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In-ko-pah RR: Upgrade projects

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  • Member since
    April 2013
  • 917 posts
Posted by Southgate on Saturday, October 18, 2014 12:49 AM

I would have thought that from a manufacturer's stanpoint, 1/24 would have been a no brainer ideal scale for these types of railroads. It's already an established scale in cars and trucks, and other stuff. So what did they do?  Jump on the every-scale-but  bandwagon!

I highly applaud your decision to build a real scale model railroad, IN a real scale!  Everything looks so right. Beautiful work. Dan

  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: Sandy Eggo, CA
  • 1,279 posts
Posted by Ray Dunakin on Thursday, October 16, 2014 6:05 PM
Thanks, everyone!
 Visit www.raydunakin.com to see pics of the rugged and rocky In-ko-pah Railroad!
  • Member since
    November 2009
  • From: Farmington, NM
  • 383 posts
Posted by -E-C-Mills on Thursday, October 16, 2014 2:24 PM

Fantastic!

It also looks like things are hoding up to the weather well.  Well done.

  • Member since
    December 2011
  • From: Northern Minnesota
  • 2,774 posts
Posted by NP2626 on Thursday, October 16, 2014 4:49 AM

Very well done!  I agree, you are an artist! 

NP 2626 "Northern Pacific, really terrific"

Northern Pacific Railway Historical Association:  http://www.nprha.org/

  • Member since
    August 2011
  • From: A Comfy Cave, New Zealand
  • 6,247 posts
Posted by "JaBear" on Thursday, October 16, 2014 3:48 AM

I have always thought that the larger the scale , the more detail that is required, and therefore the more demanding modeling. Looking at your bakery it is very easy to smell the freshly baked bread. Hmmmmmm.Big Smile

Cheers, the Bear.

"One difference between pessimists and optimists is that while pessimists are more often right, optimists have far more fun."

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Thursday, October 16, 2014 3:33 AM

Ray - c´mon, your pulling our leg! Those are not pictures of models, that´s real life! Cool

You are an artist!

  • Member since
    January 2006
  • From: Sandy Eggo, CA
  • 1,279 posts
In-ko-pah RR: Upgrade projects
Posted by Ray Dunakin on Thursday, October 16, 2014 1:06 AM

The past few months, I've had no time for modeling due to a lot of "real life" obligations. I'm finally starting to get a little bit of time, and have used it for a couple of upgrade projects on my 1/24th scale In-ko-pah Railroad...

 

First off, i converted my kitbashed, narrow gauge RS-3 to use battery power. With all the electronics inside the hood, there was no room to put the battery in the loco. Besides, I prefer to charge lithium batteries outside of any irreplaceable models, in case something goes wrong. So I turned one of my old gondolas into a battery car.

 

To hide the battery pack, I made a false load of scrap iron, starting with a basic box made from Sintra PVC foam board. Then I covered the top of it with broken and twisted bits of styrene shapes and strips -- a good way to use up some cutoffs. I sprayed it with a coat of red primer, then black primer.

Then I used Sophisticated Finishes brand "Instant Iron" and "Instant Rust", and finished it off with a few touches of acrylic to look like old paint on a few of the parts:

 

 

 

 

 

My next upgrade project was replacing the lights in my structures with LEDs. Originally I used grain-of-rice bulbs, which are cheap, easy to use, and fit into even very small scale fixtures. Unfortunately they keep dying on me, rather mysteriously and inconsistently. Some have lasted for years, others need almost constant replacing. 

 

I'm getting LEDs in several sizes from this source:

 

http://www.modeltrainsoftware.com/bl-212.html

  

 

If you want to see how I installed some of them, go here:

 

http://www.raydunakin.com/Site/IRR_Lighting.html

 

 

So far I've only converted the lights in two structures, the rock shop and the bakery. I coated the LEDs in the rock shop with a bit of glossy white paint. This dimmed them slightly and gave them a somewhat warmer, soft glow. The lights in the bakery are a bit harsh, in part because there are so many. I may paint the LEDs in the bakery, or remove a couple of them, or both.

 

Here are some night photos so you can see how they look:  

 

 

 

The rock shop is on the left, the bakery on the right:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Visit www.raydunakin.com to see pics of the rugged and rocky In-ko-pah Railroad!

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