Yea, long time no see!
Hey, how about a cold one over here!
Thanks TomikawaTT!
I just nixed my reverse loop plan on the layout, it took up too much room and just did not look right the more I looked at it..... oh well...back to the drawing board.....
Ryan BoudreauxThe Piedmont Division Modeling The Southern Railway, Norfolk & Western & Norfolk Southern in HO during the merger eraCajun Chef Ryan
Hey, a round all around for Chuck! Good to see you back!
My formative years were spent on Long Island, just a couple of towns beyond the city limits of New Yawk. (Sorry, I'm a Red Sox fan now up heah in New England. And you'd bettah watch out fo'ah the Pats, too.) My visions of city life were filled with Brooklyn, where I was born. That's the inspiration for the model, and I'm really glad you saw it the same way. As we speak, the paint is drying on the re-touched plaza with some Hydrocal filler. The cracks really bothered me. And I soldered the wires for the street lamps, so they're ready to connect up to the bus when the paint dries.
I sent a copy of this photo off to John Seets, the bee guy who makes the honeycomb. He actually took the time to brighten up the photos a bit. (One-time O-gauger he is. Yessss.) It's amazing how many friends you can make in this hobby.
If you're planning on coming up to Boston for The Marathon (the others are all imposters) you might want to think again this year. It's run every year on Patriot's Day, which is next Monday this year. The forecast is for a Nor'easter, the most vicious of New England weather, though we'll probably be on the high side of freezing so it will be wet, not white. Any would-be marathoners thinking of joining the crowd this year should go rent a copy of "The Perfect Storm" instead. Right now, we've got an inch of sleet on the ground. Let's see how the Kenyans like running into a 25 knot gale at about 40 degrees Fahrentheit. I'm looking for someone with Iditerod experience to win this one.
It takes an iron man to play with a toy iron horse.
Howdy folks! Been a while. Joe, a round for the house, and Anchor Steam for me.
Mister B, that looks SO much like my memories of New York 'back when.' If you do fill a few voids with Hydrocal, you could get very prototypical by painting it to represent asphalt! IIRC, a lot of damaged cobblestone was 'repaired' by tamping hot-mix asphalt into the holes. That memory comes from Westchester Square in Da Bronx - I can still smell the tar heater (Phew!)
I may have gotten a little smug about other folks' cold weather problems! The temperature just passed fifty degrees (headed down!) and there's fresh snow on the Sheep Mountains down to something under 4,000 feet. Two days ago it was shaking hands with ninety. What a difference a cold front makes! (I also wonder how this is hitting folks farther north and higher up. Las Vegas is at the low altitude end of Nevada.)
Nice seeing you all. I'll try to get back a bit more frequently.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964)
MrB, Looks like you are really making progress. Keep the pictures coming. What a fun scene.
Sue
Anything is possible if you do not know what you are talking about.
Ibeamlicker wrote:That looks really good Mr b.Can we get a night shot with the street lights?
I'm going to try for that over the weekend. The wires from the lights are hanging down right into the subway station, so I've got to do something about them. I also want to do something about the seams between the castings. I think dribbling a bit of Hydrocal into the cracks should seal it up and let me paint over it.
Thanks Mr. Beasley! Don't mind if I do! I'll take a cold tap Joe, if you please.
Thanks for the sneak preview Mr.B. I really like the way the scene has come together! And, I really like the gas lights too. You have a great story going there. Can't wait to see "the rest of the story" unfold.
And speaking of lighting....Mike I really like the way your structures look in the night scene you posted. I know Mr.B has done some too (was it Baldy's we saw?) Anyway, I want to do some of this too, epically Dad's Kitchen (where the trainmen can get "beans" 24/7) and some up-stairs apartments at Sawbill Jct., and I'm wondering what types of lights you use?
Mike you also mentioned that the one street you did was roofing.....Wow!! You jogged my memory there! My brother and I used tar paper (15 lb. felt) for a highway on our first 4x8 empire back in 1959. I hadn't remembered or thought of that since the empire got packed away for a move in about '64! I really like the looks of it in your picture and if memory serves ours looked pretty good too! I'm going to have to give it a try again. I'm thinking of a blacktop parking lot in front of Dad's...This may just be the ticket I'm looking for.
Good evening, all. I'll have a Harpoon and maybe a slice of that bacon pizza. Thanks.
The paint's not dry, the streetlights aren't wired and the figures and small details are just placed on the layout, waiting for someone to slam a door and knock them all over the place. But, I wanted to post a sneak preview of my Photo Fun submission. The Farmers Plaza project is almost done.
This is the long-time-coming hexagonal cobblestone casting. There are 4 pieces of casting here, each trimmed to fit at the borders of the plaza and to mesh with each other. The scene in the center is WS's "Farmers Market" group. The subway entrance is from Images Replicas. Streetlights are Walthers Cornerstones, all bought on sale, I might add. (Patience, Grasshopper. The monthly catalog has had one or two different types on sale every time. Plan, wait and save.)
I'm so happy with this I'm buying the next round...
Morning all, Joe black coffee over here, Thanks.
I appriciate the complement! I make my asphalt roads a litle different than Mr. B, I mix the water putty to a consistancy of pancake batter, It needs to be a little runny but not to the extent that it runs all over the place. Seems like I made a ''form'' out of masking tape a few layers thick, depending how thick you want your road, Poured in the putty and took my credit card and smoothed out the road the best I can. As the putty was setting, I sprayed water on it and continued to use the credit card until the road became firm to the point that the credit card was doung more harm than good. After it was fully cured, I then sanded it and did the lines and weathering. I forgot to mention, I mixed my gray paint into the putty, that way if the road does become scratched, it will not show.
The road in the pic where the caboose is sitting the intersection, is the first one I made. It is made from a piece of rolled roofing, glueing it rocky side down. Got to get to the old grindstone, Hope this helps. Mike
Just coffee this morning. Thanks. Calzones at the cafeteria at work today, if you can believe the menu. Think I'll save room - they're usually pretty good.
I mix the putty pretty thin, almost like Hydrocal, and I add a splash of vinegar to slow down the setting and give me more time with it. The roads I've been working on lately have all had curbs and sidewalks, so I first built up a base with a low "channel" that I could pour the putty into. I used .030 (I think) styrene for that, and then another strip of styrene for the sidewalks above it. After I pour the putty, I smooth it with a foam brush. (That's a Bob Grech suggestion.) I keep a container of water handy, so I can keep the brush wet and rinse off the excess putty. You don't want to do that in the sink, unless you like replacing drain pipes. I get it pretty smooth while wet, and then I keep going back to it for the next couple of hours to smooth down the uneven spots while it hardens. The next day all it needs is a light sanding.
For my asphalt roads, I make up a water wash of gray paint. I always use "gray" straight from the cheap bottle of acrylic, so the color is uniform and I can go back and touch it up later without worrying about mixing the color right. I use "rainy day gray" for my sidewalks for the same reason.
Evening ladies and gents..
Joe, I'll have a pale ale and as long as your at it...Set up the house too.
For what ever it's worth, I like the roads that both Mike and Mr. B have made! I haven't done any paved roads yet, but I do envision substantial paving in my larger towns / cities that are slated for my lower level. So far everything on the upper level is VERY rural and I just trowel a layer of dry-wall mud (forming the contoure (sp?) I want and even making some ruts), paint it with a dark brown latex and then cover it with sifted sand, making for dirt roads.
Mike, you say you pour the mix and then sand it. Does this take a lot of effort? Seems to me that Durum's is some pretty hard stuff when dry. Mr.B, I believe you are doing a "thin" mix and brushing it on. Do you sand also? Please...let's hear some more on this! Really, both you guys have some great looking pavement. Maybe we an determine which is the best route to go.
We'll try this again. Joe I need a cup of coffee. Thanks. I can relate to you Mr.B. I replied to your post a few minuts ago and when I clicked on the POST button the internet shut down!
Any way, I am about ready to see how my desktop computer likes BUCKSHOT! I was trying to print some decals for a CAT boxcar I am doing and when I tried to open the Printshop, I guess it deleated it from the computer. Took about 2 hours to get it to re-install. Then I had the trouble with the internet, Nothing is going right today!
Oh well, Mr.B, I have pleanty of water putty I will be glad to loan you if you want to come and get it. LOL BTW I didn't know I was being that careful when I did my roads, I mixed the putty and poured the roads, let it dry and sanded and painted but thanks for the complement. Now if I can only find my Decal Setting spray.
You all have a good Easter, as for me, I'll have another cup of coffee. Mike
Bah. Humbug. I need some more Durham's Water Putty and the Local Hardware Store is closed for Easter! Home Creepo doesn't carry it. That calls for a beer, anyway. What do I need with chocolate eggs and marshmallow chicks, anyway? Whatever happened to the Putty Bunny?
I've got the cobbles for Farmers Plaza all cut to shape and glued in place, and I was planning to get the roads in today. I didn't have quite enough putty to fill the space, since I ended up raising the whole street a quarter inch to match up to the level of the hydrocal castings. Woolworths, Suzanne's House of Beef and Madame Adrienne's fortune telling parlor had to be lifted, too. A quarter inch doesn't sound like much, but that's close to 2 scale feet! No wonder all the folks on the street came unglued.
I've been looking closely at Mike's pictures, and I notice how carefully he does his roads. I guess I'm inspired to clean up the spot in front of Woolworths where the road is actually higher than the sidewalk, so this project with the nearby plaza gives me an excuse to do that, too.
Anybody want a chocolate rabbit?
Good morning..
And here's wishing you all a Happy Easter holiday!
Morning all Joe how about a couple pancakes and some ice water. Thanks.
I am feeling much better thois morning, took a heap of cold medicine and went to bed early, hope I can keep it up.
Sue, Being that my train is in a building out back that I buile especially for the layout, I first painted the walls blue then painted the clouds directly on the wall, in the pic below you can see the wall outlets if you look. Got to go get in the shower, see you all this evening. TGIF Mike
Breakfast time again - how about hash, poached eggs and English muffins? And could I get another ketchup bottle? This one's about out. Thanks.
Really nice shot, Mike. Love the plane. A lot of times when I'm near an airport, the big ones coming in seem to just hang there, just like that.
I did my single piece of sky backdrop the opposite way. I got a piece of white posterboard, about 2x3. They were on sale at the craft store, so I picked up a couple on impulse. I bought a can of light blue spray paint, and did an incomplete paint job, leaving the white, whispy clouds. I could never paint the walls of the family room, but I put this piece of "sky" behind my pictures now. This one's been seen before:
It's on the new Railimages site now. Remember, April 15th is the shutdown of the old site.
Mike, Hope that you kick that cold. Did you paint the clouds on the wall? You did well for a rattle can. It takes good control. We just got a new airbrush and I am dying to try it on some projects
Good evening all, Joe I'll have a bowl of chicken noodle soup and a glass of water. I am fighting off a cold this fine day, so I best lay off the boose. I will hit the hay early tonight and try to get in a full day tommarrow.
Sue, no, the clouds are made with a rattle can of cheep flat white paint, well actually about 12 cans for the entire layout. If I can find the thread I will try to post a link to it.
Mister B, I like the cobblestone so far although it does seem rather large but that might change as you get more of it together and weathered, Looking forward to more pics.
Here is another pis of the other end of the layout.
You all take care see ya later Mike
MisterBeasley wrote:
MrB, Looks like you are having fun with this one. I will look forward to some color.
Mike, Your clouds go well. Did you airbrush them?
Good morning all. I'll have a coffee and a bowl of oat meal this fine morning Joe.
Mike, really glad to hear from you...and that you are doing well. And thanks to both you and Mr. Beasley for the pictures. I really like that Cat equipment on that drag and Mr. B, keep us posted. I'm really interested in seeing how the stone "weathers up" and of course how the town square turns out too.
I have to say fine morning this morning....Surprise, we got about 7" of snow over the past two days and this morning the temp. has dropped off to only 7 above! The sun is out and I'm sure I'll play with the kids on the snow a bit today (I have a house full of girls resulting from an over-nighter)....But, with a long weekend and outdoor spring chores now on hold, this can only mean one thing.TRAINROOM!
I'm starting two more small structures (one DPM and a LaserKit, American Model Builders) for Sawbill Jct. today. I'm getting closer!
Last evening as I was doing some re-thinking (the re-placement of a few structures to make a better looking lumber yard scene at the far East end of the benchwork) and I realized I have run the kit gamut. I have structures ranging from the old Revell to the new Walthers!
Maybe this has unknowingly turned out to be my kit testing diorama! Thus far I have one each: DPM, LaserKit, IHC, Revell, JL Innovation, Micro Engineering, Walthers, Downtown Deco, LifeLike, Bachmann, Sequoia and a Roco! Kind of sent me for a loop, realizing this diversity on one diorama!
Have a great one!
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen! I'll have a Harpoon IPA, if you please, Joseph. Thanks. Ahhh, that's what I needed...
Good to see you up and about again, Mike. Doctors are seldom fun places to visit, so hopefully they'll just tell you to stay away. Besides, their offices are full of sick people. You might catch something.
Not much work on the trains the last few days, but I did make a few more cobblestone castings. Here's my latest upload to the new Railimages site. The old photo galleries will be going away in a couple of weeks, so things will have to be re-routed, I suppose. Anyway, this is one casting of the "beehive" cobbles, about 2 1/2 by 6 inches. I put a couple of HO items on it to help give you a feel for the scale. (Yeah, the picture does have a bit of the fuzzy-wuzzies, huh?)
This is about where Farmers Plaza will be located. It's going to take 4 of these castings to fill the space, but it's an odd shape so I'll be doing quite a bit of edge trimming. I've got the replacement paint can, and I think the streetlights should have made it to my LHS by now, too. With some luck, I'll get a lot of work done on this over the weekend.
Just thought I would Bump this up from page four. Everything is good here, I have been working every day this week, no Dr. appt. It is turning cold again here, It most always does at Easter. Maybe a little train time, I was in the train room for a while last evening, tried to run the train but the second loco was not doing much pulling, sometimes the light was not on, making the first loco do all the work. At one point the front loco was spinning it's wheels. I guess it is about time for a good track and loco cleaning session. See you all later.
Joe, How about one of your famous cheeseburgers and home made fries. That sounds good!! Later, Mike
Just a shot of part of the layout.
Morning all, Joe I need a coffee black and hot, and put some bacon and on the grill will ya? Thanks.
I am doing good as ever, doctors cannot find anything wrong, Maybe I am about through with the test
Haven't been doing much on the RR lately been to bust with the DR.s and work, and house hold chores. Any one ever feer like they have thrned there back on a good friend (Your RR) when you simply do not have time? I am still buying Cats for the pike though and have 9 flat cars loaded with new Cats am wanting to get about 6 or 8 more and have a nice long train of Cats.
You all take care and I will try to get some more time on the forums. Mike
I'll have a tap and the "White Plate Special" Joe..Thanks.
Well...We have snow on the ground again today, just enough to make things miserable! Not enough to play on, but enough to remind you that it's spring in Northern MN.
I was able to play a bit in the Trainroom this morning and I continue to work on the structures for Sawbill Jct. In between letting glue or paint dry, I've been doing roadbed, track and landforms (terrafoama) on the North benchwork too.
This is my heavily forested, logging camp area and I've been working on two tall hills with two cuts through them. With track (the DM&IR main, with longer equipment and the CCRY Mount Weber Sub. with mostly short equipment) coming through these cuts from Cascade Jct. I've had fun running trains, making sure they will fit through the cuts. What more fun could a guy have, than that?
But now...I've got to head for work. Even though we are on "Spring Break" with no school and I can work early, I still have to work through Wed. Talk to you all later.
Rats. I forgot to bring that stupid can of spray paint with me, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow to replace it. Just coffee this morning, Joe. Thanks.
Not a minute off since work on Friday. I did cruise by Barnes & Noble and pick up John Armstrong's book. I got a gift card as a birthday present, and figured that was appropriate. My B&N doesn't have any P2K cars, and the card wasn't good anywhere else. But then it was off to the north country. Last weekend of skiing for the season - daughter Annie has weekend lacrosse practices starting next week, and the snow is pretty much gone anyway. It was a short season, but the last couple of months were pretty good following a December and January that would make Dick Cheney a believer in global warming. (No, Cheney's not a skier. He's taking up ice hockey, though. He's working on his shot, and last year he tried taking a face off.)
So, maybe I'll start cutting the sections of cobblestones to fit the plaza space. I found out last week that my father-in-law will be coming up for my nephew's graduation in May, so I've got about a month to work on some scenery and generally get the layout looking good. He's never seen it live, and I'd like to have it look as good as it can for him.
Whellp; here it is on page four. I sent Joe over to try and see if he could retrive it, but he got lost.
So, here comes Squeaky to the rescue!
Rub a dub bub a beer and a tub. Howabout a tub of beer? I likes it.
I have been playing with my trains, and have been swallowing some suds; And; And; crying when the things derail. It's just not fair. Put in all this work just to have them come apart, or not work at all.......
In the meantime, I hope Mike is doing alright. He hasn't been around for awhile
Good morning... I missed last call last evening, I was working REAL late.
I've been checking the forum a bit this morning...Thinking I had better visit the Barn for a bite to eat...So a coffee and a big breakfast will do me this morning.
Our weather has gone the way of cold and wet today, so I hope to get some thing accomplished in the Trainroom today.
Have fun on the slops Mr. Beasley...Our snow is gone! Even the man-made stuff at Mount Itasca!
Mike...Hope that all is well with you! Haven't seen you for a while.
Coffee and a Mexican omelette, Joe, with some cornbread. Great, thanks. Boy, I've gotta get back here when the beer tap is flowin', instead of always the coffee pot!
Slow going so far on the cobbles. Between skiing every weekend, going to work and then bringing Annie to and from lacrosse events (she made Varsity!) I've had very little railroad time. I've been doing one-a-day's on casting the cobble sheets. The first one was good, but I had way to much water in the mix and the second came out soft. Oh, well, that will be my test sheet for painting and mortaring. Casting 3 was fine, and 4 is in the mold. I'll need one more to finish Farmers' Plaza, and then I can take a break. All of this started because my sister gave me a Woodland Scenics "Farmers' Market" figure set a year and a half ago, and I wanted a proper place to show them off.
(OK, I linked to an image of the Farmers Market set on Walthers. When I came here this morning, the image was replaced with a "Visit Walthers" message. Since when? Rats.)
I picked up some light speckled spray paint at Lowe's and took stuff outside to paint it. (Yay, warm weather!) When I opened up the can, there was no nozzle on top! Bah! So, that will mean another trip to Lowe's to replace it. More dagnabbed delays. I'm not really ready for production painting anyway, but it would have been nice to get it painted so I could see how it works with the mortaring and weathering.
But, I did get the trackwork fixed up, and the Hudson can now chug all the way around pulling its ancient passenger train. (Unfortunately, it's an old model of a passenger train, not a model of an old passenger train.)
Skiing again this weekend, probably the last of it for the season. The pleasant weather does a number on the snow cover, I'm afraid. Anyway, my copy of MR came in the mail yesterday, so I've got some reading material for the weekend. A friend gave me a gift card for Barnes & Noble for my birthday, so I've got a copy of John Allen's book on order there, too.
As I say at the close of my personal skiing newsletters - Keep your tips up!
MrB, Great cobblestones. I can't wait to see the weathering job.
Good morning! I'll take a cup of coffee to go please.
It's been a little tense around here of late! I'm getting all of my "tax stuff" together to bring into the fellow that prepares for me. I gave up doing it myself years ago now, after making a mistake on a return and getting a letter from the IRS indicating that I owed additional thousands and that I should contact them immediately to settle this discrepancy! I really hate tax time! Part of it is that I don't keep as good of records as I should. Part of it is that I don't organize the records I do have very well. Part of it is that I disagree with how my government spends some of my money. Some of it is the unfairness in the tax codes. Part of it...Part of it...You get the picture.
So anyway, after a goodly portion of the past few days digging through piles of papers, receipts and so on....I'm actually going to spend some time in the Trainroom this morning escaping to the unreal world of the CCRY at Sawbill Junction where I'll work on Headstrom Lumber and Louie's Saloon.
Mr. Beasley, I like your cobblestone project. Seems like a pretty good approach to the need for paving / pavers. And, I have to agree with Squeaky that the size may not be all that relevant once it's down. Keep us posted with the progress...Please.