Weekly Photo Fun 8-28/9-03

[jbaakko]

Josh, yes they are. The last 3 I found.

They look awesome!

I was thinking of making up some Gensets (the power units, not the locomotives) using the Life Like parts...

 

[UP2CSX]

Jerome, you have way better eyes than me. I'm not sure I could even cut those off a decal sheet let alone get them on straight.

Matt, I'm no judge but at least a couple of those look like prize winners to me. That HO freight house is really some outstanding work.

 

[jbaakko]

Recent work has allowed me to complete my Andersley 53' A-P spine.

I even made a foam storage container.

And, just for Jim... The decals on this are smaller then Jerome's! And to top it off, the painting diagram that is the instruction sheet for the decals, the letters are even smaller!

 

[rhoward]

I guess I'll show you what I have been doing yesterday and today.

I made a lantern complete with working light to put on a crate by the freight house. Seems that the night watchman forgot about it and left it going... Man is he going to get a chewing out!

Here is what it looks like at night:

A view from a different angle:

I also assembled and painted another Jordan Models Ford Model T Van. This one is new though, 1925 model. The proud owner, Mr Thompson, brought his wife and kids down to the park for the concert in it:

Close up of it:

73

 

[UP2CSX]

Go ahead, Josh, just lord it over us old coots that you young guys have good eyes and accomplish amazing feats. Those are some good looking cars. The foam case is a good idea since I imagine parts break if you look at them sideways.

 

[UP2CSX]

Ray, you're a glutton for punishment when it comes to those Jordan kits. Came out nice. Did you use an LED or regular grain fo rice type of the lantern? Did you scratchbuild the lantern or drill out a kit. Knowing you, it was probably scratchbuilt. I need a similar lantern for a residential post light.

 

[rhoward]

Ray, you're a glutton for punishment when it comes to those Jordan kits. Came out nice. Did you use an LED or regular grain fo rice type of the lantern? Did you scratchbuild the lantern or drill out a kit. Knowing you, it was probably scratchbuilt. I need a similar lantern for a residential post light.

The Jordan Kit is a "newer" one and went together a bit easier than the last one. Still used up my entire vocabulary of bad words though..... Several times I might add. They are finicky but come out soooooooo well. Also one of the only way to get vehicles that fit with my layout in 1925.

The Lantern is scratch built (but of course!). Really not a hard job and it cones out well. There is an article by a friend of mine who does an online magazine on model railroading in the Rochester, NY area. You can download it here: http://www.oilcreekrailroad.com/ Click on the RMR link on the middle left hand side of the page. The article is the one by "Doctor Dick" the scenery doctor. (He is the publisher and you'd have to see his layout to believe it!)

I modified a couple of things for mine. The light is an amber grain of rice bulb. I substituted a styrene tube for the brass one he uses, and for the lantern top I used a left over miniature light reflector that fit rather than buying a brass washer. Since I use a 16v power supply for all my lighting and 12 volt bulbs (either in series, or with a resistor installed), I first tried to put onto the same circuit in series with the 2 lights also in series) in the freight house since I wanted to reduce their output as well. That resulted in the grain of rice bulb on bright with the 2 grain of wheat bulbs barely glowing..... So I got out my Loys Toys resistor thingy and starting with 1K ohms, adjusted it down to where it was just bright enough. Ended up having to go to Radidio Shack to buy 100 ohm resisters. It has a 100 Ohm and a 460 Ohm all in series with the bulb.

Thanks Jim!

 

[MLW]

In hot pursuit..

Some action shot........

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[macjet]

I haven't posted here in awhile but here are several photos of mine and RCH's Free-mo modules. Pictured are his module depicting the Dalwor junction on the Rock Island line in Dallas. Attached to his is the third of three modules that comprise my grain module. RCH did the scenery on mine as well as his. None are finished but we are finishing up operational details before our set up this coming weekend. On line are three RI GP38's pulling a grain train while a RI GP35 holds the other leg of the wye waiting for the grain to clear.

 

[UP2CSX]

Ray, thanks for the link and the detailed instructions. I'll give it a try and see how it comes out. I'm thinking of a 360 degree LED to reduce heat problems.

Nice train chasing shots, MLW. How did you do it?

Mac, nice looking modules and trackwork. The scenery on the finished sections looks very realistic, especially the picture with the plowed field. Sure nice to have some sunshine to work with too.

 

[macjet]

Mac, nice looking modules and trackwork. The scenery on the finished sections looks very realistic, especially the picture with the plowed field. Sure nice to have some sunshine to work with too.

RCH has done a great job with the scenery. I have no experience at it at all. The only scenic element to my credit is the part finished gravel road grade crossing off the far end. Eventually I plan on adding some wheat in front of the combine and cut behind. But as long as it takes me to ballast track that may be a year off.

 

[blownoutcylinder]

MLW The chase scenes are good!! I'd like to know how you got the backdrop together---that works well with that scene.

 

[mdcustom]

Dan: You ask how I scratch build the tank band tightners, well here is how. First the band locations are marked on the tank body (I only do this when I am building to a prototype, free lanced are put in by eye). Next the bands are attached usually starting from the bottom of the tank, these are made from .010 Evergreen strip in various widths. Third shot shows the 13 bands attached on this tank in three different widths (largest at the bottom). Next the leftover ends of some of the strips are cut into small pieces about 8" scale long, done by eye and no two are exactly the same length. Also shown are a pair of .015 brass wires painted and cut into small 10-12" scale long lenghts. In HO I would use .008 wire.

 

[mdcustom]

To build the tightners first a pair of large groups of jell super glue are placed on each band end. Then a piece of the cut scrap band material is placed on this, the super glue "oozes" out of the sides which you want to happen. Then a piece of the cut wire is picked up with the tip of an hobby knife and placed/rolled against the ends where it is grabbed by the oozed super glue. Last shot shows this step completed for this tank. This part took about 20 minutes to complete with 2 tightners on each of the 13 bands.

 

[mdcustom]

Then the rivets are added using a hobby syringe filled with Arlene's Tacky Glue from Walmart. The rivets are done free hand (if some don't look right then they can easily be wiped off with a finger tip and redone at this stage). The largest bands receive 3 rivets per side, smaller ones get 2 each (in HO all get 2). These are allowed to dry, takes about an hour during which time they shrink flatter which makes them look more like rivets. Only thing left to do is to touch up the cut ends (both Evergreen and brass wire) with the red/brown paint that I used to represent old rust. This is the technique that I use for HO/S/O scales. In F the wire is replaced by thin solid core electrical wire with the insulation stripped off the center portion and the rivets are from Grant Line as they start getting larger then what can be done with glue drops.

Matt Dillow
MD Custom Models

 

[zgardner18]

This is for you guys that don't venture over to the MR Mag forum site.



EDIT deleted pics due to copyright issues

 

[railroad-guy]

Matt: Thank you so much for the information and great pictures. They look so nice and your workmanship is fantastic!

 

[AyTrane]

I will take pictures later today, but I scored big time at an estate sale over the weekend.

I got a call from my cousin, letting me know that there was an estate sale, and they had some train stuff. I didn't think much of going, as most of the time the train stuff consists of an old Bachmann starter set and a few Tyco cars. So I skipped day one (Fri), as I had some things to do. Day two (Sat), I had Physics lab in the morning, and then went and ran the trains at the botanical gardens until noon. I had planned on going disc golfing afterward, but decided to see if a friend wanted to go with. He did so I headed that direction and picked him, his wife, and my girlfriend up and we started to head toward the course (about 13:30pm). I decided that we better stop before we go, just in case there might be anything worth looking at.

Once at the house, I immediately went into the basement (because that's always where the train stuff is) and found quite a large amount of very nice HO scale items. Everything was in like new condition, so I immediately began rummaging through cars and buildings (no engines). Here were my findings for day two:


Everything was already assembled:

Buildings:
Double engine facility, with two working doors in front and one in back, added bonus: add on building and smoke stack - $10
Large warehouse type building - $10
Large "Ice Storage" facility - $10

Cars (Athearn with Kadee couplers and steel wheels):
Reefer - $6
D&RGW Cookie Box - $5
"Hooker" tank car - $6

Box of eighteen bumpers and re-railers (Code 83) - $5

Total spent day two: $47

Afterward, disc golfing was great. Played 18, had a good time.


Day Three of Estate Sale:

Woke up early, taught guitar lessons, stopped at the bank, and headed for the estate sale to pick up "Last Day 1/2 price items"

Findings:

Cars (Athearn with Kadee couplers and steel wheels):
ATSF Reefer - $3
PFE Reefer - $3
Reefer - $3
SP log cars (2) (with logs) - $6
D&RGW flat car with I-Beam load - $3

Atlas Code 83 flex track (very lightly used, no cutting) (22) - $10

BEST deal of the day:

24 Atlas Code 83 #4 turnouts (right and left) with remote switch machines - $12
I said that correctly...Twenty Four turnouts in near mint condition for twelve dollars.

Total spent on day 3: $45


I got almost $1000 worth of train stuff for under $100. And everything was in such good shape and well cared for, it was like buying it new.


I talked to the lady running the estate sale for awhile. Her father had the train stuff, and pasted away a few years ago. After her dad died, her brother went and threw MOST of the train stuff in the GARBAGE! She was quite heartbroken as she knew that her dad loved the trains, so she was very happy to see the train stuff going to a good home, where it will be used. I also found out that all of the engines were sold, very quickly, on Friday. So I probably should have gone...


Moral of the story: You never know what you are going to find when you go out junk sale-ing.


Pictures soon.

 

[NYSW F45]

Here's what little I was able to accomplish this weekend.

Started with masking the tip of the nose in preperation to paint it silver. NJT had only a few GE U34CH's with the nose painted silver. It was nicknamed the "Bandit" scheme amongst railfans here in NJ. So since Atlas only offered the NJT U34CH in 3 NJDOT paint schemes and 2 actuall NJT schemes I had to do my own.
I have some very thin masking tape, the kind that auto shops use to mask the lines off for pin striping. I used that on the narrow nose, then regular blue masking tape to tape off the rest of the body. Brushed on polly-scale primer and let it dry for a few hours. I tried brushing on Polly-scale ATSF silver but that didn't work to well. Sanded that off and used a can of Testors silver spray paint.

Then after a few hours I cut out a small NJT logo from the microscale NJT decal sheet and applied it to the nose.

Prototype pictures:

I then tried my hand at weathing some wheels on the powered trucks for my Athearn P40's. Boy what a PITA to do and not smear paint anywhere it shouldn't be. That and trying to get a good color for rust. I may add some weathering powders tomorrow.

These are just some update pics on my custom B units and some of the piping that was done using Details West superdetailing kit for the P40.

 

[UP2CSX]

Matt, your level of concentration and focus far exceed mine. None of what you did is all that hard but I think I'd go psychotic after about 45 minutes of glue rivets.

Zack, those are some fine models and shots. The canoes in the river always look so real. I wish I had seen that gravel road before now. That's nearly the type of look I was trying for with my church road but it didn't come out anywhere nears as well as yours. If yours was a lighter gravel, it would have been perfect for me.

Steve, some very nice detailing work so far and nice masking job on that nose. The one thing I'd say is avoid Testor's model spray paint at all costs. It's too thick and covers too many details, as your head on shot shows. If you don't have an airbrush, get some Floquil spray paint. You'll get a much thinner and nicer looking finish. Floquil Old Silver would have been ideal for the nose.