Quality > Quantity. Always. This means I usually limit my purchases to the most detailed rolling stock and engines available from importers and kit makers. This also translates to me never buying any Atlas Trainman cars, but I feel there are a few cars I could use if I wanted to take the time to upgrade them to my standards.
I took some time to upgrade this Atlas Trainman Hopper. I did this by shaving off the plastic molded in grab irons and support railings and then drilling and adding metal ones instead. I also had to add rivets back where I accidentally shaved them off.
This took several hours, but it is well worth the effort. I used Lehigh Valley Cornell Red to repaint the shaved plastic and grab irons. It is a very close match for what Atlas used to paint their car. The car was also weathered with an airbrush and Bragdon powders and had a railroad tie load added.
Note that to keep things prototypical to my era, I removed the COTS plates with isopropyl alcohol as well as the rebuild year.
As always, you can click to see larger images.
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