Work Train

JohnM

Alan,

A very warm welcome and many thanks for expending so much time to show us your work. It is truly exquisite. The detailing and coloring are very interesting to study, car by car.

By all means, please continue to show us your on going work.

Respectfully,
John Maguire
Seattle

nextceo

Bryan-
Not sure if I'm going to do the magnetic coupler thing or not yet on my layout. If I don't, I'll definitely follow your suggestion.

James-
Thanks for the nice comments.

John-
Thanks for the welcome. Yeah, I was in the final stages of finishing the Caboose when my Tap Pin broke as I was drilling the holes for the trucks. If I can find a replacement, I can finish that car tomorrow and post pictures of it. Last time I went to HobbyTown, they were out of stock..and I'm really not sure where else to get a 2-56 Tap except Micromark.

Alan

MikeM

If you Google "2-56 tap" you'll find some other options, including ordering from eBay, the big box stores or from Amazon.

Just wondering if you'd considered using Sergeant couplers if you decide to run this as a sort of "unit train"...? I've not tried operating these couplers but I think they look better.



Mike

nextceo

Thanks for the idea Mike. Yeah, if I don't use the magnetic couplers, I'll just cut off the tails.

Thanks Again!
Alan

nextceo

Here are a couple of modifications I made:
- Took the rope off of the Short Flat Car
- Added a grease pot and a spare board to the back of the Large Flat Car
- Increased the height of the gravel in the Gravel Car.
- Added an Axe to the Large Slab Car's deck.

nextceo

Just finished up with the Caboose. Followed the instructions except for the following modifications:
- Make sure you add the side railings after you install the roof. I followed the instructions and added them before. During the installation process of adding the roof, you use rubber bands to hold the roof in place...yep those rubber bands ripped off the side railings.
- The vent casting that comes with the kit is really long. I cut off a 1/4 inch to make it a little shorter for aesthetic purposes.
- I added a chain and a gas can to the porch of the Caboose to add interest.

That is all...next up is the Blacksmith Car...
Alan

brownbr

More fine work.

I am a big fan of practical jokes in my layout and I wouldn't be able to resist putting a figure sitting on the firewood gon right above the "no riders" stencil.

JohnM

Alan, the pictures and work are really top notch. Thank you for posting enough for us to be able to see it from all angles.
John

nextceo

Bryan, yeah that would be pretty funny...I actually don't have any "backwoods" figures. If anyone can steer me to a good source, I would appreciate it.
Thanks for the comments John.

Alan

nextceo

Hey Gang,

Just finished up with the Blacksmith Car...and yes, it is the neatest / funnest (if that's even a word) car of the kit with a bunch of details.

In addition to following the instructions, I made these modifications/additions:

- The biggest addition was the shelf on the back of the car. This is not in the instructions but after seeing a picture of the O Scale version of this car with that shelf, I decided to add it along with everything you see on that shelf - Jack, Hanging Chain, Wood Toolbox, and the Tool Rack with Hammer.

- The round saw blade on the side of the car was just suppose to be weathered with chalks and a brush...I took the lead from others who have done work on the infamous Twin Mills kit where they used a Dremel to get an extremely neat used look. I used a 1/16 drill bit, wrapped a small piece of masking tape on the bottom of the drill bit, slid the round saw blade on to the drill bit and then wrapped another small piece of masking tape on the tip of the drill bit to prevent it from flying off. You then turn on the Dremel and touch your brush which is loaded up with various colored chalks to the spinning saw blade. I think I spend 20 mins playing around with it until I got the look I wanted..and I could have probably spent all night doing it...its honestly quite fun.

- The kit comes with a solid styrene tube foe the Stove pipe. I replaced it with a .65 Steel tube from ngineering.com.

- I added 2 propane tanks

- I added 1 extra hose to the floor on the front of the car. Solder painted Grimy Black.

- I added 1 stump with axe and chopped wood to the floor for the stove.

- I added 1 extra barrel to the front of the car (Red/white one in the pictures)

- I added 3 rags. A black and red one at the front of the car and a red one on the workbench at the back of the car. The rags were made the same way as the rags for the tool and oil car. Painted Kleenex.

- A rope hanging on the inside of the car. I just used tan thread and roughed it up a little with my distressing tool.

- Per numerous requests on my couplers, I decided to clip off the tails to make them look more realistic...so much for using the Magnetic Couple feature for my layout...but I think after seeing the end result it was worth it.

- On alot of my cars...including this one, I use a Distressed Weathering brush on the wood after it has been installed and stained using Chalks and Alcohol to help give the wood that neat faded look. You can kinda see what I'm referring to on the roof and side walls of the Blacksmith Car. I got the tool thru Micromark...its kind of expensive for what it is ($15) but it allows me to get into small areas without disturbing the look of the rest of the car. (See the first picture)

http://www.micromark.com/distresser-weathering-brush,8057.html

10 Cars down...1 to go! Next up is the Box Car.

Thanks for looking!
Alan

admin

my favorite car and u nailed it! think about adding some dirt/grease/oil stains on the deck... looks a little too pristine

nextceo

Brett,

Thanks for the feedback. I'll get out my dark chalks/paints and go to work on it on Saturday morning.

Thanks again!
Alan

Karl.A

A superb job on this car Alan, your wood colouring is outstanding. Everything looks perfectly done, really nice job. Cant wait to see it once you dirty the floor some.

The couplers look so much better on this one, it really makes a huge difference in the overall look.

Great stuff.
Karl.A

nextceo

And last but least...the Box Car. This car is pretty straight forward. The only thing I did a little different is I used a razor blade to "scuff" the edges of the tar paper on the roof to give them a tattered look. In addition, I've attached a copy of some "Family Photos" of the entire work train in the Finished SW Build Pics section of this forum.


Thanks for following along and for everyone's comments...

Alan

Karl.A

Very nicely done Alan on all the cars. They really came out well.
Great modelling.

Karl.A

JohnM

Looking great, Alan.
John

nextceo

Thanks John!

Alan

nextceo

Hey Gang,

I took these pictures a few days ago and forgot to upload them.

Per a suggestion I received from Brett on the condition of the deck on my Blacksmith Car looking "too pristine", went back and added some dirt and some oil spots.

Thanks again Brett for the feedback!
Alan

Before:


After:

Ojaste

Alan, congrats on your placing second at the expo.

Karl.A

Congratulations Alan on your award. As great as the cars look here they looked even better in person. Really nice work and result.

Karl.A

admin

Congrats Alan! A wonderful achievement...

nextceo

Thanks Marty, Karl and Brett. Also, a separate Thanks to Karl and Brett for hosting the Platinum Clinic and spending the extra time with everyone. I wish I would have attended your workshop BEFORE I started building the Repair Shed as I would have definitely used some of the weathering techniques you both showed us for the castings and the wood boards.

Alan

James

these are all out of this world - the cars are amazing. Of course the blacksmith car is always a crowd pleaser but the box car No. 47 above with the faded lettering and the weathered roof is as good as it gets.