Wagon citerne "Margnat" / LGB tankcar conversion

I started with the conversion of an LGB/ToyTrain tankcar into a French (looking) narrow gauge "wagon citerne" (see also: Need some help; French narrow gauge tankcars).

This is the donor car, LGB #94040 "Lehmann Benzin" (that came strange enough not in a ToyTrain box but in a LGB box. Hope it's not a collectors item, otherwise these are even become more rare with this one out of the market ).



The tank after taken the car apart. You can notice the rivets/popnails on top of the tank are interrupted. I made some replacements using drips of waterresistant white glue.
I also sanded away the molding seam (visible on the first picture) on top of the tank and on one of the topsides. The other topside can be removed like a lid and was molded in another way so it did not have a visible seam.






The new rivets:






The first layer of paint was applied last thursday. I decided to paint the whole tank white, than tape of the places that have to stay white and then re-spray the tank in blue. I used a gloss white rattlecan bought in a DIY store.
I also bought a rattlecan of Tamiya "French Blue"; because that looked and sounded like the right color!

Perhaps I had to prime the tank first because the "Lehmann Benzin" sign shines a bit through the white paint...





I gave the tank a second layer today and the paint covered.
Now the hardest part: waiting! I ordered myself to wait a few days to let the paint hardening to prevent I rip the paint of again after removing the tape.

Meanwhile, on to making some "Margnat" decals!

Paul

A very interesting project, Paul. I am looking forward to seeing how this progresses. I like the idea for filling in the missing rivets too.

Paulus:
When I paint an LGB wagon, I usually strip the lettering off first, which can be easily done without affecting the plastic by using automobile brake fluid and a little muscle. I have found if I don't it is nearly impossible to totally cover the LGB lettering - it's actually quite thick and comes through the paint. I can't wait to see what "French Blue" looks like. I think I prefer the darker blues on some of the truck models you shared on the other thread.

Yes, the waiting part is tough; but patience is a virtue, they say. Let the paint cure well - you don't want to taint the precious cargo.

BTW, I think a sign board atop the car would look great, and for a ladder/platform to the hatch, I like this style:
I know it's not French, but I still like it.

Thanks guys!

Clive, I've got the idea of making the rivets with white glue from a 1:35 scale military modeling forum once. I used it several times and it works great. It's easy to apply with a toothpick or satestick. Sticky/thick paint will do the trick also.

Bill, that picture is GREAT! Thanks for posting!
I was planning a ladder and platform but the idea of a small ladder and a platform at the side is tempting.
Next time I'll try to remove the lettering. It's indeed thick so it "lays" on the plastic.
I'm also curious how the French blue looks like. If I don't like it I can always spray it over with darker blue.
I wished I could find a color picture of a real Margnat tankcar... But on the other hand, it's made up anyway, just have to look good

Yesterday evening (night actually...) I finished my "Paint" project on designing the decals. I used a picture I found on Ebay of an old Margnat emaille commercial sign. I converted the picture in Paint into a very simple 16 color BMP file (so actually the photo is simplified into a sort of drawing).
Than I spend hours of filling pixels in the right colors....

But all that work is pretty rewarding and this is how it looks afterwards:



Next I printed it a few times in different sizes to see how it looks like:



After chosen the right sizes (some big for the sides, a smaller for the topside) I printed the signs on a piece of Testors transparent decal paper. After printing I let it dry for 30 minutes and than I sprayed varnish over the decals to seal the not waterproof printer ink so it's not washed away when the decal gets in the water.

The decals:



At the moment it's a beautifull sunny 22 degree Celsius october day so the sprayed tank is laying in the sun to harden faster. There is still a spot where the paint is too soft (still leaves a fingerprint when touching...). Probably I sprayed too much paint on that spot

Paul

It's coming on Paul.

I was intrigued to find out about this brand name and to see whether it was like 'Nicolas' for example.

Here's a bit of history in French.

Famille Margnat

Where do you get the paper for the decals, and what sort of printer do you use to print them?

Clive, I bought the Testors decalpaper at my local hobby shop. You can find it in shops that sell supplies for plastic kit modeling. It's common used by car modelers (custom made decals for custom made cars... ). Also online in specialized webshops and I saw it on Amazon also.
You can buy only the paper (like I do) but also complete sets, I believe including software to design decals. But simply the paper, some spray varnish and a printer will work just fine.
The stuff that Testors sell to seal the decal is actually a varnish also, but much more expensive.

I use a normal inkjet printer (Lexmark Z617) with the standard ink for it.
It's important to spray the varnish over the decals to seal the ink; most ink used by printers is not waterproof.
Using varnish to seal the decals is much cheaper than to buy waterproof ink.

Testors sells both transparent and white decal paper, see for more information: the Testors site.

I also found this UK webshop that sells more kinds of decal paper, but I don't know how those product are in use (but I like to try them once, specially their dry rub-off decal paper): www.craftycomputerpaper.co.uk

Paul

I've found a nice video on working with Crafty decalpaper: see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8XuJ0Z3bbQ

I can recommend craftycomputer paper, i've used it for about 5 years now. A worthwhile tip is to create a full page of decals (ones you need and ones you might need in the future;signs etc) before running them off. A couple of decals cut out from a sheet is very expensive! Oh and make sure its an acrylic based varnish. oill based will melt the decal

mikey

Very useful info, thanks Paul (and Mikey!)

Started spray the blue today.
First I took the loose top and an old cup:



After spraying and decal in place:



So far so good, so I went on with the tank.
Taping of the place what must stay white:



And spraying!
But disaster strikes!!!!!!
The Tamiya paint was not very easy to apply, but even worse; on some place the first paint react on the Tamiya paint



After fighting the urge to throw it in the garbagebin I decided that I could always remove the paint so I first try something else. I cleaned of the damaged paint and resprayed, just to se how it looks. And it's not too bad, but it will need some fixing...





So, I took some plastic putty and applied a very thin layer of putty on the damaged spots. Than sanded it with very fine sanding paper. I had to make some rivets because I sanded them of in the process...

Also you can see I removed the tape. Some bleeding of the blue paint did occur but a little touching up with white paint helped a lot.



Two close ups of the final result after spraying. It's still noticeable but less than before. Now I could sand it another time or leave it this way. But after breathing in much more Tamiya paint as I planned today I'm a bit high so I think I leave it for now and decide later...






Just one picture to see how it starting to look:



Paul (still from all the spraying....)

Personally I would have left it as it was and rust weathered the bad paint bits...

Mike

I agree with Mike. That looks very prototypical with paint over 'corroded metal.'

That cheap Beaujolais Margnats sell is very corrosive.

Send it to uncle Clive's for a bit of weathering.

A bit of rust is a good idea indeed! I keep it in mind (and it's a good excuse for not have to sand it again ).

Looks good Paul

Carl Hibbs wrote:

Send it to uncle Clive's for a bit of weathering.

Who, me???

Text on the sides:



Painting / weathering the undercarriage:



And some subtile weathering on the tank (you see; I did do the rust!!!).







Next: bordes and brakinghouse...

That looks excellent. Just the right amount of weathering IMO.
You just need a few more wagons now!

And very nice it looks too!

Thanks guys!

Brilliant weathering! I had to leave my Newquida tanks out in the elements for two winters to get a similar effect.

Well done Paul

I started to build the brakecab from styrene last week and I used an old red LED, switch and battery to create a red lantern.



The front and sides are glued together and has a function a s a cover; it can be removed to get to the battery. The braking rod holds it in place. The roof will be removable also to get easy access to the switch.



The LED itself is stuck into a piece of stryreen pipe that is glued on the side. The lantern is build up aground the pipe from bits of styrene and putty/filler. The rod will have to be placed a bit more to the center.



Paul

And some pictures of it in the daylight. Not finished yet, the roof has to be painted and some railing and details have to be installed.









Paul

I saw the last picture first and thought you may have hacked an LGB model about but then I saw it was scratchbuilt.

The lamp is very effective.

That brake lever as you say needs to be the other side really where the handrail is.

A neat little 'vigie'.

You really wonder though how someone stays in a little place like that for a long journey.

That is an excellent piece of work Paul!

mikey

I love the brake cab and neat electrics!