Well after being out of work for 11 months I got a new job in April. So it's nice to be earning a paycheck again. I managed to finish off the basement during my time off so it's ready for the layout. I also went to Chama in June for my second engineer school. Three days after the end of the class the Lobato bridge burned so we were very lucky. But now with work and the 80 mile commute each way there's not much time left for trains. So things are progressing rather slowly. But I am getting some things done. Case in point. Basically here's my ready for weathering San Juan block car. I had a real tough time with their decals as they are very thin. They either floated off of the backing and I couldn't retrieve them before they wrapped up on themselves or they tore apart as I was sliding them off, thus I ran out of a couple of decals. So I have to order some replacements tomorrow. Champ decals do not match up appearance wise to the San Juan decals either so I couldn't use them. But otherwise as with all of the San Juan kits this was fun to assemble and will look great once the weathering and sundry details are added to it. I also used the new San Juan couplers and they look great. The wheel & tie car and rail & tie car are ready for final assembly ( grab irons etc.) so I'll have more pictures to post soon.
A tip with thin decals, try to get them to stay on the backing as long as you can...and transfer them to the model with the backing in place. Frequently, mixing decals from different manufacturers isn't a good thing. This is especially the case if they are Dulux Gold or other such colors. Michael
My luck with thin decals.... I have never developed the techniques well enough. It's usually a frustrating experience before I finally get everything right. Boxcab E50
