Weekend Update - 11-22-2009

[Bob Bufkin]

Where did you find that old Baldwin?  Hopefully someone could at least clean it up and paint it.  Baldwin's are hard to come bye nowadays.

[tom mann]

I've been working on Gons in N and HO.  I've had luck with a kitchen torch (what? this one. ) to deform the sides on a gon.  The torch applies a very precise amount of heat and gently softens the plastic for a second or two - enough to bulge the side out.  The bonus is that the inside is also deformed, unlike the results of super glue trick.  We'll see how it looks later this week when I weather it.

I also experimented with my surface rust technique in z scale. 




I'd be interested in hearing your feedback.

[tom mann]

I mounted Flexicoil sideframes on my kitbashed SW1500.......

Where did you get those sideframes?

But we did find this, which should make Tom Mann jealous . . .


Full photo collection - including two raw videos is here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/41143146@N02/sets/72157622735747477/

This is the greatest!  Thanks!

[Philip H]

You're welcome.

The Baldwin in question is part of an abandoned train in a siding about 1/2 mile from Todd Trester's house (next to a steel mill of some sort).  I have the location marked in my Flickr set.  I agree - someone needs to haul it out an restore it.

[conrail98]

I hit 3 local N-scale layouts during the MER open houses this weekend:

Rick Spano's Scenic and Undecided (we got there just after noon and he was still setting up)
Ted McLean's CSX Sandpatch
Terry Smith's GEM - which does not stand for Good Enough Modeling, Ed, 

Ted's layout is spectacular, a pure railfan layout and there was even some WM action on it. Once I upload the pics, I'll put a link to them somewhere on here,

Phil

[sirenwerks]

You're welcome.

The Baldwin in question is part of an abandoned train in a siding about 1/2 mile from Todd Trester's house (next to a steel mill of some sort).  I have the location marked in my Flickr set.  I agree - someone needs to haul it out an restore it.

Included with that Baldwin was an Alco S2 (I think) and enough rotting & rusting US Army nee Bangor & Aroostook 40' outside braced wood boxcars to make at least one museum piece. Someone should rescue those items. There were also a few x-Amtrak cars, including two former Seaboard cars and what I believe was a former CB&Q Budd diner.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I believe those are all part of the Kovalchick Salvage collection (the same company that owns the EBT). Good stuff, but a lot of it is probably too far gone for an economical restoration.

[Blazeman]

Ted McLean's layout is simply fabulous in terms of fidelity of scenery. And for the fussy, he uses code 80 rail and Atlas turnouts, and no DCC. Layout room is not fancy, no drop ceiling, just rafters. 

Expect to see some views of it on Model RR's of N.A. website shortly.

[mcjaco]

Some pics from Trainfest on MiNi.

First up is my kitbash of the Bachmann Lt. Mtn, for the Soo Line.  The bell naturally fell off between removing it from the case, and the programming track.    :



Taking a "spin" on the Wausau turntable. 



One of Skibbe's Milwaukee Geeps, hanging with my C&EI GP7.



And some of Bill Denton's power hanging out in New Lisbon.

[GaryHinshaw]

Tom - your surface rust looks great, as usual.  Did you described this technique in your book?  I don't recall it.

After finishing up my spine kit I tried to clear off some other projects from the work bench: minor upgrades and weathering on some cars for a manifest, with a modest goal that they look ok in person and as workabout cars in a train:





Tried a few new techniques (for me) on some of the cars: the BNSF hopper is supposed to be right out of the shop so I glossed it up with Future and just gave the underframe a light dusting.  It's no so obvious in the pictures, but the gloss looks pretty good in person, and it's a nice contrast to all the drab cars.  The BNSF gon is an old LBF model that had a factory finish that was so shiny (and dark) you could see your reflection in it.  I faded it and tried rusting the interior and adding some schmutz to the floor.  Again, looks ok in person.  Anyone have any favorite gon interior recipes for future attempts?  Finally, my first attempt at a work-a-day coil car: a stock RC car with a shield patch, replacement stirrups (the stock ones are hideous) and some fading and minor rust work:



Happy Thanksgiving everyone.
-Gary

[asciibaron]

ok, i snuck in some benchwork work.  removed all the subroadbed - i had put it all in and was about to start gluing homasote down.  i removed 2 of the modules that formed the around-the-walls.  i just need to extend the short side 2.5 feet and then add an 18" lobe.  over on the other side i need to add an 18" lobe as well.  once i get the plywood cut, i'll add the angled pieces as required.

the plan is to cookie cutter the plywood and drop the non ROW bits down about 4 inches.  this should give me plenty of room to build scenery below the ROW.

[oakcreekco]

I've been working on Gons in N and HO.  I've had luck with a kitchen torch (what? this one. ) to deform the sides on a gon.  The torch applies a very precise amount of heat and gently softens the plastic for a second or two - enough to bulge the side out.  The bonus is that the inside is also deformed, unlike the results of super glue trick.  We'll see how it looks later this week when I weather it.

I also experimented with my surface rust technique in z scale. 




I'd be interested in hearing your feedback.

Well Tom, here's my thoughts on how "good" it looks......................I'll send you my fleet of N hoppers to do.

Looks outstanding

[Mark5]

I've been working on Gons in N and HO.  I've had luck with a kitchen torch (what? this one. ) to deform the sides on a gon.  The torch applies a very precise amount of heat and gently softens the plastic for a second or two - enough to bulge the side out.  The bonus is that the inside is also deformed, unlike the results of super glue trick.  We'll see how it looks later this week when I weather it.

I also experimented with my surface rust technique in z scale. 




I'd be interested in hearing your feedback.

Hmm, looks cool but is there a proto photo? (Check the trucks too  )

Mark

[wm3798]

These cars used to come into Cambridge back when Nabisco was making Grey Poupon here (But of course!).  From what I remember, I'd say he's hit the nail pretty much on the head.

Lee

[DKS]

Tom, the Z hopper looks really good, especially the trucks and wheels (except the wheels on the left look totally different from the ones on the right--is this deliberate?). Some areas of the car sides seem blotchy when I'd expect them to appear streaky instead, so maybe a proto photo might settle this question for me. Also, the large horizontal areas at the ends over the trucks seem oddly clean; I'd expect them to have more of some kind of grunge.