SPRING FORWARD! Sunday Photo Fun for March 8, 2020

[sd50f]

Good day all.  Here's what I got done yesterday (and I'm almost finished them!)









CN SD40-2w units 5245 and 5319, made from old Athearn SD40-2 locomotives. There's a lot of detail parts in each unit, and I just need to do weathering and glass installs.  My photos are telling me I need to use a little bit more decal setting solution in some areas, and that I might need to touch up some of the paint here and there. 

Eventually I'll add DCC to them, but I'm amazed that I'm so close to being done these units.  They almost didn't make it, due to a water bottle falling on them a few years ago snapping 5245's shell in half and busting the cab of 5319.  But, I put them back together again.  

Hope everyone is having an awesome day!

Timothy Dineen

[dti406]

Finished a couple of cars this week.



IMRC 10,000 Gal Tank Car kit, substituted Yarmouth Models sill steps for the plastic ones in the kit. Painted with Scalecoat II Black paint and lettered with Champ Decals. Anchor Petroleum disappeared in the early 60's and the ANPX reporting marks were trainsferred to the Mobile Oil Company and they eventually disappeared in the early 70's.





40' Branchline 1944 AAR Boxcar kit. In researching the NYC Lot 858-B boxcars, I found this was the only group of 40' boxcars built by the Despatch Shops that had their distinctive car ends and roofs. As there is no 40' Despatch Roof available, I cut three sections out of a 50' Roof and spliced the remaining pieces together to get a 40' roof. This car represents a PC rebuild that removed the roofwalk and lowered the brake gear and ladders. Painted with Floquil PC Green Paint and lettered with Microscale Decals. Car was assigned to the Roots Blower plant in Connersville, iN.



A set of NKP Athearn GP9's with a general freight running on the Strongsville Club layout.

Thanks for all the kind comments last week and all the good work last week by all the contributors.

Thanks for looking!

Rick Jesionowski

[TBird1958]

Here's a Tangent Pullman Standard 4750, weathered with a little chalk, built in '73 by 1976 it's wavy welded panels are beginning to collect some dirt.

[packer]

I'm biting the bullet and doing this to one of my genesis GP9s:


I replaced the top two grabs on one side because one came flying off when I went to remove them to tape down the BLMA template for drilling the holes for the bottom two. paint has been ordered and i've got to move the brake stand over a bit.

I'm trying my hand at making LEDs to replace the bulbs in athearn locos


Probably would work better if O had a heat gun instead of using matches.

[brammy]

I worked on my "foobie" generator car for my UP OCS train. It's based off the Howard Fogg car. I did not want to spend eBay prices for the correct car, so I used my Budd Baggage Dorm instead. I am still a beginner on kitbashing and modding, so I wanted to screw up a $40 car instead of a $125. For my first go at this -- and something I knew I wasn't going to weather heavily to hide my sins --, I am happy with the results. I wish the glue and some of the cut lines were a litter cleaner.

Pictures taken at my club layout.

[fr8kar]

Mar 8, 2020 10:46:18 GMT -8 packer said:

I'm trying my hand at making LEDs to replace the bulbs in athearn locos


Probably would work better if O had a heat gun instead of using matches.

Try using a candle or a tea light instead of a match. It produces a steady flame so you can move the part to the heat source and control the shrinkage using the distance from the flame and the time near the flame to change how much shrinkage you're getting and how fast it's acting.

I never had much luck with using heat to round the end of the fiber optic into a lens shape, so for that step I like to use one of those 4-way nail buffers to shape the fiber optic. By the time you get to the polishing side of the buffer the lens is very shiny and glass-like.

[kpack]

Some great projects in this thread.  Tbird, I particularly like the panel waves on that 4750.

From me this week is a departure from my typical type of freight car weathering.  I don't model intermodal personally, but found myself doing these two cars for another.  

First up is a Walther's 40' Thrall single well car.  Prototype photos tend to show these cars with heavy build up of grime, changing the color to very dark yellow/almost brown.  I found a single picture of an empty interior, and based my interior weathering off of what I could see on that.










Next up was a Walther's Mainline 40' Gunderson single well car.  This one was also weathered according to various prototypes.  The graffiti was taken from a prototype of the same number series, but for whatever reason this particular prototype had all the data and reporting marks in completely diffferent locations.  It made sizing the graffiti difficult because I had no real reference.









-Kevin

[packer]

Mar 8, 2020 11:26:39 GMT -8 fr8kar said:

Mar 8, 2020 10:46:18 GMT -8 packer said:

I'm trying my hand at making LEDs to replace the bulbs in athearn locos


Probably would work better if O had a heat gun instead of using matches.

Try using a candle or a tea light instead of a match. It produces a steady flame so you can move the part to the heat source and control the shrinkage using the distance from the flame and the time near the flame to change how much shrinkage you're getting and how fast it's acting.

I never had much luck with using heat to round the end of the fiber optic into a lens shape, so for that step I like to use one of those 4-way nail buffers to shape the fiber optic. By the time you get to the polishing side of the buffer the lens is very shiny and glass-like.

I’ll have to get one of those nail things. When I made these for 3mm LEDs using acrylic rod, I used a felt wheel on my dremel and fine automotive polish. It doesn’t seem to work here as this stuff is softer.

I’ll have to remember to keep a candle around. I did use one in between now and the last post to stretch out some sprue to plug the factory mounting holes for the roping tabs on an intermountain ACF hopper. I finished it, don’t know if it’s really photo worthy

[sd50f]

The Con Agra hopper and the TTX well cars look like they belong on a prototype photos site. Very nice work from everyone this week.

Also, how good is the fiber optic for locomotive headlights? I've tried it before but I didn't use any heat shrink around them and that may be why I was disappointed.

Timothy Dineen

[cemr5396]

Mar 8, 2020 14:10:55 GMT -8 kpack said:

Jeez man. Every time I see your work I think "there's no way he can top this" and then next time up, you raise the bar again. 

Seriously, it's good there isn't a finite amount of talent in the world, cause you'd be using it all up. 

[onequiknova]

Nice stuff this week. Those well cars are ridiculous.

I finished up this resin kit of a 1976 U-Haul truck today.

[Christian]

Mar 8, 2020 19:46:52 GMT -8 onequiknova said:

Nice stuff this week. Those well cars are ridiculous.

I finished up this resin kit of a 1976 U-Haul truck today.

More information, please. It's great and brings back too many memories.

[ChessieFan1978]

Here's my submission this week, an Alphabet train N&W/WM


N&W and Western Maryland by Matthew Fisher, on Flickr

[Colin 't Hart]

Really like those wavy panels, TBird1958! Can you tell us how you did it? I'd like to give it a try too.

[kentuckysouthernrwy]

I'd swear some of you guys are pros with Photoshop, but we know better. What a great week of work, all of you.

[loco8107]

Mar 8, 2020 19:46:52 GMT -8 onequiknova said:

Nice stuff this week. Those well cars are ridiculous.

I finished up this resin kit of a 1976 U-Haul truck today.

Nice job! Do they make other years of those trucks too?

[brammy]

Mar 8, 2020 14:10:55 GMT -8 kpack said:

Some great projects in this thread.  Tbird, I particularly like the panel waves on that 4750.

From me this week is a departure from my typical type of freight car weathering.  I don't model intermodal personally, but found myself doing these two cars for another.  

First up is a Walther's 40' Thrall single well car.  Prototype photos tend to show these cars with heavy build up of grime, changing the color to very dark yellow/almost brown.  I found a single picture of an empty interior, and based my interior weathering off of what I could see on that.

These are really fantastic. What did you use for the weathering?

[TBird1958]

Mar 9, 2020 2:58:35 GMT -8 Colin 't Hart said:

Really like those wavy panels, TBird1958 ! Can you tell us how you did it? I'd like to give it a try too.

Thanks Colin!

In short, it's done with glosscote, dullcote applied with an airbrush and two colors of chalk. Next time I do one I'll shoot some pics of the process - It's actually pretty easy.

[Deleted]

Wavy panels, grimey wells, an old school U-Haul truck...

Some very nice stuff this week!

[markfj]

Too much good stuff to comment on…so thumbs ups to all.

Mark J.

[onequiknova]

Mar 9, 2020 5:58:41 GMT -8 loco8107 said:

Nice job! Do they make other years of those trucks too?

Thank you. No, just this 1976 version.

[riogrande]

The U-haul looks excellent.

[ADK]

Some truly exceptional and amazing work this week!


My humble addition this week is I painted the yellow ends on the SD35 I am working on. The class light blanks are 3D printed, and I have to say after paint I am happy with how they came out.