Weekend Update 8/12/12

[up1950s]

M.C. Fujiwara , that tank looks great , and so does all that other stuff . So where did you hide the glue stained wood on everything ?

[up1950s]

kalbert , I was thinking Walther's Cornerstone myself as I was looking at Marks superb model . Maybe we should ask ourselves why only Walther's comes to mind for such a model ?

[M.C. Fujiwara]

So where did you hide the glue stained wood on everything ?

Thanks, Richie.
All the plank-by-plank structures on Mt. Coffin & Columbia River are just stripwood stained first and then stuck together with wood glue:



I use a toothpick to apply it, and if any squishes out, a swipe of the tweezers is enough to get the goop off.
Other than "weathering" the structures by leaving the layout out in the garage over a couple years  , that's about it.
For the flat-car tank cradle, I just painted the wood boxcar red, then dabbed a little CA on the spot of the spacers (there's a pict in the Layout Reports).
I also find that brushing weathering powder over shiny glue also helps hide any oops 

Cheers, and looking forward to more up dates on your awesome engines!

[spookshow]

kalbert , I was thinking Walther's Cornerstone myself as I was looking at Marks superb model . Maybe we should ask ourselves why only Walther's comes to mind for such a model ?

It came to my mind because of all the other cool modern ag structures they've done (just, y'know, not in N).

-Mark

[Cajonpassfan]

I'm still getting settled into the house however the focus this weekend was getting some time setting up a new workspace in ACME Labs. I built a workbench/testing table for locomotives and freight cars, I call it "The Skunkwerks Gauntlet". The table will have a loop of code 55, and then some lengths of code 40 in the middle. Unfortunately Star Hobby didn't open today, so I'll just have to pick up track next week. I'd like to make the loop whiz bang to facilitate automatic speed matching, but still scouring old posts to figure out how it was done by others.



Oh geeeez, I wish my work bench was so, err, virgin...  Mine hasn't looked that way since about 1969...
One of these days I need to get organized again....
Thanks for the inspiration, Otto K.
The S.

[eja]

All,

As I followed this threat over the past few day, I have finally figured out why model railroading is so hard.   

So many great contributions this week from so many different time periods, so many different locations and so many different road names.

I want to model it all !   

Sadly, I know I cannot ... so back to the work bench and try to make my little portion of my imaginary world as best as I can !


Grate work everyone.

eja

[mike_lawyer]

Fresh out of the Juniata paint shop and in time to head to the N Scale Weekend in Bedford PA in a couple of weeks.

Doug -

What color did you use on your smokebox?  I am finishing up a K4 kitbash using a Kato C55 mechanism, and I really like the look of your smokebox front.

[towl1996]

Beautiful modeling on a classic locomotive. Excellent!!!!! Is there a video of her in action?
I've got two motorman specials sitting in the box, waiting for the right time, I think its time.

[dougnelson]

Doug -

What color did you use on your smokebox?  I am finishing up a K4 kitbash using a Kato C55 mechanism, and I really like the look of your smokebox front.

Mike:  the smokebox and firebox are a mix of Testor's enamel silver and black, mixed till it looks right.  I believe this graphite paint was mixed in the shops, so there was a lot of variation.  I usually use water based acrylic paint, but this is hand brushed so enamel is better for silver.   I keep it well lubed with solvent to avoid brush marks.

[PGE-N°2]

I suppose I am late posting this, but I was at a club setup at the local fair on the weekend and it was quite warm, so the front doors to the building were opened. On Sunday afternoon we at one point heard on odd whooshing and looked up to see a full-size pigeon had landed right on the layout and was strolling down the track! We managed to sneak up on it pretty quickly from both sides, and one of the members actually was able to grab it in his hands and throw it back out through the open doors. Up into the sky it went, but after it was gone, I just had to wonder out loud if that was a tame pigeon, or not. At least we were lucky enough to not have it sign the guest book .