Weekend Update 3/3/13

[DKS]

Curious, mostly... the first tests were of a darker material. Did you paint or stain those, or was that the base material?

The first test showed a tinted resin casting of the master. The one shown this time is the lasered acrylic master itself.

[up1950s]

Pud , I know you like and do passenger cars very well , but your freight cars are the real gems , that weathering looks soooo real .

[Puddington]

Thanks Richie; ya hang out with these guys long enough and even ol' "passenger Puddy" can learn something.... And they said I was beyond hope, oh pishaw ! 

[VonRyan]

Just received Version 2 of the lasercut Nn3 switch tie sets.



The detail is quite remarkable (this is prior to machining out the rail slot).

Looking top notch DKS!
Looks like that article in Railway Modeller on Irish 3-footers might be more tempting that before.

-Cody F.

[Roger Holmes]

Tonight isn't significant for what I built but for spending three days cleaning my workshop.  The first thorough cleaning in two years whether it needed it or not.  In peeling off the layers of stuff piled on the workbench and around the rest of the shop I found parts I had given up on finding and stuff I didn't remember that I had.  Found at least five locos that need decoders but that may wait a while since as soon as I get two N scale projects off the bench I've got a major G  1/29th scale GP7 rebuild and a small project to put a decoder in my Granddaughter's Thomas so we can run it on the outdoor club's layout.




more photos in the Crew Lounge.

[The Beer Baron]

     Spent the week working on the feed mill in town. Some scenic details are in, but others are still in-transit from various eBay sellers. Next step I suppose is to dive into the world of static grass. As always, feedback is welcome either here or on my blog.

Cheers

[JSL]

A mockup of a grain elevator for layout that I have been working on.

[SkipGear]

Finally I have something railroady to post. It's been a long time. My custom radio control car painting has been picking up quite a bit recently and doesn't leave much time for anything else. I did unbury this from from the workbench and am almost complete. It is a commision job that I took just before my daughter was born....she is 16 months old now. It's time to finish them.



Glazing in the windows is a slow and tedious process on a resin kit. No two windows are exactly the same size. Finish the windows, install trucks and couplers, and create some jewel case inserts and they are off to thier home this week.

This is what has been taking up a lot of time recently, other than my daughter....

[Alwyn Cutmore]

pent the week working on the feed mill in town.

I had a good peek at your feed mill. Wonderful job of creating the monster. Where did you get those feed sack pallets from. They look just fantastic and really set off those model. Great work
Regards

Al

[The Beer Baron]

I had a good peek at your feed mill. Wonderful job of creating the monster. Where did you get those feed sack pallets from. They look just fantastic and really set off those model. Great work
Regards

Al

Thanks Al. I've been fiddling with that damn thing for 6 months - trying to get it to look big, but not so much as it would still fit the benchwork. 

Those resin pallets are from a guy on eBay called Rico's Rail Room. I was speaking with him on friday and while he hasn't currently gotten them up for auction, he says they're in stock and he was going to ship me three more packages this week. Also of interest is that he seems to have a bunch of Cornerstone kits if anyone is looking for something.

[VonRyan]

Last night while watching The Walking Dead, I removed the weights from all but one of my Atlas 40' wood-side reefers.
They are now lighter than MT reefers and all they now need is MT trucks with truck mounted couplers.
Sure you can see through the bottom of the car, and the air pumps are gone, but it is the bottom of the car...

-Cody F.

[Denver Road Doug]

JSL, Love the elevator mockup.   That should be a great scene.   

Roger, I've been doing some spring cleaning and workbench revamp also.  It's a great feeling to have everything nice and clean and organized.

[Brian M]

But I did finally procure one of the Bachmann trailer coaches sans doodlebug.  These are nicely done.  Bachmann definitely should release it as a stand-alone item.

There were some Bachmann reps at the Train Collector's Association show in Denver this past weekend, and I suggested to one of them that they should really consider releasing the coach on it's own, mentioning that I would buy quite a few of them, but I have no need for a Doodlebug.  He said that they have been talking about it, so hopefully they'll do so.

-Brian.

[Dave Schneider]

I spent my limited free time over the weekend trying to lay some track. Many fits and starts. Some frustration. One broken turnout (when the drill fell over and smashed the throwbar). Somewhat regretting using 1 1/2 inch foam on top of plywood, which complicates installing my Bluepoint turnout mechanisms. No pictures. I think I have a good process going forward. We will see.

Best wishes, Dave

[Alwyn Cutmore]

Those resin pallets are from a guy on eBay called Rico's Rail Room.

Thanks for the reference. Keep going in the direction you are heading it looks just fantastic.

Regards

Al