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About this blog

The build of my former HOn3 layout (the M-K & Eastern RR), now an On30 layout and some excursions into the art of modeling.

Entries in this blog

Part 24: Fire engine!

I have some favorite "hate objects" in model railroading. Among other things, in terms of cliches .... For example, I would not like to have a church on the layout, as there is one in every old track book! The same applies to fire trucks .... Scenes of burning buildings with smoke generator and fire trucks with flashing lights ..... Not for me thanks . I happened to see a kit that almost converted me! A-(nother) Jordan-kit! An Ahrens Fox fire engine!?!. I just had to buy it ..... But I c
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Part 23: The finished SW 7

Hi all, I took some new pics of the SW today. It is always hard to photograph black locomotives, but outdoors with some reflector screens, it works quite nice:     The rust on the sideframes with the soaked in oil is something I think worked out really great.   The custom made heralds is very nice to work with, really good quality! (thanks Jack)   All in all, I´m really happy with the result!       I have bought some figures for the layout: It was some need for
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Part 22: Weathered SW diesel loco

This is how I do my model activities this time of the year : It does improve the visibility to work in the sunshine   I felt a bit inspired yesterday and began some much needed overhaul on my Broadway Limited SW-7.   It had been showing some poor power pick up in the leading bogie, so I disassembled the locomotive as best as I could . I washed out as much oil as I could from the gearboxes, as it seemed to be the probable reason for the problem. While it was disassembled, I took
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Part 21: Jordan 1934 Bus

And now for something different:   I found a kit at a Trainshow here in Sweden this weekend: A 1934 Ford Bus. Just what I needed for my layout! As I understand it, it was very common during WW2 that these smaller types of buses were used in major cities in the U.S., in addition to trams and Subways. Jordan/Highway Miniatures makes really nice kits I think! The amount of detail is sufficient without making it tricky to assemble. I deviated from the manual however, as the description ad
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Part 19: A scratchbuilt Boxcab for my layout!

Hello in the summer heat I have always had a desire for a special locomotive for my layout. It all started when I read about the small port terminals in New York and the locomotives they were using. Central of New Jersey had an Ingersoll Rand locomotive that is one of the first commercially made diesel locomotives: A very beautiful locomotives in my opinion Then came Tim Warris with his Bronx Terminal in HO (an incredible layout). There he showed how to take a brass Boxcab and rebuild
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Part 18: The Blacksmith´s

I have been busy building a little Blacksmith shop of parts I had in the scrap box I "needed" a blacksmith by the track, and also I had a place that was perfect for a small(ish) building. I was sorting through the drawers and found an old Athearn-boxcar shell. I searched a bit online and found some pictures showing that it was quite common to use the decommissioned cars for sheds etcc. I also found an old playing Birthday card of the simplest model, I cut the speaker off and put a red LE
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Part 15: Backdrop painting video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8TI503k9VA A little film I made today about backdrop painting and some landscape painting .   Source: Backdrop painting video
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Part 14: Pics of the finished 2-6-4t

Here are some pics of it as it stands today: Still some small details left.... This is how it looks like with the warm white LED on: I will add some small details on it and maybe a brakeman on the pilot. This was a real satisfying project, and I will try to find more scrap locos to modify in the future, any known ones out there? B)
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Part 13: Kitbashed steam engine for my railroad

And now for something completely different I've always been inspired by John Allen and his layout; The Gorre & Daphetid RR. What some do not realize is that he built almost everything himself, including the locomotives. Many of them had no direct prototype for the model, but was built to suit his fictional railroads requirements . I myself have had a project that has had the time to mature for a little while (about 20 years .....), but now the parts that I needed to do it miraculously h
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Part 12: Background and Fascia

I have started to paint some of the clouds now on my backdrop, I sketched up the clouds with a thin white paint and made the shadows with a gray-blue hue: The clouds closest to the horizon have some Ochre in them to give them some warmth.   The clouds are piling up ....: I'm trying to make the clouds with as little planning as possible to make them realistic in shape and form.   Here I have begun to define the clouds with pure white and some Payne's Grey: It's important not to g
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Part 11: Downtown Deco kits 2

I have built some more on my Downtown Deco buildings, and it's great to see them painted and detailed . I have started to paint my Adams Ave # 2:     And I made sure to get some variety on the brick color and concrete. Then I put some signs on them that I've printed out: Here is how it looks when placed on the layout:   Adams Ave # 1 is also being "finished"....   Adams Ave # 3 is also getting some work on it as well:   I have also renovated an old laser cut kit (JV model
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Part 10: Downtown Deco kits

Hi all, since the last entry I have bought some kits from Downtown Deco, I thought it would be good to show how I painted them.   This entry will show how to paint and weather the Adams Ave #1, The owner of Downtown Deco, Randy Pepprock, had a thread at a big US Forum on how to paint it, but it was deleted as it was being called "advertising".....   I hope this will show the methods that can be used to paint and weather it. Sure, it´s not as elaborate as Randy´s was, but I think it wi
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Part 9: The Shay´s new clothes

Hi again, I have had the rebuilt Shay (from earlier in the Blog) sitting on my table for a while now. I decided it was time to finish it . I repainted almost all of it and applied my Custom made decals. I also took the time to adjust the driveshaft as well. It runs really good now, and I hope the looks do it justice too :     I made this as well:   I think it worked out well.
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Part 8: Some details

I got some nice stuff from my wife this Christmas, a bunch of laser-cut fire escapes and park benches from "Imagine That Laser Art" in Canada. They were not exactly hard to build, but a bit time-consuming   A little paint on it, then it will look good.   I just had to see how it looks when it´s in place.   The Fire escapes is very nicely designed. I have looked at some of the others on the market, but they are too ornamented to be suited in a more basic setting. One pack
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Part 7: Pimp my Multimaus!

Hi all DCC fans! I use the Roco Multimaus digital system, and of course I do appreciate that they have done a very ergonomic handset. But the designer that chose the color ought to have been sent on retraining Sure, the red may well be neat, but not on a controller .... Looks almost a bit "so" .... I did this to mine today:   Dismantling it took about 5 minutes, of which three minutes were spent finding a suitable screwdriver ...   I cleaned the cover with soap and water, and mixed
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Part 6: Shay conversion

Hello in the cold . I took the opportunity while I'm still snowed in to address a couple of projects I have been keeping on the shelf. The first is my Shay locomotive. It is a H0 scale, 3 truck 80-ton Shay from Bachmann and their Spectrum series. The locomotive has led to many concerns, repairs and other headaches.... The first thing that happened was that the Tsunami sound decoder that I ordered did not fit .... So I had to build a new tender shell from brass to make it fit: Then the
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Part 5: Handpainted city backdrop

It was time to do something about the background as it had been neglected due to other activities, such as building houses and such . I didn´t like to sit at the layout doing all the details that are inevitable when making a city.... I bought some high quality artist poster board and went to work on it, sitting at my workplace.   I put the board on the backdrop to draw all the existing buildings. I then printed out some nice photos of houses along with some books I have for inspiration.
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Part 4: Marine vessels

My layout is thought to be situated on the US eastern shore in the vicinity of Maine. It is a shortline with it´s major traffic generated through the Harbour and the Car float operation. I had already made the Car float apron so now I "only" had to make a Car float . Initially I had actually wanted to use the Walthers float, but the scarcity of it and the very high prices on it made me plan a build of my own instead. As I had some plans from Sylvan scale, and a lot of pictures from the Web
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Part 3: Water and piers

I was getting ready to start on the Harbour, and I needed to add the various items on the quaysides that was going down into the water before proceeding. I was going to have a small fishing pier and a Carfloat apron, The pier was easy to make: I made the stonewall from balsa, and embossing the mortar lines with a pencil. I primed it with gesso and painted it. Ready! But the Apron was a whole different matter, I needed some hoist/balance structure to hold the wires that keeps the actual bri
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Part 2: Some tracks and grass

I started with a mockup with the finished houses to get a better view of how the track planning would work in real life. As it were I didn´t have to change more than a few small curves to make it fit. I use Peco code 75 rail as I think they are a good looking and well functioning alternative to the more pricey brands. I glued the rails to the foam with No Nails: I painted the ties and rails before ballasting. I used Vallejo Umber and grey: ballasted it with Chinchilla sand, it is a
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Part 1: The story so far...

Hi all, I thought that it was time for me to start this blog as it is more easily read I think . I will on this Blog, show the build of my HO scale US prototype layout, and the various items that have to be constructed on it. I will also show a lot of Airbrush painting and weathering as well.   I will, in a few short captions bring you up to speed how far I have come on the HO scale M-K & E. It is meant to be set in the northeastern USA in the late 40´s, early 50´s sometime. It is a s
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