Unknown hopper

[tompm]

Sweet job on the boxcar.

[cnrglen]

My Decals arrived
   

I only need the data and some other markings in each package so the roadnames didn't really matter. I didn't know ahead of time but the Pennsylvania set had two sets of data in them to I could have gotten away with getting only one.

   

On the other have, the Nickel Plate decals turned out nicer so I wish I had managed two sets of those. No matter, I'm planning to weather these fairly extensivley.
I only used the date sets and lettered them 'B M' for Battle Mountain, a throwback to the old MDC 3-1 kits.

[cnrglen]

I spent a few hours this morning and weathered the two hoppers:

   

I started with the composite hopper. I used a fiberglass eraser brush on the wood and decalled parts, scratching the paint and lettering down to the gray primer in places. Then I airbrushed over the sides with some more boxcar red to fade the lettering. I airbrushed the interior in a dark rust first, then streaked lighter rust and grimy black down the slopes and sides.
I then used grimey black to shade around the outside braces on both cars as well as spraying the underside of each car including the chutes. I then used Vallejo 'Dirt' along the lower portion of the sides. 
I found that the grimey black and the dirt were a bit too stark so I sprayed a 'control coat' or overspray of boxcar red over the entire car to pull it all together. 

     

I wanted a couple of hoppers that a very well used and their owners put the bare minimum of maintenance into them. I haven't decided on loads yet, that's why I weathered the interiors.