Weekend Update 11/30/14

[Catt]

Downtown Bel-Aire on the Grande Valley Railway.I think I need something besides DPM buildings.

[mmagliaro]

Johnathan, I'm no authority on small-town realism, but here's what I think.  First, I like your street and your buildings.  The buildings are painted in slightly varied, yet muted tones, and the street is wide enough to be believable (a key area where a lot
of streets fall flat).  What would make it step up, I think, would be a few buildings that were higher-storied
kitbashes (yes, even if they were kitbashes of DPM buildings!).    Very few streets consist of only 1 and 2 story buildings.

If you put a few 4-6 story ones mixed in there, it would be more realistic, and they wouldn't look like "just DPM" buildings.
But it's a good job, regardless!

[chuck geiger]

John - Looks like Cheyenne, we are one big model with DPM buildings.

http://i147.photobucket.com/albums/r293/VIEWLINER/WYO1.jpg

[MVW]

That top photo is of a model, right? The ONLY reason I suspect so is that little shadow on the backdrop, under the trees. Beautiful stuff, Max.

Jim

[Catt]

The real Bel-Aire Michigan is a colourful little northern lower Michigan town where the tallest building downtown is a three story.For the most part most of the business district is really rather brightly painted or was at least the last time I was up there.

[nkalanaga]

Dave:  No wonder Dee and I were both confused...

[mmagliaro]

The real Bel-Aire Michigan is a colourful little northern lower Michigan town where the tallest building downtown is a three story.For the most part most of the business district is really rather brightly painted or was at least the last time I was up there.

Wow... my bad.  You are exactly right.  After you wrote this, I looked at a bunch of online photos of downtown Bel-Aire, MI,
and it looks darn spot-on the same as the scene you showed in your photo.

[Norway2112]

Some beautiful work in here this week, folks!  Jason... love the glowing firebox.   Aren't you going to tell us how you are doing it???   

I took a ride on the Christmas train here in Portland, behind old friend SP&S 4-8-4 #700.   I then finally bit the bullet and back-dated my model.  When I originally made this a few years ago, I used gold heralds and numbers because that's how #700 is painted today.  But in fact, it never wore that herald in real life.  It wore the white herald and then later the simplified thin-line gold.  There was never a wide-band gold emblem.

Since I had the decals made, I had no excuse... so here it is in its 1938 - 1950 scheme:

Beautiful work Max!  I like that you have backdated yours to represent the 700 as she was in service since most people today only know her "excursion scheme."  Below are some pictures of the 700 I built using an NP A3 as a start.  Mine as you can see are the "excursion scheme."  There are a couple paint differences that I should go back and correct, but overall I'm very happy with how it turned out.  Put a coreless motor and all wheel pickup on the tender.  This is one of my best running engines now!

Phillip

[superturbine]

Phillip






[/quote]


Sweet Looking 700 Phillip

Max you should use that A4 boiler I sent you to make a few corrections.

[jprince46]

Downtown Bel-Aire on the Grande Valley Railway.I think I need something besides DPM buildings.

I was having the same problem, but found the Kato Park - I put lamps where they had trees, and removed all of their "plants" and replaced.

[mmagliaro]

....

Max you should use that A4 boiler I sent you to make a few corrections.

Okay, okay, I'll bite Jason.  I would like to know where my boiler is wrong!        (You can just send me a list in a PM or email
rather than clutter up this thread, but if you want to post it in here, that's fine too... I'm not shy about correcting
my models).  EDIT:  Heh, I do now see that the smaller dome needs to be more squared off, the pop-offs need to sit
on a more pronounced little platform behind that, and the larger dome needs those "panels" laying down against
the sides of the boilers on either side.  I'm glad you said something.  I made me study these more closely.

[Norway2112]

Max,

I recently was in Portland and met with Jim Abney, one of 700's engineers.  He let me climb all over the locomotive and photograph every detail and appliance on her from all angles.  If you're interested I could send you a CD with those pictures.  Shoot me a PM with your address if you want.  After taking them, there are a few item I want to correct on my model.  Mainly on how I did the oil bunker since otherwise the A3 and the E1 are pretty much the same.  You can even see where the stoker engine is supposed to mount on 700, obviously she was never so equipped, but if there was an engine you could easily convert to coal from oil, 700 is it!

The cab is the biggest difference on the S2 and A3 I think, but the A4 casting has an all weather cab, so you'd probably be kitbashing that anyhow.

Phillip

[Cajonpassfan]

My my Max, what a beauty, almost too pretty ... What a nice, neat job!
Otto

[mmagliaro]

Max,

I recently was in Portland and met with Jim Abney, one of 700's engineers.  He let me climb all over the locomotive and photograph every detail and appliance on her from all angles.  If you're interested I could send you a CD with those pictures.  Shoot me a PM with your address if you want.  After taking them, there are a few item I want to correct on my model.  Mainly on how I did the oil bunker since otherwise the A3 and the E1 are pretty much the same.  You can even see where the stoker engine is supposed to mount on 700, obviously she was never so equipped, but if there was an engine you could easily convert to coal from oil, 700 is it!

The cab is the biggest difference on the S2 and A3 I think, but the A4 casting has an all weather cab, so you'd probably be kitbashing that anyhow.

Phillip

Outstanding!   I'm sending the PM right now.  THANKS!

[mmagliaro]

My my Max, what a beauty, almost too pretty ... What a nice, neat job!
Otto

Heh... Thanks, Otto.  It is pretty.  And believe me, that's about how the real one looks today: always pretty, always spotless.
It is a magnificent machine.  I like to think that in its prime, it was kept clean too, and I think it was, since it
was pulling prestigious trains