Summer Shunting Shelf Project

[M.C. Fujiwara]

M.C.,

Why such a sharp curve in the siding at bottom left in the picture above?  Won't that make coupling difficult, if a freight car is staged in or beyond the "kink"?

DFF

That's the end of the oil storage facility (the SP interchange is the long track above it that curves off the layout).
There'll be a smaller horizontal tank next to the end, while the main transfer shed / tanks will be the two-cars' length between the bend and the main.

There's actually enough space for the NW2 to swing enough to line up.
In "real" ops, I'm expecting the loco to use other tankers as a handle: part of the trick will be to classify them off the carfloat so the far car will be on the end of the 3-4 tanker cut for that spur.

But as we do everything manually, we're not above using the skewer to move the coupler over for fitting, just like in the real world.
The photo does make the bend look more severe than it actually is, but good pick up!

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Oh, yeah, forgot the Weekly Child Labor report.

We went over to near the BART tracks (BART: Bay Area Rapit Transit)(I pity those who ride the Fresno Area Rapit Transit!) and scooped up a little gravel they recently laid down at the base of the berm after finishing some tie replacement.

Then my daughter got to learn the joys of sifting, first through a screen mesh to get the large chunks out, then with a fine tea strainer I found at the local asian market:



So now we have three grades of a darkish dirt (from other layout) and three (super fine dust, super fine & fine) of gray gravel.

David mentioned something about fun with wet MDF.
We did paint the top, so I'm hoping that helps seal it.
And I'm not planning on soaking everything with anything but iso alcohol.

Is there something about MDF that'll disintegrate the layout when we scenic?
That'd suck.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

So we started putting together the "Bella Fonte Cannery" (based on the Del Monte facility on Alameda).
Bashing two Gripp's Luggages into a 25" long flat:



My daughter sprayed it "Red Oxide" primer.
It will have an awning & concrete dock in time.
As well as weathering.
You can see the original here http://www.flickr.com/photos/40361283@N06/3708909019/.

Also started playing around with background photos:





(I like that last pict cause it looks like a ufo is about to beam the NW2 up)

Then end corner will have a chainlink gate to the Alameda Naval Air Station (or maybe the Navel Err Station), so I tried putting a photo at the end.
The cannery is about 3/4" short of the backdrop, so I tried putting a photo of a shrunk factory behind it.

Will probably play around with other photos, but any ideas are appreciated.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Very cool!

However, with something like this, I think using some foamcore under it, and using it to easily hide the ground throws will really pay big dividends, appearance wise.

[MichaelWinicki]

Love the cannery!

I would consider a light over-spray in spots using Boxcar Red.

It will "age" the building considerably.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Love the cannery!

I would consider a light over-spray in spots using Boxcar Red.

It will "age" the building considerably.

Good idea!
After we paint the doors blue and put the yellow caution paint on the lower 1/2 of the door frames, we were going to just give it a morter wash, but having the various reds underneath will look good.

The freight warehouse next to the power pack (and so in the same "scene" as the cannery) will probably also be brick (DPM modular stuff), but we're going to try a different color, maybe more of a brown-brick, to vary things up.

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Continued building the carfloat that will be fixed at the bottom right corner of the layout, representing traffic to Oakland.
It's two pieces of .8 styrene sandwiched together (we wanted the line between), with rails gorillaglued on:



Had the cleats & bitts from Seaport Model Works http://seaportmodelworks.com/index.php?cPath=35_37.
The round hatches are tabs off of Grandt Line NBW sprues.
The rails protrude because we'll join those up to the carfloat-approach turnout, then we'll cut the gap when everything's set to ensure alignment.

Gave it a once over with some Grimy Black and a "mist" of Scalecoat "Graphite" for just a hint of metal:





Will add some debris, including coal droppings, & then weather with some powders & maybe drippings from the "Big Jug O' Stain", unless people have other suggestions.

But so far it seems to float our boat

[Chris333]

Sweet float!

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Wow.
 It's been a minute since the last post.
 Craziness of school starting and all, I guess.
 
Finished weathering the carfloat:
 






Drybrushed some light grey, brush some glue & put some gravel & coal droppings, drizzled some "Big Jug O' Stain" on there, and then powdered it up nice & good.
 Might have gone a little overboard with the gravel & cinders. Oh well.
 
After this photo shoot, I didn't want to get the powder everywhere, so I sprayed it with Dullcote.
 Then I remembered that Dullcote makes powder vanish.
 Oh, well.
 After it dries, I'll see what it looks like. Worse comes to worse I work the M.C. magic again with powders.
 
If anyone has any groovy carfloat weathering tips, I'd be happy to hear them!
 
Also got the float apron made & almost installed, so tomorrow, after a quick trip to the LHS, I should have picts of an almost finished carfloat scene (and thus all track installed).

[dnhouston]

Awesome job on the carfloat

[wm3798]

Scheweeet.  I love the simplicity of this project.  Looks like a good candidate for a magazine article!  Just sayin...

lee

[M.C. Fujiwara]

Scheweeet.  I love the simplicity of this project.  Looks like a good candidate for a magazine article!  Just sayin...

lee

Funny you should say that 
Just need to install the float on the layout, finish the water effects & touch up the scenery around it for the "After" shot, and the article is ready for submission.

Anyone know the best way to attach styrene to cured Magic Water?
I was thinking small dabs of laytex caulk.
Or maybe a thin layer of Magic Water itself.

[DKS]

Anyone know the best way to attach styrene to cured Magic Water?
I was thinking small dabs of laytex caulk.
Or maybe a thin layer of Magic Water itself.

My recommendation would be to actually screw it to the layout. Use a pair of very small flathead wood screws, countersunk into the float, and disguise the heads with some debris.

The reason I recommend this is that it's hard to predict what adhesive will reliably adhere the styrene to Magic Water, considering that the latter is still going through a slow chemical process, and may continue to do so for some time to come. I've seen some really strange and undesirable things happen when adhesives and resins come into contact.

This will also allow you to remove the float at some future point should it become necessary.

[wazzou]

My recommendation would be to actually screw it to the layout.

Alternately, you could pin it with some wood dowels which is what I intend to do so that the carfloat isn't constantly moored at the dock.  After all they are intended to take cars somewhere, right?

By the way, excellent modeling in the simplicity of your carfloat.

[sirenwerks]

Perhaps rubber feet on the bottom of the car float with matching indentation in the Magic Water - removable, only semi-noticeable in the water, and holds it in place.