New Project Freedom Train Amusement Trailers

Alan,

I had thought of doing something similar until I met my future nephew-in-law about a year ago.   He is into 3D printing.  So along with him and much help/info from Todd Schannuth(the owner of the American Freedom Train website),  I went another direction with my wagons.   So after a year of delays between my health issues and my nephew's work,  getting married/building a house himself,  I finally finished my wagons/forklift a couple of weeks ago.   Here are some photos.   All the wagons are correct length and there was sanding/finish work done before the painting and decals were applied.   I also resized the decals to fit correctly before I printed them.   Still need to add the clear roof vents to the cotton candy wagon.

Metalman,

I think what you did is fantastic. I hope I can get close to this with my techniques. Soon I may be out of crafting things for the train hobby based on what 3D printing can do.

@Alan Graziano posted:

Metalman,

I think what you did is fantastic. I hope I can get close to this with my techniques. Soon I may be out of crafting things for the train hobby based on what 3D printing can do.

Alan,

Thanks for the compliment,  but your skill and craftsmanship won't be replaced by 3D printing anytime soon.   I've seen your projects and I'm envious.   A lot of your work is location or time oriented with specific details for that particular project and many  times 3D printing wouldn't be practical.

A little more progress on the trailers and completed constructing them. I am now starting to decal them. This is where the work really begins

I just completed decaling the trailers. Here are some pictures

Good Evening Everyone,

Well,  it's been nearly a year since I last posted on this thread.   Due to ongoing health issues, it has taken that long to finally get to the conclusion of this project-namely doing the flatcars to carry the wagons which turned out to be a little project on their own.

I used the Atlas O 89' 4" flatcars(the real Freedom Train used 85' flatcars) which turned out to be just right as in O scale are only 1 inch longer than an 85' flatcar.   The cars all started out as TTUX flatcars painted all in yellow.   I removed all the lettering using fingernail polish remover(with Acetone).   The cars are all diecast/brass so there was no plastic to worry about damaging.   The underframes of the cars are all black while the decks/side sills and brake brackets/rigging are white.   I removed all the small rectangular brake brackets and brake cable/handles and painted then white separately as they are attached to the braces on the underframes  which are all painted black.   I first painted the decks/side sills white then after a couple days I masked those areas off and painted the underframes black.   All paints used were Tamiya rattle can.   I then applied the decals that were custom made and printed by me.   The decals were clear coated using Tamiya semi-gloss clear.   I then reattached all the brake brackets/rigging.   I'm happy with the way they turned out.   Only one flatcar is shown but the other 2 are the same except for the car numbers which are 30,  31,  and 32.

That came out beautifully Nick.