How A*** Rentenive is this? (Pic of Finished Building added Page 2)

[SpaceMouse]

A**terisks mine.

I just spent 5 hours painting and repainting half cleaned up grease stains--on the inside of an engine house--that can only be seen through the doors--from 8 feet away--if you lean two feet into the layout. This is for my local club and will be placed in a unlit corner reachable only by climbing across the the track on platfoms I made to do just that.




Click to enlarge: http://www.vitaconnect.com/Photos/EngineHouseFloor01.jpg

[tstage]

Chip,

I think your "terminal". I made and stained a grooved wooden floor out of 1/16" thick basswood for the inside of my American Model Builder's "Dill's Market" that can't even be seen because I glued the roof onto the top. I hope to be able to illuminate the inside of the market at some point. But...even then, it really won't get noticed, except maybe through the two front windows. I think my wife has already called Hospice...

Tom

[TurboOne]

I bought my cab forward, and played catch with the kids. Less stress, and just as fun. Still haven't finished benchwork, but we had fun running the trains.

At least you got in the practice for something that will show later Chip.

Tom, got a call from the hospice, they are looking for you. Should be ok, they called in CA for you. [8D]

Tim

[Anonymous]

Oh yes. I even put pictures on the walls in the back office in the round house. I would be much further ahead if I didn't care about details and just bought kits instead of scratch building stuff or modifing kits. But once I finished something, I tend to loose intrest in it eventhough I enjoy looking at my work. That's why building a model railroad layout is perfect for me. It's never finished so I'll never loose intrest.

[tstage]

Chip,

Have you thought about keeping the roof section removable?

Tom

[Anonymous]

Nice work - I'd second Tom's suggestion of making the roof removable (it'll help with any derailments as well as keeping the work visible). One idea I have seen used is to build an overall roof, but only put in the roof supports, girders, etc. - popular with large passenger stations as you can have the full roof but your model work is still visible.

[tstage]

Or, depending on what the original roof is like, either put up only half of the roof and leave the rest open, or, put up half of the roof then replace the rest with transparent styrene or plexiglax so you can see inside. Hmmmmm...

Tom

[mersenne6]

Not at all. Another variation on the removabe roof that I've seen which permits you to show off the interior detailing efforts is a half roof built of clear plastic on the side facing the viewers and a "prototypically correct" roof for the other half. If you did this you would be assured, remote location on the layout or no, that plenty of people would be able to see and enjoy your modeling efforts. You could enhance the effect even further if you put in prototype overhead lighting. The visual attraction of such a display cannot be denied.

I always find discussions concerning level of detailing interesting. What I also find interesting is just how observant the casual observer is with respect to efforts to this end. Many years ago I belonged to a group of modelers who set up train displays at the local malls during the Christmas season. At the time one of the members had spent an incredible amount of effort superdetailing a Walthers Pullman kit. He had built a complete interior, fully detailed with respect to mirrors, lights, people, etc., and he had recieved the usual ration of good natured kidding concerning his efforts and how no one would really pay attention to what he had done.

When the weekend for running the trains arrived he showed up with his Pullman and made it part of a passenger consist. The trains began to roll and within about 10 minutes people were almost 3 deep at the railing and everyone was pointing to his car as it rolled past and all were commenting on the detail. The reason for the interest soon became apparent - he had placed a model of a naked woman so that she was just exiting the shower in one of the staterooms. She was only visible from a very narrow angle and only for an instant - but it didn't matter, his car, or rather perhaps just his one figure, was the hit of the show and as far as he was concerned the question of whether or not he had put in too much effort detailing his car had be answered in his favor - not too much at all!

[TurboOne]

Chip, I am too tired to look for the right thread about your motor.

Went to local hobby shop. HO guys says no more motors in stock. He is not very friendly so I didn't ask why. Sorry. Good luck elsewhere.

Tim

[twhite]

when Josef von Sternberg was directing a 1935 movie called "The Scarlet Empress" about Catherine the Great of Russia, one of the producers hit the roof because Sternberg had ordered $6,000 dollars worth of silk underwear for the extras portraying Catherine's Palace Guards. "Nobody's going to see the darned underwear," the Producer muttered. "Yes," Sternberg retorted, "but those extras will FEEL like real Palace Guards!" And they did. And that detailed floor in the enginehouse is going to make everyone around there FEEL like it's a real engine house, not just a beautifully detailed model. Anal-retentive? Not in MY book, friend! Good work!
Tom
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[Casey Feedwater]

A few grease stains should just be the start of it, SpaceMouse. [:D] That enginehouse needs a little clutter also....[:p][:D]

Perhaps something like this?......

[Fergmiester]

Your just starting! It will get worse but to worry as there is help available. Or so they tell me

Fergie

[SpaceMouse]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Casey Feedwater

A few grease stains should just be the start of it, SpaceMouse. [:D] That enginehouse needs a little clutter also....[:p][:D]

Perhaps something like this?......

Thanks. You've helped me understand that a*** retentiveness is a spectrum and not a box.

[Casey Feedwater]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SpaceMouse
[br
Thanks. You've helped me understand that a*** retentiveness is a spectrum and not a box.

Oh, it gets worse. Once the detailing bug bites, you find yourself doing things like adding bits of metal shavings under a lathe in the machine shop....

[tstage]

That is just WAY TOO COOL, Casey! I browsed your CM&S lin\k. You truly are indeed a sick man...

Tom

[bogp40]

And after adding all the tools and clutter, then you could do lighted and detailed pits

[tstage]

Actually, wouldn't old, used, automobile oil just do the trick for creating stains in the engine houlse. (Saves having to reinvent the wheel.) Besides, it both looks AND smells like the real thing...[:)]

Tom

[Casey Feedwater]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tstage

Actually, wouldn't old, used, automobile oil just do the trick for creating stains in the engine houlse. (Saves having to reinvent the wheel.) Besides, it both looks AND smells like the real thing...[:)]

Tom

I suppose it might, if you're into "Smell-O-Rama Modeling." But for oil stains I like to use just a few drops of plain old India ink, as I did under the oil tank in the photos below. And sometimes I use just black chalk dust powdered and rubbed in. That also makes for some fairly nice stains.

[tstage]

Mike,

What are you using for the corragated, tin roof? I like the patch work and the curled edges.

Tom

[Casey Feedwater]

Tom, the corrugated roofing is some original Builders in Scale "Ribbed-Seam Roofing" that I've had for several years. I cut the panels to the size I wanted and weathered them in etchant.

CC Crow now owns the Builders in Scale line and has the corrugated roofing/siding available in a variety of sizes. I haven't bought any from him yet, but I'd guess it's the same product as what BIS originally produced several years ago.

[mikebonellisr]

Sometime it's the trip and not the destination....I too,find myself super-detailing the rear of structures that I know will never be seen.I've included power meters,cats,dogs,garbage(even clay,ho scale rats)Well....I know it's there,ENJOY!

[dwRavenstar]

Back in the day there was a poster that depicted countless stick figures working on the various aspects of "Building A Rainbow".
It didn't matter how often you looked at it, what level of "attitude adjustment" you were functioning under or where your eyes floated off to, you would notice fresh stuff with each glance.
I'm prone to detail scenes with bits and pieces that are logically part of daily life as well as including situations that tell a story of what has already happened or is about to happen in the scene. Along with the many boxes of structure kits, rolling stock kits and scenery components that have filled my shelves awaiting the completion of track and benchwork I have stashed a UPS van, two brown uniformed delivery guys and a FedEx van (soon to be left up on blocks by the escaping UPS employees) for a future scene.
Life is cluttered and carries that "lived in" look. Since a properly scenicked layout is a model of life it's nearly a requirement to go a bit overboard with details. [}:)]
If it's a sickness, I for one will suffer gratefully.

When we take our own meds it's therapy. If we all swap cups, it's gonna be a party!!!!

Dave (dwRavenstar)

[Anonymous]

Mike, I checked out your C.M. & S. link and now- -I have no socks! If it gets any better; I haven't seen it. I fear one careless sneeze could raise havoc, lol. From your quality photos, I take it that you are no stranger to the camera, right? Wonderful acheivment so far and it can only get better. Regards, Ted

[underworld]

Maybe you can find some scale kitty litter to help clean up the grease?????
[:p][:p][:p][:p][:p]

underworld

[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

[Casey Feedwater]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Ted D. Kramer

Mike, I checked out your C.M. & S. link and now- -I have no socks! If it gets any better; I haven't seen it. I fear one careless sneeze could raise havoc, lol. From your quality photos, I take it that you are no stranger to the camera, right? Wonderful acheivment so far and it can only get better. Regards, Ted

Thanks, Ted, I'm glad you enjoyed the photos.

Photography is one of my other hobbies, although I no longer shoot film or do darkroom work. I went strictly digital about 3 years ago.

QUOTE: Originally posted by underworld

Maybe you can find some scale kitty litter to help clean up the grease

Actually, underworld, I do use kitty litter... for dirt and ground cover. It looks pretty good... once it's been pulverized into dust.[:D]

[Anonymous]

Is there anything more fulfilling than knowing every possible detail (many ethereal) left entirely to your imagination has been included on your Pike? As many of you have stated (paraphrased): "Regardless if no one else sees the detail; I know it is there!" Perhaps that uncompromising extra "stretch" makes the difference between fine modeling and "creating." Is there a "point of deminishing returns?" Probably to a pragmatist, there is such a "point." But, to others who hold indelible images of their past life's experiences in and around railroading; no such thoughts of moderation occur. For me, to see the trains "fit" into the environs, rather than the other way around; greater realism is brought to the trains themselves. In so many words this has already been said also. Still, it bears repeating because how many crafts reward the maker with such a culmination of skillful realism, robust imagination and nostalgic story telling? Man, are we lucky or what?

[Anonymous]

I added stained wood floors, and cows, to the interiors of not 1, but 6, HO stock cars. But, I kept the roofs removable.

Alvie.

[Casey Feedwater]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mikebonellisr

Sometime it's the trip and not the destination....I too,find myself super-detailing the rear of structures that I know will never be seen.I've included power meters,cats,dogs,garbage(even clay,ho scale rats)Well....I know it's there,ENJOY!

I absolutely agree with this, Mike. I love building highly detailed models and scenes. The fact that some or even many of the details may never be seen doesn't bother me. For me, it's the fun of planning the scene and actually pulling it all together. In other words, the journey and not the destination.

Here's an example: this little garage is on the backside of a large diorama I built a couple of years ago. Because of the scenery and larger structures in front, the garage is not easily seen. Yet I had a blast scratchbuilding it and then painting and adding the details.

[SpaceMouse]

How does it work with the details? Do you scratch build those as well? I could see where a barrel might be easier than say, a lathe.

[Casey Feedwater]

QUOTE: Originally posted by SpaceMouse

How does it work with the details? Do you scratch build those as well? I could see where a barrel might be easier than say, a lathe.

Mostly I buy the detail parts or use the leftovers from kits. Sometimes I "kitbash" the detail castings to make new detail groupings. Sometimes I make my own, as with the packing crates in the photo below. By making my own crates, I can actually put other details in them, which adds more interest, rather than just having a piece of solid white metal or resin sitting there.

For these particular crates, I used scale 1" X 6" boards and 2" X 4" 's. For one of them I used black alcohol to stain the wood. For the other two I used black ammonia. All three crates were deliberately constructed to look rough and used. Later, I put some "rusty" gears and junk castings in them when they were placed with a structure.