mdq
Full Member
Posts: 127
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Post by mdq on Nov 12, 2023 10:37:46 GMT -8
Better late than never I guess...  |
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Post by TBird1958 on Nov 12, 2023 11:08:44 GMT -8
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Nicely done! Work and music have been taking a lot of my time over the past month, I did manage to spend some time with this old though. it's an older Kato unit that I first put together when these first came out back in '95, I redid the side frames using LLP2K parts and added a lot of traction motor cable and other bits, of course the handrail were a pretty glaring fault so I gave some Athearn ones a try on this. It involved filling a few holes and drilling some new ones. Not suitable for an RPM meet but it'll do fine on the layout.   |
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Post by Christian on Nov 12, 2023 11:18:43 GMT -8
Better late than never I guess... Well composed photograph. And fine modeling. |
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Post by tom on Nov 12, 2023 12:00:36 GMT -8
Here is my NYC boxcar finished for the 1970s Penn Central era. Car started as an Intermountain 10' 6" AAR boxcar. I added Plano running board supports and Branchline trucks. I also used Kadee bracket grabirons instead of using the bulky Intermountain ones and replaced the stirrups with ones bent from thin staples.  I painted it with Polly-Scale Jade Green paint that still had and then lettered it with Microscale decals. The correct size logo was from the Microscale PC/NyC caboose set. This was a late NYC paint job so it it wasn't weathered too much although the green paint was faded some. |
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Post by onequiknova on Nov 12, 2023 12:05:31 GMT -8
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Post by cemr5396 on Nov 12, 2023 12:20:03 GMT -8
The paper mill at the MRR club is coming along, it is very nearly finished - structurally at least.  The whole thing takes up a bit more space than I gave it credit for, partially because the layout is a little narrower than I was told it was (and I neglected to double check) and partially because the entire complex is a few inches further lengthwise along the scene than I thought it would be simply because that is where the track leading into it had to go. This means there will not be quite as many car spots as I originally thought, but there is still a decent number to work with. Inside the building, there is room for 2 50-60 foot boxcars for shipping paper. Maybe 3 40 footers, but we haven't tried that yet. The next track to the right alongside the outside of the building will have spots for 3 modern sized tank cars for either incoming or outgoing products. I modified a Walthers loading platform to serve as the spot where outgoing cars of byproducts will be loaded. Next to that I still need to build some ground level piping so that cars of clay slurry and other products can be unloaded. The track that passes between the main building and the boiler house (can be seen much better in my other SPF posts) supposedly leads to "the rest of the plant", which is hidden behind the backdrop. Hopper cars of sodium chlorate and tank cars of chlorine will be spotted there 1 or 2 at a time.  At the other end of the scene is the woodchip unloading area. This is where we really noticed we had less room than we thought. Originally the hope was we could fit two tracks in, one leading to a rotary dumper and one would split off and curve towards the backdrop. This would have been where cars that can't be rotary dumped would go, such as converted roofless boxcars or extended side hoppers. Since it is now clear there is no room for that (or maybe even the dumper, as it turns out) we are now considering building a pneumatic unloader instead - essentially a giant vaccum that sucks everything out of the car from the top. This takes up much less room and allows any type of woodchip car to be spotted there. Depending on the size of car used there should be room for 2, maybe 3 cars to be spotted.  Overall view of the scene. The plant trackage connects at both ends and creates a run around, negating the need to use those mainline crossovers to get to the other end of your train. I have test run it a couple times, and that run around is not quite long enough to clear the train if you have a car for every spot, and the track is already occupied by spotted cars when you get there. It takes some clever moves to get everything sorted out, but that was the whole idea in the first place. The bridge piers are for a highway overpass that will be installed to act as somewhat of a scenic break between the paper mill scene and the one just adjactent to it. |
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Post by tillamook on Nov 12, 2023 13:03:55 GMT -8
Doing 3d models again. But instead of finishing the RP-E4D slug or the 149-G gondola, I procrastinated by drawing a quick exhaust for a GP38-3. Interestingly, this can be found on Coos Bay Rail Line‘s 2020, which started life as a GP35. I don’t know why they didn’t go for the usual Roots blower exhaust arrangement, but this surely makes for a more unique model. This part will replace the turbo exhaust stack on a Kato GP35.
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Post by kentuckysouthernrwy on Nov 12, 2023 13:12:50 GMT -8
I finished another Caterpillar load this week. The flat is a factory painted Proto model, restenciled and weathered to a prototype picture. The D7G dozer was found on Small Scale Hobbies website, who specialize in military models. It is a very crude resin kit. Is that the unpainted model from your earlier, last week?, post? Big difference paint can make, with surely a little quiknova majik as well. |
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Post by drsvelte on Nov 12, 2023 13:15:33 GMT -8
I like to model freight cars of the Delaware & Hudson because of their generally classy paint schemes – either in yellow and blue or red and yellow. Plus, their paint shop often experimented with alternative paint jobs which resulted in a fair number of one-offs or “few-offs.” The D&H acquired a small Airslide hopper fleet from the EL and LV at the time of Conrail’s formation. Some were painted in utilitarian “Spartan” gray, but some received a splashy bright red treatment.  Some time ago, I built up an E&B Valley D&H Airslide kit. I added COTS panels, ACI labels, and wheel DOT decals. I replaced the stock draft gear boxes with ExactRail parts and Kadee #58 couplers and added Hy-Tech air lines. The model rides on Kadee #518 70-ton roller bearing trucks. Recently I decided to apply some weathering in a stronger dose than I normally do with airbrushed washes, so I tried out some pigments from Vallejo (73.110 burnt umber, 73.115 iron oxide) and AK Interactive (#2042 dark rust).  I built this car before I was aware of Plano roofwalks/walkways and mine have a bit of a roller coaster look! I also forgot to add weight to the car; it weighs a svelte 2.7oz! Can you see any more issues? I have a couple of E&B and Athearn undecs, so I think I’ll do another one as a brand new Oneonta repaint. |
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Post by onequiknova on Nov 12, 2023 13:38:25 GMT -8
I finished another Caterpillar load this week. The flat is a factory painted Proto model, restenciled and weathered to a prototype picture. The D7G dozer was found on Small Scale Hobbies website, who specialize in military models. It is a very crude resin kit. Is that the unpainted model from your earlier, last week?, post? Big difference paint can make, with surely a little quiknova majik as well. Yes. It's the same one. The grille detail was a lost cause, so I filled it in and printed a decal for the grille. |
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Post by loco8107 on Nov 12, 2023 14:33:19 GMT -8
Better late than never I guess... Well composed photograph. And fine modeling. I agree and that’s the norm anymore. Still great work being done by all who post. |
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Post by surlyknuckle on Nov 12, 2023 15:11:07 GMT -8
In 1971, Bethlehem built 200 hopper cars for the Western Maryland Ry, for dedicated use on their Bittinger to Sparrow's Point limestone train. While these were not given a car class on the WM, they became H47s under Chessie. And while stenciled for their intended use, you can find pictures of these very cars hauling woodchips to Westvaco, coal to wherever, and even sugar beets on the Southern Pacific (!) While still very much in "Stone Train" service during my era (1981), one (or two) of these cars would be appropriate on a coal train, which is my intention here. I recently tracked down a pair of the latest Bowser offering of these cars from the Western Maryland Historical Society. Of course, Bowser just announced another run of these cars. Currently, I feel the art work is very nice..especially compared to the few previous runs of WM cars. Anyway, the model went through my typical "hopper car program": Weight added inside the center still, selective grab iron replacement with .010 tichy wire. Thinning of the handbrake housing, Kadee brake wheel. Chopped the brake platform to just 2 supports, added Plano "Morton" platform. Remounted air reservoir on new brackets, plumbed to control valve. Athearn brake cylinder. Handbrake rod made of wire, connected to bell crank and chain (Branchline part) and it sorta lines up with brake cylinder..just don't look too close. Inventive type e couplers built, painted, weathered, and installed. Moloco rubber air hoses, and cut levers bent from Tichy .010 wire. Tangent 100 ton trucks, with polished tread .88 wheels. I had to add some decals to match photos which included patched and re-weigh numbers, strike through of original lube data, plus a nice lube stencil constructed from SVM decals. What's really cool is that the set just so happened to have a new 1971 date to match the car! Weathering was an acrylic wash of slate gray and white to get some tonal differences to the car body, followed by an oil wash or two. Some pigments brushed on in certain places were added later. The interior is a very import part of an empty hopper car, and here's how I did it: Generous amounts of oil paint (color doesn't matter but I used white since I have a ton of it) dabbed on the inside surfaces to create rough surface and fill in mold-relief holes. Then, I sprayed a light coat of Tamiya "light gun metal" from a rattlecan ontop of the oil paint. I didn't wait for it to dry. Then the Tamiya rattlecan of "red brown" comes out and I do a little spray dusting of that over top the gun metal coat. Then I used some brown pan pastels dabbed onto the still nearly wet spray paint. The paint was still wet in the photos. I will say that taking pictures of trains outdoors will highlight some areas I need to touch-up, but that's a good thing. My iphone picks up some paint streaks on the side panels that are not visible in person, which I believe is due to the iphone camera automatically increasing contrast. Overall, I am very happy to have this car just about wrapped up.  WM 63870 1 by Freight Engineer, on Flickr |
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Post by surlyknuckle on Nov 12, 2023 15:13:04 GMT -8
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Post by drolsen on Nov 12, 2023 19:31:28 GMT -8
I decided to dial things back a little this weekend from some of the challenging kitbashes I've been sharing and work on a simpler project that's been on the backburner. When Walthers released their Pullman-Standard 60' flatcars a couple years ago, I wanted to take a crack at upgrading the details on a few of them. Someone (Harry Wong?) shared a nicely detailed VTTX container flat with separate grab irons, and while I wanted to do that to the decorated cars I bought, I figured starting with an undecorated car would be more straightfoward. I picked up two cheap EJ&E flats and stripped the paint off one of them (apologies to any fans out there). I have mixed feelings about Walthers Mainline models, each time they release a new one. They pick interesting prototypes, but I'd much rather see more highly detailed versions of those prototypes. Nevertheless, I tend to buy a couple of them to see what can be done to improve them. They're pretty good basic models, just with molded details like the grab irons shown here. The model matches the Trailer Train / TTX class F60AH flats built in 1965, and this car will be turned into a MTTX general purpose flat, probably in the yellow Trailer Train scheme, since there don't seem to be TTX decals available for this type of flatcar.   The paint stripped off the plastic body fairly well with 90% alcohol but left quite a bit on the metal underframe that I scraped off with an Xacto blade. Some dried flaky paint had to be scraped from the grooves in the molded wood decking too.  I broke out my trusty Mikisyo chisels, shaved off the grabs and molded mounting bolt details, drills a bunch of holes, and added my own grabs bent from .010" phosphor bronze wire, along with Grandt Line nut/bolt/washers (NBWs). Sorry, a little hard to focus on these details:   Next step will be to add cut levers and then a few details to the underbody. The brake details are quite good, molded as a separate assembly that fits onto the metal underframe with the plastic overlay for the bottom sill screwed on top.  I'm contemplating adding brake rods, as I think they will be partially visible from the side, but I'll have to drill through the metal underframe's crossmembers. That will have to wait for next weekend. Dave |
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Post by dti406 on Nov 12, 2023 21:35:21 GMT -8
I only managed to complete one car this week, a Tangent Bethlehem 52'6" gon. Painted with a mixture of Floquil Jade and Dark Green paint and lettered with Highball Graphics decals. The Lehigh Valley acquired 100 of these gons in 1970 for hauling ingot molds between Bethlehem Steel plants along with the D&H Railroad. I installed a pair of State Tool & Die ingot molds in the car resting on 4x4 wood stringers which run thee length of the car. _IMG_0503.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) A pair of Atlas C-420's running on the Strongsville Club layout. _IMG_0366.png?width=1920&height=1080&fit=bounds) Have a great weekend! Rick Jesionowski |
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Post by Christian on Nov 13, 2023 2:35:36 GMT -8
I tend to buy a couple of them to see what can be done to improve them. This sort of project can push you down that rabbit hole. After seeing the new grabs the stirrups and draft gear really stand out for me as problems in these photographs. Probably more easily replaced than the grabs. |
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Post by ChessieFan1978 on Nov 13, 2023 3:49:46 GMT -8
I finished another Caterpillar load this week. The flat is a factory painted Proto model, restenciled and weathered to a prototype picture. The D7G dozer was found on Small Scale Hobbies website, who specialize in military models. It is a very crude resin kit.    What did you use for your wedges and chocks? Certain kind of Balsa Wood? |
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Post by simulatortrain on Nov 13, 2023 5:29:31 GMT -8
Progress on the first Bitter Creek cars:  |
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Post by packer on Nov 13, 2023 6:43:16 GMT -8
Made more progress on my current geep projects.  I realized I didn’t need a cross brace on the step wells I printed, so I cut it off. I made a block to hold everything tight while the glue for the steps sets. I also started masking windows and headlights to start weathering soon. I ordered the heater box for 1970, but I need to come up with something to remove the chain from the Athearn handrails. I realized Athearn put the all weather window for it on the wrong side, but it’s and easy fix by turning the cab around. Also made a chance discovery that Vallejo alternative green is kinda close to BN green.  I also managed to see a real train. Even though FGAR got this line from CSX a few years ago, I’ve never caught a train. |
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Post by drolsen on Nov 13, 2023 7:16:41 GMT -8
This sort of project can push you down that rabbit hole. After seeing the new grabs the stirrups and draft gear really stand out for me as problems in these photographs. Probably more easily replaced than the grabs. I’m going to try shaving down the backs of the stirrups to thin them a bit and see how it looks. That style of stirrup that mounts to the face of the side sill is problematic to replace, because the plastic ones always look too thick where they “bolt” to the face of the side sill. That part looks better (thinner) when molded, but obviously the stirrup itself is too thick. The draft gear are a little wide but do a decent job of representing the basic rectangular face of the prototype striker plate. I’ll post a prototype photo later when I have a chance. The prototype uses a long shank coupler and has a wider opening to accommodate the swing. There’s really not anything that you could replace it with, since it’s a different style of draft gear than what Moloco and others make. I may look at adding some styrene strip to better replicate the striker face. Dave |
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Post by nebrzephyr on Nov 13, 2023 7:46:15 GMT -8
Packer, do you have a paint number for the "Vallejo alternative green" you mentioned.
TIA. Bob
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Post by Christian on Nov 13, 2023 8:01:30 GMT -8
The draft gear is a little wide but does a decent job of representing the basic rectangular face of the prototype striker plate. I went Googling and, gosh darn, coupler pocket/draft gear on lots of modern flats looks like nothing at all. Some are just a square hole in the end. |
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Post by onequiknova on Nov 13, 2023 8:22:44 GMT -8
I finished another Caterpillar load this week. The flat is a factory painted Proto model, restenciled and weathered to a prototype picture. The D7G dozer was found on Small Scale Hobbies website, who specialize in military models. It is a very crude resin kit. What did you use for your wedges and chocks? Certain kind of Balsa Wood? The wedges are just cut by eye from a strip of 1/32" X 3/32" BASS wood with an Xacto blade. Make sure you use bass wood, not balsa. It has a much tighter grain and represents scale wood better than balsa. Any well stocked hobby shop should have a Midwest Products rack full of different sizes. |
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Post by kentuckysouthernrwy on Nov 13, 2023 17:03:31 GMT -8
Hobby Lobby and Michael’s have wood HL has both bass and balsa. Michels less than the past.
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Post by danpik on Nov 14, 2023 3:50:53 GMT -8
A little late for Sunday but here goes...   Dan |
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Post by kentuckysouthernrwy on Nov 14, 2023 4:29:08 GMT -8
Dan, It’s NEVER a too late for beer…!
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Post by packer on Nov 14, 2023 15:30:15 GMT -8
Packer, do you have a paint number for the "Vallejo alternative green" you mentioned. TIA. Bob The name is actually "intermediate green," 70.891 |
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Post by nebrzephyr on Nov 14, 2023 16:41:41 GMT -8
Packer, do you have a paint number for the "Vallejo alternative green" you mentioned. TIA. Bob The name is actually "intermediate green," 70.891 Thanks Packer. Bob |
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Post by carrman on Nov 19, 2023 6:54:45 GMT -8
Doing 3d models again. But instead of finishing the RP-E4D slug or the 149-G gondola, I procrastinated by drawing a quick exhaust for a GP38-3. Interestingly, this can be found on Coos Bay Rail Line‘s 2020, which started life as a GP35. I don’t know why they didn’t go for the usual Roots blower exhaust arrangement, but this surely makes for a more unique model. This part will replace the turbo exhaust stack on a Kato GP35. This is how Western Rail does non-turbo conversions to GP30's and GP35's. |
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Post by fishbelly on Nov 20, 2023 5:34:42 GMT -8
Doing 3d models again. But instead of finishing the RP-E4D slug or the 149-G gondola, I procrastinated by drawing a quick exhaust for a GP38-3. Interestingly, this can be found on Coos Bay Rail Line‘s 2020, which started life as a GP35. I don’t know why they didn’t go for the usual Roots blower exhaust arrangement, but this surely makes for a more unique model. This part will replace the turbo exhaust stack on a Kato GP35.
This is the same exhaust stacks used on the Lhoist North America GP35. Very cool. |
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