Bouch's workbench - 7mm Jinty

[Mike Boucher]

Horseboxes, P.O. Wagons, and HO kits, oh my!

 

Made progress on the horse box.  First, I ran the body through the ultrasonic cleaner for a couple of cycles.  Nothing fell off, the water was kinda grey, and the tank definitely had some grit at the bottom.

 

After that, I took out the Barkeepers Friend and an old toothbrush and gave the entire body a good scrubbing to polish up the brass.  That had two unintended effects.  1) One of the tell tale "flags" disappeared.  2) The spring that Slater's uses as the vacuum brake line got seriously kinked right where the brake line casting stopped.  Might have been a bit too vigorous with the toothbrush!  

 

The second problem was easy to fix.  Fortunately, I didn't superglue everything together, so I took the spring off, cut of the mangled section, and put it back on.  Might be a little short, but it bends to a nice curve rather than more of a "kink" in the middle.

 

The first problem turned into a major PITA.  Made a new flag.  Tried to solder it on.  Everytime I pulled the soldering iron away, my other hand would move slightly, and either the flag would pull away from the rod, or it would slide just enough to be way off center.  After a couple attempts, I was trying desperately to hold my left hand steady, and must've squeezed the tweezers a little too hard, as the flag went "twing" off the tweezers and to parts unknown.  

 

OK, made another flag.  Same issues, couldn't get it to stay in the right position as I tried to solder it on, and the second one went flying off the tweezers as well.  

 

Made a third flag.  Just as I finished filing it to shape, I dropped it.  Ever try to find a piece of brass about 1/16" long on a pine floor?  Brass just blends in with the yellow of the wood.  I unplugged the iron and walked away from the workbench, figuring I was making reverse progress.

 

The next morning, before leaving for work, I took out the broom, swept the entire room, and found two flags!  Took that as a good omen that that night I might have better luck!  I did.  2nd attempt the flag was good.  Quick cleanup of the flux, and put it through another run through the ultrasonic cleaner, to make sure all of the Barkeepers Friend was off it.

 

Over the next two days, I put on a couple of coats of grey primer on the horsebox body.  Looks much different than raw brass.

 

 

 

I'm going to let that sit for about a week to make sure the primer dries completely before I attempt any more painting.

While getting my weekly IV, I did the touch up paint on the two Slaters PO wagons.  If you look closely, you'll see I've painted the buffer bodies on both, and on the Parkgate wagon I touched up the angle iron at the corners (the pad printing didn't get black around the rivets, you could see a ring of the body color around each rivet, and the ends didn't have any black at all) and the ironwork on the solebars is painted black

 

 

I also started on a Slater's MR cattle wagon.  I have the chassis done, and started working on the sides.  I decided to put the brakes only on 1 side, and I have the brass rod in for the guard rails installed on both sides, but that's about it.

 

 

 

One other thing I was working on here and there was an HO kit for a "handcar shed".  I bought the styrene kit years ago (produced by Smoky Mountain Model Works), when I was planning a small HO switching layout, and got it mostly assembled.  And then it got pushed to the back of the workbench and disappeared into the clutter.  While looking for something else, I found it, and thought that it would look good on my 9 year old son's 4x8 plywood layout.  I dug around on the workbench to find the bag including the instructions and remaining parts to be assembled.  I finished the assembly, and painted it Boston and Maine colors (Depot Buff and Maroon trim) even though its a Southern Railway (US) prototype shed.  This has been "finished" for a few months.

 

 

I had also taken a 7" x 9" piece of plywood, glued on some cork and a length of track to make a small diorama.  But I realized that it wouldn't look right without the handcars.  The instructions reference building the handcar "according to Tichy's instructions", but I have no clue where that part of the kit went.  I went to the local hobby shop and ordered the Tichy Train group handcar kit (enough for 6 handcars, theoretically!).  Brought that along with me as well the past two weeks.  Wow, incredibly fine details, but incredibly delicate!  

Here's what I built: 3 handcars, and two trailers.  The parts are so fine, several of them weren't fully formed.  For example, the pump lever itself, where it forked out to the handles, was incredibly thin.  With a little tenax applied to the parts, followed by some careful stretching and squeezing together, I managed to get it solid enough to cut out of the sprue without breaking the part.  But, it took all 6 pieces to make 3 that were solid enough!

 

But after getting the wheels on the trailers, I realized I wasn't sure if the gauge was right.  So I stopped before I got to the handcars.  (Good think I did, I was very wide-gauge). 

 

 

The plan is for two of the handcars and one trailer to be on the diorama.  The other two are spares for James to put anywhere, with the caveat that these are incredibly fragile!

 

Here's a few close ups...

 

 

 

And to give a sense of scale, the one with the bench sitting on something everyone here should be familiar with...

 

 

 I've cut a small piece of track for the next trip in so I can finish them and start painting.

 

My plan for the next trip to the hospital:

• Get the numbers on on the two P.O. wagons.  For some reason, the Ystradgynlais doesn't have numbers printed, but didn't come with transfers either.  I found some leftover transfers from the Parkside LMS vans I did.  The numbers are small compared to the photo in the Slater's box, probably a couple of millimeters smaller than they should be, but they're the biggest white numbers I have.  Close enough for this side of the pond.  
• Finish getting the wheels on the handcars, and re-gauge the two trailers.  Start painting them.  (Yellow for the wood and wheel centers, grimy black for the undersides, steel for the treads) 
• Get the Cattle wagon body assembled.

We'll see how far I get with those...

 

In the meantime, I'm getting myself psyched up to tackle my first locomotive.  I have a JM Models replacement chassis for a Lima 4F, and a lot of detail parts.  But part of me wants to assemble the Connoisseur "Jinty" kit I have instead.  More on that will follow, once I finally decide which one to build...

[Mike Boucher]

Hi folks,

 

I've decided to create a new thread, just for the stuff I build while sitting in the hospital connected to an IV.  You can find it at http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/76636-tales-from-the-treatment-room/, if you're so inclined to follow me there...  I started it with updates on all three things I've started, the PO wagons, the Tichy handcars, and the MR cattle van.

 

This thread will remain active, showing stuff I work on the workbench at home, like the D&S Horsebox and the soon to be started Lima 4F conversion.

[Mike Boucher]

Been a while since I updated this thread.  I've been slowly working on the horsebox, as well as a few other projects simultaneously.  I want to finish up a few projects that have languished on the workbench before tackling a new project, so I've been doing that.  And I'm also working on some bigger stuff.

 

First, the horsebox.  One of the issues is that I want to paint the horsebox as policed teak.   But, the usual paints (Phoenix or Ronseal) aren't available over here, and neither seems to be able to be shipped here either.  Another thread (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/75178-reproducing-varnished-teak-improving-latest-Hornby-thompsons/) described a technique to use acrylic and oil paints for teak, and I can get those over here, so I gave it a shot.

 

I'll describe it in pictures:

After priming white, paint the body orange as a base color.  I used craft store paints, at less than $1 a bottle...  To get a nice even coat, I used my airbrush.

 

Then use a few different colors on an occasional panel to give some varied tones for the teak

 

Then use oil paint and a stiff brush, to give it grain and let the base colors show through.  Here's the result:

 

For a first effort, and comparing it to the results on the other thread, it looks a little too dark for newly polished teak, but might be passable for weathered teak.  I'm curious what others think…  Comments and/or criticism welcome!

 

A 1/2 finished project I decided to finish was an HO resin kit of a Boston and Maine outside braced boxcar.  I bought it when I modeled HO scale, and its now out of production.  I still have a few HO pieces I kept for sentimental reasons, so I figure I would finish this kit and occasionally run it on the 4x8 plywood layout that my 9 year old son has.

 

It was a "flat" kit, unlike more modern resin kits where the body is molded in one piece.  When I first started it, I had glued the body together and had the roof on.

 

I continued on by assembling the brake gear

 

Next step was draft gear, and putting the trucks on.  I decided that I don't trust resin to hold a thread, so glued on some brass nuts above the floor as a backup.  this seems to work well.

 

Here's what the car looks like as of tonight.  Now to start working on the grab irons, ladders, end and roof details.

 

Still in HO scale, I'm done some work on a small diorama for the small handcar shed.  I have put down some sculptamold as a scenic base, and have ballasted and weathered the track.  No pic of this right now, next step is to put down some ground cover.

 

The 4rd project I'm working on now, as mentioned in an earlier post, is some 7.25" gauge hand pump cars for my two kids.  I cut the frames out of 1.5" square steel tube and 1" angle iron.

 

Then I welded everything together.  It was my first attempt at welding, so some of the welds are pretty rough, but its solidly together.

 

The extensions on the side of the frame are for foot boards the full length of the handcar.

 

I've also started working on the axles.  Here are the two "non-driven" axles, the wheels ready to be pressed on.  The driven axles are still a work-in-progress.

 

Hopefully I'll be updating this thread a little more often as I make progress on these various projects...

[Mike Boucher]

 Quick update.  Last night, I went down into my shop, and in 5 minutes I had turned 2 partially machined pieces of brass into high precision scrap.   I decided it wasn't a good night to work with machine tools.

Instead, I decided to put the ground cover on the afore mentioned speeder shed diorama.  Here's the results:

 

I think I need to remove some of the ground cover from in front of the shed, to look like the workers walk there all the time, but otherwise it looks OK.  I decided to pose a few of my HO scale stuff on it for some quick pictures.  Forgive the dust on the models (and the skyboard needs repainting...)

 

First, a P2K 0-8-0, painted for Canadien National.

 

Then, a old Atlas RS-3, in Maroon and Gold B&M  ("old" being from about 20 years ago...)

 

And finally, in the "I don't think we're in Kansas anymore..." category

[Mike Boucher]

For a completely "out of left field" post, I was at a local model RR show last weekend, and found something that might interest this august group.

 

 

It was on the table of a local model RR club.  It was sitting in a cardboard box with a bunch of other "junk" pieces.  I asked what the price was, and the three gentlemen all looked at each other wondering what to say.  After about 10 seconds, I said, "will you take a buck?"  To which one of them said, "sure".  I handed over my $1 bill, and she came home with me.

 

Upon returning home, I did a google search for "Kitmaster" and found the latest it was produced was 1962!  Damn, that kit is older than me!

 

Its missing 1 part, the eccentric rod for one side, as you can see since the main rod there is hitting the ground.  But no matter, its now in the "future project" pile to scratchbuild a powered chassis for it.  And even if I never do, its a neat little display piece sitting on a shelf with the HO/OO stuff I've kept...

[Mike Boucher]

Been quite a while since I posted an update to this thread.  Most of the work I've done over the past year has been recorded in my "Tales from the treatment room" thread.  I'm now in recovery from a bone marrow transplant, and after several months of not being able to do much of anything, the doctors have given me clearance to work on plastic kits.  I'm still not allowed to solder or work in the machine shop, but any modeling is better than none!

 

So, I've picked up work on one of the projects I was working on in the treatment room, an N scale factory kitbashed from two "Superior Bakery" kits.  I've been working on the roof details, and started work on a small diorama.

 

I've scratchbuilt a few dormers for the roof, a horizontal vent, and also started working on a "wind directed" vent.

 

 

 

 

The horizontal vent on the large dormer is really shy on details, as is a vertical vent (both from the same pieces in each kit).  I've been slowly applying rivet decals on these to try to add a little detail.  The rivets are from Archer Fine Transfers.  They're not cheap, but you get a LOT of n scale rivets on a 3" x 5" decal sheet.  We'll have to see how visible they are once I paint these vents silver.  Hopefully its worth the effort...  Here's the stack for the vertical vent with the rivet decals on...

 

 

This vent will cover the hole in the wall at the "rear corner", visible in the next photo just above the "Virginian" on the 50' boxcar...

 

I painted the dormers and the skylights black, but I'm not happy with that, they're too dark and too much contrast with the grey of the roof.  However, I'm not sure I want to paint them the same grey, so I have to figure something out there.

 

 

The roof details aren't glued on yet, they're just held in place with gravity.

 

Updates on my other projects will hopefully be coming soon...

[Mike Boucher]

More work on the N scale factory kitbash.

 

The HO version of the kit had a circular vent on top of the stack which extends from the side of the structure.  I was visiting a friend's N scale layout, and I noticed that he had a "Superior Bakery" which he put different signage on, and his stack had a similar circular vent.  My kit had no such vent.  I decided I liked the look of a "capped" stack better, so I decided to scratchbuild one.  You'll also notice his stack had rivet detail molded in, I had to add some with rivet decals...

 

Here's the version on Ric's layout

 

 

Here's how I built the venting.  I cut two round pieces of .015 styrene, about 5 scale feet wide.  I then took some .080 x .030 styrene, and glued it to one of the round pieces.  I started with a "diameter" piece, then two "radius" pieces at 90 degrees.  Then four more radius pieces at the 45 degree marks, then 8 more halfway between all the pieces.

 

 

I then took the 2nd round piece, glued it to the top, and added some scrap "detail" pieces from my shoebox of assorted plastic parts leftover from other kits.  And glued it to the top of the stack, and then to the "base" piece of the stack.  To the base, I also added some rivet decals to give it some texture.

 

 

The white on the edges of the "base" is where I used my styrene filler to square off the edges.  They had a pretty large (in scale) radius, probably a couple feet. I thought that was too much, so I filled in the corners and filed them square.  Now I just have to paint it silver to tie all the pieces together as a single unit and hopefully it looks reasonable.

 

Next step was to add loading docks along the track, and also on the "rear" wall of the building where there's another large delivery door.  Before I could do that, I needed to figure out the height of the loading dock, and also an appropriate width.

So, before I could build the trackside loading dock I needed to place the building on the diorama base.  What I do when I want to make the building removable from the diorama is take some 1/8" x 1/4" styrene and glue it to the base using contact cement.  The styrene forms the foundation of the building, so its carefully laid out to be exactly the same size as the building.  Then I place the building on the foundation, and take some 1/8" square styrene and glue it to the foundation pieces so they're butting up tightly against the inside of the walls of the structure, to hold the building in place using gravity and a little friction.  In this case, sometimes I had to use some smaller styrene as the bracing inside the walls too close to the bottom of the walls.  Here's what the foundation looks like on the diorama base.

 

 

You'll notice that there isn't a foundation alongside the track.  That's intentional as the loading dock will extend the entire length of that wall, so the foundation won't be visible anyway.

 

Now that the height of the building off the base of the diorama is set, and the distance between the track and the factory, I built the loading docks out of some .030" styrene sheet...

 

 

 

 

I made the "truck" loading dock significantly smaller as I wanted to emphasize that the rail connection is the primary way product is shipped in/out.

 

Next steps:

- add some steps down to ground level off one end of the trackside loading dock.

- paint the foundation and loading docks a concrete color.

- paint the stack silver

- start gluing the details on the roof...

[Mike Boucher]

Been a while since I updated this thread...  From early November through almost Christmas I was hospitalized with pneumonia, and that really put a dent in my "modeling mojo".  I had to spend a week in a rehab hospital because being bedridden for 7 weeks really took all of the strength out of me, and I lost a lot more weight.  I've finally got some inspiration back to do some modeling, so I did more work on the N scale factory.

 

Construction is pretty much finished.  The roof is on, as are all the details on the roof.  The only think left to so is to put a spacer between the two stacks to keep them parallel to each other, but I need to get some "H" shaped styrene of an appropriate size.  I'm also considering putting a few awnings over the front door and the loading dock doors.  Not sure there.

 

So, the main think left to do on the factory is to put ground cover and ballast on the diorama base.  Here's what it looks like right now:

 

 

 

One of my new years resolutions (same as last year as well) is to not start a new project until I finish one.  So, I'll continue on the diorama base, and the other things I'm working on is painting my 7mm horsebox teak (have the base, need to paint the "grain"), and finishing the HO scale resin boxcar kit I started years ago.  Once those are done, I'll start the next project.

[3 link]

Hi Mike,

 

Sorry to hear about the illness, but at least it sounds like your on the mend.

 

The factory is really starting to come to life, I think with a bit of weathering and some bushes/shrubs it will look great.

 

 I find it easier to finish one project at a time, although if I am getting bogged down with a certain problem I will take a few days off or start a small job. Like the saying goes " A change is good as a rest ".

 

ATB,

 

Martyn.

[N15class]

Sorry to here of your pneumonia, I had it in 2005 only 2 weeks for me but months before I could do as before.

 

Great looking model. I struggle in 7mm to see things.

[Mike Boucher]

I'm declaring "victory" on the N scale "Hardley Abel" factory diorama.  Over the past few weeks, I've finished it up, except for the H brace between the stacks, and I have to go get some Evergreen Styrene for that.  Considering I'm immune system compromised and not allowed to go anyplace "public" until at least early May, I'm just going to have to wait on that...

First step was to put down the scenic base.  I use a product called "Sculptamold".  ( http://www.amaco.com/shop/product-346-sculptamold.html)  Its somewhere between plaster and paper mache.  I mix it according to the instructions on the package..

 

Since Sculptamold is white, I add in paint to the mix,  so if it ever chips I don't see glaring white.  For the ground, I use a paint from True Value hardware stores (a chain in the US)  called "Tan Mesa".  ( http://www.truevaluepaint.com/explore-color/color/Tan-Mesa).  For the paved areas (parking lots, loading dock ramps, walkways, etc), I mixed in some cheap black acrylic "craft store" paint until its a faded grey color.  I covered the diorama base with the tan sculptamold, waited a few days, then put a think layer of the grey where I wanted pavement.

 

 

Next step was the track.  I wanted the track to look like a somewhat overgrown siding where the ties were all but buried in the ground, but still ballasted.  When I put down the sculptmold, made it level with the top of the ties.  The next thing was to paint the rails, I used a mix of grimy black and rust.  When dry, I used a light coat of "railroad tie brown" on the ties to tone down the black plastic ties of the Atlas flex track.

 

 

I used Woodland Scenics fine "cinder" ballast, and glued it down using the time-honored technique of spraying with "wet water" (water with a drop of cheap dishwashing liquid to help break the surface tension), and then applied a 50:50 mix of Matte Medium/water with an eyedropper.

 

 

That being done, I added ground cover.  Near the "front door" of the factory, I used a Woodland Scenics fine dark green ground cover (bag is long gone, no clue what its actually called) to represent a maintained lawn.  Everywhere else was a mix of various color ground cover, some fine, some coarse.  This would represent the area around the factory that gets a little more overgrown.  I also sprinkled a little bit of the fine dark green over the ballast, to represent weeds growing on the siding.

 

 

While all that was happening, I was also building a few details for both the factory building itself and also the track.  I learned of a Canadian company called Osborn model kits, which produce a small range of laser-cut wood details. ( http://www.osbornmodelkits.com/N_scale_railroad.htm) I bought their kits for a track bumper, some crates, and pallets (they call them "skids")  I assembled the kits (the pallets didn't need assembly)

 

 

 

For reference, the grid on my cutting board are 1/4", and you can see the X-acto knife sitting next to them.  These crates are TINY!  Needed some pretty small tweezers to glue them together!  I use wood glue when gluing wood kits together, I don't like superglue for wood.  So these crates were very much a "glue one piece on every few hours" type of project.  Each crate is made of 15 pieces (3 piece "core", 6 sides/ends, and then 6 "edge and diagonal brace" pieces).

 

After gluing the crates and a few pallets to the loading docks, I put the factory on the diorama base and declared "its finished!" except for weathering the roof.  Have to wait until May for that, due to both restrictions due to health which need to be lifted, and also when its warm enough to paint outside.  Right now its snowing, they're expecting a blizzard tonight/tomorrow AM with a foot of snow and 50 MPH winds.  And that's on top of the 5 feet we've gotten in the past 30 days, so there's a lot of white stuff outside!

 

 

 

 

With this done, next is to finish painting the D&S horsebox, and finish assembly on the HO resin boxcar kit...

[Mike Boucher]

Did a little bit of work on the HO resin boxcar kit.  Started putting details on the roof, sides, and ends...

 

The roof is done.  The roofwalk and end walks with the corner grabs, is attached.  These were all resin castings, but one of the end walks went missing somewhere along the line.  I took a piece of .030 thick styrene, scribed boards in it with the appropriate spacing, and used that.

 

On the sides, I've attached the ladders on the left side, the two grab irons on the right, and the tack board on the doors.  Still to do is attach the stirrup steps at each corner.

 

Both ends have the ladder and grab iron attached.  Still need to bend and attach the coupler lever.

 

The brake end has the Ajax brake, chain, rod, bell crank, and brake platform attached.

 

The instructions were a bit vague here, so I did a few things in a bad order.  They said "cement brake housing and end detail in place; notch the brake platform too.  Cement roof walks..." .  So I started doing that.  When I read a little further about the roof walks, I noticed a few steps later they went into detail about attaching the ladders, grabs, and Ajax brake parts, in that order.  The first line made me think that the brake parts got glued on first.  The result was that I put on the Ajax brake body and brake platform in the correct location according to the drawings and photos I have, lining them up in relation to the rivet lines.  But, that just barely gave enough room on the ends for the ladder.  The ladder is RIGHT up against the corner, when it should be a little inset.  But, I wasn't about to try to pry off all the brake details, so I filed/sanded the brake platform a little bit and attached the ladder.  I know its "wrong", but from a few feet away you wouldn't notice, which is good enough for me.  I'll take the Amish quilt-makers excuse and say only God can make something perfect, so the location of the brake parts is the "intentional error" in my model. 

 

Still need to bend the line to the retainer valve, run that behind the brake platform, and attach that.

 

Here's a few pics showing the current state...

 

 

[Mike Boucher]

Spent more time on the boxcar, adding more details…

 

First thing I did, which originally I didn’t understand the directions about, was to add small pieces of styrene between the end walks and the car body.  These are to represent the metal brackets which support the end walks.  You can just barely see them in this photo, look for the white styrene, just above the top of the ladders, going up under the end walks.  Small detail, but it really adds a lot of detail you don’t normally see.  Of course, once its painted you probably won’t see them at all, but I’ll know they’re there.

 

 

As you can see in the above photo, I also finished the brake end.  Once again, following the drawings meant the retainer brake line didn’t quite wind up in the same place.  Looks like the brake platform in the kit is shorter than the one on the drawing.  But it looks OK.  I put a small block of styrene at the top to represent the retainer valve.  In real life, the valve has a lot of detail, there was just no way I could carve the styrene to match.  It looks better than a wire just ending at the top of the roof, so it’ll do.

 

Bending the uncoupling lever for the brake end was a bit interesting.  The uncoupling lever is bent in a U shape in the middle to clear the retainer valve line and the manual brake rod, and this U is a bit larger than it should be, as my pliers weren’t small enough at the end to make short enough bends.  Once again, it still looks OK.  Since the uncoupling levers go through two eyebolts, and bend 90 degrees opposed at each end, they’re not actually glued in.  The eyebolts are glued to the boxcar, but the brake levers are free to move in the eyebolts.   This detail is obvious in the above photo, and even more so in this one...

 

 

More on the eyebolts, the kit came with 4 of them, and two went flinging off my tweezers when I was trying to glue them in, off to the great unknown.  So, I took some .015 brass wire and bent new ones around a .020 drill held in a pin vise.  They’re not perfect, but you really have to look closely to notice.

 

Speaking about things that went flinging off the tweezers, one of the 4 stirrup steps which came with the kit are also somewhere unknown.  Doing some comparisons with photos online, I determined that the parts included in the kit are from Detail Associates.  Found some of those stirrup steps for $4 on eBay, so I bought them and they should be here in a week.

 

Another thing I got on eBay was some brake line castings from Kadee.  Found a pack of 10 for $4 including shipping, which was cheaper than an 8 pack from Precision Scale.  Interestingly enough, there weren’t any brake lines for the car ends included with the kit.  Since the kit included parts for both K and AB brakes, I thought this was quite the oversight.  Its not like they were lost, the instruction sheet lists all of the detail parts included, and those aren’t on the list.  These should be here in a week or so as well.

 

I added about an ounce of weight to the car by gluing some sheet lead to the “top” of the underframe casting.  The car is just over 5” long, so the NMRA recommended weight is about 3.5 ounces.  With the weight I added, this car weighs 3.3 ounces.  Close enough!  Then I glued the underframe and body together.

 

So, other than waiting for those two eBay purchases, the boxcar is pretty much done other than paint.

 

When the parts get here, they’ll be added on.  Even after that, I won’t be able to declare “finished” on it, since I’ll have to wait ’till spring to paint/decal it.  So, that’s going back on the unfinished project pile for a little while…  

 

In the meantime, on to the next unfinished project.  Haven’t decided which one I’ll try to finish yet, we’ll see what catches my attention in the pile…

[Mike Boucher]

Little more progress on projects in progress...

 

I got the parts for the boxcar, so I've finished construction.  All 4 corners have stirrup steps, both ends have brake hoses, and the brake rigging underneath the car is finished.

 

Looking closely at the photos in the instructions, the brake hoses are held out a bit from the end of the car using a bracket made of flat steel, two pieces arranged in a simple triangle/truss arrangement.  I made these out of some styrene strip, and glued them to the bottom of each end.  I drilled through and into the end with a .016 drill and superglued in a .015 piece of brass wire to strengthen the joint.  I then drilled a hole in the end of the brake hose casting and super glued in some brass wire to represent the brake line.  This was bent as appropriate and glued to the car.  You can see the bracket in this photo.  The brake hose is pretty well camouflaged by the coupler box/coupler, but it is there!

 

 

The rod between the bell crank and the brake rigging turns out to be VERY close to the backside of the wheelsets.  This will severely impact how much that truck can pivot, which means that this car won't go around tight radius curves.  Not that it really matters, since its basically a display model for now.  You can see how close they are in this picture.

 

 

Wednesday is supposed to be a warm day, so maybe I'll take out the spray can and give the kit a coat of primer.  We'll have to see what the doctors say about me using spray paint, but since I always use a respirator, and I'll only spray outside, I should be OK.

 

I decided to try painting the D&S horse box kit.  My previous attempt at teaking came out way too dark, IMHO, so I stripped the paint.  I had already primed the brass and painted the base orange color, but I hadn't gotten up the courage to try the actual teaking again.  This morning, I gave it a shot.  Its still a bit dark, but its a lot better than it was, so I think I'll keep it as it is.  If you compare these pictures to the ones back in posting #78, you can see the difference.

 

 

 

Once again, comments/criticism is welcome.  I would be interested in hearing what others think!

 

I'm going to let the oil paint dry for a good long time, at least a week or two, and then I'll paint the ironwork black and the hinges/handles brass.  After that I'll be a coat of glosscote and apply the decals.

 

In the meantime, the next already-in-progress project I've decided to keep working on is an N scale doodlebug kitbash.  I have a couple of the Bachmann doodlebugs, and I've cut two bodies apart and glued them back together to more closely resemble a B&M gas electric.  The nose is completely different, and the car is shorter than the Bachmann version, so there's a lot of cutting involved.  Next post will show where I am with that project.

[Mike Boucher]

Once again, its been too long since I posted an update.  Didn't have a lot of modelling mojo again, other things have taken precedence.  But, I have managed to finish two projects.

 

First, the HO scale resin B&M boxcar.  Painted and decaled.  Just needs weathering.

 

 

 

 

Second, the O scale horsebox.  Once again, I have it painted and decaled.  Just needs weathering.

 

 

 

 

The reason I haven't done the weathering is because my compressor got left in the unheated garage over the winter (I couldn't get it down the basement stairs with my medical condition).  Unfortunately, I left the air valve open.  The cold weather must've caused some condensation in the valve, followed by rust, as this spring I couldn't turn the valve.  Since the valve also controls the pressure, its pretty well shot.  I need to get a new valve/regulator assembly.  Unfortunately, the store I bought it at doesn't sell parts, and the instruction manual doesn't have a part diagram.  So, I don't know where to get parts.  Might have to just take the assembly off and cobble something together from "standard" air compressor parts.

 

In the meantime, I'll declare these two "done" and just keep working on other projects.  As long as I get the weathering done before the snow flies again, I'll be OK...

 

The two things in the "in progress" pile are the N scale B&M gas-electric kitbash, and the O scale C&O caboose.  Its been quite a while since I posted anything about those (and I'm not even sure I've posted ANYTHING about the N scale doodlebug) Photos of the progress on those will be forthcoming, hopefully soon.

[Mike Boucher]

I've been in an "o scale" state of mind after finishing up the horsebox, so I decided to focus on the C&O caboose kit.  A fellow O scaler is having a summer BBQ in mid august, so I'm going to try to get the "major constuction" done by then.  If I don't have all the details on yet, I'll be OK, but I want it to look like a caboose by then, so that's what I've been focusing on for the past few weeks.  If you go look at my "Tales from the Treatment Room" thread, you'll see that work on the C&O caboose kit had stopped as the brake rigging was fouling the trucks, and I had to figure out why.

 

Once again, I turns out that I didn't look at the instructions closely enough.  (you would think I would stop doing that at some point).  Once again, things weren't symmetrical (which still confounds the anal-retentive part of me, but I digress...).  I glued on the crossmembers in the wrong location, only one set was where the instructions showed to attach them.  The other set was too close to the bolster, which caused the brake cylinder to be too close to the bolster, which caused the clearance issues.  So, the brake detail and cross members got ripped out and re-done.  If you look closely at this photo, you'll see the "old" glue marks on the left side, and you'll see the distances between the crossmembers and the bolsters isn't the same, the left side is larger.

 

 

Once that was straightened out, the brake rigging could be re-build.  This time, I did the extra work (not shown on the instructions) to put in the "sway bar" so the hand brakes at either end apply the brakes correctly.

 

 

I guessed at the location of the sway bar, but based on the location of everything else, its the only logical place.  It still causes some clearance issues with the trucks, but its a LOT better than it was, and my clubs layout has pretty generous curves, so I'm hoping there won't be an issue.

 

 

Next step was to work on the stuff "below" the end platforms.  End sills, steps, poling pockets, etc.  Pieces of wood were cut and glued on for the end sills, and then I started working on attaching the steps.  The steps are white metal castings.  Nicely done, but one wasn't fully formed, so that'll take some extra work.  I didn't want to just glue the steps to the wood, and looking at photos, there are 4 bolts/rivets on each step which aren't on the casting.  I drilled holes in the castings where these bolts/rivets are and used my 70 degree solder to attach some .020 brass rod.  Before doing that, I match drilled the end platforms so the pegs would just slide into the holes.  I soldered one step at a time (gave me time to relax between sessions) and ACCed each step on before moving on to the next.

 

3 of the step castings.  One on the right is "raw", one in the middle has been drilled, one on the left has the 4 pegs attached.

 

 

A better view of the step with the pegs attached...

 

 

A view of the holes drilled in the end platform...

 

 

And the step attached to the platform...

 

 

As I write this, all 4 steps are attached, and I've started working on the issue of the malformed step.  Haven't taken photos of that yet, that'll be the next update.

 

Since I had four "soldering sessions" for the steps, I took the opportunity to solder together the white metal castings for the coupola, as the roof is the next step after the underframe/ends are done.

 

 

Don't have any photos of the coupola on the caboose, might have to take that one next...

 

One issue I'm soon to be faced with is that the kit is officially not complete.  I only have 2 poling pocket castings.  I need 4  They're pretty simple, so I'll build some up from styrene and/or brass for the "other"end.  Until next time...

[Mike Boucher]

Quick update.  The last of the four steps is attached.  This was the malformed one.  Here's what it looked like when it was first attached...

 

 

Then I took some styrene and cobbled together two pieces to complete the shape.  I used ACC to glue the styrene to the wood, and then Tenax to glue the 2nd piece of styrene to the other piece of styrene.  I then drilled a hole in the appropriate place and ACC'ed in a small piece of brass wire, so it would match the other side.

 

 

Now to move on to the polling pockets.

 

Looking back, I noticed that I started talking about the hand cars I was making for the kids.  Well, the chassis is done, the body is partially build.  Then I was barred from my shop for a while, so they haven't had any progress for over a year.  But, here's a few pics of the chassis, and then one of the two kids test riding on New Years Day.

 

 

 

 

 

I made the chassis too rigid, both derail when the track has a dip or a rise in it, especially on curves.  Need to rebuild the non-driven axle so it has some suspension.  Still need doctors permission to work in the machine shop, so hopefully this winter I'll be able to get back in the shop and do some re-work...

[Mike Boucher]

Next up, poling pockets.  As mentioned in a previous post, there are supposed to be 4, but there are only 2 castings!  So, I measured them and found they were about 3/16” square and the round pocket itself was 1/8” diameter.  Of course, I didn’t have any styrene that size, so one day after work I stopped by a local hobby shop to get some.

 

Then, looking at prototype photos and the drawings, I found that the casting was a) oversize and b ) not quite right compared to the prototype.  The prototype poling pocket “wraps around” the end beam, and these castings were flat.

 

 

First step was to make two new pockets out of the styrene.  That was easy enough.  Next was to file them down to the correct height.  At this point I found that they were closer to 5/32” tall, and I *DID* have styrene that size, so I could have saved myself a little cash not buying the .020 x .188 styrene strips…  Here’s what they looked like after filing to the right height…  (sorry for the bad photo, hard to take pictures of tiny white styrene pieces…

 

 

To get the “wrap around” look, I took some of the styrene and cut it to about 1/4” long and the right height.  I ACC’ed that to the side of the end beam, butted up against the step casting and let it just hang over the end.  I then took a .020 drill and drilled two holes to represent the mounting bolts, and ACC’ed in some short pieces of brass wire.  The next day (giving the ACC way more than enough time to set) I filed/sanded the piece down so it was flush with the end of the end beam.

 

I then filed the poling pocket casting so the “circle” was flush with the end.  I then drilled two more .020 holes in the opposite side, once again to represent the mounting bolts.  I ACC’ed that casting to the end beam, making sure it was flush with the styrene on the sides.  After it was secure, I drilled the holes through the wood end beam and ACC’ed more pieces of brass wire.

 

Here’s what the first one looks like:

 

 

I did the same thing with the opposite side of this end beam, using both castings on one end, so they match.  Still need to glue in the brass wire there.

 

Then I’ll do the same thing with the other end, using the homemade styrene poling pockets.

 

Until next time…

[Mike Boucher]

With all 4 polling pockets installed, next up to install is the step irons on the end beam.  Looking at the drawings with the kit and a few prototype photos I've found, it looks like these are about 1 foot long each, with bolts "above" the irons.  (look at the prototype photo in my previous post to see what I mean by "above")

 

Being 1/4" to the foot (U.S. prototype O scale vs British prototype at 7mm - 1 ft), a foot long made it easy to bend all 4 to a consistent size, all I needed was a 1/4" wide piece of styrene.  I took a length of .020 brass wire (close to 1" scale), bent one leg with a pair of pliers, and then placed it across the 1/4" styrene and bent the other leg.  Repeat 4 times.  Then I used that same piece of 1/4" styrene as a jig to drill .022 holes in the end beams, simply by holding the drill up against the styrene.  Now I know the grab irons are consistently the same size, and the holes are also consistently the correct distance apart.

 

IIRC, step irons are about 3" out from the vertical surface they're on.  3" is 1/4 of a foot, and at 1/4"-foot, that's 1/16".  So, another piece of styrene (this time, .060 thick, as I didn't have any 1/16 thick and no one is going to notice .002!) as a spacer, and I ACC'ed the brass grabs to the end beam.  I made no attempt at trimming the extra from the inside of the end beams.  They're only visible if the caboose is upside down, and when painted black they're blend pretty well, IMHO.

 

Next was to add the bolts.  I got some Grandt Line "NBW" (nut-bolt-washer) detail parts and made a simple jig to drill a .022 hole the correct distance from the wire grab so they abut.  It'll appear that they're one part, when actually there's no method of attachment between the two.  8 holes later, and a little ACC, and this was the result...

 

 

(Sorry about the blurry photo, my phone's camera doesn't do well with close ups of small items.)

 

The last item, for now, for the end beam is the glad hand.  As you can see by looking back at previous photos of the underside, you'll see a couple of brass wires just sticking out under, and just past the end beam.  Turns out I didn't need these, as my Intermountain brake part sprue had glad hand castings with "brake pipe" which were long enough to go through the end beam and into the holes drilled in the bolster for the brass wire.  Off with the wire, drill a hole in the right direction, and the glad hands were ready to attach.  I decided not to glue them on at this point, for fear that I would break them off during the rest of construction.  It'll be easy enough to ACC them on later.  Here's a photo of one of them test fit.

 

 

(once again, I apologize for the photo.  Hard to see a black glad hand against the black coupler box...)

 

The next step, by the instructions, is to attach the roof.  I thought it would be easier to attach all the grab irons on the end wall of the caboose before the roof is attached, and the roof has quite an overhang.

 

There are two small grab irons just beside the door, 45 degrees from vertical, looked to be about 9" long in the instructions.  In one prototype photo, it looks like they're shorter than that. In this case, I'm sticking with what's shown in the drawing, as it seems that anything smaller than 9" would be too hard to grab when the caboose is rocking while moving down the tracks, since most adult hands are about 4" across the palm.  Using the same technique as described above, I bent more .020 brass wire to size, using .188" styrene as the jig.

 

I made a simple jig to drill the holes in the end walls at a consistent angle.  This was made by gluing a scrap of styrene to the .188 styrene so the .188 was at a 45 degree angle to the "top" of the scrap.  I then drilled two holes abutting the .188, and attached a 2nd scrap to the other side.  I used the holes in the first side as a guide to drilling the holes in the 2nd.  Hard to see, but here's a picture of the jig...

 

 

The "extensions" you see are to help align the jig with the top of the door trim.  As you see it here, this would be for the right side of the door (as you're looking at the door)

 

I used the jig to drill the holes in the end walls, ACC'ed in the grabs, and then used the same jig from the end beam steps for the holes for the NBW castings, and voila, those grabs were done...

 

 

Next is to add vertical grabs to the "corner" of the end wall, and also some handrails, which bend at a 90 degree angle, to the end wall.  More on that in the next update...

[Mike Boucher]

Next up is the L shaped grab irons.  I made "mirrored" jigs to make sure they would come out the same size/shape, and I could accurately drill the holes in the caboose end.

 

Here's a picture of the jigs.  You're looking at the two jigs, one rotated 90 degrees from the other (and the L one is upside down, oh well!).  You can see that each jig only has 2 holes, you'll see why later...

 

 

And here's a picture of the left handed one being used.  As you can see, I've notched the jig so it fits over the end platform, and I can drill the two "vertical" holes using the holes in the jig.  The hole that abuts the door is located by putting the drill in the notch created by the vertical side and the piece of styrene which overhangs the end.  If you look closely, you'll see that hole has already been drilled.

 

 

And here's the 3 holes drilled.  To make it easier to see, they're circled in red...

 

 

Now to use the jig to make the grab iron.  First step is to take a pair of pliers and bend one leg in the .020 brass wire.

 

 

This leg is inserted in the "lower" hole, the wire run up against the square block of styrene, and then bent 90 degrees...  This is why there are two jigs, I didn't see an obvious/easy way to make 1 jig where I could make this bend without having to either get my fingers into a thin slot or have the jig excessively thick.

 

 

Then the other leg is formed by bending the wire where its "off the edge" of the jig.  That's why there are only two holes in the jig, to make it easy to bend that 2nd leg in the correct location.  A hole wouldn't have worked other than as a "go/no-go" test fixture.  And here we have the formed grab iron.

 

 

A Grandt line eyebolt is slipped onto the grab iron, and everything is ACC'ed in place...

 

 

Now all that's left is to use the existing jig to locate the holes for the NBW castings, and that side will be done.  That'll take just a minute or two.

 

1 down, 3 to go...

 

 

 

[Mike Boucher]

Quick update...  Yesterday was my club's annual summer BBQ/picnic at a members house.  (Burgers, hot dogs, and hanging around his swimming pool!)  Yesterday AM, I got the last end grab irons on so I could show it as a "work in progress"...  Not much to say about the technique that I haven't already described.  Made a jig to bend the irons all to the same size (1 1/2 feet), and also to locate the holes the appropriate distance apart and also located the right distance in and parallel to the sides.

 

Here's a picture of what it looks like now.  So it would sit on a display track, I put the trucks on...

 

 

Next step is to work on the roof.  I'm thinking I'll make either the cupola roof, or the entire cupola, removable so I can get to the inside.  Firstly to glue on the window glazing, but also so I can add weight and also install a battery operated lighting system so I can have the marker lights lit up.  I need to ponder the best way to do that to do that.  My usual technique of putting on tabs and having the roof slide off won't work here, (see post 67 for a description of that) if the entire cupola is removable, as the roofwalks will prevent it from sliding.  But it'll be easier to get my fat fingers into the interior if the entire cupola is removable...

 

I'm also thinking that I should paint the body and grab irons now, as once I glue the roof on it'll be a lot harder to paint.  Either way, I'll either have to paint the caboose before adding all the end railings/ladders, or make those as a removable assembly for painting...

 

 

[Mike Boucher]

After a week or so of pondering, asking friends and other web resources for suggestions, and a false start or two, I figured out how to make the coupola removable so I can 1) paint the caboose before putting on the roof and 2) be able to get inside after its done to wire marker lights and add weight.

 

As you can see (and I might have discussed), I had cut a hole slightly smaller than the coupola in the wooden roof former.  This is structural to the kit, and a thin wood sheet is glued over it to form the roof sheathing, and also the extensions out over the platforms.  This makes the section of the roof over those platforms scale width, but still plenty of strength to the caboose itself.

 

What I determined was the easiest way to make the coupola removable but still sturdy enough to withstand handling (most of the time it'll be run on a modular layout at train shows) was with screws.  I decided on 4-40 threads.  I consider that the smallest reasonable size, as any good hardware store will stock them, instead of having to pay an arm and a leg at a hobby shop for smaller threaded screws.  Even in this size, there just aren't any screws long enough to reach from the chassis up to the coupola.  I started with the longest flat head screws I could find, I had some in my shop an inch long.  I also had some 4-40 threaded rod left over from a stationary steam project I made years ago.  I went down to my lathe, chucked some brass rod in it.  I drilled and tapped that 4-40, and reduced the outside diameter to 9/64th (.140").  I felt this was the smallest I could go, based on the major diameter of the thread (.112").  I cut two off at 1/4" long.

 

I actually made 4 of these brass joiners, thinking I could solder two to the end of the coupola.  But, the frame crossmembers are pretty much exactly in line with the ends of the coupola.  This meant the screws couldn't be directly inline with the ends.  One of the "false starts"...

 

Then I took my flathead screws and threaded rod, slathered one end in 5 minute epoxy, and screwed them in to these joiners.  I waited a few days for the glue to totally cure, and then cut them to the appropriate length for the caboose.  Here's what they looked like before being cut to length:

 

 

After cutting off, they're about 3/4" shorter than in the photo...

 

I then drilled two 9/64th holes in the center of the main beam.  I measured carefully (3 or 4 times, since the coupola is NOT centered on the caboose!) so these holes would be about 1/8th in from the inside of the ends of the coupola castings.

 

I then took a piece of scrap brass .040" thick and bent it so it was a gentle press fit inside the coupola.  I drilled and filed two oval holes in this bracket, and then soldered two brass 4-40 nuts to it.  (These I needed to make a run to the hardware store for, all I had "in stock" were steel or stainless).  I used the screws to determine the location for these nuts, knowing that there would be a little play due to the distance between the floor and roof of the caboose, and the inherent "looseness" of store bought screws and nuts.  Here's the bracket:

 

 

Next was to attach this bracket inside the white metal coupola.  I tinned the bracket with normal 60-40 solder.  I then used my 80 watt iron and homebuilt temperature controller to attach the bracket using 70 degree solder.  Here's what everything looked like when I was done:

 

 

 

I had originally planned on countersinking the holes in the frame, but I didn't have a countersink small enough to fit, and once I tightened everything up you couldn't see the heads of the screws without flipping the caboose over, so I didn't worry about it.  Probably could have gotten away with regular round head (or pan head) screws, but...

 

Here's what the caboose looks like with the coupola attached.

 

 

 

Starting to really look like a caboose! 

 

I can pick it up by the coupola and its plenty secure.

 

Next step is to prime the caboose body and paint it "caboose red".  Monday (sept 7th) is a holiday here in the states, so my club is having an "open house/run day".  Might bring my Allegheny and the caboose and run it around to see how well it goes on the track, hoping it negotiates our minimum radius and switches.

 

I'll have to add weight to it first (4 or 5 ounces) or it probably won't track very well.  I should be able to get the weight in over the weekend.  If I do bring it, it might be time to post a video to this thread...  

 

Of course, I'm also hoping my RTR "Terrier" arrives before then as well...

[Mike Boucher]

As threatened, here's a short video of the caboose being pulled along behind my Allegheny on the club's modular layout.  Layout is set up in our "clubhouse", an old fire station...

 

https://youtu.be/RLXvXMgGy50

 

Needs one last coat of primer, and then I have to fix my air compressor so I can spray it caboose red...

 

BTW - no video of the Terrier, its still in the custody of the post office...

[Mike Boucher]

Been a while since my last update.  Combination of factors...

1) My MacBook died, and my PC was resisting every attempt to actually download photos, either from my phone or my camera

2) A bit of "get outside as much as possible before winter hits" cutting into modelling time

3) A bit of lack of enthusiasm for modelling

 

anyhow, I have gotten a little bit more mojo back, so here's where we are...

 

Been making some progress on the C&O caboose.  I've painted the body and coupola with Tru-Color paint "Caboose Red".

 

 

 

Then I hand painted the grab irons with Testors "Flat Yellow" paint.

 

Recently, I've started working on the roof.  First step was to glue the roof sheathing on using 5 minute epoxy.  That gave me time to position the roof so it had equal overhang on the sides, and also aligned with the end of the platforms.  After it was attached and dry, I cut the opening where the coupola is so I can screw it on as described previously.0 There was a white metal casting to glue to the underside of the end of the roofs.  That was also attached with 5 minute epoxy.  Finally, there are wood braces between these castings and end of the caboose body.

 

 

I've also glued the roof on the coupola

 

 

Starting to look more and more like a caboose!

 

 

Next steps are to put the walkways on the roof, and grabs on the roof of the coupola.

 

I've done some work on an N scale gas-electric project I started years ago.  The prototype is a 64' B&M gas electric, built by Osgood-Bradley with a Winton engine, built in 1926 and lasting into the mid 1950s.  The initial road numbers were 180-187.  184 and 186 had different bodies than the other 6, both of these had RPO sections.  I'm not modelling either of those as I don't have any photos of them.  In 1931 an additional "1" was added to the number (1180-1187), and then in 1948 that "1" was removed, bringing them back to 180-187.  I'll number mine in the "post 1948" numbers, (probably 1187) as in the early 50's these were common on the "Central Mass" branch, and I have a couple photos of 1187 in Waltham and Sudbury.  Since I used to live in Waltham, just a few miles from the remnants of that branch, and frequently drove out to Sudbury to get to my local N scale shop (since closed) I'm pretty familiar with this branch.

 

 

The model is based on a Bachmann doodlebug.  A few years ago, I started this by cutting about 10' from the body, and rearranged windows/doors as appropriate for the prototype.  I needed two Bachmann models to get enough pieces.  A third will be used to (eventually) make the "trailer" coach that the B&M commonly used behind the prototypes to make a two car train.

 

Here's where I was when I stopped working on the project...

 

 

 

The 3rd, unmodified Bachmann engine is on the top.  The differences are obvious...  

 

In the past few weeks, I've started working on it again, trying to finish "started" projects, and also hoping to get it finished for a modelling contest at an N scale convention at the end of January.  The ends need to be completely rebuilt as

1) they're flat, unlike the Bachmann model and 

2) the front is VERY distinctive, as can be seen in the above photo.

 

I scratchbuilt a new "rear end" from styrene and added Archer rivet decals, and attached this to the body.  Here's a close up of the end before I attached it.  Remember that this is N scale, so its only about 3/4" wide!  The panel on the right is where the B&M blanked out a window (for reasons unknown to me.  It might have been delivered that way, but its pretty obvious on all the photos of the end I've seen)

 

 

I've started building the new "front end", but taking a peice of .040 styrene, and I've cut out the hole for the grill and the door on the left side.  Still need to cut the opening for the engineers window, then I need to build the door, window, and install some fine screening for the grill...  Then its on to cutting the metal chassis and rebuilding the roof (which is also quite distinctive with all those vents and three stacks)

 

I've also started working on a Slaters MR 3 plank open.  I had finished a few projects, so I'm good with my new years resolution of not starting a new project until I finish an "existing" one.  I figure I can glue 1 or 2 pieces on when I get an extra 5 or 10 minutes.  That's not enough time to work on the caboose or gas electric, but its enough to work on a simple kit like this one.  Before gluing together, I painted the outside a light grey, and the insides I gave my weathered wood treatment, and painted the chassis parts flat black.

 

 

 

I've started assembly, but only have the chassis framing, solebars, and 1 end glued together.  No photos of this right now...  

 

Finally, a friend recently passed away, and he had several display cases for N scale which he had built on his layout room wall, above the skyboard.  I acquired a few of his models, a small part of his layout, and one of these display cases.  I've attached it to my wall above my work desk, and put in 3 shelves of N scale, and one shelf of HO  (the cases weren't designed for HO, but they just barely fit!).  I had to do some work to "restore" the display case, the door tracks were loose and needed to be re-glued, I made two new clear "doors", and made a new method of attaching to the wall.

 

 

People who follow this thread may recognize the HO scale B&M boxcar in the bottom right corner of the case.  The other HO stuff are kits I built back when I was in high school, and a brass HO B&M mogul.  The top shelf are some B&M coaches I either kitbashed from Roundhouse "old timer" cars, a B&M mogul (from model power), an Atlas RS-3 I custom painted in B&M "Blue Dip", and an LMS 2-6-4 tank (recent Farish release)  The middle two shelves are "out of the box" Kato daylight and NYC passenger cars, with a Bachmann Daylight and Kato PA/B.  The NYC passenger cars were also acquired from Chuck's estate.  Since taking the photo, I've added a couple more cars which I built from kits and weathered behind the RS-3.

 

I may be able to get another display case, but I don't know where I would put it right now.  I should get it while I can and figure everything else out later...

 

That's it for now, hopefully with the upcoming holiday I'll manage to find some time to keep working...

 

[Mike Boucher]

Been doing some work on the C&O caboose...
 

First was to install the roofwalks on both ends.  Here's one of them

 

 

Next was the grab irons on the roof.  First step was to bend two pieces of brass wire to shape, one for each "side".  One leg is longer than the other so the solder joint wouldn't be centered, as there's an eyebolt there.

 

 

Then glue some of the eyebolts on, two on opposite corners, and two in the center.

 

 

Thread one of the wires into position, with two more eyebolts on them, and then glue those eyebolts down.

 

 

After the 2nd wire is in. trim to fit and solder together...

 

 

Next step is to put sunshades above all the side windows (both on the body and the coupola) 

 

Since I was painting the body of the caboose (a few posts ago), I decided to also paint an Overland brass B&M caboose I have.  The ends are the same red as the C&O caboose, so it made sense to paint those at the same time.  Then I decided to keep going...  I masked the ends and painted the sides maroon.  Then masked the sides and painted the roof and underframe black.

 

 

Next step here is to touch up where either paint stuck to the tape, or where the wrong color bled.  Then disassemble, blacken, and paint the trucks...

 

And since I was doing a lot of painting, and the weather is still relatively warm (it was in the 50's F the past few days), I went on another weathering blitz.  In O scale, 2 Atlas C&O hoppers, a San Juan tank, Slaters P.O. open wagon, the GE horsebox, and then 4 N scale reefers I built from Intermountain kits more than a few years ago.  (I still have about 40 more of those reefers to weather!)

 

And once again, no photos, but the aforementioned Slaters MR 3 plank is assembled except for the buffers, and adding some weight.  Should have a photo of that finished next time...

 

Finally, last weekend was a big show, sponsored by the NMRA, in Marlboro MA.  Almost 70K square feet of exhibit space, and its filled.  Next to the "white elephant table", there was a box sitting on the ground labeled "TRASH".  Sitting on top was a box of stuff I recognized.  I asked the guy if it was really trash or put there by accident.  He said, yeah, if you want it, take it!  I rummaged around a little deeper.  It was mostly empty cardboard boxes, and a few pieces of half eaten fruit, but after washing my hands I came away with this pile of stuff:

 

 

If you don't recognize it, there's a Kitmaster Deltic and "Battle of Britain" loco (but no tender).  they need some TLC, but it was something I couldn't let just get thrown away...