General Discussion (Model Railroader)

I have alot of Athearn rolling stock, both BB and RTR. I figured I would build up my roster quickly and affordably when a guy was selling his modern equipment. I also bought many Atlas and Walthers and Accurail cars from him. I will eventually replace the older BB cars in my fleet, but in the meantime, it fills the big hole in the roster that I once had!

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In other news, the C424 is all done guys!  Let me know what you think:

This was my first time weathering a "real" model, I've been practicing on some old Tyco stuff since January!

I used a mix of airbrushing, chalk powders and washes. I used dull-cote over everything when I was done. Windows were masked.

First I went over grills with several washes of oily black. After that I dusted the entire model with white/gray with the airbrush to fade the paint, then the oily black on the roof, along with rust around the trucks and the cab. I also made a dirt/earth/mud mix and sprayed that on the trucks and frame. I also painted the wheels a dirty, rusty color. Finally I mixed several chalk powders to look like rust, and used that on the trucks, bottom of fuel tank and along the bottom of the frame and walkway.

I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, and I can't wait to start the next project!

When you end up replacing that old BB stuff...let me know... I need to expand my roster too!

The C424 looks great! The grime looks excellent, and really makes all the details (especially the air hoses) stand out! I'd be honored to have a loco as nice as that running on my railroad! (not to discount the other Alex's locomotives) Nice job!

And I'm off for Boston...it's too early... 

Alex, Looks good. Leeme know when you start replacing that BB stuff.

 Awesome work weathering that C424 Alex!'

Well, my decals should be in at the hobby shop today, and I have youthgroup at my church tonight, and the hobby shop is on the way to church, so I'll pick them up then. I'll probably start applying decals Friday, as I want to read The Secret Life of Bees Thursday (dern summer reading!) My girlfriend is coming over saturday, so decal work will resume Sunday.

 Alex, that looks very spiffy! Skills must be relative to names!

So um, USPS lost my GP40-2s, so with the insurance money, I'm getting 2 GP40-2s with sound, xurons, 9 Central Valley turnout kits, 36ft of M-E Code 70 flex, 18 feet of M-E Code 55 flex, and 30ft of cork roadbed. I figure that spurs and whatnot won't need roadbed and will be laid directly on the foam.

I need to order 2 GP40-2 shells form Atlas because the only sound equipped undecs at MB Klein had the nose hoodlight, but 12$ for the 2 shells isn't a big set back, and it gives me a couple more test shells!

Alex your Alco looks great!

Thanks guys!

Alex, they lost your GP40-2's?!? That sucks... But I guess you end up with more from the insurance money, so that's always good.

It would have been nice to have the locos3 months ago, but the fact that I can afford my track and 2 sound equipped GP40s is really quite nice. This means I can now start working on acquiring/scratchbuilding structures for the layout!

Guilford Guy:

It would have been nice to have the locos3 months ago, but the fact that I can afford my track and 2 sound equipped GP40s is really quite nice. This means I can now start working on acquiring/scratchbuilding structures for the layout!

Your Welcome...

Here's an update on what I've been doing lately. I got my MBE cab that I ordered online and was disgusted by the quality. The detail was appaling and the thing basically fell apart in my hands! So I modified the PS cab that I had so the front wall was no longer angled.

Comments Welcome!

 looks great to me Andy!

Well, 5 of my locos now have number sand my caboose is pretty much weathered up. Pics tomorrow.

Yesterday I cut the running boards near the front of the loco and lowered them. I had to file a small indent do accomidate the steam chest. I think it turned out well.

My next step will be to drill a small hole behind the smoke stack and install the bell.

Comments Welcome!

 Looks great Andy!

 Got my decals Wednesday, unfortunately my paint either was damaged itself or the box it was in was, but hopefully that'll be here today, then I can paint my locos handrails and finally have them all painted up. But that's another story. I've gotten that NW caboose decaled and weathered, 5 of my locos decaled, and my CSX boxcar weathered. pics:

Before pic of caboose:

After (red decal trim film and Gothick Block White numbers used):

(this side got messed up early, but it still looks ok):

pic of my rs-1:

here's the album w/ all the loco pics:

 http://s253.photobucket.com/albums/hh55/Packers_1/weathering%20pictures/

Hey Andy! That's some good work, I like it a lot! Amazing what a few details do to that model. There are 5 of our club members that have the Bachmann 2-10-2 and all of them run like crap. How does yours run?

Sawyer, weathering on the boxcar doesn't look to bad! But you should paint the wheels a rusty colour or something, they sorta stand out like soar thumbs.

Alex- That C424 is pretty schweet!

Andy- Great job in the steamer!

Sawyer- Nice job with the weathering! I didn't notice the wheels, maybe because the pix were resized, or it's just my computer (no shock there!).