Ocalicreek's 2010 Spring Bash Challenge

[ocalicreek]

Sorry, Galen: :oops: I neglected to comment on the fine job which you're doing on these older cars. It's nice to see them getting the treatment they deserve in order to fit in with more current rolling stock.

Wayne

Errrghhh....Internet Exploder couldn't open the page when I hit 'preview'...so I lost the whole dadgum reply!

So here goes again! Wayne - I thought I was doing great on my brass work until I saw the end railing on your caboose! Stellar work, sir! hock:

Here's the finished product, minus paint and weathering.

[albumimg]2365[/albumimg]

[albumimg]2366[/albumimg]

[albumimg]2367[/albumimg]

I had fun bending and gluing the drop steps...even more fun drilling them and pinning them to the sides with .015" wire once I realized that my hunch was correct and the CA alone wouldn't be enough to hold. It was enough, however, to hold them in place as I drilled them and pinned them. That's a good thing to remember.

The little chain on the brake wheel end/side is actually a detail that comes with the original kit. I think it's missing from the other two cars so I'll have to dig mine out from wherever it is in order to finish them. Also, the brake cylinder is in the best spot I could figure it was supposed to go. The drawings/instructions aren't crystal clear on that placement. Judging from the original cars, the original builder couldn't decide where it was to go either. He had it inside the frame for some reason.

This one is ready for the paint shop once I clean it...how do you 'wash' a wooden car? Painting will happen tonight.

It may not be weathered by 4/1, but I'm just glad to reach this stage!

Galen

[Gary S]

That's a nice model! I very much like the way you bent the steps. And you pinned it in place? Geez, how do you guys keep from breaking those itty bitty bits?

[ocalicreek]

That's a nice model! I very much like the way you bent the steps. And you pinned it in place? Geez, how do you guys keep from breaking those itty bitty bits?

Thanks, Gary. I debated on whether or not to bend my own or use the A-line steps I already had.

As for bits, well, I broke 2 on this car alone! :oops: Although neither of them drilling the holes for the wire to pin the steps in place. That was a nice, sharp #78 bit. I snapped my #80 on an end beam, drilling for the eyelets to hold the coupler lift bar, and the other...I can't recall at the moment...no, maybe it was only one bit I broke.

Galen

[doctorwayne]

I like the look of those drop steps, Galen - very prototypical with the twist in them to allow surface mounting, too. I think that your rivet/bolt overlays will look really nice with a coat of paint on them. They're the type of detail that most viewers don't miss when they're not there, but that make the car look so much better when they are present.

Wayne

[ocalicreek]

I think that your rivet/bolt overlays will look really nice with a coat of paint on them. They're the type of detail that most viewers don't miss when they're not there, but that make the car look so much better when they are present.

That's exactly the thought I had, Wayne. Just like violas in a string section. The violins get all the high, sweet melodies, the cellos all the rich counter-melodies, and the double bass the stirring lower lines. The poor violas usually double one of the other strings, or provide 'filler' and harmony, rarely getting the limelight. But that's okay - if they weren't there, the strings would not sound as full and rich as they do. I think this bolt-head detail is the same way. It had better be, after all the work it was!

Galen

[nachoman]

Some great looking cars are coming out of this challenge. Voting on this one is going to be tough!

[ocalicreek]

Thanks, Kevin!

Last night I airbrushed a coat of black on the car, and a coat of wheel/truck grime on the, er, wheels and trucks. My grime mix is half & half graphite (non-metallic) and dark burnt umber. Any shading or weathering over that will make the trucks look newer or older.

The black turned out okay...except a few spots where it has brushed off the details showing a bit of brass or white styrene. :x I must not have cleaned well enough or I may have touched the model too early. I still need to touch up areas that were under the tape mask for the lettering. Looks like the basic black I used (good old Delta craft paint) will match well the existing black.

After touch-ups and maybe some weathering tonight I'll post pictures.

Galen

[ocalicreek]

...well, mostly. The touch-up paint on the interior needs to dry before I can weather it. But the exterior is weathered with only a layer of 'grimy gray' Bragdon powder, including the trucks. The couplers rec'd a dusting of rust, and that's it. To my eye it looks to be well used but not too worn. Grimy gray makes the details 'pop' and looks like balast dust, I think. I also like shiny wheel treads. These wheels are ribbed-back wheels, btw.

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Here's also a before shot to show one of the better examples before the rebuild began. It's hard to tell, but a good bit of the work was rebuilding the car to be true and square. It has come a long way to look mostly like it did in the beginning! But the detail work is there if you look closely, and of course I know it's there! :ugeek:

[albumimg]2269[/albumimg]

Galen

[ocalicreek]

Oh, and the 'load' of gravel or stone in the 'before' shot revealed a lack of interior detail altogether. The original instructions called for 5 braces inside and on the cars that came with them, they were way too high. I do plan on making a gravel/balast load for these cars eventually.

Galen

[ngauger]

That looks great!!!

[nachoman]

I am going to have to find me one of those cars! Nice work.

[Sumpter250]

Some great looking cars are coming out of this challenge. Voting on this one is going to be tough!

On both accounts!

[ocalicreek]

Thanks for the great comments, guys!

I found mine at two different train shows from a dealer who handles estate sales, etc. I wasn't looking for this particular car, but couldn't resist when I saw such a forlorn model in need of TLC.

Probably the same reason I lost track of how many cats & dogs we have...April fool!


Kevin - Well, snap it up before it disappears:

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Or go to Ye Olde Huff n Puff and get one 'new' for $21... hock:

Galen

[doctorwayne]

...It has come a long way to look mostly like it did in the beginning! But the detail work is there if you look closely, and of course I know it's there!

Great looking results, Galen, and knowing not only that the detail work is there but also that you put it there is the best part about doing this kind of work.

Wayne

[ocalicreek]

Thanks, Wayne!

I also know the detail that didn't go into the finished car, but there's still time for that down the road. I didn't add any plank detail to the inside of the end walls and probably won't go back and do that step. However, I do want to eventually add some sort of ratchet/lever detail for the 'door mechanism' to the ends, just beneath the end beams. Once I come across either a good looking detail part that can be modified or some sort of little gear that can be scratch-bashed I can add that on.

And of course there's the other two cars still to go...

Galen