Weekend Update 5/18/14

[S Class]

I made this:

Someone get me a towel 

[MichaelWinicki]

Someone get me a towel 

It's truly is a work of art!

But if just one of those switches fails, like a point breaks loose, it's going to be a bear to replace.

[arbomambo]

Hello all,
Saturday has dawned beautifully here in coastal Alabama!...this weekend's schedule is already taken; major scenic steps on the Ntrak module for the June Texas show (only 2-1/2 weeks left!)...gotta squeeze in yardwork and a porterhouse steak cookout in there somewhere!
pulled the module out to do the final rough foam shaping...the verticlel' eroded 'rock' face has been glued to the top and, for grins, I roughed out some cracks and crevices to give me an idea of how it's all going to come together....













after a nice Mexican breakfast taco breakfast...the fun really starts!....
I had home depot mix flat interior latex paints to match Arizona rock and Mineral "Cajon Sandstone", "Apache Rock", and "Earth Limestone (Kaliche)"....I'm going to mix batches of sculptamold with these colors (individually), and apply them to the styrofoam structures....hopefully, they should be dry enough to really carve later this afternoon and tomorrow, I'll also add talus and debris to the slopes....the large form will get the Cajon sandstone treatment, and the lower gentle forms will be Apach rock and Limestone.
Thanks for looking,
Bruce

[High Hood]

Thanks Richie for sharing the story on Goat Canyon.
Looks like another week of great stuff already, I figured I better post up actual work before someone locks my account. 

I finally completed my HO N Scale Gevo project. Custom handrails, and a bunch of other custom detail parts, as wll as Loksound DCC installed (Thanks jdcolombo!) I used the Fox Knowles speaker with the custom built enclosure without any holes for sound, it sound great. Drawback is now I feel the needs to put of these in the rest of the fleet. 

Thought that was an Intermountain unit at first!   How did you do the two antennae on the cab?  I've got a LV unit to and I'd like to keep it as modern as possible.

[shark_jj]

The Grand Trunk Southern has its new fleet of locomotives.  Thanks to Anthony at the Train Cellar in Mount Hope, Ontario.  6 - SD40's, 4 SD-45's, 1 - GP30, 2 RS3's, 2 RS2's, an F3 ABA, and an FA2 ABBA.  Now its time to start adding details, like snowplows, MU cables, cabshades, weathering, etc.  And yes the F3 needs a GT on the nose.  Here are examples of the SD40, RS3, and F3.



For an update on the Grand Trunk Southern, check out the post in the Layout Engineering Section:  https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=26250.0

Eric 220:  Love that switch configuration.

[arbomambo]

the fun and sloppy part is done!...mixing paint-tinted sculptamold, applying it with a spatula and wet fingers!

I tinted the sculptamold because this is an Ntrak module and is subject to knocking and it's more than likely that they're will be a chip or two, here and there...no bare sculptamold revealed...
the colors look a little 'stark' right now, but that will change with colors, washes, greenery, talus, etc....you'll notice piece of blue foam 'rocks' planted in the wet sculptamold...theres will get a paint and wash treatment.
thanks for looking...carving the rock comes next!
~Bruce

[BCR751]

[/quote]

Reminds me of Castle Mountain along CPR's Mountain Sub in BC

Doug

[CBQ Fan]

I found an entire 20 minutes in the past 10 days in which I could decal a MT RPO.  Dull coat is drying.  Maybe I can find a couple of minutes to reassemble it tonight.  Ugh

[eric220]

Eric,
great trackwork! I'm curious - would the 1:1 scale trackage have utilized double slip switches instead of crossings and turnouts?  I just love the looks of double slips.

Thanks! I definitely share your penchant for double slips.  One early version had four of them! I'm sure that on the 1:1, this throat would be full of double slips. Through a healthy design debate we came to this arrangement, and especially now that I can see the results, I'm happy with it.

[peteski]

Thanks! I definitely share your penchant for double slips.  One early version had four of them! I'm sure that on the 1:1, this throat would be full of double slips. Through a healthy design debate we came to this arrangement, and especially now that I can see the results, I'm happy with it.

I see (I read through that debate).  I think that I would still hang onto those double-slips (even given all the negatives about them).  Peco double-slips to me look pretty darn realistic  Best of all the non handlaid ones I've seen.   While I never had a chance to use them, they also look like they are well built.  But that is neither here or there - your trackwork is done and it looks pretty darn good (and complex too), even without double-slips.

[CBQ Fan]

Well here it is for rip and dismantle!  Foobies car since the window arrangement is wrong and I know the car number is wrong but it gives me the right feeling for silver CB&Q RPO cars.  The jeep is correct however.

[arbomambo]

sun is setting on a full day...
sculptamold is dry in most places, so I started to experiment with carving....I found my Dremel engraving tool very helpful; makes the process fast and easy...



















Tomorrow, I'll finish carving, then start tinting the rock and slopes with various tints and washes...
Thanks for looking,
~Bruce

[Philip H]

Bruce,
That's some excellent faux geology!

[BCR 570]

Power Car PGE 990281 has joined the MOW fleet:




A big thank you to friend and fellow RW member Greg Kennelly who laid out most of the decal artwork, and Jeff Briggs who printed them and weathered the car.

I also purchased the other five road numbers for the Prairie Shadows BCIT bulkhead flatcars, and cut down the RH side ladders to match the first one I did.  paint touch-ups, deck re-painting and weathering are next.


Tim

[Smike]

Thought that was an Intermountain unit at first!   How did you do the two antennae on the cab?  I've got a LV unit to and I'd like to keep it as modern as possible.

Glad you like it, for the 2 antennae, I cut two strips from of the metal flashing that came with the detail parts. It makes a good base, as it's already the same color and just about the perfect width, then I cut 2 sections from .020 X .030 Evergreen strip Styrene. I rounded the top corners ever so slightly. The hardest part is using enough CA without having any overflow. 

Good luck.