A delivery for the Crawford and Cherokee from down Texas way (or was it Ohio?)..... ....more Wednesday fun to come.... -Bob T.
Glad they made it safely Bob. Hope they fit in there and those Texans enjoy their loads of Buckeyes. Steve
Been working a ton here so not much model time. I did finally get paint on some U25s and another Hallmark caboose.
The kitbuilding marathon continues.....finished up (minus weathering) this house over the past weekend. Another AMB kit. ...still working on another good one, but it may have to wait until tomorrow! Wait, those guys need some steps to get up on the porch! Take Care All, -Bob T.
I filled the ladder holes on my Muley Caboose with some rod, dipped in plastic goo (sprues in Xylene): Need some trimming and filing still. Installed a new-old motor in my Mikado, and replaced the decoder : My Evergreen Styrene came, but not the doors and windows I needed for the coal elevator, so I started building a house, a cross between a Finley Catalog house and the City Classics company house: I had the base from an old Pola kit which looks like cobblestones, so I used it to make a foundation. I guess I'm going to need some steps, too. Tichy windows come 12 to a pack, so if I were smarter I would have used 6 windows instead of 7, so I could get two houses out of the pack...live and learn.
Rookie question - trying to "base coat" some truck frames to get rid of the shiny black. Using a brown Acrylic for a starter as before on others - but it won't seem to tightly adhere to this particular plastic. It worked well on some other frames but this material seems to be different. Reasonable to give them a preliminary matte coat of clear to get something to bite? I washed them a bit - but maybe need soaked a while in some detergent to get off residuals from molding?
Delrin plastic is slippery and doesn't always take paint well. I either wash them in soap and water or I clean them with alcohol before I paint. I've taken to rattle canning everything with dark gray auto primer, which is almost black, or red primer, which is reddish brown, or both. I usually paint them gray and then "dust" them with the red. I do this to underframes, too, just to kill the shine. EDIT: Let me find a picture: The one on the left was painted black, then dusted red; the one on the right got a bit more red. Here's a freight car: You can leave the wheelsets in, but if you do you'll need to clean the treads. I dip a q-tip in lacquer thinner and clean them off--just roll the opposite wheel with my thumb while holding the q-tip in place. I have to do this outside, because lacquer thinner gives me a pounding headache. Sometimes I take the trucks and mount them on a bamboo skewer and paint a bunch of them at once. One of these days I'll screw up my courage enough to weather my cars, but getting rid of the shiny black trucks really seems to help.
Thanks fellows, I think I'll give them another wash and then try the alcohol wipe as well. I tend to agree about the technique of doing the trucks and pretty much leaving the rest to "natural causes". Typically i just use a shade of brown as a base coat - then a thinned black overwash to force some depth. These are a larger "O" size truck that came on a MTH "crane car" (120T steam derrick). With silver paint and the right decals, it should work OK for a parked back row FRISCO derrick. I found a set of instructions on the net showing how to lower the vertical height and trim the the stack so it doesn't look like quite so much like a LEGO kit.
OK, I am working on a couple of videos for the layout. Here we have a train coming in to the Cherokee (KS) yard from the south. I think I am getting a ~1920 vibe about right, but could use some review and input. Maybe one or two missteps... Thanks in advance for comments and feedback. -Bob T.
...and here is a second test video of the same scene with my TCL 10 Android cell phone. (Edit--Updated). I think this actually looks better than the first video, taken with the Canon Rebel 7i digital camera, although the audio seems better with the Canon. Thoughts, experience? -Bob T.
Great stuff Bob. Looks like the kids were tagging cars before they left to fight in Flanders Field!! Videos are nice, looks and sounds great. Thanks for sharing them.
I agree; the cell phone video looks better but doesn't sound as good...the sound level is very low. Both videos the loco and cars aren't quite in focus; I'm not sure if the cameras are focussing on the switchstands or the scenery behind.
Thanks Guys! I ordered a different lens for the Canon that is better suited for video. I also ordered a higher brightness warmer light to give a better directional sunlight. I appreciate the input and will try to get a few more videos up this weekend to get additional feedback. I have to say that I am liking the Kdenlive for editing the videos.
Happy Wednesday All, Set up the whole layout today in preparation for the NMRA-X. I will try to get a few videos following a train along the length of the layout while it is set up. Also been trying to get a mine scene started. Seems essential for a layout themed for the Weir-Pittsburg Coal Field. Here is a quick shot with the cell phone. This is based on the AMB Martinsburg Mine, with an addition to the lift house and an office built with the Mine Mount Models "Skips Bait Shop". Sorry for the poor lighting. Will work on weathering and a few other details tomorrow. Take Care All, -Bob T.
I think it looks fin, however a good photo editor could brighten up the mid-tones without washing out the whole image. Take a look: