightful Nevada-California-Oregon Railway (www.ncory.org) in the 1920s-30s. Zerolene was a California brand arising from Standard Oil's antitrust breakup (www.greasemonkeyusa.com/blogs/motoro...). #ZeroleneBuild #HOScale #ModelRailroad #ModelRailway
Black and white photograph of the prototype Zerolene tank car on which the model is based.
This car had my interest when I was a kitten: striking livery in a diminutive package. Knowledge of the prototype is mostly not online, but a few clues are here and there on the internet. Here is the only prototype photo of which I am aware. #ZeroleneBuild #HOScale #ModelRailroad #ModelRailway
Kit contents for a half-built HOn3 Classic Miniatures tank car. A brown resin tank model is laying on a wooden flat car with striking ZEROLENE decals beside; box with remaining parts behind.
Up next on the workbench: revisiting the first "craftsman" kit I ever started: A Classic Miniatures #Zerolene tank car in #NarrowGauge (HOn3), given to me in ~1993; half-completed in 1997. Let's see if I can salvage a 29-year-old project. #ZeroleneBuild #HOScale #ModelRailroad #ModelRailway
