Tehachapi Loop Tunnel Project

[ednadolski]

Here are a few shots of some scratchbuilt tunnel portals depicting Tunnel 9 on Tehachapi.   These are cast in Hydrocal, then painted & weathered.   I made an RTV mold from a master that was cast out of anchor bolt cement.  The mold is about 10" wide, and the tunnel opening is a separate removable piece, so by using some additional styrene strips, I can cast almost any length/shape needed. The prototype Tehachapi tunnel portals were built from standard SP plans, but each portal varies to suit its specific location.

To make the master, I used a form built from 6" scale stripwood, in order to try to capture the look of the form lines on the prototype.   I also tried to capture the prototype's cast-in date stamp over the archway by putting tiny etched-brass numerals in the mold. This however turned out to be problematic, as it was very hard to separate the numerals from the castings without chipping the plaster and ruining the look.  I ended up casting these without a date stamp.  On the prototype, the date stamp is very hard to see anyways on the uphill ends of the tunnels because of the very heavy smoke staining.  On the downhill ends, I'm thinking about maybe trying to add some sort of decal, but I'm not sure how convincing that would be.

I found that it can be easy to overdo the weathering and graffiti, so these do look a bit washed out in the photos compared to how they look in-person. Note the pencil lines, these are the lines where the rocks/embankments will go.


Here is the East end portal:




And here is the West end portal:




Next in line for me is Tunnel 10, which has the triangular wing walls.  This means a new set of forms, masters and molds  

Ed

 

[James Costello]

WOW.... thats totally sweet Ed. Love the weathering and detailing you've done.

Assuming these are N?

Would you consider selling them? I'd take a set for #9 and #10 if so...

[GaryHinshaw]

Would you consider selling them? I'd take a set for #9 and #10 if so...

Nah, he made those for me.    [Not really.]

Brilliant work!  Care to comment on color and how you did the soot and graffiti?  [And 'fess up: HO or N?]

Best,
Gary

[wazzou]

I think you for got the date "1916" in the West portal.

What a terrific job you have done here Ed.  Bravo.

[ednadolski]

Care to comment on color and how you did the soot and graffiti?

Sure thing, color is a (roughly) 50/50 mix of Model Master Flat Gull Gray and White, with a tiny bit of Sand.  It actually looks too light at first, but the subsequent washes of grime darken it by a few shades.  The washes are water-based oils, primarily black with a bit of white and raw umber.  I also mixed in a bit of AIM black powder to try to give it a bit more textured look.  BTW the washes were thinned with 70% alcohol not water, to flow a bit better.  The soot on the east portal is airbrushed flat black (very easy to overdo  ) and streaked powder on the west portal also with a very thin/light airbrush spray of the flat black.  Similar treatment for the inner walls, just heavier.  For the graf I used a small variety of fine-lined gel and paint pens, and colored pencils. After drawing the graf, I dabbed it with a damp sponge to tone it down & try for a worn look -- without that the pen inks can look too bold.  Finally, some drybrushed highlights and a sealer spray of rattle-can Dullcote.  BTW since it's plaster I also seal with Dullcote before painting the base color.

It did take some experimenting to find a base color that looked OK to me under layout lighting.  The color in proto pics seems to vary a lot, depending upon how the sun is hitting it.

[And 'fess up: HO or N?]

Sorry I should have mentioned that -- it's actually whichever scale you prefer: 




Ed

[jbaakko]

Wow, that is impressive!

[up1950s]

Very nice , would look better with that AC-12 of IMRC that's a comin' 'round  the mountain .

[ednadolski]

I think this is an AC-10, but at least it's at Walong:

[Mr. G]

I think this is an AC-10, but at least it's at Walong:

Indeed, it is an AC-10, and I agree completely that such nice work deserves to be in the presence of one of the upcoming AC-12s. 

I hope to have enough pennies socked away for it by the time it arrives, whenever that may be.  Who am I kidding, I'll sell plasma if I have to.  I've been waiting for that engine in N since I was a kid.

[Ian MacMillan]

Wow some very nice work, both in building and weathering.