Working on the control panel for the new part of the layout. This panel has 25 LED's with 5 of them being bi-color. 30 current limiting resistors are mounted on the back side of circuit board.
The Bachmann F9 project continues!! Quite a bit of work left to make these look right and to blend in all the cut lines. I need to fix those front windows!!!
Home Grown Transfer Caboose Recently I picked up used flat cars. I will mod one with a part of another caboose. From Frisco.org I won't go into great detail. Most liely just add the handrails. Then again in my search I came across one with wooden railings.
Funny, I went the other direction. The buttons I ordered are about 1/2" wide. Most will be in the fascia and fill the recessed hole provided. Phat fingers should not have a problem. What the mind dictates is another story. Maybe a key lock for mainline turnouts.
Hi This is what's on my workbench at the moment, three Morristown & Erie models taking shape. GP-7u #23, RS-1 #15 and MP-15DC #2354. Work is interrupting progress, but we'll get there. Cheers Steve NZ
I got the keep-alive for my BR18.201 and have it installed but while testing things out the eccentric cranks started rotating on the running gear... gah! Major issue is that unlike every other steamer I've owned the eccentric crank presses onto a pin rather than made as part of an indexed pin the inserts through the connecting rods and into the wheel. The problem is and especially if removed too many times the hole on the crank stretches out and allows spinning as it's made of pretty soft metal. So I ordered and received some kato running gear which will require drilling out a hole then cutting off the pin, sanding for proper width then pressing onto the pins using red loctite to hopefully keep everything secure. Getting started on the pilot hole. Once drilled through far enough I'll cut off the pin then file/sand the underside of the crank till I get the proper width to fit fully on the pin already on the wheel. I had to carefully remove the pre-installed eccentric connecting rod from the crank so I can re-use with the rods already on the loco as the lengths are different. Crank installed and now waiting for the red loc-tite to fully cure so now onto the other side. Cross fingers this works. Oh, got the brass work repaired which was the step just under the valve gear. The rear down bracket was missing and the step broken off so I had to fab up a new down bracket then solder everything in place and paint. Testors Insignia red was pretty close to perfect for matching the existing paint. Along with those parts I got some traction tires for the GS4 which has drivers about the same size as this loco. Just getting those swapped out with the worn out ones that were on the loco greatly improved pickup even without utilizing the keep-alive.
Just got this Atlas GP30 in yesterday and tore into it to make some detail corrections. I moved the horns from the hood back over the cooling fans and added a beacon (works) as well as a light to the nose headlights. Sun shades have also been added so all that is left is a light blackout for the hood lamps. This is a really nice loco and my first atlas factory loco with sound (ESU). The light board was easy to remove existing LEDs and tap in to the resulting pads to separate out the different lighting functions so overall a real quick mod compared to a DC to DCC/Sound upgrade.
Well my newest critter arrived from Japan a day early. It is the smallest one I have now and it came powered with a tiny motor. 100_1595-3 by John Moore posted Jan 27, 2022 at 5:59 PM A whole mess of gears on the bottom. Out of the box it ran very good despite it's light weight. 100_1596-4 by John Moore posted Jan 27, 2022 at 5:59 PM And a little bag of parts to apply. Popped the roof off for a shot of the tiny motor which appears to be a tiny can motor in a small box. 100_1597-5 by John Moore posted Jan 27, 2022 at 5:59 PM
When I finished with my last critter project I had some frame parts left over from the Overtons and decided to add on to them and make some home built boxcars. So I started by laminating some styrene on to those frame parts to make 30 foot underframes to which were laminated some Bandai underframes to mount Kato trucks of the clip on type with Kato couplers replacing the rapidos. I am using .020 thickness N scale car siding for sides and ends braced with .060 x .060 styrene. 100_1592-1 by John Moore posted Jan 26, 2022 at 6:56 PM 100_1593-1 by John Moore posted Jan 27, 2022 at 11:16 AM ,040 x .040 stryrene provides the door tracks and the doors are by MT from their replacement parts section. Also are the brakewheels. 100_1594-2 by John Moore posted Jan 27, 2022 at 4:15 PM And the result is a 30 foot wood boxcar. 100_1598-1 by John Moore posted Jan 28, 2022 at 8:15 AM
Time for some repairs and possibly painting the big tower pipes White. Someone keeps knocking stuff over or running into it Tall parts fall down! Even the aircraft got a wheel knocked off. I know funky paint scheme for the aircraft. But I actually like it. And No the aircraft is NOT N Scale! These kits are so Old it's amazing they have even survived being stored, moved, etc... Man this stuff has a lot of dust on it I call it weathering...
Most of mine also has a lot of 'weathering' having been in a storage warehouse since 2011. The only extra I have is a '32 Five Window Coupe Hot Rod I built while in hospital in '11.
Doing some more work on the GP30. The etched brass light blockouts made it in so I did the cab light delete. Figured while at it to go ahead and trim off the molded grabs then replace with actual wire. Fortunately paint-wise the MKT green paint I had (Tru-color) was a perfect match for the green used on this loco. All that is left is to do is apply lift rings to the roof and figure out a way to better block out light from the cab without having to blackout the windows themselves.
I'm finishing up this built up structure with weathering - it's my first attempt. I made custom signs with model card, double sided tape, and a inkjet. I'm a fan of the graffiti culture so I rebranded the building Montana Cans the spray can company out of Germany. I'm going to take out the stock Model Power LED since it shines through the wall, and isn't centrally located in the building. I'm going to use those LED hubs and put a new one in.
My workbench is a MESS. Numerous projects always getting attention SP&S 25' Caboose..Done..NP 24', body nearly done. I Did COMPLETE one project. A Milwaukee Road 40' ;reefer' that the Milw. Shops added ribs too. Tichty-trains got my attention by offering a decal set for them. They DID exist according to pone photo I found. I just finished mine yesterday, and it was NOT a difficult 'bash'.......
How are you printing on the inkjet to get N Scale? Is it a percentage you are choosing in the options of the printer. I'd like to try and print my own sign(s)? Yours look really cool, especially the second one The Green & Pink/Magenta one?
