Hello all... a little soggier today in Coastal Alabama.....it's taken far too long for the last few layers of foam to dry.... So, I decided to add the fascia, carve the 'sandstone/limestone' portion of the mesa (these three layers were glued early in the week and were dry enough to start carving) I tested all the track and feeds-I had to clean a little paint from most of the turnout points and tweak the points so that they lay firmly against their corresponding rail...ARGGGGH...I was a little too aggressive with one of them, and broke a point rail; rather than replace it with a new switch, I decided I can live with it...it's one of the turnouts leading from Red to Red siding, or orange. If the group wants to replace this switch at a future date, they can...but for now, I've got a deadline...I'll provide a package of Arizona Rock and Mineral Mauve ballast, so that they can replace and re-ballast at a later date. Apart from puttying the screw holes in the fascia, sanding, and painting...I don't have all that much to do... the foam shaping goes very quickly; the top, vertical outcroppings, that will 'top' the mesa, can be carved upstairs at the workbench, and glued atop the formed slope. Painting and texturing go VERY quickly...ballasting the track-adding some juniper bushes, and grass...then a few last details...detailing the skyboard.... the final wiring to the bus wires will be done in Austin/Round Rock3 more weekends plus a few evenings a week should be plenty of time to finish... Thanks for looking, ~Bruce PS-Otto, I posted plenty of 'in progress' pics because I know how much you love working with foam! [img width=801 height=600]http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u84/arbomambo/N%20Scale/NTrak/arbonado034_zpsf6be8bbe.jpg[/img] [img width=801 height=600]http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u84/arbomambo/N%20Scale/NTrak/arbonado029_zpsbeed846e.jpg[/img] [img width=801 height=600]http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u84/arbomambo/N%20Scale/NTrak/arbonado037_zps05a4fdb9.jpg[/img] [img width=801 height=600]http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u84/arbomambo/N%20Scale/NTrak/arbonado035_zpsa1182f20.jpg[/img] [img width=801 height=600]http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u84/arbomambo/N%20Scale/NTrak/arbonado033_zpsedd2e529.jpg[/img] [img width=801 height=600]http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u84/arbomambo/N%20Scale/NTrak/arbonado038_zps7f0469b6.jpg[/img] [img width=801 height=600]http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u84/arbomambo/N%20Scale/NTrak/arbonado030_zpsf4f0ce9c.jpg[/img] [img width=801 height=600]http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u84/arbomambo/N%20Scale/NTrak/arbonado043_zps344707ad.jpg[/img] [img width=801 height=600]http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u84/arbomambo/N%20Scale/NTrak/arbonado041_zpse1bc3362.jpg[/img]
Arrrgh, Bruce you're killing me.... I can't STAND the stuff, gives me the willies..... You go ahead have fun with it, I'm sure it will look great. I'm working on the layout, or rather under it, installing Tortoises at the west end of A yard today. 8 down, 8 more to go. Not a not of fun, the deck is only 30" above the floor, sitting level. Otto K.
Finally finished this kit Finally finished and it has been a pain in the #$@. Instructions completely mislead on one of the supports for the overhead crane and others were either absent or completely undecipherable. So I winged it several times. Added some parts like the chimney and dust blower and motors and some more details to both cranes. Has two tracks and the one that will run in front of the main bldg. dock will run on to the quarry. Plans called for a wood outhouse in the rear but really tiring of this kit I went to the parts box and fished out the old proverbial brick %^&%$#2 and installed it in back. The tar paper roof will get some Bragdon weathering powders once installed. The backside and the brick outhouse, Stone dollies are Z scale trucks on Z scale track.
As and addition the quarry structure above these are the cars based on the old Bmann 34 ft. flats for carrying stone from the quarry and the finished product from the stone works. I modified these about 3-4 years ago in anticipation of this project.
Added some fence for a ranch scene on the module: And a closer look, showing me that I need to go back with the paint and camoflage some of the excess super glue:
It's marketed by a company called Galeforce Nine as barbed wire, found it in the armor section of the local model shop.
painting 20 engines to the Erie mining co. for a friend. striped five shells today and primed. need to strip 14 more today. when done they will look like the b unit i did as a test for the right colors. he like it so now the line production starts.
Big Sky Blue 50 ft Boxcar More weathering. This time an MT Big Sky Blue 50ft Box for a friend. Faded with cheap white craft paint and white powders. Pain inflicted with water soluble oils and powders. Layers of Dull Cote at various stages. Body mounted the couplers and added FVM thin profile metal wheels.
Something was st ill missing from my quarry bldg. so zi went back and added an oil tank at the end loading dock and a rooftop water tank. Then I broke out the Bragdon powders and went to work on both roofs. Just a tad too much green on the one side below the water tank, but the nice thing about the Bragdon powders is just a stiff wet paint brush can remove as much as you want at any time. So I can finally put this to rest for now and start on the stockyards. Since I am going to split the stockyard kit into two yards I wanted to have one additional bldg. for each one to serve as the auction house and offices. Small rural town where I spent most of my younger years had a large low structure where livestock was bought and sold at auction. So I took two of my barn kits which I assembled today to be those facilities. Kits are from Mountaineer Precision Products and I have had them laying in a box for years now. Nice small wood kits however I believe they have been out of business since about 2011 according to some sources. It is a shame since they had some nice structures in N scale.
Thanks fellas, I appreciate the comps. I used a few different photos when doing this car. The weathering is applied and built up in layers with most of the time spent on the initial fades. Cheap craft store acrylics make great washes for either fading or adding grime etc. when mixed with water. Apply dullcote first then go after it with the washes. Craig
Yeah, that's the idea behind this model.. It's always a treat when you run across these cars in the original paint.
That is coming along Great Karl. Mine never made it out of the package stage. Just looked like too much work. Mike
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
Thanks Mike! It was an intimidating looking kit, but once I got going, it started to flow. It has taken me 11 hours of work to get to this point, 2 or 3 more and it should be pretty close to done.
Bruce, that should turn out beautiful! Dfinately gives the feel of the scenery I've seen on many road trips, with the towering rocks in the desert. Keep it coming!
