Rio Grande Progress

I was doing a demo on craftsman kit construction at TrainFest over the past weekend.  I used the Raggs to Riches Rico depot model as the subject.  I spent the two days adding the planking around the perimeter of the building.  The kit is well engineered, I did not need to split any of the planks to make them fit the surface, amazing!

KBScale Update and New HOn3 Module

 The above photo shows where things stand with the KBScale McEwan locomotive.  The body is just about done I have only to complete the jackshaft covers and add the brake rigging.  I did receive the replacement connecting rods from the manufacture so now its back to getting the mechanism running.  The figure is a 1:48 model so it is slightly under size for 1:43.  The kit has a option to build to 16.5 mm track gauge (On30) so this gives an idea of what it would look like in a 1:48 setting, looks good to me.
 

 This is a new iron in the fire, an HOn3 module, 1foot deep 5 feet long.  This photo shows the basic inglenook 3/3/5 switching puzzle track arrangement.  This will allow it to function and give me a chance operate both my Blackstone K27 that I purchased a couple of years ago, and my new C19.

I have added the passing track to the front edge and applied the fascia around the baseboard.  Keeping with the Rio Grande theme, on the right is a Raggs to Riches Rico depot (yet another iron).  I have a completed Banta model of the Pro Patria mill (also located a Rico CO), so I am planning on a 2 foot by 3 foot module on the left of this one for it.  The mill will be served by an extension on the middle track. 

Later,  David 

New NAPM Project

It has been well over a year since I have done any major projects on the NAPM layout, the last being the mountain project, so it is time to get going on something new. The city industrial area has not had any serious efforts made to it in several years and there was a great desire to get the wharf area completed as one of the club members is just about done with a model of a tug to complement the car float. Unfortunately, the tug will be on the aisle edge of the layout and there was no plan to do anything with the area behind. If the scenery was done on the front it would have been subject to damage when the scenery was done behind it, it became necessary to come up with a plan for the background.

The track work in the area was particularly difficult as the double track main passes over the

single track main at this location.  The length of the area is about ten feet and the width varies from four feet to two feet.  The area where the track is located is about twelve inchs wide 

My solution is to cover the area in large structures all placed at angles to hide the track configuration and produce visual interest. The views from various directions need to make the tracks look as though they disappear behind buildings. in essance we are creating a short tunnel through a ridge of buildings.  The following photos show my initial plans.   

Here are some low angle views to give an idea of what it looks like if you were looking at the scene at eye level. 

Five Plank Wagon Done

Finished with the Slaters 5 plank wagon! It has been quite a pleasure building this model and I am pleased with the results, I am looking forward to building another car, most likely a goods van. I learned a new weathering technique in the process so it is a real win for me.

The local NMRA is having the first meet of the winter season on Sunday and the popular vote contests will be on. Freight cars is an open category so I will enter this, needless to say it will be the only entry of a UK freight car. Since it is not an "American" prototype I would not expect great results in the voting but it is fun to display something that you are proud of and share it with other modelers.

The KBScale locomotive progress has gotten back on track. I have received the iron and having it and the RSU gives me great flexibility in this form of "hot gluing"! I had not heard back from the manufacture so I went forward with problem solving on my own. I fabricated a new end for the connecting rod from some of the scrap material and used the good rod as a pattern, I also needed to fabricate my own rivet to assemble the rods. I decided that I would solder the rivet to the outer rod, a very tiny dab of solder paste made that a snap. I used a small scrap of paper as a separator to keep the solder from flowing to all the rods. It worked! Twice!! The photo on the left shows the hand made parts. The photo on the right shows the cab front, frame and engine cover/fuel tank. This has been a pleasure, especially the learning of new skills.

Progress Slowed

No pictures today but I have added the brake gear to the Slaters wagon. When I was working on the parts I managed to lose one of the brake lock down fixtures so I will need to scratch build a replacement using styrene strips.

I have managed to ruin one of the connecting rods on the McEwan and have written the manufacture to see about a replacement and some construction advise. I attempted to peen over the end of the rivet holding the rods together. Instead of expanding the end of the rivet I caused the entire shaft to expand seizing up the pivot hole. In my efforts to loosen it I tore apart the end of the rod. I should have asked how to do this first!

To aid in construction of the body of the locomotive I have order a temperature controllable soldering iron. The resistance soldering unit works well for attaching a part but I have not had much success with soldering seams, the iron may be the correct tool for that process, we will see when it gets here.

Later David

Slaters Continued 2

Model building is continuing, this weekends work has been on the 5 plank wagon. I painted the under carriage Polly Scale light freight car red and then washed the exterior wood with a diluted mix of the same color. When dried I painted the iron work with Model Masters raw umber as a rust base, splotched Model Flex rail brown onto the umber, then brushed on hair spray. Each color was allowed to dry between coats. I had never tried the hair spray weathering method so I experimented with the process. I applied Model Flex Milwaukee Road dark gray to the iron work and then used water to lift off the paint. At first I let the paint dry a little to long and it was really difficult to remove, later I found that you needed to let the paint set but not dry completely. It is hard to describe how long to wait you really need to experiment and it may always work out a little differently each time. This closeup of the buffer and wheel assembly shows the result. This seems to work well in 7mm scale not sure how it will work in 3.5mm. I will find out. Later David

KBScale McEwan Locomotive

I have started the construction of a etched brass locomotive kit produced by KBScale. This link will take you to an album that shows the parts that make up the kit. It is definitely a kit because it is compsed of nothing but parts, some assembly required!

KBScale McEwan

I am using a resistance soldering tool and an 80 watt heavy duty soldering iron for assembly. So far so good as I have gotten the chassis completed. I have had the resistance unit for quite a while but have never used it before, it has worked well for attaching the bearings. For the major assemblies I have used the iron, its large heat capacity makes seaming the joints quite quick without excessively heating the surrounding material.

O14 Day

My kits from KB Scale arrived today. They specialize in 7mm narrow gauge, I had ordered a track demo kit, a side dump wagon and a locomotive kit. The track demo included a flat bed wagon so I decided it would be a great place to get my feet wet in two foot gauge modeling. It was a simple build the only trick was to narrow up the bolster frame to provide additional space for the axles this yielded free rolling wheels. The photo shows the completed model. What is really cool is that it comes with a link and pin coupler.

As far as a layout for two foot gauge is concerned I am going to model a typical copper smelter as seen in the Upper Michigan copper country in the 1920's. I have laid out some track on the work bench in a 1 x 4 foot area and will start with that. On the far end is the railroad warehouse and next to that will be the mineral house. Not totally sure what will be next but possibly the machine shop and a small building for the locomotive. The locomotive is a KB McEwan Pratt Baguley 10 HP locomotive, I have open the box and reviewed the instructions, it is going to be a challenge!

Slaters Continued, Upson Building Update

The construction of the Slaters model continues. These two views show the current state of the project. I added a lot of wood grain effect to the exterior ends and sides I am not sure if this is how weathered these cars would have become but there use in the coal trade and apparent longevity in service suggest to me that this would be likely.

So far everything has fit well with only a minimum of filing needed to get things to fit well. One point that took a bit of figuring was adding the solebars, they needed to fit flush with the floor deck side, they do not touch the center frame cross bearers (gap is about 1/16")

The next step will be painting, as can be seen the iron work on the ends and the solebars is not factory finished, since this is a in service car I will proceed to paint the metal parts dark rust and then add black overtones.

I really like the size of the model, it feels good in your hand.




I have been working on the Upson building since last summer when I discovered the prototype in northern Wisconsin. Here are a couple of views both prototype and model. It has been a long project. Fortunately I am now able to work on something for an extended period and not loose interest, I seems when I was young I needed to get the whole thing done in a week or it would never be completed. This model is in 3.5mm scale.

Tomorrow, David

7mm O Scale

Can't believe that it has been a year since I posted to this blog. Well I am still here so that is very good from my point of view. I am currently expanding my modeling skills by doing some builds in UK 7mm O Scale. This is quite a change from all of my past modeling experience which has been confined to North American US models.

I have chosen to start with a kit of a open coal wagon from the turn of the twentieth century, Slaters kit 7044S. Everything about this is new to me, terminology, parts, how the cars are constructed ( both prototype and model) so it is quite exciting to undertake this build. I have been directed to some useful 7mm modeling sites which have helped bring me up to speed.

The following photos on Picasa show what is included in the kit.

Slaters Kit 7044S

The first thing of note is that the interior of the model is not detailed. In searching the internet I discovered a vendor who provides etched brass interior side an floor components. They look really nice but since this is my first attempt at one of these kits I have chosen to take a conservative approach and create my own interior details. By using no.40 grit sand paper I textured wood grain on the interior surfaces of the sides, ends and floor (both top and bottom). I then scribe planks to match the exterior spacing and 6" floor boards. I also textured the underframe members as well as adding the seams for the side door.

More later, David