Gon Challenge Voting

[Ed Kapuscinski]

ok Im modeling the car before EL
so an old Erie gon
and heres my model


ok well Its not great
(not much to expect from a 13 year old...)

Here's my entry for May and NO horrible window screens this time around!
 : This is a 50' (well 52'-6") Thrall gondola from Roundhouse originally
painted for RAILGON with a BALTIMORE & OHIO patch. It's HO scale. As a
fan of modern railroading, I think these RAILGONs are my favorite gondola
because they are so numerous and patched for most major railroads. The
Roundhouse model is a basic kit with none of today's highly detailed
features but I still love 'em. Hehe. It's simple like me. I worked from a
Michael Greer photograph I found on "rr-fallenflags.org" from about three
years ago. There are numerous shortcomings with my version but here's
the deal...

1. Dullcote entire model
2. Paint yellow areas worn-out gold
3. Paint over yellow letters with brown where desired
4. HEAVY wash of Gravel Gray and then wipe away excess
5. Apply blackish-brown A.I.M. powder with brush
6. Dullcote
7. Because above weathering has "dulled" the yellow lettering, scrape it
    semi-clean with a dull knife - that includes the entire "Nationwide
    gondola pool"
8. Dullcote HEAVY until dizzy
9. While dullcote is wet, sprinkle brown A.I.M. powder on car from 1' up to
    represent rust spots (turned out best to the immediate right of the
    reporting mark)
10. Blow off excess powder
11. Dullcote again...what the hell
12. Add subtle black patches and new "BO" reporting marks
13. Dullcote

Other things are mixed in there including the couplers, wheels, interior, etc.
but you get the idea. I should have banged it up more but time was at a
premium. That's the thing with these models...no matter how far you go,
you can ALWAYS go farther. I would love to add brake lines underneath to
these cars one day. Those components are always so obvious. The trucks
and wheels are ho-hum but I scraped the rims clean to give it a little
something. It rolls like an Atlas thanks to the REBOXX metal wheels!

Jeff (MrKLUKE)

Although I've been messing around with this car for three decades, I discovered some problems when I added the end reporting marks I got from Roland so worked on it very recently. It was originally a Rapido car, to which I added a Kadee underframe. Subsequently it was repainted. The paint was later removed using brake fluid, which reacted with the plastic, softening it. Remembering the expression, "when given lemons, make lemonade", I used the opportunity given by the softening to "beat up" the car to resemble a typical PRR gon while adding many additional details.

The car got further "beat up" when I used Walthers Goo to add a scribed styrene sheet floor, as the pipe load is unitized and removable. The Goo "gassed" and warped the body, causing the underframe to show on one end. This was corrected in my very recent work. The car was painted with Dollar Store red primer and decaled with Walthers decals.

There is a builders photo of the original at  http://prr.railfan.net/photos/PRR_302520_GS.jpg

Now, here is my entry, in N, naturally:





Weathering was done with chalks. Darn, though, Mr. KLUKE's entry looks so good I very nearly didn't bother to enter...

[Mile 1]

Wow some really fantastic work this month guys.  I would say the Klukester has redeemed himself, (although truth be told, last month's effort was pretty darn good even with the wonky screens) Daves car is amazing, and the other entries are solid too.  I was a little surprised that there were only four entries; I expected more this month. (including one of my own, but that's another story)

Good work guys!

[cr6841]

ok Im modeling the car before EL
so an old Erie gon
and heres my model


ok well Its not great
(not much to expect from a 13 year old...)

kluke got my vote. i give him brownie points for getting the cr unit in the mix too!

Here's my entry for May and NO horrible window screens this time around!
 : This is a 50' (well 52'-6") Thrall gondola from Roundhouse originally
painted for RAILGON with a BALTIMORE & OHIO patch. It's HO scale. As a
fan of modern railroading, I think these RAILGONs are my favorite gondola
because they are so numerous and patched for most major railroads. The
Roundhouse model is a basic kit with none of today's highly detailed
features but I still love 'em. Hehe. It's simple like me. I worked from a
Michael Greer photograph I found on "rr-fallenflags.org" from about three
years ago. There are numerous shortcomings with my version but here's
the deal...

1. Dullcote entire model
2. Paint yellow areas worn-out gold
3. Paint over yellow letters with brown where desired
4. HEAVY wash of Gravel Gray and then wipe away excess
5. Apply blackish-brown A.I.M. powder with brush
6. Dullcote
7. Because above weathering has "dulled" the yellow lettering, scrape it
    semi-clean with a dull knife - that includes the entire "Nationwide
    gondola pool"
8. Dullcote HEAVY until dizzy
9. While dullcote is wet, sprinkle brown A.I.M. powder on car from 1' up to
    represent rust spots (turned out best to the immediate right of the
    reporting mark)
10. Blow off excess powder
11. Dullcote again...what the hell
12. Add subtle black patches and new "BO" reporting marks
13. Dullcote

Other things are mixed in there including the couplers, wheels, interior, etc.
but you get the idea. I should have banged it up more but time was at a
premium. That's the thing with these models...no matter how far you go,
you can ALWAYS go farther. I would love to add brake lines underneath to
these cars one day. Those components are always so obvious. The trucks
and wheels are ho-hum but I scraped the rims clean to give it a little
something. It rolls like an Atlas thanks to the REBOXX metal wheels!

Jeff (MrKLUKE)

Although I've been messing around with this car for three decades, I discovered some problems when I added the end reporting marks I got from Roland so worked on it very recently. It was originally a Rapido car, to which I added a Kadee underframe. Subsequently it was repainted. The paint was later removed using brake fluid, which reacted with the plastic, softening it. Remembering the expression, "when given lemons, make lemonade", I used the opportunity given by the softening to "beat up" the car to resemble a typical PRR gon while adding many additional details.

The car got further "beat up" when I used Walthers Goo to add a scribed styrene sheet floor, as the pipe load is unitized and removable. The Goo "gassed" and warped the body, causing the underframe to show on one end. This was corrected in my very recent work. The car was painted with Dollar Store red primer and decaled with Walthers decals.

There is a builders photo of the original at  http://prr.railfan.net/photos/PRR_302520_GS.jpg

Now, here is my entry, in N, naturally:





Weathering was done with chalks. Darn, though, Mr. KLUKE's entry looks so good I very nearly didn't bother to enter...

[Iain]

WOW!  That was hard!

Daves and MrKluke's cars:  Perfect!  My decision was based soley on the fact that one of the cars had some 1:1 dust on it, thus detracting from the look.  That is how hard it was for me to decide.

Gregg, your car has good painting and weathering, but it otherwise looks like the Bachman gon I've been using for spikes forever with seperate grabs added.  It just looks, well, melted.

Guilford Guy, pretty good!  Weathering is better than what I could do at that age; heck it is beautifully dirty.  I think you distressed it a little too much, and in the wrong places.  The area around the ribs should be dented more, the ribs less.  Notice in the proto photo how the sides tend to bulge out slightly.



Once again I don't meet the deadline.  I haven't even started yet :.

[uspscsx]

Gongrats, Dave. You made an amazing gondola.

[Raildog]

As always, a conscientious attention to the prototype.

You da man.

[MrKLUKE]

.

[The Donkey]

HD! A THREE-FER Challengewise-CONGRATS!!!!!  ;D

[Red Rock]

Congratulations to everyone for making an entry. You all have gons to be proud of, and they will look great running around some track. Congrats to Dave for the win. Way to go dude.

[Centauri]

This is great!, You Blokes never cease to amaze me, I look at my Weathering
and I`m quite pleased with myself, then I look at these "Comp`s" each Month
and get blowen away each time.
I am only glad I`m not an "Administrator"? and have to choose a Winner.

Great Stuff Folks.

Regards,

[3rdrail]

This is great!, You Blokes never cease to amaze me, I look at my Weathering
and I`m quite pleased with myself, then I look at these "Comp`s" each Month
and get blowen away each time.
I am only glad I`m not an "Administrator"? and have to choose a Winner.

Great Stuff Folks.

Regards,

Centauri, the "Administrator" doesn't choose the winner, the Railwire members do by their votes. See the vote totals at the top of the column.