Playing Catch Up (again...)

Howdy again folks!  Yeah I know it has been another 2 months again but not quite so there is improvement to the situation!  So much has happened since our last time together so I should probably get started into it.  To list it all out before the pictures interrupt there has been 1) module construction and completion, 2) my first train show to participate in (absolutely awesome!) 3) UP 1995 coming near when I actually had some time to chase for once and lastly 4) the open house up at the club.  So you can see that a lot has been happening, and that is only train stuff, not the school grades being rather awesome currently, the B-24 and B-29 bombers visiting, traveling, and my bike being stolen!  The last one not being good and all, but still a lot of fun stuff has been going on.  Inorder to make this a smaller post, I will break up the 4 named things above into seperate posts.  Now on to the meat of the update!

Module Construction and Completion:

This was one of those projects that kind of sneaks up on you.  You start with a couple of months of time to finish, start taking your time, getting all of the details right and then, BAM!, only two weeks to the show and you haven't even painted the foam, or installed it, or even finished the frame...

However, I got the fire under my butt and got a move on.  The scene I set out to create comes from an image on the Trinity Railway Express (TRE) line between Ft. Worth and Dallas that just called to me for some reason.  That picture will be posted later in a comparison once this thing is finished to my full satisfaction.

Here is the module with the foam fully carved and rasped, if that is a word.  I made the drainage canal by trimming pieces off of a curved cut out of foam with an exacto knife, regular knife, and then a rasp.  That got REALLY messy for a while.  The hill was made the same way, major parts by big tools, details by rasp.  The unforseen side effect of this approach was the natural looking uneven land.  Fortunately I am an engineering student so designing and building a bridge was pretty simple.  That and the prototype images were a big help.  The most fortunate thing though was that I had designed the bridge deck to be as thick as the cork roadbed so they matched up perfectly.  I painted it with the sidewalk color from the Woodland Scenics street and sidewalk set.  I plan to weather it a little in the future.  To transition from the sub-roadbed (plywood) to the scenery foam level I applied plaster then evened it out with a piece of cardboard which made the grade of the sub-roadbed.  I was rather glad that it turned out as well as it did.  Next I added the small hill on the right of the module.  Then I used N scale cork to create the roadway on the left.  I felt that making it sit higher than the scenery was more realistic.

And above is the (95%) finished product!  The club standard is to ballast with WS medium gray ballast and my girlfriend painted the rails with a flat brown paint pen.  Took me 30 minutes to test a 9 inch section, she did both mains in less than that...  I love that woman.  Anyways, I then laid the flex track down and soldered on the feeders to the bottom.  More on that in a later post!  I applied the ballast by first using a piantbrush to apply Elmers white glue around the bottom of the tracks and then sprinkle on some ballast with a plastic spoon.  Once that was dry I sucked up the loose pieces with a vacuum and ballasted the rest.  That was the typical pour it on, brush it gently into place, and then use a syringe to apply a 50/50 water glue mix.   Once that dried I vacuumed up the loose stuff and fixed the empty spots.  Then I turned my attention to the road.  Since I did not want to mix more plaster (messy) or get sheetrock putty (it can flex better than the plaster during moving) I turned to other methods.  What I came up with was manila folders!  "Manilla folders?  Surely you have lost your mind!"  Truthfully I have not! (And don't call me Shirley -Thank you Leslie Nielsen)  I was able to trim the manilla folders to fit onto the cork road guides and voila!  Instant road that flexes and stretches!  I attached the folder with track nails and Liquid Nail then painted over it with the black paint from the WS Paving Kit.  Then I painted some quick stripes and markings, weathered it with powdered pastels, then walked away.

For now that is all I have to talk about regaring the module. The following posts will contain the updates on the other aforementioned events and cover why this module is only 95% done.  At this point, it has taken me several days to write this, so, maybe I will get around to the others...  Who knows eh? 

As always, good luck and have fun!

Aaaaand we're back

Howdy again folks.  It's hard to believe it has been almost two months since I posted here.  I gotta tell ya, having a full time job and now full time school and job is a time ruiner.  However, it has not prevented me from making progress on train related tasks!  I have finally gotten back to a groove where I can make posts on here.  And no I don't feel bad it took this long.  Some of the better blogs out there haven't updated in more than two months.  So there.

Anyways, I have been saying from the beginning that this site is for my HO and N scale endeavours and yet, up til now, there has been no N scale posts.  Change is finally afoot!  I got out the camera and took some quick shots of the 3x5 simple loop layout I have been working on for a while now.

The above picture is an overview of the layout.  I went as simple as possible.  A single loop, one industry, short passing siding on the back, and minimal track.  It is currently acting as a place for me to practice my scenery techniques until I can finish it and sell it.

 This is the good ol' MRC Prodigy Express DCC system.  It runs all of my N scale locos without nary a problem.  This will probably be my system for the next several years.  It is simple, incredibly easy to use, and a pleasure to operate.

This is the space underneath the layout.  Cluttered and crazy, but I know where everything is.  To cut down on dust issues, I cover the layout witha  simple blanket that can fold up and lift off without damaging details and trees.

This is my mirror for viewing the passing siding on the back of the layout without having to lean over the front.  It is a simple automobile blind spot mirror mounted on short bit of dowel.  The curvature allows me to see the entire siding and main line in the back.  Very handy.

Here is the only industry, an Walthers New River Coal Mine kit.  It is weathered, but I have not finished adding lights and details to the inside.  A siding begins on the right hand side of the layout and curves around to the front where it splits into two lines.  The mine can be served by up to three tracks, but I wanted to add a truck loading area as well.  This area is currently under some extreme renovations.  The Atlas Southern Pacific GP-40 seen here is the first N scale locomotive I ever purchased.  I was so excited until I realized the N scale cars I had purchased with it had rapido couplers and the geep has accumates...



And there it is.  The beginnings of my N scale experiences.  I cannot wait to finish it and get on to the next one.  Oh, the woes of being a modeler :)

To finish off the day, I am nearing hopeful completion of phase one on the big HO project.  I have been trying for weeks to get it going and everything that can go wrong has so I a bit behind and exasperated.  Until next time, good luck!

Ugh...

Yup.  Summer classes are really taking their toll...  I have found my camera and its charger so next week when my class is over I will get in on the N scale stuff.  Also, I have HO scale joy so there will be that too.  Look back next week for explanations.  For now, I am going to go continue typing...

Go figure.

Okay so I wanted to get started on showing some of the N scale equipment and layout I have.  However my cameras battery has died and I cannot seem to find the charger.  This weekend I will have one though so I will charge up and get some pictures for you nice folks.  Hopefully summer classes do not get too much in the way.

The Spray Painting Works!

Sort of!  Okay, to be perfectly honest, I love it.  It is cheap, simple, quick and it works.  However, some people may not like it.  To them I say: do what is best for you!  Model railroading is a large open community and if we didn't do what we wanted, it wouldn't be fun.  Me, I am going to use spray paint.  Since I started looking into this weathering system back with the original use on the Geep I have made some advances in technique and application.  Let's review:

The spray paint cannot be thought of in an airbrush way.  You cannot thin it down, dial back the pressure or ramp it up, and you cannot affect the spray area to smaller or larger area.  It is constant, in all manners. 

"But if it is so hard to change it, why use it?"  Simple.  It's cheap.  And because I have been able to mostly counteract the negative things above. 

Now for how I advise you use it.  First is selecting the paint.  Contrary to intuition you do not want to go for the name brands or the "quality" ones.  These are good for other applications but not this.  They put out a lot of paint for good smooth coverage.  Not the ideal situation for weathering.  Pick up the store brands or generics.  These give the smallest amount of paint required and also give more bang for the buck.  Be very sure to get flat paints. 

The gloss will shine once they are applied and look off.  Always be sure to go flat unless you need shiny.  Once you have the paints, make one of these:

This is the template I made for basic shapes.  Mine is made from a box I got a sweater in.  It is thin, stiff, and was close enough I didn't have to get up.  :)  The bottom is for getting that dust or dirt color along the bottom of cars, and the top is for the locomotive as it has the indentation for the wave.  The wave is where the aerodynamics of the train causes a rise that drags dirt up with it.  Usually this is located around the cab, but prototype photos show the best places.  There are lines and triangles for various streakings and point weathering.  The 4 on the right are for showing where the dirt is kicked up onto car ends from the other cars wheels.  They are in gauge with the rails and wheels.  If you do not want a noticable line showing you used a mask, hold the template about an inch or two from the model so that it can fade around it.  For crisp lines that show specific edges, hold it as close as possible.  You can add or remove things as needed.  If the pattern openings are too close together, then use painters tape to cover over unwanted openings (as seen above).

Now for colors.  Choose what you like best.  I have a white for fading the overall car, a tan for dust and other dirt effects, and a black for grime and wear.  You can have more or others, it is really up to you!

Last but not least, technique.  Since you cannot control the amount of pain being sprayed, you must control the movement.  Short quick passes are best.  If you do not want a lot of weathering then do not spray at the model but at the ground in front of it.  Some of the spray will carry onto the model without being overkill.  Remember, as with airbrushing it is easier to make it heavier than to make it lighter, so go easy and check your work constantly.  I do every few passes just to be sure. 

A downside is that the spray is not as fine as an airbrush so if you look reeeeeeeally closely you can see the dots of paint.  This can be negated by using pastels or other methods of weathering to even out.  Ultimately it works for me, and I have enjoyed it immensly.  Here are two of the cars I have used this on:

So there you have it.  A neat and simple way to weather your cars.  As always, feel free to leave questions and comments.  Have fun and good luck y'all!