50-foot chemical tankcar, Eastman Chemicals (ETCX 243).  The car was formed from two Atlas 28-foot beercan tanks painted for Eastman Chemicals.  I cut the center section from one body just inside the ends, and discarded the ends.  The second body was cut on either side of the dome hardware, and the center section was discarded.  I wanted to preserve the graphics on the car, so small pieces of masking tape were cut to shape and applied over the printing.  The tank parts were squared and glued together.  The weights from both cars were cemented into the base of the tank, then the base was cemented to the upper section of the tank.  The seam between the two sections was filed, filled and sanded to created one smooth cylinder.  The tank body was airbrushed in Accu-Paint stencil black, along with the remaining parts.  New handrails and support rods were formed from brass wire, and hand painted after the car was assembled. The standard brakewheel was replaced with an Atlas RS-3 brakewheel.  The assembled tank was airbrushed with a satin finish to blend in the new paint with the printed areas.  Micro-Trains couplers were mounted to the frame, and Roundhouse 100-ton roller bearing trucks with Micro-Trains low-flange wheelsets were added.  The car was lightly airbrushed with a wash mixture of grime and dirt for weathering.  Micro Scale consolidated stencil decals were then added, simulating application after the car was in service.  The car was on the rails in 1983.  As far as I know, Eastman Chemical did not own 50-foot tanks at the time, but I wanted to keep the existing lettering.  I kitbashed this car years before Roundhouse released their 50-foot chemical tanks.  My model is smaller in diameter than the Roundhouse car, so it looks good having a model with a different profile among those cars.