This is a resin and white-metal casting kit, I purchased through Locopainter.com, aka, Wiseman Model Services. This is not what I would call a beginner model- that being said, it was certainly a rewarding challenge. The directions are provided with photos and explanation, unfortunately, it is all black and white. I found myself referencing the locopainter.com website, to look at product pictures to help figure out some of the details.
The flatbed car itself, is used in many of the Wiseman rolling stock kits. Resin frame and decking. Metal stake pockets. Kit comes with metal wheels. The brake beams were quite tricky to install, as you have to drill them out, and insert very thin. brass rod. This is then glued to the underside of the model. Something to be aware of: this kit is meant to be gauged for On3 or On30. In my circumstance, I model in On30 and ended up gluing some plastic blocks on the underside of the car. To not do this, would mean that these pieces would barely have anything to be glued to. Remember, these cars are meant to be built in either On3 or On30 gauges. The On3 version would allow for perfect placement of the truck pieces.
Once you have the flatbed car built, then the fun really begins! The roof, roof frame and vertical uprights are all resin. I ended up using basswood for the uprights. I also used basswood to build a copy of the square roof frame- I unfortunately was not able to extract the resin roof frame from the excess resin and broke it to pieces. Once I had the roof assembly built, I installed the 4 uprights into the stake pockets.
Continuing on, you are given a small pile of detail parts, which is what really makes this model! All metal castings were coated in a pewter blackener, dried, then rubbed with some cloth to buff it to a slight shine. It was then painted over.
The little wooden work bench, was another item that I rebuilt out of basswood. I just did not like the look of the resin piece, and simply made an exact copy. A little bit of heavily dilluted India Ink, and I called it “weathered!”
All the detail parts were added, and glued in to place. My weathering skills leave a lot to be desired, and will probably revisit that aspect, at another date.
Link and pin coupler pieces are provided with the kit. You can add your choice of coupler, to the draft gear box, if you choose.
I painted the red castings on the car itself, with Floquil Oxide Red paint. Narrowgaugemodelingcompany.com was the only place I could actually find this color. He has a ton of other paints and supplies, as well.
This will be a great little static piece to have sitting on a siding. There are just too many pieces, for me to risk pulling behind a locomotive.
Locopainter.com has a tremendous selection of narrow gauge modeling kits and pieces. Give them a look, if this is something that tickles your fancy!