True Line Trains made the iconic Canadian slabside hoppers in HO Scale in the early to mid 2000's.  They are nice cars that accurately reflect the prototype.  Except for one thing...

One of the things I have wanted to capture was the look of an old single sheath boxcar in work service near the end of it's service life.  Like this one:

To that end I have been mulling over possible techniques to capture this look.  I liked the chipping technique that I have seen used very effectively on aircraft and military models, and decided this would be my way to do this.  

Prototype car: Hudson Bay Railway HBRY 551567, ex CN 551567

My next round of freight cars will be a batch of CN 50' boxcars in the 551XXX series.  These were common in my modelling era and locale so having a few is a necessity.  CN renumbered the cars into the 551500 series starting in 1981 and as part of that work reinforced the car ends with steel beams. 

Bear Creek and Jackson freight headed by SP AC-5 4111

One a work trip a couple of years ago I built this Tichy 40 foot flatcar during the evenings in my hotel room.  CN rostered a siginficant fleet of these cars that were inherited from Canadian Northern, built in the 1912-1918 timeframe.  I got the car painted CN red and set it aside until I could locate some appropriate decals and prototype photos.

Painted and decalled, waiting for weathering (someday)

The finished project: CP 8 hatch tank hopper