If the LPP's do not stand out, but blend into the interior, why even bother to install them? Or am I missing an inside joke?hboy:
The black cylinders that I said to paint red are needed. The screws that hold the trucks in place, screw into these cylinders and I think would hold a light bar as well IIRC.
I painted the cylinder weights red like the interior and it does help. What I need is invisible paint.
Seems everyone is working on small stuff and I am going the other way. Here are my twins with the handrails painted as well as air hoses and decoders installed and waiting for their new coal drag. Also move the couplers in on my B&O IM FTs as well as cutting the truck housings to clear the draw bar pins. Mike
I'm working on some Helium cars.... I'm thinking of a repaint mostly, the car body Red ans the Cylinders Yellow.
A little further with the RLW Class A Climax kit. Modified one of the two supplied smoke stacks with some styrene tube and rod. Drilled out the base of the stack to accept a styrene rod and to mount on the smokebox. Then drilled out a styrene tube to sleeve the rod for a larger diameter stack. Both domes required a lot of filing to get a decent fit and I mounted a raised oil fill hatch back on the oil bunk. Next will be to install water fill hatches and the wood window frames and doors. Then time for some paint touch up and filling the gaps on the domes where they mount. The photo below is of my other two Class A Climaxes that I will go back and install correct truck sideframes on when done with this one. Both are powered by SW-9 mechanisms.
I got my Helium Cars repainted and back together today, I think they turned out nice but maybe just a little think on the paint. Heren is a side by side of what the car looked like before and after I painted it. I'm calling them Atomic Energy Commission Helium cars for now, Next I'll need to see about making or finding some decals for them. Here is the 2 cars I painted. they also need MT trucks & couplers installed. Been doing some research on the Atomic Energy Commission & Idaho National Laboratory over on the Wikipedia site, interrestting stuff there, I didn't know they had built reactors for the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion Project, wonder if any one had toyed with Nuclear powered trains???
Getting about an hour a day on the RLW Class A. Managed to add four water fill hatches, two beside boiler for the front side tanks and two on the rear behind the oil bunk insert. Glazed the windows and spent some time sanding and filing to get the roof to fit and attached same with ACC. And fitting those wood cab sides and doors was a real #$@^. However found it does help to read the instructions once in a while and it would have gone better. The tender water hatches are from an order for parts I had placed back last year and are completely different from ones I have used before in that they are smaller However I am glad I ordered what I did since this was originally supposed to be a wood burner and only one hatch was supplied. Next will be to install both front and rear pilots and the steps below the cab, then drill and tap for couplers, install the light fiber optics and almost done with the exception of some serious paint touch ups. The bell will be installed last when all the serious handling is done.
Dug out the other two Class As from the storage box to start casting sideframes for the trucks on them and found that I misquoted earlier when I said the boilers were from old 4-4-0s. They were from old docksider shells. This one using the RLW shell is smaller but already heavier than either of the two previous ones. Also a quick check confirms that the SW-9 mechanism or similar will not fit under the RLW shell. So if I do another it will again be with the 70 tonner chassis. Managed to also get the pilots mounted on the RLW body. In the process of photographing the other two next to this one I decided I don't like the shade of green as well as I like the darker so the touch up will become a complete repaint.
Microscale no longer stocks N Scale stripes for the Sunset Limited letterboard. I have to use red stripe decals and then the thing black stripes to outline the red. A lot more steps but it does work.
You would think that with the amount of SP equipment being modeled and folks doing different eras and versions, not to mention additional cars, that set would still be around. Looks like you are having to splice the black lines due to size. Not one of my favorite things to do. Which brings another thought why in the living daylights don't MS do a set of stripes that will fit a 85 ft. car. I would rather be able to cut back than have to splice. But it does look like it is coming out good.
I would wager that Microscale does not design decals for N scale and only reduces the artwork designed for HO and larger scales. An HO decal for an 85 foot car would be unwildly so they have to make them shorter.
Russell, Why not paint the red stripe? I finally gave up decaling the red stripes on UP passenger cars. I now just mask and spray paint the red striping.
Russell, Love it! I'm back home for the weekend (been in Destin for two weeks, working...one more to go!)...and had one of those 'mailbox joy' moments upon opening the door. My brother, in town for a month between contract jobs in DC, and watching my dog while I'm out of town, had stacked a 'plethora' of goodies received in the post while I was gone this week! another batch of Roberto Martari's (M&R sides) etched sides...BEAUTIFUL! A number of sets of Fox Valley Models wheel sets to fir the rest of my Rivorossi/Atlas/Con Cor heavyweight trucks (essential for the code 55 track)...the .553 axles are a perfect fit, although I had to compromise on 33" wheels to eliminate brake rubbing. a number of sets of WOT 2 axle heavyweight trucks (AT&SF RPO's and Express Reefer) Micro-engineering 80' deck girder bridges (going to be timberdeck ballasted for the Kingman Canyon Santa Fe layout from AMB-2 more sets of 64' smoothside baggage car sides (to model two more gray Santa Fe cars) and 1 set of "Valley" series sleeper sides 2 sets of Kato 3 axle "El Capitan Diner" trucks for the M&R Santa Fe Full Dome cars (will run in my 'Chief' consist. and on their way... 4 American Limited core kits Santa Fe heavyweight decals! I won't be able to get to any of these projects with such a short weekend...but...I WILL finish applying wood putty to the last unfinished edge of the fascia and the new divider/backdrop...by the time I return home next weekend, I can sand smooth the recessed wood screw holes and put the first 'sky blue' coat on the divider/backdrop. I went to Home Depot last weekend and had them mix a flat interior latex color matching the darkest blue in this photo: I'll paint the entire backdrop in this blue, then mix successively lighter shades and apply them in descending layers toward the 'horizon'-I'll use a wet brush and/or roller to blend them evenly. Whew! Respectively, Bruce
I tried that. My problem was the black outlines. Too thin for my masking ability so I have to decal those. The edges of the painted red stripe would develop a fillet against the masking tape. After the tape was removed a sharp raised edge would remain. Trying to lay the fine black decal stripe to overlap that was driving me up the wall. With the decals I cut the edge of red strip at a bevel so that it tapers down at the edge. Much easier for me to float the black stripes into place.
My workbench is so full I had to move the completed items all over the house. I've shown nearly everything here before, except for the 173' minesweeper (second from top on the left) and the dock for the Santa Fe barges (bottom right, in white). The minesweeper and the 210' cutter below it are nearing completion; all the deck details have been mastered. Custom photoetch (especially railings) are either in-house or in production. Most of the small parts and many subassemblies will be available separately.
I must have ADHD or something. Can't focus on one project. I just had to try some of the new sides from M & R for a Santa Fe chair car. A lot of extra work to add AC duct to one side of the roof and make up hatches and underbody detail for the steam ejector air conditioning equipment.
