3-bay Centerflows

[Mellow Mike]

Boy, you had to drag me kicking and screaming into this category!

 

[Mellow Mike]

This was a typical very dark blue Golden West hopper. I cheated by repainting it in a faded blue, weathered it, and then decaled it.

 

[Lady_Railfan]

Welcome aboard, Mellow Mike! Wow --- Very impressive detail work there.

Beautiful Web site also. I jumped right to the tunnel motors since we just talked about those over at the prototype forum. Your see-through shot is a beauty. I wonder if you'd post that over at RRF, or give us permission to link to it from your site?

 

[Mellow Mike]

Welcome aboard, Mellow Mike! Wow --- Very impressive detail work there.

Beautiful Web site also. I jumped right to the tunnel motors since we just talked about those over at the prototype forum. Your see-through shot is a beauty. I wonder if you'd post that over at RRF, or give us permission to link to it from your site?

Why, thank you Ma'am! Actually... you've seen me here before the Forum went down.

I don't post on the prototype side to be honest. I shoot those pics primarily for the sake of reference to modelers and myself. I got lucky on those SD40T-2 photos. The UP folks are much more tolerant of railfans poking around equipment than the neighboring BNSF. You can link 'em if you wish. It was like 15 minutes to sundown when I stumbled across the Tunnel Motor. So the quality is marginal.

 

[Lady_Railfan]

Thank you, Sir. That's the best shot I've seen of an "essdeefortyteetwo."

 

[sushob]

Wow...that ERCX is an excellent representation of the prototype. Two thumbs up!

 

[vanda32547]

I really liked the graffitti you added to your work. How hard was it to do?

Regards,

 

[Mellow Mike]

I really liked the graffitti you added to your work. How hard was it to do?
Regards,

There's a certain measure of skill in the decal application process, to be sure, but a nice looking piece is only good if I can get a very high definition digital photo off the real car to begin with. Then it's a matter of cleaning and prepping it on the computer.

Centerflow or smooth side boxcar tags are relatively easy to clean up. It's the ribside cars with the shadows and rivets that can keep you busy for a couple hours!

Shrinking to HO size, and printing on decal film goes by in a jiffy. But no matter how much prep work I do on the computer - I always have to touch up the colorful graffiti with a small brush after its snuggled down on the model. And on most cars, blending in the graffiti with a bit of weathering adds to the realism. The above fox character was left clean however because it was such a detailed work of art.

 

[duckdogger]

Graffitti decals? You're kidding? I have been leaving my models out near the tracks in the seedier side of town over night.