Weekend Update 2/3/13

[NYNE]

Nice work everyone. I love that RS-3 shell. I picked up two undecorated Atlas 4-4-0s and decided to letter one up for a fictional railroad in Eastern Massachusetts. I used a set of MicroScale Ornate Railroad Lettering (90243) and finished it up with some details from an N-Scale set of U.S. Military Railroad decals also from MicroScale (87-1168 was the number on the sheet -- the 87 just struck me as wrong.)



Anyway the Neponset is the name of a river in Eastern Massachusetts that runs from Boston's southern suburbs to Boston Harbor. Canton is a town on the river and where I was born, so it made sense to go with that. I don't like the way the lettering on the locomotive name looks and if it doesn't settle down after the setting solution works its magic I may take it off and try a different font. I used a Taunton builder's plate in between the drivers from the U.S. Military sheet. I figured a railroad in Eastern Massachusetts would buy its locomotives from an Eastern Massachusetts company. Finally, I added a star to the headlamp. Everything I have read says there were really ornate decorations on the headlamps, some of which lit up at night, so I thought leaving it blank looked wrong. The U.S. Military Railroad sheet also comes with stripes for the spokes, which might go a long way to alleviating the shallowness of the drivers, but I am not sure if I will go there.

[Chris333]

A while back I drew wheel spokes for the 4-4-0:


I haven't sent it out to etch yet because I was waiting for the low cab version so I could draw up a rear cab wall as well. Also might add center mounted brakes to the etch.

3 of my wheel centers popped right out:


Once I have etched spokes in hand and assembled I will soak the last wheel in Acetone.

[central.vermont]

Chris,
The center spokes of this look like they could be laser cut possibly?
What do you think?

Jon

[Chris333]

Chris,
The center spokes of this look like they could be laser cut possibly?
What do you think?

Jon

I'm sure they could. I was just gonna etch a few layers of them and also etch the counter weight and washer spacer where the pin connects and solder it all together.

[Packer]

I installed anticlimbers to my pair of BLI C30-7s. I notched the rear of the anticlimbers to go around the handrails. The only issue is the green I sprayed the anti-climber with didn't stick too well. It'll recieve touch up soon.





I still need to add beacons, antennae, plate over the class lights, and find a correct set of sideframes for one of the units. For some reason, BLI put different sideframes on the C30-7 depending on which cab it had. 4 windows had ones with outside brake cylinders, 2 with inside. The BN ones have inside ones.

I also experimented with automotive striping tape on some MDC thrall gons.



I figured doing this would be easier than masking off all but one end and painting it white (and of course adding decals. Everytime I've masked a factory-painted MDC car, the lettering has came off. The tape is about the right width to represent the stirpe used to mark the rotary end on similar cars. I haven't found a photo of an Thrall Gondola with the stripe (much less a picture of the thrall gons dated from the 70s or 80s)

Do you guys think I should just paint the rotary end white (I could touch up the lettering and such), or keep on with the tape?

[davidgray1974]

Added some trees to the right side of the mountain I completed last week.  Still have a ton of more trees to complete so I can start adding to the face of the mountain as well as the base near the river.  I have also included some overall progress shots.









Thanks for looking. 

David

[tom mann]

Looks Nice, David!

Ian- what ballast is that?

[Hornwrecker]

Impressive scenery, David.  I like how it dwarfs the trains.

I've been ballasting this week.  Finished the main, and did the scrapyard area; still needs some touchup on the mainline  cinders.



Sitting on the RIP track is my new BLMA G31 and a MTL version of it.  Guess  which one is going away soon.  The tunnel portal got a base coat of MILW RD gray, but my airbrush is TARFU, so it's going to stay this color for awhile.

[Ian MacMillan]

Ian- what ballast is that?

Scenic Express #50 blended.
Scenic Express #50 Dark Gray for the "cinders"

[DKS]

Chris,
The center spokes of this look like they could be laser cut possibly?
What do you think?

Jon

I'm sure they could. I was just gonna etch a few layers of them and also etch the counter weight and washer spacer where the pin connects and solder it all together.

How thick are those inserts? I may be able to work a deal for laser cutting...

Looks Nice, David!

Nice is an understatement!

[chicken45]

Impressive scenery, David.  I like how it dwarfs the trains.

I've been ballasting this week.  Finished the main, and did the scrapyard area; still needs some touchup on the mainline  cinders.



Sitting on the RIP track is my new BLMA G31 and a MTL version of it.  Guess  which one is going away soon.  The tunnel portal got a base coat of MILW RD gray, but my airbrush is TARFU, so it's going to stay this color for awhile.

Give the MTL car an offal load!

[Roger Holmes]

Finally finishing up a couple of the many nearly finished projects that have been on the workbench.  First up the Aoshima Bunka Kyozai Ltd Parking Garage.  I thought it would be a shake the box kit but was surprised to receive a 15 X 11X 4 1/2 deep box crammed to the top with parts trees.

All of the parts were heavily factory painted so I wound up using ACC and a lot of kicker or I would still be scraping paint off of the gluing surfaces.  All of the signage was Japanese characters so I had to come up with some American signage.  The yellow Parking signs are left over from the CMR Park Hotel kit.

Added over 70 vehicles and a half dozen figures. Shown here temporarily sitting on the layout.  There is a benchwork screwhead sticking up underneath that needs to be fixed and some street repair and we'll be readyto install.







Next, The Blair Line Sunset Motel with Woodland Scenics vehicles and a Preiser Lady of the Evening working the parking lot.  Homey's Drive-In is in the rear of the scene.





Next upon the bench is a Chinese restaurant kitbash.

[peteski]

A while back I drew wheel spokes for the 4-4-0:

I haven't sent it out to etch yet because I was waiting for the low cab version so I could draw up a rear cab wall as well. Also might add center mounted brakes to the etch.

3 of my wheel centers popped right out:

Once I have etched spokes in hand and assembled I will soak the last wheel in Acetone.

Will the etched insert be thick enough to solidly hold the crank pin, perpendicular to the wheel face?  You might want to etch the crank pin hole undersize, then drill it out to the final size (since the etched hole will not have straight sides).

I really don't understand why Atlas chose to model the spokes closed and with very shallow relief. That just doesn't make sense to me.

[Chris333]

I planned to make the holes a hair undersized and ream it out. I still will glue the pins in just in case.

I'll measure the inserts when I get home 

[Hornwrecker]

Give the MTL car an offal load!

I'll have to build a slaughterhouse (on 10th Avenue.)  Also have to build a 10th Ave.

Now I've got an earworm, but not a bad one to have.