Update, moved from Hoppers to Gons...
After my article published in N Scale Magazine, I was contacted by a modeler who had several more of these cars he wanted to unload. He offered me 5 cars at no cost, provided I did one up to return to him as a Laurel Valley car. The original car in the magazine article is in the rear, two of the newer ones are in the foreground featuring loads I built from scraps I had around the workbench.I used actual scraps, bits of sprue, leftover MT shim plates, some wheels and springs and other crap I had laying around. I glued the pieces to a styrene base, then sealed it all with a wash of clear matte acrylic. Once that dried, I went over it with a few washes of black, brown and oxide red to give it a good junky look. The load is removable and also fits in my MT gons. Even the ones that are lowered!Also made with actual scraps. To get the effect of shreds of sheet metal, I scraped along the edge of some styrene with a sharp X-acto blade to get some "curly cues". These were stuffed in and among the sprue bits and other scraps I had glued to the base, then brushed some Plastic Weld over it to crinkle it all up and bond it together. Followed by multiple washes of black, brown and oxide colors to "flavor" it.I need to get more decals run so I can do the rest of the gons.Lee
Route of the Alpha Jets www.wmrywesternlines.net
Hamltnblue, what'd you make that out of? I tried styrene and balsa but both failed. (Balsa split when being drilled, and styrene didn't like me using a power drill)
Tom, I'm gonna have to agree with Terry.
Vincent
Wants: 1. high-quality, sound equipped, SD40-2s, C636s, C30-7s, and F-units in BN. As for ones that don't cost an arm and a leg, that's out of the question....
2. An end to the limited-production and other crap that makes models harder to get and more expensive.
Packer Tom, I'm gonna have to agree with Terry.
vincent:
Read my answer to Terry on the previous page. As I said, a lot of it is luck, but a lot of it has to do with 'tinkering' my locos to make sure that they are speed-compatable. Luckily, with brass, 'tinkering' is relatively easy to do. Has to do with balancing and weight. And of course the fact that straight DC uses a LOT less starting voltage than DCC.
I figure that if John Allen could do it regularly on his DC layout, I could sure give it a try, LOL!
Tom
Tom View my layout photos! http://s299.photobucket.com/albums/mm310/TWhite-014/Rio%20Grande%20Yuba%20River%20Sub One can NEVER have too many Articulateds!
Packer, they're made out of Home Depot paint stir sticks. A poster on modelrailroadforums shared his idea of one he did with a single hole. Just added more holes and a second stick to do 2 cars at a time. 3/8th drill bit is perfect for 33 inch wheelsets. Don't know what size to use for 36 inch yet. Took about 15 minutes to drill out. The splinters still need to be cleaned up. The dry erase marker is there to stop it from bowing in the middle because of the rubber band torque. It was the closest thing I had on hand and works.
Springfield PA
Tom, I guess that's what happens when I decided to go out and get pizza while in the middle of a post; I get my question answered before I press the button.
Hamltnblue, will defenitely get some of those stir sticks now. I was making mine for 36"s, and came up with a 13/32" as being the right size.
From time to time my unit, the Air Force Weather Agency, constructs and the raffles off a model railroad as part of the Top III Sub for Santa program. The proceeds of the raffle go to help offset the December bills for the family of a deployed or needy Airman, so that they can buy gifts for their kids at Christmas.
This year I volunteered to help organize the effort, and we settled on N scale and modern day UP/BNSF in the Council Bluffs, IA area. Walthers was kind enough to donate a grain elevator kit which I built this week:
This is a DRAMATIC departure from my usual theme, but a lot of fun. This is a great way to scratch a modern-day UP/BNSF itch without scrapping my Conrail and Pennsy!
Another member, RedGrey62, is also a big part of this charity layout project.
Modeling the Rio Grande Southern First District circa 1938-1946 in HOn3.