Don't remind me. eek: I do plan on getting at least one of the FVM models whne they do get released. Even though these JnJ shells are fun to work on they sure are hard to find.
I finally got my '52 Cadillac 4 door shrunk down to N scale. After several stages, the details have survived very well. I also shrunk down a '41 Nash coupe, a '46 Chevrolet coupe, and a '51 Dodge station wagon.
Hello all, progress continues, albeit at aslower pace, AND, as more projects (all related to the layout) start to 'stack up'...I find it therapeutic to work on one 'here', another 'there'...keeps the interest level higher, and keeps me from neglecting any one project...kind of like herding children on a field trip...don't want to leave any behind (sic...lol) Here are some pics of the 'route 66' truss bridge progress... I'm building it per the instructions to a certain point....goinf to leave 'off' the walkways and railings (yes, I know the kit is available w/o this sprue, but, I'll DEFINITELY be using these parts on another project...they're beautiful!)...and I'm formulating how I'll be adding the 'roadway' supports. I've decided I'm not going to make this a 'concrete' raodway bridge...but one of those steel 'mesh' roadway beds we remember back in the day...there are still quite a few of them around on older truss, lift, and swing bridges...(my dog always sits up straight and cocks an ear when we pass over this type of 'see through' roadway!) I can't say that I've seen one of these types of bridge roadways modeled (certainly not in n scale), so this ought to be a unique piece... Again, I'd like to extole(?) the virtues of this kit...absolutely amazing, and beautiful detail in a well engineered kit, with a surprisingly low parts' count! I will be finding a reason for building one of these for model railroad purposes very soon! Again, as always, Thanks for looking, Bruce
Limited progress on the outfit cars this week. Car #4 has lingered behind the others due to the long wait for parts from Intermountain, and the difficulty encountered in building the centre sills. I built two from .040" x .040" angle (which had to be assembled from styrene strip) but one fell apart during assembly and the one pictured below is not good enough. I will try again this week. Also pictured are the inside ends for the carbody. The 'B" end has been keyed for the Intermountain end: Car #3 - While building the new sides, I began to ponder exactly how to cut out the Intermountain sides and get the floor and ends filed or sanded down to the exact interior width. It occurred to me that an easier approach might be to build a replacement floor and inside ends in styrene, which is what I have done for car #4 . . . . . so I did: This car thus becomes essentially a scracthbuilt model with Intermountain ends, roof and underframe. The inside ends are keyed for the Intermountain outside ends and the floor is keyed for the Intermountain underframe. The original body will thus not be used at all. I hope to get it assembled during the coming week. I also did some work preparing the grab irons and ladders for installation on cars #1 and 2. Tim
Hello all, Kivking back a little today...lot's of little projects on the bench... But a couple of detailing projects continuing... I aquired a KATO ATSF Alco PA-PB set (from the secong run-DCC ready-improved detail painting and color-the red in the warbonner on this run has a little orange to it...a nicer 'look' IMO)...so, finally I have a booster unit and another cab unit with a different number. So, the detailing process has begun on this one...molded windshield wipers shaved, glass sanded, then polished...holes drilled for photoetched wipers...Red Caboose very short shank coupler added to both ends of the B unit, and the rear of the new A unit...Kato coupler removed from the pilot and new Z coupler screwed to the mounting platform..pilot MU and air hose openings drilled, then filed to square shape...hoses are being mounted in a few...stirrup ladders shaved and new Etched Gold Medal Models ones drilled and glued...painted Tamiya Flat aluminum...also added EMD style stirrups to the LL E3 A and B units... Thanks for looking, Bruce
I have had a little time this weekend to work on a couple projects. One is a JL innovations water tank to be used at the T. Leary Chemical Plant and the other is a new Blair Line Drive-in flat that will go behind the plant and yard area. Mike
I am adding six or so freight cars to my layout at one time. That is a lot for me. I am holding back so I can spray the flat coat on all of them at one time. I have finished two Conrail cars, here are two of three Penn Central cars, and I have another Missouri Pacific coal hopper after that. It doesn't take so long if you can find yourself alone and turn the TV off. These are two Atlas boxcars with minor modifications; primarily removal of the roofwalk and plugging the remaining giant holes. Much easier on an Intermountain boxcar. I am "sort of" following photo examples of these cars.
I bought a couple of Walthers 64 seat coaches and started to bash them into a Rock Island coach for general rocket service. These cars had vestibules at both ends and were numbered 323-338. They also carried names on the car side from cities along the Rock Island lines, such as #328 "Topeka". I cut the vestibule off one of the cars and spliced it ono the other. Looks good already but I need to change some of the windows near the car ends to match the prototype car. Hopefully I'll show that progress soon.
I have finished the booth and an awning that I scratch built and some Sunset signs and the movie posters to go with the board. I have the screen mounted and a road template made. More tomorrow anyway !!! Mike
Looking good Mike, and I thought it a nifty idea on a corner solution. I was able to mount some new traction tires on my GS4 without incident, and I played with the programming for what seemed like most of the day. One thing I do not like about Decoderpro is the terminology differs quite a bit from manufactures manuals making it a bit more challenging to follow along. Why JMRI cannot at least add the CV# to the field description is beyond me. At any rate the loco runs smooth as silk and the only improvement I could make is to add the chuff cams.
Thanks John , and glad you got the traction tires on and no missing pins!!! I have generally found that if I spend all day with decoder pro , the loco runs better under the factory settings !!!! I like using it though. Mike
Hello all... a couple of things ATSF PA... all the stirrups are replaced with etched parts...all windshields ploished, sunshades added,...almost ready to paint the trucks, pilots, and final weathering... BUT! one more detail, peculiar to ATSF needed to be added to the cab units! The centered cab roof numberboard housing.. I've been considering how I was goingto do this...scratching one for the E3 was easy...it's a much shorter and smaller housing, and...I only needed one... The Alco numberboard housing is longer, more streamlined, and needed to be 'mass produced' in that, I needed three of them... I remember when I had gotten into n scale modelling about 14 years ago...a company called Sunrise made some really neat details...(wish they were still around, I could use their speed recorders!) They put out a white metal piece for this numberboard-however, I remember them not fitting all that well, and being difficult to shape better... I found a much simpler 'solution' just looking at the Kato shell for a bit... The ATSF and Rio Grande PAs have the smaller 'side mounted' numberboards, as opposed to the large, EMD style, corner mounted ones...on the newer release, these are seperate pieces! A quick look on the Kato USA site, under their Alco PA parts revealed that they're sold seperately... so... a quick order placed...5 days later...test fitting has begun! the part has to be seperated from the half that inserts into the bodyshell...but the shape is DEFINITELY correct!...all I need to do is blend the seams a little, a few careful swipes of a sanding stick...then paint matching, mixing, and decalling... The best part is that this method is muh easier to duplicate exactly for the other two cab units... Thanks for looking, Bruce
Cool, I may have to try that on my ATSF PAs. I have the Sunrise parts but like you said, they don't seem to fit very well. I think they were originally made for the old Con Cor PAs and they were just enough different to make a difference.
