Running Bear's March 2021 Coffee Shop


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Good Sunday Morning Everyone. Around here it's clear and 44° headed up to 70° later today.
Average day yesterday for me. After spending the morning on the normal household activities, I mowed some more of the yard. Sadly, the parts that I mowed Tuesday have sprouted a new crop of dandelions and catnip. Then it was weed removal and planting bed preparation time in the garden in advance of planting the first 24 tomato plants and 6 bell pepper plants today, prior to the predicted rain tomorrow. I'll also be planting some spinach and squash plants that I started from seeds in small pots about a month ago. After that, the plan includes installing the new front brakes on the car. Normally that should take me about 45 minutes total time, especially if Murphy extends his visit to Justin and Ken and doesn't return here.

Hey there Flo. How about just a toasted English Muffin and a plateful of bacon today. No eggs this morning, I made a batch of egg salad yesterday for lunch later today.

Thanks for the likes and comments yesterday regarding the tree house progress; Karl, Sherrel, Justin, Gary, Phil, Tom, Hughie, Tom O, Joe, Garry.

Very little time left in the day for a visit to the train shed yesterday, but I did get out there. I only did some minor work on the tree house, but I did do some painting on some figures that I am going to use in that scene as well as a few others. While waiting for paint to dry, I exchanged the Kadee #148 couplers in the front of a pair of ScaleTrains SD40-2's, for some Kadee #146 long shank ones. The #148's that I originally installed worked, but did cause derailment of the trailing car occasionally on some places on the layout. The problem was the trip pins on the trailing cars would get wedged against the plow on the engines because of the ultra close coupling, and that in turn caused the wheels to lift off the track and derail. It took me over a year to figure this one out as it was only happening when the train was exiting a 32" curve to straight track.
Here's some of the booty collected from the LHS upon my visit Friday.
Some Oxford vehicles.
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I know that some are duplicates of some that are already on the layout, but when I place them on different levels on different aisles, no one but me will notice.
Here is an additional vehicle from Woodland Scenics that has already found a home on the layout.
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The Kadee couplers.
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Some pre-made trees for fence rows and along the ROW of the RR.
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Lots of young ladies from Prieser for Sherrel to ogle.
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Karl - Glad to read that your son is doing better. We lost a 48 year old niece to Covid back in December.
Jaz - Your village scene yesterday looked really nice. Your eye for detail is very good. It is also great to see what British modelers are up to and to see the stuff that you model.
Garry - I know that I am seeing great visions of additional details that I can add to the eventual tree house scene, although some I cannot execute until after it's planted in place.
Sure is a busy terminal picture. Lots of motive power.

Today is count-down day, 3-2-1!
Everybody have a great day. May you be safe and negative.
 
Good Morning Everyone....a sunny Spring day here in this part of Wisconsin. Nice Spring day and we plan to play with Riley outside later in the day when the temperature warms up a bit. This morning its seems that every dog owner in the neighborhood was out walking their dog(s).

During the last trip down to the layout I notice a large Woodland Scenic's tree had half of its truck a sliver color instead of the normal plastic dark brown. The tree must gotten turned when I planted it a few months ago, since I did paint half of the trunk and main branches in a pale silver/off white color. Most trees in the wild have silver and dark brown bark or light brown bark..

Willie: Don't let Chet see your new vehicle collection. I like your JTT model trees. Those long shank Kadee couplers cure a lot of problems when mounted on locomotives and to most eyes go un-noticed. I have several of my locomotives with the #146's.

Short 'n sweet.

Greg
 
Good Morning from the sunshine country where it is 41 going up towards a 64 high later on under sunshine and breezy skies.
FLO - Time for a garbage omelet today with a handful of bacon, biscuits and gravy. A large coke too, please.

santafewillie said:
Lots of young ladies from Prieser for Sherrel to ogle.
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Boobies, Willie, love boobies: must have boobies ... LOL!



Frisco Mountain #1522
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Jaz avalley said:
FYI I NEVER photoshop, EVER..
I do the basic cropping to cut out details that give it away like the skyline.
I have an iPad not a phone it gives me a much larger picture to view to look for giveaway spots, plus I can touch the screen and control where the focus is,this is just the iPad no special software.
Now I did art college and we had a photographic lesson half a day each week, much was learning to develop film, and avoid the hands technician I think every girl on our course slapped him at least once sneaking around in the dark, he also got kneed twice,I do not know what he did to the other girl but he cornered me and I knee jerked in fact I needed the jerk right in the hot spot, I do not think he ever attempted to get hands with me again.
The point is it set me on an interest on choosing the element that focuses people attention, hiding any glaring gaffs,and reading on the subject.
The rules really are few and very easy.
1. Focus the lens only on the subject, and nothing that detracts from it,e.g. out of scale,out of context poor modelling.
2. When choosing items to photograph choose items that photograph well,e.g. I gone model car looks better than another just buy the better,if the front or the back looks better try to use the better end or side.
3. Models of people rarely look good, either de focus, or hide the worst aspects,e.g stands, faces turn so you see a good profile if there is one or the back,plus with people Always avoid shiny paint people are not shiny.
4.if you cannot get natural light shadows consider painting them, but if painting them all items in picture must have the same orientation which often means you can onlu]y photograph from one angle
5.hide port elements by literally putting better elements in the front and hide them.
6.always look at a picture from its worst aspect and not its best aspect,always address the worst aspects ASAP as this will lift the value of the picture immediately.
7.if natural sunlight is available always take advantage.
8.
9.
10.
I’ll add those as they occur to me.
An overview view is informative but prior to drones not natural.You will fool no one
8 set the camera aperture at a height subject to the model,so on a H0 model you should be at a relative height of 5-6feet this will inevitably increase believability
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the cow on the left is recognisable, but the repainted cow with more believable colour will inevitably be more believable, this paint job is not hard needs no special accuracy but will benefit from adding the colours in a certain order, and make for the least correcting,also you do not need expensive paintbrushes I use cheap ones almost all the time for models,and cheap women’s makeup brush sets have brilliant angles and shapes
now this is not a blog or a place where one usually gives lessons,so please do not think I am preaching,all I am saying is some rules can help kid people, and when I find element that are passable I reuse and keep them together to try and fool people,
I know I have not added a rule 9 but rule 10 should be
10 you only need to partially fool people, their own brains will fill in the gaps they expect to see making your model more believable.e.g stare at wall paper or dirt and look for faces or shapes look at clouds and your brain wants to make it something it recognises,so give it a context,your model layout,and with some initiative you can fool people.
I have small parts of each area that I have concentrated on checking angles trying to make our brains sufficiently informed that I can fool them,there will inevitably be angles on a layout which are sweetsspots and areas that are sweet nots as something will always interfere usually corners or windows.
also a layout photographed at one angle or one end may stand up to scrutiny whilst another won’t or need without improved modelling.
View attachment 126111
the twists on the branches,the dull water surface,the faces of the swans, the cow,the shiny enamel on the person all conspire against me
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even painted a single colour you see the cow has better details,although I did crop some horn
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pale legs, darker hide
View attachment 126116
a white chest,legs muzzle and eye patch,then a dark nose,eye,hooves and tail tip, no inherent accuracy required cows are quite different cow to cow
View attachment 126117
more cows in scene,static grass is the best feature here
View attachment 126118
slightly more expensive models I added the black to the left one here it looks dodgy as hell
View attachment 126119
but with a more subtle brown and white tint it looks good, cows udders are face coloured so pinky white, I pull up pictures of real cows as reference never ever do stuff from memory you miss nuances, you can see different focuses and no shine I prefer acrylics for living creatures they look more realist, ok not a photoshop course,but some of my tricks which I hope help.
i should do it on a thread but I really like the coffee shop and the friendliness of people here. So hope you don’t mind.
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Good tips. I have not thought of using my IPdPro.

TomO
 
CambriaArea51 said:
Just got off the phone with a friend of mine, told me that CP and Kansas City Southern merged.
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Tom

They are talking about it. The STB in the USA has the final say and I am sure there is a Canadian agency that will way in. Seems like a good fit but a merger that big will be complex with 2 class 1’s. IF it happens we will get a lot more short lines or Class 2’s out of it. Either way I presume tomorrow my stock holdings on both will go up. I read approval if it comes will be late 2022, which I doubt will actually happen.

TomO
 
I have built two (of three) modules for my new switching layout - feeling happy about how they came out. The module tops are actually custom drawers that I ordered from a North Carolina company off the Internet! I just don't trust my own carpentry skills so getting these prefabbed was really worth it for me.

The drawers are light weight and strong. Size is 2 ft by 4 ft. I built the legs from 2x3 lumber and added leveling feet at the bottom. I plan to top the modules with foam.

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Good evening Shop Dwellers, it's 45*F and calm under clear skies here in my central MD hometown. Been another busy weekend for me - details at the bottom of the post.

CambriaArea51 said:
Ken- I use Model Master acrylic dull coat I get from Hobby Lobby. They have it now and then so I grab a couple when I'm in the store.
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Tom, I learned after some experimentation that the Dullcote in a jar, sprayed thru an airbrush, will give the best results. That is what I wound up doing for my current project.

kbkchooch said:
IBKen just let me know when you are ready to open up "Das Programmer".
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Thanks, Karl, that may still be a few weeks away since I haven't wrapped up this F7 project and I'll need to spend time preparing my property for the warmer months - winterizing the snow blower, and doing the annual pre-season maintenance on the riding mower. Oh yeah, I also have to cut up some tree branches that broke off during snow/ice period.

Jaz avalley said:
I have this issue I am always hopping from one new thing to another so I photograph as I go along the camera sets the time and date and I can see the progression and I photograph the products I use,it is also helpful when others ask what I did as the photographs record it and I do not have to wrack my brain trying to remember or fluffing it.
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Funny you should mention that Jaz, I used to do the same thing on each project up until a few years ago, when I found it was slowing down my progress significantly when I had to upload and edit all the photos; just got lazy I guess!
santafewillie said:
. . .
Ken - Good to read that the "medicine man" has finally made it to MD. Speaking of MD, I wonder how Louis is doing?
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Willie - Louis and I don't really talk with each other very much, since I am not a diehard sports fan and I have little else in common with him mrr-wise. OTOH, Joe [Boris] communicates with him at regular intervals, I think[?]

* * *
Just got back at ~9:30pm after spending most of the afternoon and evening at the house of Daughter #1, who had a family reunion supper and going-away gathering for my son who will be leaving the Philly area next weekend to spend a few months doing a [P.A. School] Emergency Medicine rotation at a Mississippi hospital and be unable to come to Maryland on weekends like he's been doing. So I'll have to keep this brief with my bedtime looming on the horizon.

I spent most of the day Saturday working on the F7 weathering task - Take #2. I finally did get the shell looking the way I wanted, even though after the first application of airbrushing, the nose looked too pale while the sides looked fine. So I wound up mixing some more homegrown Enchantment Blue paint and airbrushing that over the nose in a way that blends in gradually into the pale sides - IOW, the dirt layer looks more like residue from wheel spray than a general body-wide fading of the paint. I could have kept the nose looking the way it did since there are numerous prototype photos that show F-units that way; but, since this will be my "flagship" unit that will be most often used since it is my only sound-equipped F-unit - I don't want it looking pathetically worn-out and ready for the scrappers torch! I airbrushed-on the final layer of Dullcote early this afternoon before going to my daughter's house, now it just needs a few details brush-painted before I reassemble it.

There is a lot more I wanted to share about, but it's getting late and I don't have the luxury of sleeping-in tomorrow - so all that will have to wait until next time [assuming I remember it]...
 
Good Evening .

BigGRacing said:
Garry - awesome yard ! Is that a CN F7 type engine on the right ?
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Gary .... Thanks for commenting. The photo includes Northern Pacific F9's departing Union Station with the North Coast Limited.

TLOC said:
Garry, that passenger yard looks great. Had to look again to make sure it wasn’t real, well done.
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Tom O ..... Thank you for your compliment.

Joe ............ Those are interesting PRR electric locomotives >

santafewillie said:
Sure is a busy terminal picture. Lots of motive power.
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Willie .... Thanks for commenting.


CambriaArea51 said:
Just got off the phone with a friend of mine, told me that CP and Kansas City Southern merged.
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Tom / Cambria ..... The financial news outlets are reporting CP intends to acquire KCS. It has not yet occurred. I own CP stock and KCS stock. Neither company has contacted stockholders yet about the proposed acquisition. They have been good investments so far. I paid about $74 / share for CP, and now it is $ 378 / share. I paid about $48 / share for KCS, and now it is $224 / share. Both companies consistently pay dividends.

Kleiner .... Your bench for your modules looks very well made.



Everybody .... Thanks for the likes on my post. ... Good night .





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Well fellers I guess the weekend has come to a close. Replaced two turnouts today. One by the mine and one at the yard. Man I hate pulling up track. It never seems to go back the same way. Oddly enough I found myself standing my cork roadbed with 80 grit sandpaper. I have never sanded cork. Never had to! Until today. The poor quality lumber lowes and places carry make layout building a nightmare! My layout has more dents and bumps in than my head does. Built it up like I should. Supported like I should. Still finds ways to go sideways. However my trains run good. So I guess my complaints are unnecessary. Still getting the hang of my new throttles. More I mess with them the better I run my trains. So all is good there. More hoppers on the way as well. Finally got a freaking headlight in my Atlas GP7 too! I found a miniatronics bulb in my toolbox. Installed it and now I have light! However not directional. But theres a fix coming for that too. I ordered some warm white leds. That should fix the Atlas headlight woes. I'm just concerned they will be too bright. I'll cross that bridge when I get there I suppose. That's all I have for now. I'll stop by again tomorrow sometime. Yall have a good night.
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TLOC said:
Tom

They are talking about it. The STB in the USA has the final say and I am sure there is a Canadian agency that will way in. Seems like a good fit but a merger that big will be complex with 2 class 1’s. IF it happens we will get a lot more short lines or Class 2’s out of it. Either way I presume tomorrow my stock holdings on both will go up. I read approval if it comes will be late 2022, which I doubt will actually happen.

TomO
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The government is usually pretty reluctant to foreign companies to buy U.S. carriers unless they are in financial difficulty ( bankruptcy ) and no other U.S. companies are interested.

So I too am skeptical that this will go through . I am unaware of any financial woes with KCS.
 
Good morning gang!

38° and clear, looking for a high of 61° here in central Absurdistan.

#1 son went back to the ER yesterday morning with difficulty breathing. This time they admitted him. We texted back and forth last night. He said his breathing has improved but he still feels bad. Hopefully they will keep him til he really is better.

In mrr news, the 2-8-0 got painted yesterday. Touch up, assembly and decaling are next, after a few days of degassing.

Off to work!
 
BigGRacing said:
Chessie,
Should I expect these issues as well once the glues and moisture from plaster etc.....get into the plywood ?
and it’s another great workday except for your extra issues that came about, what kind of switches did you have and are using now?
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I wouldn't think unless your layout is in the garage like mine. Subject to all temperature and humidity changes that can be thrown at it. I know that's what happened to my track. I had to do some filing as the swelling took up all the gaps I left in the rails. Still running though. I use Atlas snap switches on my layout.
 
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