Hi everyone,
I want to thank Marc for encouraging me to post these images on the forum.
Over this past weekend I went out and purchased an inexpensive rail car produced by Branchline to use as a painting subject. The intent of the weekend's exercise was simple; to get familiar with some new paints and techniques and have some quality "fun" time.
Mid-day on Saturday I headed to one of my local train dealers and purchased a car. My original intent was to simply weather an existing "pre-painted" train car. On my way home after the purchase I decided that it might be best if I went ahead an repainted the entire thing, but that would involve recreating the logo's and I didn't feel much like stenciling. I swung by another local shop near my house (yes, it does seem like there are a lot of train stores in Portland) where I cruised through their limited supply of HO decals. Much to my surprise I saw that they had these wonderful OPE decal sets....Perfect!!!
As it turns out the OPE line was based in my home town of Cottage Grove, Oregon. Owned by Bohemia Lumber Company (who my Dad was a Forester for nearly 30 yrs. and I worked for during college summers) the line transported lumber from the local mills to where it would connect with the larger Southern Pacific lines. In later years OPE also operated a steam engine, The "Blue Goose, which took passengers on day excursions to some of the outline areas. The movie "Emperor of the North" with Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine was filmed using the Blue Goose and around the Cottage Grove area.
Finally in the mid 90's the line was sold/abandoned and most of the stock sold off or scrapped. Eventually the repair yards in the center of town were taken down and now a grassy park takes it's place. The tracks that ran from town, along Dorena Lake and out to Culp Creek have been removed and replace by a bike path.
What I present to you today are a few progress shots the OPE rail car and then a couple finished shots.
Getting started. Painting over the kit's Southern Pacific scheme. No science here - just some blue colors to get it close to what I remember.
As the intent of my weekend activities were mostly about having fun and trying new paints and techniques I had no hesitancy about portraying a heavily weathered car....after-all, that's what makes it fun!!! A little chipping and peals to get things started.
The graffiti. The graffiti is mostly personal and the type of stuff that I might have written back in the day. The slogans and scribbles are snapshots into my life as a teenager in Cottage Grove. The LIONS tag was quickly printed and used to make a very quick outline stencil on the side of the car.
The school colors (yellow and blue) were added by hand. Matter of fact almost all of the tags are brush painted rather than airbrushed. Thinned paints were applied around the edges of the letters to give them a softened look as if they had be rattle can applied.(?)
Now the tricky part - there are a few stages of weathering that take place, but unfortunately I am not at liberty to share those images with you at this time - it's a business thing. My apologies. However, in summary, the next steps included adding some chips and scrapes using a fine brush and a number of washes/filters - both enamel and acrylic.
Skipping head we come to the final presentation.
This side features the colorful LIONS (HS Mascot), Van Halen Rocks!, Gonzo (Ted Nugent), and a small red heart near the door with the letter "m" for my best friend in high school, Margie (now wife of 28 yrs.)
The reverse side features a large '80 (as in Class of..), CG (Cottage Grove H.S.), the green "wasted" was an homage to my friend Scott (who always was) and of course AC/DC.
All-in-all, from the time I opened the kit box to the time I took the snapshots was less than 8 hrs of bench time over my Saturday/Sunday. Quite enjoyable.
Thank you for taking the time to look.
Rick
