buldgy gon?

[ednadolski]

the decal film still sticks out ..

To me it looks more like ghost lettering.

[tom mann]

I like the color/texture -- do you have a proto pic?   The superglue bumps to me look more like heat melted than dents.

Well, crap... ;D

I'm not really basing this on any one car...in fact, most gon photos are very subtlety dented and banged up.

[DKS]

This just isn't doing it for me. I think it may have been better before the sanding; now the sanding marks are evident, and the lumps don't look like dents any more; the two panels in this image look like they're in the midst of being stripped and modified.

However... the texture along the left side of the left-most rib is stellar. Screw the lumps... cover a whole car with that.

[GaryHinshaw]

Reluctantly, I have to agree that it's not doing it for me either - even though it's one of the best dented gons jobs I've seen.  I liked the gon treatment in your book better (can't find an online picture of it though).  But the peeling texture is awesome.

I like Ed's idea.  In fact...

http://therailwire.net/forum/index.php/topic,16420.msg140357.html#msg140357

But I was ignored.  

[sw1000b]

This was my attempt to bulge the sides of a gondola a few years ago. Currently working on another for the next prototype meet. I might have posted these before. I replace the sides with styrene. I've also done this with boxcars. To Tom Mann's credit, some salt weathering was used on some of the gondolas

Butch Eyler

[tom mann]

Hey Butch, long time no see!

That BN one looks really good.  So, do you have to heat the sides?  Or, is the styrene thin enough that it bends easily?

[tom mann]

This just isn't doing it for me. I think it may have been better before the sanding; now the sanding marks are evident, and the lumps don't look like dents any more; the two panels in this image look like they're in the midst of being stripped and modified.

However... the texture along the left side of the left-most rib is stellar. Screw the lumps... cover a whole car with that.

Yes, I will have to add more of the liquid CA to fill the sanding marks.  I also think there are too many colors going on.

...on a positive note, I started the other side. ;D

[DKS]

I need to re-photograph this hopper to highlight the bulges--there are many more of them than show up in this photo. And I also need to re-finish it to kill the melted crayon coloration. A little Tom Mann sea salt should do the trick...

[ednadolski]

This is why I'm afraid to do a gon.

[DKS]

These look really good. The bulging seems very natural.

[GaryHinshaw]

Butch - these look really good, especially the BN boxcar.  When you say you replace the sides with styrene, do you mean the sheet metal or the whole shebang, ribs and all?   Thanks.

[Red Rock]

Those extreme bulges are awesome Butch. Well done, I need to try that.

Tom, I bet what you have going on will look a lot better once you start weathering it, and give it some depth.

Here are a couple more ideas I was playing with around that time.
I was trying to lose the flat plastic look, going for something that looked more like metal.
First is an attempt using Squadron putty, and then sculpting it into looking somewhat like dents.



Another idea I tried was to apply rubber cement to the model and overlay that with aluminum foil. The rubber cement was a pliable underlayment which could add depth also.



What I like about this method is the ability to make the ribs look more mangled. Now that you got me thinking about it again, this might work on the interior also.  With some creative carving on the interior of the sides and using this method, you might get a good look without building up too much thickness.

[tom mann]

glad to see Butch and Scott back here ;D

[SirTainly]

Impressive work Tom - are you doing a second book so you buy the fast boat/car as well as the nice house?

[CoalPorter]

One thought, has anyone ever tried replacing the plastic sides with a thin sheet metal, like say a 0.005" to 0.010" brass?   Or perhaps a gon carbody kit using photo-etched parts?  Something like that might be easier to dent up than plastic.  (then there could be interior dents too)

Ed

I did. I tried to build gon sides from very thin aluminum. The one thing I don't like about gons is the walls are way too thick. No matter how much detail you try to come up with, you still have a wall that is 6" thick.