I'm getting close to the end of my caboose so I've starting working on my next project. I tend to get impatient and rush things when I only have one project, so this will give me something to do while the paint dries on the caboose.
I've mentioned on another thread that I got a Phil's Narrow Gauge 30' reefer for Christmas. I'm going to be using Phil's kit as a starting point for a freelance reefer. I plan on using some of the kit parts, and scratchbuilding others. Mostly though this project will be about improving my painting and finishing skills.
Below is the rough rendering using a D&RG reefer as background. "Ale-8-One" is a central Kentucky soft drink. I've heard it was originally made in the 20's as a mixer for bourbon; hence the corny "late one" pun. People tend to either love it or hate it. Personally I couldn't live without it. (You can learn more at www.ale-8-one.com)
I am confident Ale-8 never had a reefer, let alone a narrow gauge one, but I'm going to ask everyone to overlook this fiction.
I don't plan on doing much of a step by step since most of this project will be pretty simple, but if there's interest, I'll point out some of the places where I deviate from the kit as I progress.
I started cleaning the fuzz off the pre-glued frame that came with the kit and decided it would be easier to build my own frame. This allowed me to add a bit more detail, and to install link and pin couplers from Hartford. I also tried using individual boards for the decking instead of scribed wood. It was less time consuming than I anticipated.
I also made some brake hangers and bolster details. The truck center plate started out as a poling pocket casting I had on hand.
Quote from: EZnKY on January 28, 2011, 08:00:27 PM
I am confident Ale-8 never had a reefer, let alone a narrow gauge one, but I'm going to ask everyone to overlook this fiction.
I don't plan on doing much of a step by step since most of this project will be pretty simple, but if there's interest, I'll point out some of the places where I deviate from the kit as I progress.
Sign me up! "Suspension of disbelief" mode engaged ... concept drawing looks fabulous ... not to worried about the exact kit details, but interested in any problem-solving or custom touches done ... and look forward to that detailing style of yours that's quickly becoming famous with the fabulous caboose project! :)
Cheers,
Dallas
Can you spell A-R-T-I-C-L-E-S? -- Russ
Thanks Dallas.
Russ - don't underestimate my ability to screw this up before it's done.
Anyway, I've got most of the details done on the frame. The brake rods are in place and terminate at the bolsters where they won't be seen. I'm still missing some NBW on the coupler wear plates and along the edge sills. I've also slopped a rust coat on the metal parts. The whole thing will get a black wash which will tone down the rust.
I've stripped the factory paint off the trucks and done some clean up on the castings. More to do, especially on the mold lines around the nuts. I couldn't get the plastic journal boxes off without breaking them, so I've used some Ozark covers I had on hand. They're a little crude, but by the time I get them coated with grease I don't think you'll be able to tell they lack the finesse of the Accucraft covers.
I've decided I'm going to rough out the brake beams and hangers based on this drawing from "Kirkman's Science of Railways." Google books is amazing...
I've ordered some brake parts from Hartford to see if they'll work, but I haven't received them yet.
I wish someone offered wheel castings with the ribs on the backs. That's such an obvious detail to me on early equipment, and the trucks really look wrong to me without them. I've tried turning some old Bachmann wheels down to form a hollow in the back. This helps some, but they still look really plain.
I've thought about making some decals to suggest the shadows from the ribs. Is this crazy?
I've built the car body sort of following Phil's intended methods, so I'm not going to really cover this. I deviated a little by building the body separate from the frame so I can paint them separately. I've also added an additional layer of 1/16" basswood on the roof to increase the height of the wood trim at the eaves. (I need the height for the lettering on the rendering.)
I've stained all of the wood with varying shades of Builders in Scale stains. (There's a separate thread on this.) We'll see how this turns out. From what I've seen online painting and weathering yellow is tough.
A few of the details are in place that will get painted the body colors. The only other thing I did to the car body was to add some nail heads using a 3mm drafting pencil (without any lead), along with some scrapes and dings. I also notched the bottom edges of the scribed plywood so the "joints" are visible at the bottom edges.
If things go as planned I should have the base coats on the car in the coming week so I can start the lettering and details.
If it makes you feel better, some wheels had no cooling fins; they look just like the wheels you photographed. -- Russ
It does make me feel better, but I still think the ribs look cool...
Since Phil's detail parts are fairly robust, I decided to leave the hatches loose so they can be opened. I also decided to add some detail inside the car body so there's something to look at when the hatches are propped open. I started by cutting holes in the roof and making new hatch curbs with an offset to conceal the rough cut in the wood roof. This also creates a lip on the inside of the opening for the insulation inserts you sometimes see in photos of the cars being iced. (At least that's what I think those big pillow-looking things are...)
Pretty simple construction - I just let the sides run long and trimmed them to length after the glue dried.
More shots of the sequence...
And here are the hatch curbs in place.
For the ice bunkers, I started with a drawing from the 1895 Car Builder's Dictionary. The drawing is actually for a Hanrahan patent car, which the model isn't, but this is no more absurd than an Ale-8 reefer.
I made the bunkers quite a bit shallower than the drawing showed to allow some room for weights on the floor of the car. I also decided it really didn't matter how deep the bunkers were since so little of them would be visible through the hatches.
The bunkers are just boxes made from black mat board, with individual boards glued directly to the face of the mat board. For the side facing the car interior, I glued vertical framing to the mat board first, and then glued the horizontal boards to the framing. The black mat board makes it look like the interior is just in shadow. It also saved me the trouble of painting the car interior.
I stained the boards with Blackwood, but didn't even bother to get rid of the fuzz or add any detail.
And here's what it looks like from below. No big deal, and it only took about an hour per bunker, but I think it will help with the believability of the hatches from the top.
Looking good.
I wonder, how did they eliminate the water from melting ice? Did reefers have a drain in the floor or something?
Thanks Ray.
This is a simple, quick project. No ground broken here. But fun none-the-less.
From what I've found, each bunker had at least one drain through the bottom of the car. Most of the good drawings I've found don't go into much detail on the drains though.
I'd love to find a picture of one, but no luck so far.
Eric, when did you develop all that modeling skill? You never sent me photos of models like that back in the FR days. -- Russ
Gradually over time like everyone else Russ. Plus, I'm not showing all of the miserable failures. It took me a long time to convince myself I had something to contribute to the community here. It's a tough crowd with exacting standards - exactly what I like...
Quote from: EZnKY on February 03, 2011, 04:31:24 PM
Thanks Ray.
This is a simple, quick project. No ground broken here. But fun none-the-less.
From what I've found, each bunker had at least one drain through the bottom of the car. Most of the good drawings I've found don't go into much detail on the drains though.
I'd love to find a picture of one, but no luck so far.
Not really into reefers myself, but I believe I remember reading that when they carried stuff in cartons they had a false slatted floor for the water to swill about below before finding the drain hole(s) so that the card boxes did not disintegrate
I can confirm the slatted false floors for goods in cartons. I lived near "fruit row" serviced by Great Northern. When I was a boy the dock workers would often look the other way as my chums and I climbed into the cars and helped lighten some of the loads.
Cheers
Will
Good to know about the raised floor. It makes sense since gravity was used to drain the water.
I haven't worried about the interior details much since the doors won't be able to open. I would like to detail the drains on the underside of the car, but I haven't been able to find any good pictures. And the closest reefer to me is at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania.
I have made progress on the roof though. The D&RGW cars the kit was based on had a later Murphy roof. Since the era I'm modeling is earlier, I decided to approximate Mr. Murphy's early design based on the original patent in 1889. (He would later modify the patent in 1896 because of problems with the roof panels getting damaged at the edge.) I used metal foil duct tape for the sheet metal. (Not "duck tape".)
Basically the roof is a series of formed metal pans that interlock, with standing seams similar to roofing used on buildings. The foil tape is too flimsy to form the standing seams, so I glued strips of basswood to the decking for the ribs. Each strip was rounded along the top edge, and although the width of the ribs is about a scale 1/2" wider than it should be, I decided I could live with the inaccuracy in favor of a stronger rib.
I used the laser cut walkway supports that came with the kit and just notched the center rib around them. Here's the car body with all of the ribs in place. The patent drawing showed the panel layout with a partial panel on each end, which made the layout a little weird. I centered a panel on the car instead of centering a rib to make sure the rib layout worked with the hatch placement. Water would need to drain from above the hatches, which means only one rib can intersect the top side of the hatch. If that makes sense.
The whole point of the foil tape was to end up with wrinkled and overlapped joints along the edge of the car, with rivet detail at each joint. I did a couple of experiments with different ways of treating the edge and decided it worked best if there was a little strip of paper underneath the edge of the tape so the tape wasn't in direct contact with the wood surface.
I went ahead and painted my tests and decided there was little to no difference in the appearance of the roof with the metal foil tape versus styrene versus sealed and sanded wood. But I also decided I liked the edge detail, so I pressed on.
I cut a panel pattern from paper, and once I fine tuned the fit, I replicated it in styrene so I could trace it on the foil tape.
The foil tape was really fussy to work with. It shows the slightest touch as a dent, but I found I could burnish the dings and bumps once the panel was in place. I also tore the foil on the early panels because I let the tape touch the standing seams before I had the tape pressed tightly into all of the corners and crevices. Having thirty panels gave me lots of practice though, and some bourbon helped me through it.
I used some fattened brass tube to form the platform supports. One end of them is bolted to the fascia with small brass pins, and the other end is supported by notches in the wood walkway supports. The notches were easy to make because I realized I need more height on the walkway supports once the foil tape was in place. I had to glue 1/32" strips on top of each support, but the joint and the different wood grains won't show once everything is painted. I've read that the walkway supports were supposed to be unpainted like the walkway boards, but I've seen more painted supports than not, so I'm painting mine.
For those of you with sharp eyes, you might notice I did not take the foil tape up onto the hatch curbs. I had planned on adding the flashing at each hatch, but was so fed up with the tape, I decided to skip it since the curbs would be hidden enough by the platforms.
I'm fairly happy with how the edges turned out. The natural variation in each panel from the installation process makes the edge inconsistent, which I like.
I'll post some pictures of the edge once the paint has dried.
Here's a shot of the painted roof until then...
There's a lot of really neat, clean assembly work there ... shaping up very nicely!
Cheers,
Dallas
This is really quite satisfactory, Eric. I want an article on this car, too, if it's not too much to ask. -- Russ
This has been an excellent series. You have taken a commonly built kit and have shown new creative ways of assembling it (I like those angle blocks). You have also shown methods of research for information to improve your model and originality in making it significant to a road name that pleases you. After all, we do this for fun and who cares if it never existed.
I applaud you efforts and echo Unc's request to make this an article. We want to reach out those who don't visit building forums and turn them on to a new facet of the hobby.
John
That roof looks great!
Thanks Ray.
I got the base colors on the car body over the weekend. My initial reaction is that the yellow is too thin, and the mineral red is too opaque.
But there's still a lot to do...
John,
Thanks for the kind words. The research part has really helped me with the details. Cars of this vintage were gone long before my time, and unless I've seen it in a museum, old drawings and photos are my only resource.
Russ,
I take "quite satisfactory" as high praise. I still have a long way to go, so let's have the article conversation later.
Dallas,
Thanks for your comments too. I'm finding my tendency to be "neat and clean" to be a problem when it comes to weathering and the final finish.
And in case anyone was wondering, here's a shot of the finest thing every to come from Kentucky.
With the possible exception of bourbon.
And maybe Ashley Judd.
Quote from: EZnKY on February 07, 2011, 04:27:43 PM
Dallas,
Thanks for your comments too. I'm finding my tendency to be "neat and clean" to be a problem when it comes to weathering and the final finish.
Well, there is a really BIG pay-off in doing that during the assembly ... it shows clearly in your work. I'm going for a somewhat "stylized" appearance on weathering efforts, so I won't make too many suggestions there ... BUT ... the variations in board colors here look great ... AND ... I think you might do well to experiment with gouache when it comes to weathering. Why? Well, for one thing, it's water soluble ... so, if you don't like the effect, you can wash it off and try again. When you do like the effect, you clear coat and seal it. (See Chuck's thread for outstanding examples. If you spell it "gwosh", he'll probably give you any pointers needed!)
If that works out for you and you feel confident with it, then you could consider going back and applying some effects to the caboose (which does look wonderful). You'd have to carefully mask the windows to avoid getting any matte spray on those before setting the effects. I think that some very SUBTLE gouache/gwosh washes between the boards (to highlight the separate parts and downplay any red that appears there) and some more very subtle touches of dusty color washes right around the detail parts would do well. BUT ... make sure you're comfortable and confident with it before trying anything on the caboose. On the reefer, you could take advantage of the "washable" aspect, get some experience and decide where to go before it's really "done."
Cheers,
Dallas
You are correct, Eric: The yellow is too translucent. I think it needs another coat, and maybe slightly attenuated with white. The contrast between the lighter and darker boards is too great; it should be more subtle. And don't forget, before you paint, that a little lightly scribed grain on those "darker" boards might help ... if you don't overdo it. -- Russ
Quote from: EZnKY on February 07, 2011, 05:45:05 PM
And in case anyone was wondering, here's a shot of the finest thing every to come from Kentucky.
With the possible exception of bourbon.
And maybe Ashley Judd.
Nice build.
Were you aware nelson county, Ky has the highest national rating of colon cancer? So I was told at my colonoscopy yesterday. The RN said it was in the water, the run off from the bourbon...hic! I have no idea why I added this statement. Oh yeah, Get a colonscope gents, It didn't hurt a bit! I had an old friend die last month because he was to mule headed and waited to long!
Philip
I'm going to keep working on the yellow before dealing with the graphics.
I really hate decals, but I don't have a lot of options for the Ale-8 logo and the maroon text.
Philip - it doesn't surprise me about the cancer. I'm constantly amazed at the poor health of my fellow Kentuckians. (Your company excluded since we've never met.) Living bad is some sort of cultural tradition.
I've put another very thin coat of yellow on the car sides, and it's amazing what a difference it made. The color variation is more subtle, and it now looks like painted wood instead of yellow stained wood.
I'm happy with the results anyway...
I've finished the decals on one side and am waiting for the first application of Micro Sol to dry. I brushed-applied two coats of Future to the yellow before applying the decals, so the car is weirdly shiny right now.
The decals are a combination of sheets printed by Stan Cedarleaf and mine printed on MicroMark decal paper. I found Stan great to work with and his prices were reasonable, but the maroon text printed on my laser copier at work was smoother than Stan's. He can print white though, which I can't do.
I'm glad I painted the white field behind the Ale-8 logo instead of printing this in white.
I don't have much experience with applying decals, so here's my method. I could use some pointers if someone has a better way.
Basically I use low-tack painter's tape for vertical reference points on either side of where I'm applying the decals. I then measure from a reference point - in this case the bottom of the car side - and make marks on both pieces of tape. I use another piece of tape between the two marks for my reference line as I apply the decals. You can also see how I marked the center point of the layout.
Is there a better way?
Anyone have a better photo of this kind of door hinge?
I'm thinking about making my own hinges just for something different.
A few minutes with Google patent search gave me a good starting point.
Interesting how the hinges changed over time from fairly typical barrel hinges to the reefer-specific type I'm used to seeing.
Last two...
Looking good. I like your method of aligning the decals.
I spent this afternoon building some brake beams for the AMS trucks. I'm following an older style brake beam from the 1895 Car Builders Cyclopedia. I've simplified things a bit, especially on the brake beam struts, so I could fabricate most of it from telescoping brass tubing. The brake shoes are from Bob Hartford. I used a bit of styrene rod for the tapered washers on the ends of the tension rods.
Most of this will be back in the shadows in the trucks, so I think it'll be detailed enough to be believable.
I'm planning on painting the trucks black, which is a real challenge for me with weathering. (Even more so than the rest of the car.) I spent a couple of hours taking pictures of things with black painted finishes so I have something to go from. We'll see how it goes...
This is another beautiful build, Eric. Even in their state of simple parts, these metal pieces look wonderful.
I'm still getting over that the roof work, and the fact that you painted over those side boards. I never would have guessed that you would be able to exploit the difference from the irregular stained background in the finished results. That final coat came out "just right"...
Paul
Thanks to both of you.
Paul- your drill press is a great piece of work. I've watched your progress over on the MIG forums.
The brake beams look great!
Thanks, Eric - high praise indeed, since I've been wanting to move into your caboose, in spite of what appears to be a lack of shower (that wash basin and tank is the biz) :D.
As I'm not sure how long everyone has been at this - how many cars do you have on your, er, string (lacking the correct rail terminology)? Do you have a master plan, or are you adding cars as the whim takes you?
Paul
Thanks for the kind words Paul.
I average a car every two years. Some are completely scratch built like the caboose, others start as kits like the reefer. I really only have time to work on this stuff in the winter, so my production months are December through March.
Right now I have everything displayed on shelves, but I've started working on linear dioramas to display the cars. Scenery is a whole new ball game, but like everything else, I'm slowly learning.
I tend to work on whatever seems interesting, but I have a very specific framework to work within. I'm modeling a very short narrow gauge line in eastern Kentucky roughly between 1905 and 1909. Small geared and rod locomotives, small rolling stock bought mostly second hand by the railroad, which allows me to model stuff as far back as 1880 or so. This time period was before air brakes and other safety appliances were mandated, which keeps things simple. I've taken some minor liberties with the history, but this is supposed to fun after all.
I don't have any sort of layout or track. Maybe someday, but no plans for the immediate future. I'm more of a railroad modeler than a model railroader, if that makes sense.
My goal for each project is to learn some new modeling skills and to learn as much as I can about a specific aspect of history. Could be refrigerator cars, or how logs were brought to sawmills, etc. This past year has been about weathering. My models are way too "neat" and I'm having a hard time achieving the weathered finish I'm after. Which is what makes these forums great. Incredibly talented people willing to share their input. And with an entertaining level of irreverence.
I've been doing this since 1994. (Since I graduated from architecture school.) I think in general I'm a very slow modeler. And probably a slow learner too.
A layout is for people who want to "operate" trains. A diorama, even a switching diorama, is a typical modelers' "layout". -- Russ
Really clean and sharp build, and beautiful brass work.
Marc
Wow that is really nice. Just started to read the whole thread.
Jerry
Last night I was able to get one of the trucks mostly assembled. There's still some work to do with filling sinks and mold lines in the original castings. I'm also sure I'll find some more issues once everything is primed. I've made some compromises to keep the trucks operational under the reefer. I also decided there was no point in taking the brake gear farther than the quality of the AMS trucks. (Maybe someday I'll start with some Hartford trucks or scratchbuild my own.) I attached the entire brake assembly to the bolster so it moves as a unit with the bolster. The brass pieces are all soldered for strength - everything else is glued. There's enough triangulation in the assembly to make it fairly strong. (I only broke it twice...)
I'm not crazy about the safety straps around the brake beams. I found lots of truck drawings that included these, and I added them for strength, but I'm just not crazy about how they look.
My biggest regret is the live rod - which should be connected to the rest of the brake gear under the car - but is very unprototypically connected to the top of the bolster. It looks goofy because I made all of the levers the same length, which made it hard to get the live rod above the bolster. On the other truck I'm going to handle this differently.
Overall though it looks believably complicated between the wheels, which was my original goal. I also learned I know next to nothing about configuring brakes under a freight car. I think the geometry of the levers is all wrong, but I'm not sure and I couldn't find clear images or drawings to help me out. Anyone out there that can help? I could get it right on the second truck...
Glad I didn't have to put those things together! ;D
But you did a nice job of it ... still lurking and enjoying the progress.
Cheers,
Dallas
I don't believe that for a moment Dallas!
I've watched you do much more difficult things than anything I've ever attempted.
Like tiny little planes.
It's been a busy couple of weeks, so there hasn't been much progress on the reefer. (The economy is starting to show signs of life again, so I have been marketing my butt off to find work for our architects.)
I have gotten the base coats on the trucks; engine black, followed by some reefer gray on the upper surfaces to simulate light. Next steps will be some sponge painting, chipping and pigments, etc.
I've also painted the wheels sets with a base coat of roof brown, with a bit of rail brown here and there for variety.
I had missed your truck assembly, Eric, and can tell you it's a joy to discover it, and see it painted too.
Now, I'm impatiently waiting to see it weathered...
Why waste time with work when you are producing fine art? -- Russ
Another beautiful model. A shame those trucks will be hidden under the car.
Thanks Chuck. I'll know they're there though...
I've still got my doubts on this whole work thing Russ. I've tried to keep an open mind and have given it a try for more than 20 years, but I still feel like there's a whole lot of time and effort required for not that much in return.
Nice, Eric
It really is a slick piece of work - though I know nothing about trucks other than that is where the round thingy that smashes the pennies is mounted. I love seeing this kind of construction, as there is rarely this need for a working robustness with 1:35th static gear.
That and the fact that I suffer from Soldering Ineffectiveness Disorder.
Paul
A little progress on the ice hatches and platforms. Still lots to do...
Nothing clever, critical or creative to add here ... but couldn't hurt to say that I'm still lurking and enjoying the progress here! -- Dallas
Keep building. Your modeling inspires me. -- Russ
Thanks guys - I'll keep posting until someone says "enough."
I decided to use a different type of hinge for the doors. I made a quick master from styrene and some castings from Ozark. A quick mold using Alumilite products, followed by a bunch of copies. I didn't take the time to set up a way to vibrate the mold or create a vacuum, so my failure rate was about 50%. Lots of air bubbles around the hinge barrel.
The eight best castings turned out well enough to use, and they're at least as good as the ones in the kit from Phil, so I'm satisfied.
Watching the news from Japan makes me grateful this is what I get to do today.
Question-
I'm planning on painting the grab irons on the yellow sides in black. Should the grab irons on the ends and on the roof be the same black, or should they be mineral red like the ends of the car?
Why not mineral red for both? Or black? -- Russ
Pure perfection!
Philip
Hog Wallow, KY
Pictures from this past weekend's efforts. I decided to stick with black for the grab irons and have about half of them installed.
Most of the car has the base coats finished, but not much weathering done yet.
I'm fairly happy with how the door hinges turned out - at least the doors don't look like the average Colorado reefer. One of these days I'm going to have to tackle the air bubble problem.
The hardware is on the roof hatches.
Slow progress on the trucks.
I've put some lighter rust tones over the base coat. On two of the wheelsets I sponge painted it; on the other two I splattered the paint by blowing an empty airbrush across a loaded paint brush. Crappy results both ways, but it didn't really matter once I added the pigments. Next steps will be grease and dust, followed by final dry brushing the high points with bright rust.
I did a little detail painting on the trucks, followed by a rust wash. Pigments and grease next. I've really been torn on how far to take the trucks. I want them to appear in service and not decrepit - ess weathered than the prototype photo. But not brand new either. I haven't found photos showing a lot of chipped paint the trucks - mostly grime, dust, and grease. That's why I started with a uniform black base coat rather than a rust base followed by a chipped black coat. We'll see how they turn out...
Wow, that last shot is unbelievably realistic! ;D (Oh, and the model is looking good too.) -- Dallas
I think your paint scheme looks wonderful. The attempts to replicate those weathered wheels is headed in the right direction, too. -- Russ
Your wheels are nice, Eric.
A moment I thought you had modelled what's shown in the last picture and that I would have to retire from modelling. I see I may have a respite... :)
Relax Frederic - I'll need many, many years of practice before I could even come close to pulling that off!
You are doing such a remarkable job on this project. I thought you might find these interesting. Two differences to what you are doing. One is they are 1/32 not 1/20.3. Second is this car gets run in shows so as you have done, everything is soldered except for one joint. That is where the brake rod connects to the truck. Since we go around much tighter corners it has a slip joint between the truck and the rod plus since it gets hard use, the pivot rod is piano wire not brass.
Keep this project going
John
Very, very cool John.
Am I correct the sideframes are purchased, but the bolsters are custom?
No. We made the injection molds for the frames and brake shoes also.
John
That's even better John! I admire work done at this level, especially at a smaller scale.
Thank you very much.
John
McGuyer is a master of metal. He just doesn't brag about it. -- Russ
Well folks, I think it's time to call the fabrication and assembly finished. Weathering to start next, for better or worse.
Here are a couple of pictures. (Sorry none of them are overall shots - I didn't take the time to set up the backdrop.)
Let me know if you see anything amiss.
My plan is to start with an overall gloss coat to hide the decal edges, and then fading and dirt streaking with oils. Followed by chipping on the painted metal parts, and then a pin wash to highlight the details. After that, some soot on the top and some road grime on the bottom. Then clear flat coat.
Does that sound reasonable? Remember - I don't do weathering well.
Love where you have brought this - sadly, i can't help you with the weathering instructions... meaning, that what you are setting out would be the perfect sequence for the non wood bits, I don't know how a future coat effects ones efforts at weathering the wooden sides and the work you've done to date. Hopefully one of the wood working gurus will jump in.
I think your results on the lower bits and the wheels are, frankly, excellent...
Paul
I thought about this after you first posted because I wasn't sure how to answer you and hoped somebody else would get the ball rolling. Looks as though I'll have to start things.
When possible we do the weathering prior to assembly. Note how Chuck, Marc, Gordon, Ken, Frederick, Anders and others created peeled paint, rotten wood, rust, and whatever else on each board or component of the model before attaching it. You didn't permit yourself that luxury on your sides and ends and, as a result, it will be difficult to create any serious decay at this point. Luckily the model doesn't need that; it just needs a little road dust and a few spots of wear.
The most important thing currently missing from the finish is a series of dustings, oversprays, or possibly washes, to blend the colors and shadings into something more cohesive. The darker boards on the car sides, for example, will become less obvious as you apply subtle layers of dust and grime to the entire car. In the old days we used to do that with a few mists of dilute paint but the gurus on this forum now use pin washes, filters, weathering powders, and other sophisticated methods to create a more realistic and detailed finish.
Go back to the first Modelers' Annual to see how Chuck treated the painted wood in his barn/Fordson diorama, for example. Marc, "Fichtenfoo", and our military modelers have techniques using dilute paint to create beautiful weathering effects. I hope they will refer you to step-by-step instructions you may follow.
Now let's wait for them to offer specifics.
Russ
Thanks for the feedback guys.
You're spot on Russ that I've struggled with knowing when to finish-then-assemble versus assemble-then-finish.
It seems to me that up to a certain point, the sequence dictates the level of deterioration you want to model. I can't claim that this was intentional, but the reefer won't be terribly deteriorated. Soot, grime, and dust yes, but not much peeling paint, loose boards, etc.
I've been watching some of our master modelers work on their projects, and I've learned a lot. But I've still got a long way to go, as you've observed.
I'll keep plugging away and posting pictures...
Let me comment on the assemble vs before assembly. I have built both the 40 ft. version of this car plus a couple of Phil's gondolas. The gondolas are made stick by stick and I spent weeks distressing and weathering each of the sticks before assembling the model. This reefer on the other hand is basically a wooden box with scribed siding. It I found, better lent itself to putting the box together, then weathering it. Also keep in mind that since the railroads carried foodstuffs in them, they were kept in pretty good shape. You just didn't see the deterioration that was so prominent in something like a gondola.
John
Sorry about the long period of inactivity on both this project and the caboose. I decided to take a break before starting the weathering on the reefer to give myself some to practice and improve my skills. (I also have spent most of the last five months marketing at work. Thankfully people are starting to build again, so I can relax a little and not feel guilty about having a personal life.)
Anyway, I've gotten tired of taking pictures of the reefer on my workbench, so I thought I would build a section of track with some context and scenery. I also thought this would be a nice small way to experiment with different scenery techniques. Here's my plan...
I have shelves covering the end wall in my living room and dining room. When I built them, I cut grooves in the shelves above eye level to match the flanges of No. 1 gauge wheelsets, so my wife is already resigned to having models on some of the shelves. I'm going to build a removable diorama to fit in each section of the shelves. Eventually there will be six, which will give me roughly 22'-0" of track to work with. The dioramas will let me work on the scenery in the shop, and take the whole thing outside for photography. It will also make them disposable if I'm unhappy with the results, and I don't have to make any modifications to the shelves themselves.
I started by cutting some cedar ties from left over from building a fence last summer. These were run through a wire brush and glued to a 1x4, glued to a sheet of 1/2" plywood cut to fit the shelves. This will raise the models roughly 3" above the shelf itself, which is about as far as I can go without having clearance issues. I was hoping to have small bridge on one diorama, but there may not be enough topography for this to happen.
The profile boards are 1/4" masonite scraps from a previous project.
I used wadded up paper to form rudimentary contours, and covered the whole thing with plaster-soaked paper towels. I think on the next module I'll do the plaster before the ties since I had to spend some time cleaning the splatters and dribbles off the ties.
Once the plaster was dry - which took an eternity because it's been so humid here lately - I spray painted the edges satin black. We'll see if I can keep these clean during the rest of the project. (I'm betting I'll wish I waited to paint them at the end.)
And here's the module sitting on a shelf...
I'm glad to see you back at work, Eric. -- Russ
So, to catch everyone up to where I am today...
I stained the cedar ties with various shades of Silver Wood, Black Wood, and Dead Wood. Painted the raw plaster a dirt color, and then did preliminary ballast using sifted gravel from a nearby construction site.
The dirt we have here in central Kentucky is a reddish brown color. After trying some different types of tile grout, I ended up using actual dirt for the color match. The issue is it contains a lot of clay, so its hard to sift to the point of forming dust.
I did an initial application of dirt and flooded it with diluted white glue.
Once that was done, I added some dry dirt along the edge of the ballast to better blend the two and make it look like the ballast has sunk into the mud somewhat. You'll also notice I had mixed in some rocks with the dirt. Anyone who has ever tried to dig a hole in Kentucky will tell you there are rocks everywhere!
That was followed by a layer of ground up leaves, tiny roots from some weeds in my planter beds, and the occasional stick.
At this point I called the basic ground form "done" and started making plants, which I'm still doing.
It looks pretty darned good even without the foliage. -- Russ
Coll idea. I look forward to seeing this progress.
BTW, Beautiful log car.
M
I like your comparison method for the soil color. Coming out nice!
Nice simple ground work... but with a lot of well executed craftsmanship involved. And I am really digging your shelf solution with the pre-cut grooves... great prior planning. Our poor wives - but, let's face it - while it might not be a Hummel statue collection, at least your stuff looks like actual art :)
Good to see you back - I know what you mean about this Summer... it has been a "biz development" kind of last few months for me as well. Hobby design and execution Mojo temporarily shelved. I can't remember what if you had said what your next project was lined out to be?
Waiting for the next bit... 8)
Paul
Thanks guys, it is good to be doing some of this instead of working all the time.
Paul - I have a very patient wife, and as long as she has some space for her world, mine can occupy a few of the shelves. And I have too many unfinished projects to start a new one!
Elegant in its (well thought out) simplicity! Looks good too. ;) -- Dallas
Eric just read through the whole thread, clean accurate workmanship, I like the display track as well, and the grooves in the shelf are an elegant solution.
Michael
This floor is fantastic, in particular the lattice of small roots. Colors are great too. Beautiful!!
I appreciate the feedback from everyone!
I made a little progress during the past week. I built a cheapy static grass applicator and laid down a turf base course over selected areas. I started with a random application of full strength white glue, followed by short brown fibers to represent the dead growth at the base of the plants.
Then I added longer green fibers while the glue was still wet. I used fibers from several different manufacturers, in several different shades of green. Reloading the applicator by hand from different packages introduced more randomness in the color, and in height and texture. I also cut some clumps of Woodland Scenics Field Grass and stuck them in the wet glue. I had to hold the clumps loosely to allow fibers to stick when I moved from location to location stabbing the ground with the clumps, if that makes sense.
This last photo shows the turf after the glue dried. I guess I'm fairly happy with it. I'm going to trim some of the long fibers in places. I think it will also help as I add more layers of weeds, leaf litter, plants, etc. We'll see. At this point I'm not sure whether I'm going to paint the plant materials or not. It seems like the diorama guys tend paint their materials, while the model railroad folks do not. Anyway, the experimentation goes on...
My lawn should look so good... great depth with the multi color effort.
Eric, this is all so nice. The soil is very effective as is the track. The static grass will need color and texture blending, maybe skip the painting as that may bilk up the fibers.
Do you have a source for the home-made static applicator?
Thanks, John
Thanks John. I agree more blending is required.
The applicator couldn't be easier to make. I bought an electric flyswatter from Harbor Freight for a couple of bucks. Took off the swatter part, soldered one of the wire leads to a long wire with an alligator clip on the end, and soldered the other lead to a kitchen strainer. I epoxied the strainer to the handle in place of the swatter part. This wasn't my idea - I found instructions all over the internet, with varying levels of complexity. I'm not convinced it works as well as the purchased units, but I'm satisfied with the results. Total cost was about $15. I can tell you it hurts like h*ll if you complete the circuit.
That's interesting about the hurt bit. I have an electronic fly swat sitting here waiting for the chop but I demonstrated it to my wife who had heard all about these dangerous pseudo-tasers (the reason they are banned in Australia) by jabbing a piece of steel florist wire through the mesh to make the big sparkie thing with a blue flame. Lots of noise but no physical reaction so I can only conclude that my fly swat produces 7/8ths of nothing in the way of electrickery!
Eric, this is a pleasure to watch develop. The grass looks right to me with enough patchiness and variation to not need anything more. Thanks for posting the step by step.
Ian you mentioned "electrickery"...you must have watched Catweazle in the early 70s.
Can't remember Catweazle. Do remember The Young Ones, the Bananaramas, The Monkeys, The Goodies, Monty Python, Not Only But Also, Porridge and Spike Milligan. Now I get my humour from The IT Crowd and Big Bang Theory which both appeal to my warped sense of realism!
I've been working on some weeds and such for the shelf module, and I'm not happy with the results so far.
I could use some feedback.
I think the Queen Anne's Lace turned out okay, but not the long grass. (I'm trying for something like foxtail grass, if that means anything.)
I see two issues. The first is a lack of density to the plants. The second is the ability to see to the ground through the weeds, which is related to the first problem. I've thought about adding a darker green "understory" to the ground plane before "planting" the weeds. Do you think this would help?
Or do I just need to keep planting weeds?
Here's a shot of a fairly typical right-of-way in central Kentucky...
It would seem you only need to add a few more weeds. Someone with a sharper eye may prove me wrong, though. -- Russ
More weeds and more variety in both species and heights would work splendiferously. Could always try a bit more dark texture grass in between as well if you want to go to that level of effort.
Well the consensus seems to be "more weed"!
So to speak.
While I regroup on the underbrush I worked on the rails a bit. I added styrene fish plates and NBWs to the aluminum rail, with the joints at 30' on center. (I believe this is correct for narrow gauge rail...)
After some paint and weathering I'll spike these down. It'll be good to do some test shots of the reefer on the new base, even without the plants finished.
Great stuff - I'm looking forward to seeing your rail spike method. This is one of the areas that I am largely ignorant of, crossing over from military. One of the things that led me here was that I have the Trumpeter Reichsbahn loco (1:35) and a number of DML rail cars that I have wanted to make into a dio (for about 6 years), and in the process of researching learned that European rails are pinned differently than US lines. So I have a bunch of US style spikes I got at a rail hobby store that are useless for my project ::) - but I'm still looking forward to seeing your mounting process in this larger scale. Are "fish plates" (correct term?) something that you can get massed produced for static displays or will you be making them from scratch?
Thanks Paul. My plan is to spike the rails directly to the ties without using tieplates. (Fish plates are the reinforcing plates used to connect the ends of the rails together at the rail joints.)
Most of the older, cheaply-built, or narrow gauge track was built without tieplates. They were an additional expense I guess. I've attached part of a shot taken by William Henry Jackson of some narrow gauge track somewhere out west - probably Colorado. No tieplates.
You can buy tieplates from Ozark Miniatures. (No affiliation other than being a customer.) www.ozarkminiature.com.
I bought a box of them to try. They work nicely, but its just not the look I'm after.
You're right different attachment methods are used in much of Europe. I've seen various kinds of chairs under the rails, and they often used big screws instead of railroad spikes. I don't know much about the availability of detail parts for European track, but I know there are folks here that do. I assume you follow the rail modeling on the Mig forums? Especially from libor?
I did manage to get the rails painted and ready to spike yesterday. (No fun outside - it's been cold and raining here since Lee came ashore more than a week ago.)
I predict your track should have a very satisfactory appearance, as should your foliage. -- Russ
Eric,
I just spent the past little while reading this thing from the beginning.....mighty impressive work, my friend. I'll be following closely as you move forward.
Best,
Rick
Haven´t studied this thread carefully until now - great work! I think the vegetation is just excellent.
Anders
Thanks guys. This continues to be a worthwhile learning experience for me, mistakes and all.
I think I've figured out what bothers me about the weeds - I'm hoping to get some time this weekend to try a couple of things. Photos to follow.
I worked on the weeds a bit this weekend. (Both in my yard and on the workbench.) The thing that bothered me about the first try was how open and lacy the plants looked. They were missing the density of the real plants, especially down low where it's almost impossible to see the ground.
To recreate this density I covered some polyfiber with ground foam and formed a blob to approximate the shape of the clump of weeds. Once this was down, I glued very short pieces of the shrub materials to the surface of the blob. I used the same ground foam on both the shrub material and the polyfiber so the colors would blend.
The goal was for the weeds to have clear stalks at the tops, and then get more and more opaque closer to the ground, to the point where the static grass is completely obscured.
I think the next step is to transition between the grass and the weeds, and to introduce some color and texture variations. I used gray stalks for the first try, but more of a light green for the second, and I think the green is less jarring.
So what does everyone think? Better? Or not?
Here's the raw polyfiber before creating the blobs.
And the green shrubby stuff...
Now that looks great!
What he said. -- Russ
your weeds look just like weeds. This technique works well to to give that scrubby opacity you're looking for. Thanks for posting
They look good to me.
Ditto ... and nice variety of textures so far with the wood ties, steel rails, ballast, grass, weeds, dirt ... coloring on all looks good and cohesive. -- Dallas
For me, the Shelf 29 image captures what Dallas listed... a nice congruence of the various textures, shapes and colors - a ton of depth done well that brings a simple scene to life.
Bueno!
OK, since I haven't heard a bunch of "gawd that's awful EZ" comments, I'll press on with the weeds.
Thanks for the feedback.
Gawd that's awful, EZ! -- ssuR
Where's a corner when you need one?!