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M Graff

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  1. M Graff

    Part 1: The story so far...

    By M Graff,

    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 small shortline that has a Carfloat as the main connection with the rest of the railnet.
     
    I started on my current layout after I got tired of my previous layout, a basic 4X8:

     
    I wanted another , easily managed type of layout, where the maximum reach was 15", instead of 24".
    Therefore I decided on a shelf layout instead.
    I made a LOT of designs before I decided on this:

    It is 315 cm x 42 cm.
    As I like to be able to work on my layout whenever I feel like it I got "permission" from my wife to build it in our living room.
    As we live in a 1850´s farmhouse, she thought it would make a nice compliment to the setting .
    B)
    I started the build in january this year (2010), and had the basic shelf ready in a week:

     
    In the next posts I will go into the actual rail-laying and building of the houses.
  2. M Graff
    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 will show some of the techniques required to paint any Hydrocal/plaster kit.
     
    Here is the build:
     
    I had bought three kits from Downtown Deco, which I thought I would use on my layout.
    I sat down the night before last and began to put them together.
    I started with Adams Ave #1 (and 2 and 3..... wich will not be shown so much here)
     
    Last night I had come this far:
     

    Adams Avenue # 2. They have wonderful texture and feel, these kits!
     

    Adams Avenue # 1 & # 3. I have recently rebuilt this part of my layout and the DD kits will look very nice there, I think.
     

     
    A closer picture, here you can see the background photos (from Kingmill) that will be used as well.
    The houses are ready for painting now. and that will not go as fast as building them [].
     
    I can highly recommend the Downtown Deco's kits!
    One should be careful though that they are in plaster after all. I was however surprised that the Hydrocal used isn´t as hard as the dental plaster I´m currently working with...
    In my kits (Adams #1 & #2) the front walls of the houses had broken (not so surprising after a trip across the Atlantic ocean...), but it was just a matter of using some Loctite CA and glue it together. It´s not visible afterwards [tup].
    The joints have to be filed for the right fit, which was very easyto do with a long file.
    I glued the parts together with CA glue.
    I tried Epoxy as the instructions said, but it didn´t soak into the material as good as I would have liked.
    The roofs are in Plasticard (included) and instead of using the black cardboard that came with the kit, I used 3M Micropore surgical tape as roofing material instead..
    I glued the roof details that came with the kits, but waited with the ventilators (which I'll make special ).
    I made a few extra vents/vent pipe of alloy tubes I had in the parts box and some leftover plastic pipes.
     
    The start of the painting of Adams Ave #1.
    I primed the whole house with my trusty Airbrush loaded with an off-white Vallejo Color:
    DD recommends spray paints, but I don´t own any as I work with Airbrushes all day long...[]
     

     
    Now you can see more of the relief of the walls. The reason that you should prime the house is that otherwise the plaster sucks the water out of the paint and the result will be uneven and not as good.
     

    I used the cheapest artist acrylic paints I could find .
    I use a brand called "Sense", 12 colors for $6 , you don´t even get half a tube of Liquitex for that.....
    However, I use a more expensive color to the first layer, "Pale Terracotta" from Winsor & Newton, I think it gives a good basic tone to work on in the next steps.
     

    I brush it on with a ½" brush and dilute it with water to a very thin consistency. It is supposed to cover but not be much more than a wash.
     
     

    Here I have proceeded with the next color, a wash of "Burnt Sienna". It is imperative that you work out the color so that it does not look blotchy, but it must not be too perfect either....
     
     

    Here it is a little more evident how wet you put on the paint.
     

    I put on a wash using "Burnt Umber". Then I painted the concrete surfaces and rocks with a mix of white and "Burnt Umber", it makes up a very good aged concrete color!
    I painted the stones the same color. Then I painted a few stones with "burnt sienna" and "yellow ochre".
     
     

    The roofs were painted with a dark gray/brown color that was painted on in thin layers.
    I painted the tiles with a light turquoise Vallejo color I had. I then put on a wash using a mixture of "Burnt Umber" and black paint. I made some rust streaks as well too.
    I then took a fine abrasive paper and topped off the edges, it gives the same effect as a dry brush with white paint.

     

    Now it's just all the windows and doors left to paint before the final detailing .
     
    I painted the sign on the side wall as well.
    The stencil that was in the kit said: "Fast loans".
    Wich I didn´t find suitable for my layouts era (late WW2).
    I made my own text instead, wich I placed on the wall and lightly airbrushed the text with a gray/green colour:

     
    I removed the mask and then it looked like this:

     
    The next step was to draw white outlines with a paint marker. I found mine in a artist store.
    I Wrote the "Buy" text as well with it:

     
    It doesn´t matter if it isn´t perfect, as you actually will need some hand drawn look in it to suit the weathering style.
     
    This is how it looked after i drew some drop shadows with a regular black sharpie pen and also lightly sanded it to pre-weather it:

     
    I then added a very light Burnt umber wash as well to weather it a bit:

    It took no more than an hour to make it, well spent time in my opinion .
  3. M Graff
    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 models?) that I had.
    The one whooriginally built it (I bought it second hand), had not braced it on the inside .... so it was "somewhat" askew .
    I needed a building with a staircase between the new upper level and the loading dock on the lower level. So it was a very suitable candidate.
    Here it is in its red color as it looked before I started:

    And this is how it became:

    I made a whole lot of chipped paint on it and put "glass" in the windows (they were surgical tape before ).
    A little snapshot of how it will look like when it all comes together:

     
    Now it's just a bit of lighting and other things that are going to be added.....
     
    UPDATE!
     
    I've done a "bit" more at the new section, a small change and a slightly bigger one.
    Adams Ave.#3 has had a slight change in the form of a fire ladder.
    This is how it looked before, here you can also see the text on the side and on the front as well: "Union Hall":

     
    This is the result:

    As it looks with the fire stairs and some detail parts in place. I added a door to the facade. It was very easy to do as this is a plaster-kit.
    The fire ladder is from "Imagine That".
     
    Adams Ave.#1 received a minor update [].
    I will have it in the corner, up against the backdrop and it felt a bit too small and it would not really work with the mirror I was to have where the road ends.....
    Here's how it looked in the standard version:

     
    How it look like after the "small" modification:

    I had a side wall from DPM in the scrap box, but no matching front wall, so I made one of plaster.
    The Corniche on the top is a dollhouse trim and the windows are out from the scrap box (IHC?).
    the remainder is Matte Board, a black 1.5 mm cardboard.
    The result was rather okay to my eye.
     

    The edge between the mirror and landscape is to be hidden in the best way possible.
    I have been looking for front-reflective mirrors, but not found any on this side of the Atlantic unfortunately....
    The ones I have found do not deliver small orders from the U.S. as it is so fragile ....
    Anyone know if there is some available?
  4. M Graff
    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 get them to pale or too "heavy", photos to look at is definitely a good idea!
    So far I have come this far. No way near finished.... But there's more to come.
     
    I was at the local art-store and bought these:

    They are 12 mm in diameter, made of wood and flat on one side.
    Maybe you ask what I'm going to do with them? Well it is going to be revealed as I will show you, it is inspired by Tim Warris from Fast-trax.
    I started my project by cutting a pair of 25 mm wide strips of hardboard which I glued with Pattex "No Nails" at the bottom of my front fascia on my layout:

    I let the glue dry before I marked the center-line on the strips and then marked out every 6 cm on it.
    Then I glued on my "buttons":

    Perhaps now you see where it´s heading..... Rivets in a long row
    At the joints in the strips I put them closer to each side of the gap.
    When the glue dried, I painted the front in a Terracotta orange color (test jar with half a liter for £ 5...).
    I used a foam roller and a small brush:

    As can be seen above, I have begun to sponge on a little dark brown paint as a test.
    I want it to look like a rusty old riveted steel structure when I'm done.
    I added the diluted dark brown craft-color in small sections with a brush, then I sponged the surface with a natural sponge. It gives a nice "rust-like" surface that I think goes well with my Harbour layout.

    Starting to look good to me...
    This is how it looks when shot with a flash:

    As you can see it will match the rust on the barge pretty good ....
    B)
    A bit more work to do on it, but I expects to finish the project before the weekend anyway.

    Small update: I took a pic today that shows how dark it really is:

  5. M Graff
    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 had ended up in the same box at the construction table .
    My layout was in need of a bigger switcher, I have a 0-6-0t saddle tanker and it's a bit small.
    A 2-6-4t would probably be the model, as I´ve always liked the look of that particular type of locomotive.
    I had half a chassis from a Mantua-locomotive, and some mixed bits and pieces ....
    I had found this scrapped shell a while ago, now it became useful:

    Here's how it looked after the first fitting, shorter tanks, another cab, a two-axle bogie, rebuilt drive etc. etc.
    I had a Mashima open frame motor that runs like a clock, so I decided to use it for this project.
    I made the driveshaft from old Athearn parts.
    Here you can see some of the new parts on the locomotive made of white plasticard:

     
    The shell is fixed with a single screw under the smokebox:

    I sandwiched a nut between some pieces of plasticard. It will probably not come off sometimes soon....
     
    A little painting, marking and weathering later it looks like this:

     

    After an hours break-in it runs like a watch! I'm very happy with how it turned out, and that it hasn´t got a prototype? It doesn´t bother me at all!
  6. M Graff
    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)
  10. M Graff
    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 LED instead. When it "plays" it makes flickering lights on the diode instead!
    Cut a base out of pink foam and carved out some stones, put new end walls of "Clapboard Siding" on the wagon and made ​​an overhang to have the fireplace in, I supported it with columns of wood.
    I put in two windows from the scrap box as well.
    I made ​​the fireplace out of pink foam and covered it with alutape.
    A little red cellophane and coal on it to look like glow.

    The roof is covered with Japanese tissue paper and the chimney is a brass pipe.
    I painted the wall planks for themselves, and then the steel framework.

    It turned out pretty good actually

     
    Source: Blacksmith shop
  11. M Graff
    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 the drive to get it to run as well as it looks.
    The problem with just Boxcabs is that the only models that are available are either made of brass and costs a fortune, and runs like a bag of s**t.
    Or you may have to be be content with an old Roundhouse locomotives in plastic that is also going like muck ... Plus, you have to add the extra detailing to make it look reasonably good .....
    Neither option was very good
    I thought it would be nice to build one myself.
    One problem was that it was really tricky to get hold of the drawings of the locomotive.
    Luckily, as I am a member on a U.S. forum, where one of the members have recently built an I-R Boxcab in brass and in S-scale.
    I emailed him about the drawings and he emailed me back everything he had as PDFs

    I had to resize it a bit before I got the printouts right for HO.
    After some thoughts and inquiries, I finally found a locomotive that would do as a chassis donor:

    (See http://www.rmweb.co....__1#entry410924)

    Apparently it is a bit of a difference in length. but very acceptable to me.
    I decided that I would build the new body in plastic, which could be a challenge.
    I used 1, 0.5 and 0.25 mm plasticard and some profiles.

    This is about everything you need for the basic construction (needle files and tweezers are not in the picture).
    I drew up the parts with an ink-pen and drilled the corners of the windows before I cut them out with an Xacto-knife.


    This is "the base wall" , made of 0.5 mm plastic On to it, the embossed outer skins of 0.25 mm plastic will be applied. That way I get good stability in the body and a "plate-like" appearance.
    The chassis was shortened 4 mm on one side, and the entire original decoder with lights sent into the round-archive .
    I made two boards to mount my LED's and resistors on.
    The Lenz decoder was hard wired in and mounted above the motor, but under the weight.

    I made a new base of 1 mm plastic.
    This is how it looked after I glued the walls to the base:

    I made the outer skins and the inner window frames of 0.25 mm plastic.

    The outer skins, I placed (upside down) on the drawing, and used a self-made light table to emboss all the rivets with a needle in a wooden holder.

    I can now reveal, that when you venture into this kind of construction, without having tested the techniques, it can REALLY go down the drains!
    The picture that follows shows just that:

    First, it did not work out with my roof, it was formed like a Banana..... Luckily I found a roof in the scrap box that could be cut to shape and be used instead.
    It was not the biggest problem .......
    I had glued the body together and glued the window frames in place before applying the outer skins with the embossed rivets .
    It did not work out that way, so I started from scratch .
    But as I had done it once, it went rather quickly the second time ......
    The Chassi beams are plasticard I-beams 2.5 mm.
    I had almost feared the construction of the roof mounted radiators ....
    Fortunately, I had a piece of corrugated patterned plasticard. I shaped a piece of 0.5 mm metal in the right curvature, then I took the plastic, forcing it to follow the shape of the plate and secured it with clamps and then dipped the whole shebang in boiling water for a few minutes. When it had cooled down I had a row of convincing cooling tubes in the right shape!
    So here is the build as it stands right now, just some paint and small details remain:


    The exhaust pipes on the roof is turned from beech in a drill stand

    Scratchbuilding is FUN!
     
    Source: The M-K & Eastern RR Harbour branch
  12. M Graff
    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 non mineral substrate. And it works as good as WS Ballast.
    I was going to have some tracks in the street in the harbour, and I wanted bricks between the rails. I used wall compound for the pavement and Wills bricks for the inlays:

    I painted the bricks before applying the mortar and the pavement paint:

    I used a warm grey paint for the road:

    This is how it looks after some India Ink wash:

    I made the quay wall with some Wills bricks and some timbers.
    To control the switches I use a DPDT switch to both polarise it and throw it:

    I use a wooden ball as a control-knob:

    I got some Basket liner to use as grass. As I had never tried it before it was a great experience!
    I applied it with PVA glue and I will paint it in some places to make some more variety in it:

    I think I will use some Matte medium as well to tone it down as well.
    Next, the harbour and water.
  14. M Graff
    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 advocated that all parts should be painted before assembly ...... I hate to glue together pre-painted parts, so I glued it together to a point where it wouldn´t obstruct the installation of the windows later.

    The headlights were made of solid clear plastic. That makes it very easy to make them look good.... I just masked the lamp housings and then painted them silver before I painted them with the end color. Then you get real reflectors in them!

    The purple you see here on the lenses is Maskol (liquid mask film from Humbrol).

    This is how far it could be assembled before painting. Very nice interior detail I think. Just enough detail.
    I painted the bus créme yellow, black fenders and rims, and a gray roof. I clear coated it with Future Kleer, and weathered it with a light wash.
    Here is the result:

     

    As can be seen, I have both driver and passengers in the bus
    A very nice acquaintance, which surely whetted the appetite!
     
    Source: The M-K & Eastern RR Harbour branch
  15. M Graff
    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 the chance to weather it as well B)
    It was supposed to look used but not to death.... U.S. RR´s during WW2 usually wasn´t much into cleaning the locomotives, and not particularly Port-switchers....
    It was marked for NYC, but I wanted to have it in my RR's markings: M-K & E.
    I erased the text with a fiberglass brush and then painted a layer of black (Vallejo Model Air) to completely remove all traces of the text.
    I assembled the shell and masked all the windows with Humbrol Maskol.
    I then mixed a color of 50-50 black and gray / black. Then I used that in order to tone down the black original color.

     
    The bogies were blasted with baking soda and primed with a dark gray paint.
    Radiator grilles were painted with a lighter gray color, so the dark wash would work against it.

     
    The wheels were also masked with Maskol, both the treads and bearing journals.
    Current consumption is via the journals, so no colour there!
    The wheel sides were painted black and weathered with pastel powder.

     
    The bogie sides were painted in the same way.

     
    Some decals and general weathering later, it became like this:

     
    Clearcoated with Modelmaster Dullcote B).
     
    I have also been changing a bit on the layout, the gas station that were on the front of the layout:

     
    It has been replaced by a coal merchant:

     

     

     
    And then I finally got some use for this car:

    (I really like that car, wish I could find some more of them....).
     
    PS, when I tried the SW after assembly, it worked perfectly! Really nice to eliminate the flaws.
     
    Source: The M-K & Eastern RR Harbour branch
  16. M Graff
    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 some work crews for the yard duties
    "Bob the brakeman", has the switch list at hand..
     

    It looks a bit more "yard like" now I think...
     
    Source: The M-K & Eastern RR Harbour branch
  17. M Graff
    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 couldn´t allow myself to paint it red!
    Since my layout is depicting a big city in New England during World War II, one can imagine that there were variations on the theme.
    Then I had an idea, because both the model year on the fire engine was a bit old, and it was wartime, it could be "normal" that they used older equipment as rescue vehicles.
    In my case, I checked around and saw a lot of references to older material which was painted and served during the war. Several used by the U.S. Navy, and painted intermediate blue!
    Said and done! That decided it.
    A U.S. Navy fire engine, stationed in the harbor as an emergency vehicles in case of bombing or other sabotage (or even an explosion in the nearby "Hughes Industries" ).
    This is the result:

     

     

    I´m satisfied B)
    Edit: I made a period picture of it:

     
    Source: The M-K & Eastern RR Harbour branch
  18. M Graff
    I've had some thoughts about the freelance prototype when building a freelance layout as I´m doing ....
    When I started the construction of my layout, I envisioned it located in Maine somewhere (a bit vague ...)
    The name of the company came after the initials of me and my wife ;-)
    "M-K & E RR" = Michael & Kerstins Enskilda Järnvägar
    (Michael & Kerstins Private RR)
    Something has to give when you get to build the layout in the living room ...
    The "real" readout of the name I had back then was:
    "The Maine-Kennebunkport & Eastern RR".
    It was to be situated and have its route around Portland somewhere (unclear where ...).
    Now, I have had the opportunity to study some more maps and so on, and after some thought, and suggestions from some acquaintances in the U.S., I´ve moved my company "a little" south to Connecticut and Rhode Island!
    That also goes together a lot better with the kind of car-float operation that I have.
    This is the route as it looked in 1943:

    The company was first named "The Berlin and Mystic Railway" when it started in 1911.
    The owner, Colonel Michaels, who was a cousin of the area's greatness; Woodrow Wilson (The U.S. 28:th President and Professor of Political Economics at Wesleyan University in Middletown).
    The Colonel had made his fortune in manufacturing Machine parts to the shipping industry. He sold his factories to "Wilcox, Crittenden and Company" in 1903 and bought the beginning to his railway in 1905.
    The first investment was a railway line that went from Berlin Conn. to Saybrook Junction Conn.
    After a swift sale of shares, the construction of the stretch to Mystic (just before Stonington) could be initiated in 1908 . It was completed in 1911.
    The First World War caused a big demand for rail transportation and the profits increased significantly.
    Construction of the eastward route to Providence was finished shortly after New Year 1915.
    Thanks to a past history in the shipping industry, Col. Michaels thought that a new locomotive driven by a "Ship engine" could be of interest ...
    The railroad was amongst the first to purchase a diesel locomotive.
    In 1925 AGEIR delivered a 300 HP 60 tons Boxcab locomotive to the Port of Middletown:

    It was supposed to replace Shay # 5, but the increased traffic during the second world war demanded that both were run simultaneously. Which the picture below, dated 1943, shows:

    After 1939, they changed the railroads name to "The Middletown-Kingston & Eastern RR", as they would not advertise a German-sounding name as it could cause some bad PR..... And the fact that the Railroad had it´s headquarter in Middletown and that the track was now stretching far beyond the Mystic, had it´s influence on the name change as well....
    The Second World War has increased the traffic by the double and the company has been able to make some new investments in new material.
    A new SW-7 for the short freight trains between Middletown and Saybrook Jct as an example:

     
    So far the story behind my Railroad
    The section of the route I have built is supposed to be situated just south of Middletown.
    And it's fun to have a little more "history" behind it all ...
  19. M Graff
    I just installed a ESU Loksound V4 micro in my Boxcab (see part 19 & 20), I used the OEM-speaker and I think it is just wonderful!
    There is noticeable improvement with this decoder compared with the 3.5.
    I bought the "empty" decoder and used my Lokprogrammer to install the sound.
    There is no soundfiles for a 1925 AGEIR Boxcab though....
    But until I can find some nice sounds to make a soundproject of my own for it,I will use the sound that I installed as a "good enough" sound.
    The sound is from a Baldwin VO6, and I think it sounds rather nice (and yes, I have rather low sounds on my locos as I find it more realistic that way).
    I made a small clip of it:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NwGXMGSxgQ
     
     
    Source: The M-K & Eastern RR Harbour branch
  20. M Graff
    I had a client that had built these from kits (brass/white metal), and he wanted them painted and weathered.
    I primed and painted them with Phoenix paints, when I got to the decaling I got into trouble (wich didn't really show at this point......).
    There were 4 sheets of decals with most decals for all for cars on one sheet. The problem was that one of the sheets looked okay..... the rest looked "old".....
    I applied them on a gloss surface and used both micro-set and micro-sol.
    There was some issues with the old decals and I applied more micro-sol.
    After that I dullcoated them (no problems so far...) and then started to weather the cars and when finished, I used ModelMaster Dullcote to seal them.
    Guess what? The old decals got frosted.....
    As the kits are old, the decals are unobtainable, so I have to tell my client that he gets a good price on the job.....
    I should have listened to my internal alarm-system.....
    Some pics:
     

    The decal on the right is an old one.....
     

    From some distance they look okay though....
     
    Thanks to Will Vale, who commented below,I touched up the edges of the decals with some of the original colour now :-)
    It isn't as visible as before. And as mentioned, not easily registered anymore.
    I really like these wagons as they sure have some great personality. :-)
  21. M Graff
    I finally got hold of a kit that I've been "needing" for some time now
    It's the Heljan Brewery! Every time that it have been on the market, I have either felt no direct need for it,
    or haven't had the finances for it.... But now I took the plunge and bought it!
    When looking at the kit, I can see why it's so popular!
    So many parts and possibilitys.... I can not build it as it's intended to be (and why would I? ).
    I started with some "bulldozing" of the part of the layout that will be the building site of the new building.

     
    I had already built the sections of the kit that would be situated here.
    I measured twice and cut once, so to say....
     
    This is how the partially assembled building looks like, when placed where it's to be:

  23. M Graff

    Part 3: Water and piers

    By M Graff,

    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 bridge in position. After some Web browsing, I found this on eBay:

    I only had to build the float apron, add some small details to it and paint it :

    I then turned to the making of the water.
    To start with, I primed the surface with Acrylic white Gesso. Then I made some ripples and waves with gesso and some gel medium:

    I was careful not to make the waves to irregular as they have a certain pattern in reality.
    I started with a basic medium sea blue colour (Vallejo), and made some variety in it by mixing some sea blue into it. I then followed the waves with a fan brush with some light blue in it:

    The next step was to highlight the top of the waves:

    To tone it down I added a "glaze" of medium blue mixed with matte medium, I made it translucent enough to just show the different hues underneath.
    Then I added the final highlights using pure white on the wavetips to simulate foaming:

    To make it look like water I only had to glosscoat it. I used Future floor polish. It is an acrylic polymer clear that turns out very gloss!
    I applied it with a wide brush in four heavy layers, and I´m very satisfied with the result:


    My next installment will handle the various buildings on the layout.
  25. M Graff
    As it was shown in another forum a scratchbuilt Camelback, I just felt like that was something I had to try!
    The one shown was a 0-6-0 type, but I don't have any suitable donors for that....
    After looking in the Steam locomotive cyclopedia, I saw a Reading 2-8-0 Camelback.
    That meant we were in business!
     
    To give some insight into the project we start by showing the donor for the conversion:

    A Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 Consolidation with a Soundtraxx decoder (retrofitted). It's a fantastic locomotive in relation to the price. But as I have too many, it would be fun to be able to convert it into a "more appropriate" locomotive ....
     
    Bachmann's locomotive is very similar with an Illinois Central locomotive, but not with a Camelback:

    Here is the locomotive on top of the drawing of an IC 2-8-0 locomotive.
     
    Camelback locomotives with a 2-8-0 wheel arrangement is a little bit smaller however, at least the kind I have the drawings of.

    It all works but will be convincing with some selective compression, or rather expansion as the donor engine is a bit longer in the wheelbase ....
     
    I started by removing the shell from the locomotive and removed all lose parts! : O
    Then I made a new boiler of Plasticard, I made it by rolling plasticard on a metal tube of suitable diameter (22 mm in my case), and then dip it in boiling water for 5 minutes. When it cooled, it retains the shape!
     
    I took the cab from the donor and made a new rear end that fitted the boilers shape. Then I did the fire box in the same principle as the boiler, though I used a bent brass sheet for that form instead. The roof over the fireman is from an extra ALCO RS-3 cab I had in my scrap box.

    I glued the stack, domes, bell, air pump, alternator, and tanks in place and suddenly it starts to look like a locomotive!
     
    Here is the finished result:

     

    The coal tender is a bit on the large side though. A may be in order.....
    I will post more pics as the build continues.
     
     
    Source: The M-K & Eastern RR Harbour branch
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