Very cool rivet alternative

[sirenwerks]

A recent post by jmlaboda to the Yahoo nscalekitbashing list I subscribe to brought a very interesting a product to my attention - cast resin rivet heads, positioned in a straight row and applied to normal water-slide decal film, to be applied before you paint the model. The manufacturer is Archer Fine Transfers of Youngsville, NC, manufacturers of a product line geared towards larger scale military modelers.

Their finest sheet, product # AR88014, features 0.008" diameter rivets (1¼" N-scale) and contains 1440 scale feet at 4½" pitch, 587 scale feet at 11" pitch, and 480 scale feet at 15¼" pitch. They offer larger sizes as well. In addition to the rivet heads, they offer the same type of product for perfect and arc welding beads, non-skid and treadplate textures, and raised panel lines, wood grain, etc. which may all find uses in N scale.

Their web site is at www.archertransfers.com, and the products are listed under the Surface Details heading. The site's short on images of examples, but there is one I found of tank/artillery casting symbols applied in the same manner - http://www.archertransfers.com/AR88007.html - to give you an idea of how it works.

The originator of the message that was forwarded to the list was Mr. Greg Kennelly of Burnaby, British Columbia. He is apparently attempting to convince the manufacturer to develop N scale specific products. Perhaps emailing the manufacturer under separate cover will help convince him? But in the meantime, there's definitely applications for these products.

[DKS]

Thanks for passing along this information. It definitely sounds like this product merits some consideration. Although there's likely no end of potential applications, the first thing that springs to mind for me is scratchbuilding bridges.

[up1950s]

They say transfers , are they really decals or transfers ?

[Dave Schneider]

These are decals. I have used them to add a line of rivets to a Milwaukee Road RBL. I will try to post a photo of the results if people are interested.

I found this company to be very helpful. They came out with their new full sheet of fine rivets a couple of days after I had place an order for a rivet assortment. I contacted them about an exchange but they had already shipped my order. So they immediately put the new product in the mail to me and just asked that I return the unwanted sheet. Very nice service for a first time buyer.

Dave

[sirenwerks]

Dave,

Definitely post a photo. I am eager to see more than one example of their products, especially one used for the same intent I have.

[wm3798]

These were covered in the last edition of Cody's office, for those of you who are MR subscribers...
Looks like a neat idea.
I've heard that they are a little "fat" for the smaller scales, though...

Lee

[sirenwerks]

Lee,

reread the last paragraph of my original post. The originator of the message has discussed an even smaller version, and the company says it can be done, if there's enough interest. Unless the guy's a mind reader, he needs ot hear from us if we want it, to know there's interest.

[Dave Schneider]

Hello all,

This is my first attempt at an N Scale freight car kitbash, so those of you with more experience would likely have better results. I am trying to "represent" a series of RB cars used by the Milwaukee Road to haul beer from the Schiltz, Pabst, and Miller breweries. Okay, now that I have your attention, these cars had various reporting marks over the years, from DSDX and URTX in the 1960s to early 1970s, and MILW after 1975 or so. Here is an example of what I am trying to model. These cars are low riders, with an interior height of about 7'6", so they really stand out. If you see them without other cars in context they look like 50' cars, but they are only 40'.



Okay, so here is my version. It was made using Atlas Mechanical reefer sides morphed onto a Microtrains end/roof, riding on a modified Atlas underframe. It has some inaccuracies but they are fine for me. Here is an overview with the next victim for this project on the left and a high riding Microtrains car on the right. I just love the look of this car...and I can just imagine it filled with tiny bottles of Schlitz. Mmmmm....beer....



Here is a detailed shot of where I added the Archer rivets so far. They are the black dots on the end of the car side. They may be a little on the fat side (who us here isn't) but again, they look fine to me at this point. I need to add the ladders, grabs and stirrups, and then figure out how to paint  the car orange.



I have really struggled trying to figure out how to model this car series, and have toyed with the thought of generating artwork of the entire car side for possible production as an Archer overlay or maybe brass etched car sides. For now, I am happy to build a representative model.

Hope this helps,
Dave

[Dave Schneider]

These were covered in the last edition of Cody's office, for those of you who are MR subscribers...
Looks like a neat idea.
I've heard that they are a little "fat" for the smaller scales, though...

Lee

Lee, I used the .008 diameter rivets which (obviously) converts to 1.28 inches. Probably a bit big.
Here is the link
http://www.archertransfers.com/AR88014.html

Dave

[Denver Road Doug]

Very cool product.  Would be great for bridges, and the next smaller size would be nice, too.  I sent them an e-mail and I'll be ordering some once my PayPal account gets built back up.

[wm3798]

Cripe, Schneider!  18 posts and he's already calling us fat... Oh yeah, you found the right forum!

Nice job on that car...  Frankly, just about any minor detail (rivets, treadplate, etc) is going to be oversized in N scale just to be seen.  It might make a difference if they were spaced a little tighter.

Lee

[DKS]

Cripe, Schneider!  18 posts and he's already calling us fat... Oh yeah, you found the right forum!

And now look what's happening with the ads:

[Dave Schneider]

Cripe, Schneider!  18 posts and he's already calling us fat... Oh yeah, you found the right forum!

Nice job on that car...  Frankly, just about any minor detail (rivets, treadplate, etc) is going to be oversized in N scale just to be seen.  It might make a difference if they were spaced a little tighter.

Lee

Well I did lead in with a beer reference...these things seem to go together. I meant no offense to those members with true six pack abs...I only have them when I sit down. Thanks for the complement on my car. I agree it would look better with a tighter pitch.

Best wishes,
Dave

[wm3798]

No offense taken...  Most of us are fat!


Well, except for Brian, but we're working on him...

Lee

[sirenwerks]

I emailed the manufacturer on my own to urge them to consider an N scale proportioned product, and the response time was maybe a little too quick. Basically, they want to know, what (realworld) size and pitch(es) would we want. Too much for me to figure out on no food and little sleep. Anyone want to pitch (pun intended) in some recommendations I can pass back to them?