# M.o.W. Weed Spraying Consist



## Zeke (Feb 22, 2011)

TJ - I saw your note in the Buy/Sell thread. I don't have any "in-progress" photos of this project, but I tried to explain what I did. I hope that's ok. 

Several years ago I decided I wanted to come up with some cars to go with my #6250 Seaboard switcher. This was about the same time MTH came out with their weed spraying consist, which provided the inspiration for this project.

I’m not offering this up as a great piece of modeling because it’s not. This was one of my early attempts at doing some customization and as you’ll see from the photos, there’s a LOT of room for improvement. Instead, think of this as more of an idea/inspiration thread. All 3 of the cars were dusty, dirty cheapies that had been laying around in a box for years because I didn’t know what to do with them. You probably have some, too. The next time you drag them out from under the layout, try taking a closer look and see if you can turn them into something unique for your layout.

We’ll do something different here and start with the caboose. It was disassembled, cleaned, and given the blue and pumpkin orange paint scheme. Both colors were rattle cans obtained from the local hardware store. The Seaboard and number decals were from a Walther’s set and the "M.o.W." was printed with a laser jet printer. I applied Dullcote and used mostly weathering powders to get an aged and dirty effect. I also used a product called Rustall on the top edges and sides of the bin. I didn’t expect it, but it reacted with the Dullcote and that’s how the faded areas came to be. The trucks were also dulled and then weathered with powders.










Next up is the tank car. Pretty much the same strategy here as with the caboose with regard to paint, decals, and weathering. On the left hand side you’ll notice a valve. I don’t remember the specific part number, but it came from Plastruct. It was too big so I trimmed the stem down to a believable size and used one of their pipe clips to simulate a handle. The hose is a short length of insulated copper wire.











That brings us to the heart of the consist – the sprayer car. It started life as some generic MPC piece. I painted the "boards" with tans and browns and finished off with weathering powders. I wanted to create rust spots where the bolts were, but as you’ll see in some of the photos I got the paint on way too heavy. The pump and piping came from Plastruct. The motor is a Model Power product (the yellow ones that come 2 to a package) that was painted flat black. The fuel tank was also made from Plastruct tubing, end caps, and stirrups. I got the 5 gate valves from a vendor at a train meet. The yellow rail was a scrap piece of plastic sprue. I sprayed it with rust-red primer and let that dry. I then hit it with yellow. When that coat was still tacky, I took a rag and gently dabbed around the piece which took off some of the yellow to reveal the rust color underneath.










Close-up of the piping.










Here’s a close-up of the pump and motor. I found a Walther’s HO scale piping kit which contained some different size flanges. I put one on the back of the pump that would receive the hose from the tank car. Another was put on the side for the outlet piping. I cut a small piece of rubber from a blown bike inner tube and glued it to the end of the car under the yellow guard. I figured that if this thing really existed, there would need to be something there to prevent the hose from chafing on the end of the flat car.











Here’s a picture that shows how the tank and flat are linked. As you can see, we have a four-man crew for this consist. From left to right: Harry, Barry, Gary, and Larry.











Just for the heck of it, I put red and white warning stripes on both ends of the tank and also on the caboose. I painted the ends red and then applied white automotive pinstriping.











Initially, I was really pleased with how it turned out. Now that I’ve learned some new tricks I see many areas for improvement such as weathering and decal application. I’d also like to add more detail to the pump and come up with more realistic nozzles. Oh well, some day…


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## tooter (Feb 26, 2010)

Wow, Sean... that's beautiful "rust" work! :thumbsup:

My favorites are M.O.W. utility cars because they're so different from the usual rolling stock. Those are really cool sprung trucks, too.

Greg


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## Dave Sams (Nov 24, 2010)

Zeke,

You are way to hard on yourself!

They look good.

How about a picture of the whole shebang, loco and all?


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## Big Ed (Jun 16, 2009)

Very nice Z.:thumbsup:


I think the weathering looks fine, who knows what the chemicals that they are spraying will do to the cars.

A portable gang plank in between the tanker and flat car?
Some kind of roof over the flat car to keep the workers out of the sun?

May I ask how much he socked you for the valves?
Do you know of a source for different sized valves for modeling?

To prevent hose chafing they use a plastic sleeve on the outside of hoses today. But yours is fine.

Nice work Z.:thumbsup:


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## gunrunnerjohn (Nov 10, 2010)

Cool looking work, looks very realistic.


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## T-Man (May 16, 2008)

Nice work on the piping.:thumbsup:


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## Zeke (Feb 22, 2011)

Thanks for all the kind words guys!

Greg - yeah, I also like MOW stuff because it's different. Don't get me wrong, I like boxcars and reefers as much as the next guy, but it's nice to have some variety.

Dave - I can't promise too much for the picture. I don't have a layout right now and really no place to get a decent shot of all the pieces together. I'll see what I can do, though.

Ed - I like your idea of a roof of some type. That could add quite a bit of character to the consist. I'll have to work on that for a future version.

I believe the valves were either 50 or 75 cents each. I don't know if that's steep or in line with what other people charge. They were exactly what I wanted and I only needed 5, so I just went for it. I remember seeing valves on Walther's website, but it was hard to tell exactly what size they were. Plastruct has several styles in many sizes, but they're not highly detailed.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Zeke,

Fabulous! Both your work above, as well as your sharing some creative / inspiration tips here with others! Exactly what I was hoping for. Do keep this thread (or others like it) flowing as you delve into future custom detailing projects like these ... excellent results, and great info to share with everyone here.

TJ


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## Zeke (Feb 22, 2011)

Thanks TJ! I'll keep that in mind for the future.


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## Big Mike (Dec 2, 2011)

*M.O.W.spraying rig*

Eleven pages back ,Zeke made a really cool looking spraying rig,very nice indeed, so I would like to ask him where or how can I buy the valves and piping to try to make one for my self,I have been looking in the model section of like walmart ,hobby lobby ect. but not finding anything to model bash,witch I would gladly do, help please..................mike


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

Mike,

Your post above has been moved to Zeke's thread.

TJ


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## NIMT (Jan 6, 2011)

Mike,
You can find the parts here...http://plastruct.com/


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## Zeke (Feb 22, 2011)

Mike - I'm sorry, I have been busy lately and haven't spent much time on train forums. I just now saw your post. 

Most of the stuff I used came from Plastruct and NIMT has given you the correct website (Thanks Sean!). I ordered their catalog first since it's easier to page through that and pick out what you need than searching their website (just my opinion).

I bought the valves at a train show but, unfortunately, I don't know the guy's name or have any contact information. The one suggestion I can make is to look for a Walther's HO piping kit. I picked one up at a show for $9 and it had piping, fittings, and valves that would look fine in O gauge. I don't know if Walther's still makes it, but their website is www.walthers.com if you want to do a search. And there's always Ebay.

I think it's cool that you're going to build one of these. If you can, please post some pictures since I would love to see your version.


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## Big Mike (Dec 2, 2011)

Zeke said:


> Mike - I'm sorry, I have been busy lately and haven't spent much time on train forums. I just now saw your post.
> 
> Most of the stuff I used came from Plastruct and NIMT has given you the correct website (Thanks Sean!). I ordered their catalog first since it's easier to page through that and pick out what you need than searching their website (just my opinion).
> 
> ...



Ok ,thanks, as most of you know I love to see what people create from there own toughts,as I love to create scratch built things too, I just hope I can do as good a job as you did ,I will really try, thanks again..........mike


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