Weekend Update 12/12/21

[arbomambo]

Pics and clips of the T-TRAK layout at the 2021 Pensacola Railfest last weekend.

[davefoxx]

@GaryHinshaw,

What paint are you using on your trucks and wheelsets?  They look so right.  It really helps with the realism.

Kudos,
DFF

[Spades]

@GaryHinshaw,

What paint are you using on your trucks and wheelsets?  They look so right.  It really helps with the realism.

Kudos,
DFF

Well Gary would be the best source.  He did post this earlier.  Sorry didn't find the post, but I did save the info:

The recipe is pretty simple (despite the long description that ensues).  For the trucks, I spray them with a mixture of Vallejo Dark Earth and Nato Brown from the Model Air spray-ready line.  I just put a few drops of each colour directly into the airbrush cup and stir it in the cup before spraying. I'll vary the ratio depending on how grimy vs. rusty I want the trucks to look (the Nato Brown is a rusty red), and it's good to mix it up a bit on the different cars.  When I paint the trucks, I put a set of old plastic wheels in them to avoid getting paint in the axle cups.

For the wheels I use a mixture of Burnt Umber and Saddle Brown from the Vallejo Model Color line.   Again, I vary the mix depending on how rusty vs. grimy I want the trucks to be.  (The saddle brown is a rusty red, and the mix in the tank car is about 50/50, but you should experiment.)  The technique is very simple: I clean the wheel face with an alcohol-soaked Q-tip and swab it dry; I mix the paint on a palette (a plastic sandwich bag) and paint the face with a yellow Micro Brush, about two sweeps around the axle, making sure to cover the full wheel face.  Don't worry about getting paint on the axle tips or treads for now.   After about 30 min, the paint will be dry to the touch and have a very smooth, flat finish.  I then clean the axle points with a dry Q-tip to get any residual paint off (this makes the finished product very free rolling).  Finally, after the paint has set, reassemble the trucks and wheels and polish the treads with a polishing wheel in a Dremel.  (This is mainly to make sure the resistors do their job, but it looks really good too.)   I also polish the rim of the wheel to get a nice clean paint separation between the face and tread.  I finish off the whole thing with a liberal dusting of Bragdon powders (a mix of Weathered Brown and Soot).

I think his modelling is so good due to ability and talent, combined with attention to detail.  The fact Gary shares his works and know with The Railwire is great.  Also files for 3d printing.   I would nominate him for a Railwire Nobel Prize for Modelling.

[ncbqguy]

Gary-
Using plastic wheel sets to keep the journal cups paint free is brilliant!
Wouldn’t using truck side frames on sticks make a good fixture for painting the wheel sets as well? 
It wouldn’t be convenient for painting trucks and wheel sets en mass but for a few cars it might work.
Great photos….very prototypical looking!!
Charlie Vlk

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks guys, and thanks for posting the note @Spades.  As it happens, I have updated & simplified things a bit since that description was written.  Here is a link to the post where I describe the wheel treatment, inspired by an RMC article.  It's a few steps, but they're all very simple.  The mix of powders is the key element:

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=52296.msg714764#msg714764

For the trucks, I now just brush paint the side frames with Vallejo Model Air paint straight from the bottle so I don't have to deal with the air brush or mask the axle cups.   (I'm amazed how good that paint is.)  The base colour is black grey (71.055, which is basically grimy black) mixed with a smidge of a brown colour, depending on how weathered I want the trucks to look.  I'll then paint the axle caps with burnt umber (71.040) to match the base colour of the wheels (you can barely see that in this model) and dry brush the springs with the same burnt umber.  I'll finish it off with a dusting of powders when I'm weathering the whole car.  Oh, and before painting, I lightly scour the outer side-frames with Comet cleanser and an old toothbrush, to make the paint adhere a little better.

Charlie, with the Model Air paint, I now just paint a wheel face with a few twirls of a micro brush while holding the axle with a pair of tweezers - a few seconds per wheel.  The finish is slightly translucent after that (but really smooth), and the powders then finish it off.

One more shot I meant to include above:



And some fresh links to the 3-d files:

Maxi-IV, A end: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/3WcpnMPoBHu
Maxi-IV, B end: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/f6PllO5MYID
Maxi-IV, crosswalks: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/3kiMNa9BZiy

5-unit spine end-frame: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/6HRfUER3zJb
3-unit spine end-frame, A end: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/4YvKVOzuPk2
3-unit spine end-frame, B end: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/jeQHPRNJmDh
spine hitch, one piece: https://www.tinkercad.com/things/jTuR44I9YWp

Oh, and it was roughly 1-year ago today that I received my Photon Mono, which started me down this current path.  I knew nothing about 3-d printing or design prior to that.   Today it can be had for $159 USD:

https://www.anycubic.com/products/photon-mono-resin-3d-printer

[BCR 570]

Nice model work and photography Gary!

Some more model progress this weekend, including six National Steel Car gondolas now painted and ready for decals:




And five chip cars converted from the NSC gondolas, also painted and ready for decals:




And two Pullman-Standard 5077 boxcars from NARC, with extra weight and some light weathering:




The St. Lawrence purchase was inspired by a photo of a similar car at Fort St. John in 1978.

Tim

[davefoxx]

. . . and getting the passage hole through the wall for the Fort St. John Subdivision cut out:



Tim

Don't forget to put something to fill the gap on at least the bottom and the sides of the hole in the wall, to prevent anything that derails on the s-curve from going down inside the wall.  Or else, you'll need to cut a third hole in the wall at the bottom to fish damaged rolling stock out.    The layout is looking good, and I'm glad to see it coming back together.

DFF

[Pomperaugrr]

Don't forget to put something to fill the gap on at least the bottom and the sides of the hole in the wall, to prevent anything that derails on the s-curve from going down inside the wall.  Or else, you'll need to cut a third hole in the wall at the bottom to fish damaged rolling stock out.    The layout is looking good, and I'm glad to see it coming back together.

DFF

That is excellent advice.  I usually make a simple box from black foam core and hot melt glue to make a sort of "tunnel lining" through the hole in the wall.

[OldEastRR]

My early 1950's "Chief" running on the Minnesota Free-moN layout on Saturday.  The power are detailed Kato F3's.

(Attachment Link)

It looks like some of those vertical struts on the viaduct aren't touching the concrete cross beam above them.

[nkalanaga]

I also agree that filling the hole is a good idea.  I have five holes through walls, and all are lined.  In three cases I actually built wooden boxes, without ends, to fit through the holes, as the track was at a considerable angle.  The other two I lined with cardboard, and used the regular roadbed for the bottom.

[Pomperaugrr]

I didn't have any modeling time over the weekend, but I did stop on my way home from work last Thursday to watch the Railway Museum of New England's special Holiday Train making its way from Thomaston, CT to Torrington, CT on the old New Haven line along the Naugatuck River.  This was the first time their Holiday Train went north to Torrington at night.  The engineer was either Bill sample or Howard Pincus.  Either way, I appreciate the horn greeting to a familiar face, wearing a business suit, while standing on a snowy dark bridge at night.  The trailing unit was their restored FL9 that would be leading on the return trip.

[BCR 570]

Don't forget to put something to fill the gap on at least the bottom and the sides of the hole in the wall, to prevent anything that derails on the s-curve from going down inside the wall.  Or else, you'll need to cut a third hole in the wall at the bottom to fish damaged rolling stock out.   

Thank you; that is definitely in the plans.

Tim

[cv_acr]

Nice model work and photography Gary!

Some more model progress this weekend, including six National Steel Car gondolas now painted and ready for decals:

Forgive me if I missed a build thread, but are those Rapido/Prairie Shadows cars kitbashed with solid ends?

[craigolio1]

Gary-
Using plastic wheel sets to keep the journal cups paint free is brilliant!
Wouldn’t using truck side frames on sticks make a good fixture for painting the wheel sets as well? 
It wouldn’t be convenient for painting trucks and wheel sets en mass but for a few cars it might work.
Great photos….very prototypical looking!!
Charlie Vlk

I’ve been using this to paint wheels…..


https://www.shapeways.com/product/F3U9YYWNL/n-scale-wheel-holder-33-quot


He makes them for 36” wheels and in multi packs as well.

Craig.

[wazzou]

I made my own similar jig from Styrene, years ago. 
I should have thought bigger though because I only made it to hold 4 axles.