Weekend Update 2020/09/06

[grant-sar]

Absolutely loved it! The weathering looks great, could you post some photos of your Bethgons so we all could get a better look at them?

Do you want pretty pics or how they were modified for body mounts?

[Cajonpassfan]

Me and my friend Scruffy are working on an HO project for another friend: a Union Station building made of three Walthers kits. It’s about 42” long, and horribly oversized. My kitty likes it though...😻
Working in HO feels like I’m cheating,,,
Otto K.s

[chicken45]

As some might know, I'm helping @chicken45 finish some details on the car from the movie Duel. 

I figured, if we're doing the Duel car, we gotta have a Mann to go with it!  So I 3D printed one.

 
https://i.imgur.com/7wpMc2T.jpg



https://i.imgur.com/VZoMUrh.jpg



https://i.imgur.com/SGk46oc.jpg


I let him drive around the layout a little bit this afternoon.  So far, no sign of any trucks!  A good thing since I have to send him back to Josh soon. 


https://i.imgur.com/wo9lxzi.jpg



https://i.imgur.com/eputbvi.jpg

Bravo, @Mark W !
I know there's some folks out there who say "at a distance, it all should be flat, no gloss!" but I think these pictures speak for themselves. If you are going for overall effect, sure, go flat. But if you are doing macro photography like this, gloss it up, baby!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Bravo, @Mark W !
I know there's some folks out there who say "at a distance, it all should be flat, no gloss!" but I think these pictures speak for themselves. If you are going for overall effect, sure, go flat. But if you are doing macro photography like this, gloss it up, baby!

Based on this I busted out the can of glosscote for my own two recent vehicle projects. I didn't go as heavy but I like the effect.

[cjm413]

Do you want pretty pics or how they were modified for body mounts?

Pics showing modifications for body-mount couplers are always useful 👍

[wm3798]

As some might know, I'm helping @chicken45 finish some details on the car from the movie Duel. 

I figured, if we're doing the Duel car, we gotta have a Mann to go with it!  So I 3D printed one.

 
https://i.imgur.com/7wpMc2T.jpg



https://i.imgur.com/VZoMUrh.jpg



https://i.imgur.com/SGk46oc.jpg


I let him drive around the layout a little bit this afternoon.  So far, no sign of any trucks!  A good thing since I have to send him back to Josh soon. 


https://i.imgur.com/wo9lxzi.jpg


https://i.imgur.com/eputbvi.jpg

I need 2 dozen of these to fill an auto rack.  That's the Valiant.  Can you do the Dart grill as well?

[C855B]

.... I know there's some folks out there who say "at a distance, it all should be flat, no gloss!" but I think these pictures speak for themselves. If you are going for overall effect, sure, go flat. But if you are doing macro photography like this, gloss it up, baby!

ACTually...

If you're going after the Duel scene @ Crown Valley Rd, you might note that the car was dusty and even a little dinged-up at this point. Flat would be more accurate.

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Lots of continuity problems with splices in the scene, but, hey, it was Spielberg's first, so we have to cut a little slack.

I find it fascinating SP provided a train as a prop and tied-up the line for filming like that. I know it was not a "real" train because they basically never ran fewer than four on the point except on locals, which always drew a single SD9, and, besides, no locals ran between Palmdale and Saugus. 6900s (SD35) were mainline power (L.A. to Bakersfield pool).

[tehachapifan]

IIRC, this scene was filmed later as an add-on after wrapping up to lengthen the film for theatrical release, as it was originally intended as a TV movie. Probably heard that here for all I know.

[davefoxx]

The problem I always had with that scene is that he pulls up to the gate but is somehow pushed around it. 

DFF

[DKS]

The problem I always had with that scene is that he pulls up to the gate but is somehow pushed around it. 

DFF

Oh, there's all kinds of problems. That's one of the bigger ones, but consider:

It's clearly a blacktop road, at first... but then it's gravel... blacktop... gravel...

When he speeds off, you hear tires screeching... on gravel? Oh, wait, was it blacktop?

Also when he speeds off, miraculously there isn't a scratch on the back of his car where it was pushed hard with a length of rail.

BTW, I'm probably one of three people left who hasn't seen Duel.

[Mark W]

...
BTW, I'm probably one of three people left who hasn't seen Duel.

I must be the 2nd of the 3.  But the whole film is available free on YouTube.  I suppose one of these days I'll sit down and watch it, especially having done the car and driver now.



Speaking of YouTube, I decided I want to catalog my favorite trains in a series of run-by short videos.  It seems the mid 1900's are the theme for the first set of videos.  Enjoy!

 

[CRL]

Me neither.

[C855B]

About that Duel scene, and mentioned here before... I grew up in that area, and spent a little time railfanning that immediate vicinity, before the SP finished the Colton-Palmdale Cutoff in '67. The crossing in the film is frequently misidentified as Soledad Canyon Road, which didn't cross the RR in that location, but is Crown Valley Road, the main access to the private campground south of there. What's sort of sad is that particular crossing had wig-wags until a few months before the movie was filmed; notice how new-appearing the gate hardware is.

A more recent connection is a buddy owned the movie truck for a while. Or, more accurately, one of the two. I helped him tinker with it to get it roadworthy again, but updating it enough to drive without an immediate backup plan when something broke was a bigger job than he wanted to take on. Another movie truck collector took it off his hands.

[peteski]

BTW, I'm probably one of three people left who hasn't seen Duel.

Same here. I might have seen parts of it in network TV (in the '80s?), but I really don't remember much of it.  What I remember is the short snippets people link to on YouTube when the models are discussed.

[Santa Fe Guy]

Oh, there's all kinds of problems. That's one of the bigger ones, but consider:

It's clearly a blacktop road, at first... but then it's gravel... blacktop... gravel...

When he speeds off, you hear tires screeching... on gravel? Oh, wait, was it blacktop?

Also when he speeds off, miraculously there isn't a scratch on the back of his car where it was pushed hard with a length of rail.

BTW, I'm probably one of three people left who hasn't seen Duel.

Nope I haven't.
Rod.