Weekend Update 11/30/14

[DeltaBravo]

They look like real insulators.

[eja]

Finished product with beads super glued to top of cross arm.

Chuck,

You have far more patience and much better eye-sight than I do.    .......  very nice finished product indeed. Now, off to make how many more?

[chuck geiger]

Eja - About 24 total. I could  have just ordered the modeling prototype, Osborne Models
single cross arm phone poles with support brackets, 12 for 3.99, but this is fun. I can't do
the smaller brackets that hold the pole, that's a pain. I take each bead with a long pin and
bring up to the arm (Tacky Glue) with a tab of glue already on the arm. Roll it into place. My
eye site ain't what it use to be.

http://scalewestrails.blogspot.com/2011/01/poles-to-prototype.html
http://i76.photobucket.com/albums/j28/chuckgeiger/osborne001.jpg

[up1950s]

I would think with all the clear tinted plastic of unlimited hues a manufacturer would produce those insulators with the dowel made as part of it for the user to paint a wood color to match their poles . Not much unlike plastic nut/bolt/washers as detail parts . Chuck yours came out great .

[chuck geiger]

Thanks Richie, wondering about spacing them out with only 2 per side of the cross arm.

[pjm20]

Well, I got two videos processed this week of my excursion from Steamtown to Carbondale back in August:

[skytop35]

My Milwaukee RS3 with phase III hood and Loksound decoder (a la John Colombo)

[Jeff AKA St0rm]

Great work again this week everyone. I forgot to take photos of the roads i finished up at the club layout so it is like it didn't happen

[tehachapifan]

I agree...great stuff!

I needed a simple, low-stress project to do this weekend and this is it. While I absolutely love the TWX Parcel Pups, they seem a bit plain to me as far as the factory painting goes. I wanted to try to figure out a way to bring more contrast to the door frame and rib stiffeners as per the prototype, but masking off all these areas and painting them seemed rather daunting with several trailers to do. So, as an experiment, I tried using a #2 HD pencil instead. I found that running the side of the (semi-blunt) pencil lead along the (raised) part to be colored worked rather well (the semi-blunt sharpness helps to keep everything on the raised areas only). The color the pencil renders looks just about right to me and would change shades and reflectivity in different angles of light (almost silver straight on). Once I got the hang of it, I was able to finish 1 trailer in about 5-10 minutes. While the results may not be perfect (I see in the pics I have some more touch-up to do with a sharper pencil in some tight areas), I find it to be more than acceptable given the low level of difficulty and time involved. When I did occasionally slip and make an unwanted mark, I was able to easily remove it softly using a (clean) pencil eraser. I'm not yet sure how the pencil coloring will hold up with time and handling, but a coat of clear overcoat may solve that.

Enhanced trailer on left, stock on right....


While there is some touching-up to do, the simulation of stainless steel is pretty convincing...

[Lemosteam]

Polar  Express observation car (from the film not the book):
 

[Iain]

I've been trying to get a bunch of painting done before I move so I won't have to move all the spray cans with me.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Lots done to the layout room this week:


Full post here:
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=24312.msg402449#msg402449

[up1950s]

Bill , I like that RS-3 sound effect and the sound shadow that the building created .

[davefoxx]

I've been trying to get a bunch of painting done before I move so I won't have to move all the spray cans with me.

Not a bad idea, John, but don't forget that you may not be able to replace the spray paints later on, considering the discontinuation of model paints in recent months/years.

[LIRR]

Finished installing the re-worked siding to the coal yard.....