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M Graff

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Blog Entries posted by M Graff

  1. 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
  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
    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)
  5. 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:

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

     
    I made this as well:
     

    I think it worked out well.
  7. M Graff

    Part 6: Shay conversion

    By M Graff,

    Hello in the cold .
    I took the opportunity while I'm still snowed in to address a couple of projects I have been keeping on the shelf.
    The first is my Shay locomotive. It is a H0 scale, 3 truck 80-ton Shay from Bachmann and their Spectrum series.

    The locomotive has led to many concerns, repairs and other headaches....
    The first thing that happened was that the Tsunami sound decoder that I ordered did not fit ....
    So I had to build a new tender shell from brass to make it fit:

    Then the drive gears on the drive line cracked one by one ... :? .
    Luckily, NWSL in the U.S. makes new gears made of steel instead of the originals that are in plastic!
    Then the locomotive worked "good", except that it was not possible to back up through a switch, because then the middle boogie would derail guaranteed.
    I was doing all sorts of adjustments and fine-tuning without much success.
    Then I thought: :-Aha! I can rebuild it.!
    I had already mounted the sound decoder in another of my locomotives (that happens ...),
    and I had just bought a Lenz Gold decoder, the foundation for the project was laid.
    I've always appreciated the look of two truck Shay´s, and to rebuild it from three truck to two truck ought to work.
    I dismantled the whole locomotive into pieces:

    And after some measurements I put the saw firmly to the chassis!
    I cut off a piece of the chassis behind the rear bolster and cut the tender chassie in the same place. I glued together the two halves with epoxy and reinforced the joint with carbon fiber rods. I then used epoxy with micro balloons in it to reinforce it:

    Top View.
     

    Bottom.
     
    When it was finished I cut the original tender shell so that it fit tightly against the cab backside.
    A little wiring later (I made it all new), that was it:

    It works much better than before in every way, and it does not look so clumsy as before. Now it fits well as a Port switcher on my layout.
    It took 5 hours of work, but it was not much else I could have done instead .....
  8. M Graff
    Hi all DCC fans!
    I use the Roco Multimaus digital system, and of course I do appreciate that they have done a very ergonomic handset.
    But the designer that chose the color ought to have been sent on retraining

    Sure, the red may well be neat, but not on a controller .... Looks almost a bit "so" ....
    I did this to mine today:
     
    Dismantling it took about 5 minutes, of which three minutes were spent finding a suitable screwdriver ...

     
    I cleaned the cover with soap and water, and mixed in a little spirit to accelerate the evaporation.
    Then I primed it with a black primer:

     
    Then came the real fun .
    I wanted a personal touch, so I thought that I would have stars on the upper part of it, clouds in the middle and fire at the bottom.
    I used white in my Iwata CM-B airbrush to sketch it up freehand:

     

    The back got a little more clouds and a locomotive at the bottom (it IS a Train accessory after all...).
     
    Then I added the colors from light to dark and I finished with some white for highlights.
    This is how it looks before Varnishing:

     
    I finished it with a satin-finish spray varnish which I let dry for about five hours before I assembled it:

     

     
    I'm pretty happy with the result, now there is no doubt about whose hand control it is .
     
    Source: Pimp my Multimaus!
  9. M Graff
    It was time to do something about the background as it had been neglected due to other activities, such as building houses and such .
    I didn´t like to sit at the layout doing all the details that are inevitable when making a city....
    I bought some high quality artist poster board and went to work on it, sitting at my workplace.
     
    I put the board on the backdrop to draw all the existing buildings.
    I then printed out some nice photos of houses along with some books I have for inspiration.
    I use ordinary artist acrylics and start with blocking in the major parts:

    (yup the whiskey is mandatory when making backdrops )
    As can be seen I have started on the houses nearest the observer.
    After some time it looks like this:

    I then cut it out with a scalpel and used a gluestick to apply it on the backdrop:

    This is how it looks so far:

    I´m really satisfied with the result. Now it´s only the rest of the 10 foot background to do B)
    Then to make the clouds as well.
  10. M Graff

    Part 4: Marine vessels

    By M Graff,

    My layout is thought to be situated on the US eastern shore in the vicinity of Maine. It is a shortline with it´s major traffic generated through the Harbour and the Car float operation.
    I had already made the Car float apron so now I "only" had to make a Car float .
    Initially I had actually wanted to use the Walthers float, but the scarcity of it and the very high prices on it made me plan a build of my own instead.
    As I had some plans from Sylvan scale, and a lot of pictures from the Web, it made it easy to make some plans for a Car float that would suit my needs. I like the appearance of the "Station-floats" (the ones with two tracks and a center platform), So that was what I was aiming at.
    I started with two big Balsa planks (it´s good to be a model airplane builder as well...), I glued them together and sawed them to shape with my band saw. And primed it with some sanding sealer before I sanded down the grain.

     
    I glued the rails to it and made the deck from 1,5 mm balsa sheet that I scribed planks in with a pencil.
    To make the hull plates, I used Aluminum tape and applied at all over the metal areas. I glued some mahogany strips as rubbing strakes on the hull sides.

     

     
    I painted the hull black and stained the deck with India Ink. I weathered the hull very heavily as it is prototypical for the timeframe.

     
    I made the railings from brass wire and the platform from wood strips.

     

     
    It really makes the place in the scene I think.

     
    To pull the Car float I needed a Tugboat as well. And again was the available kits very expensive...
    As luck would have it, I already had a Lindbergh diesel tug that I got really cheap on a sale a few years back.
    It is in 1:90 scale, but that doesn´t really make a difference to me.
    This is how it looks in original:

     
    Here is the BEDT Tug Invincible that I used as an inspiration:

     
    I sawed off the bottom of the hull to make it into a waterline model, and I replaced the bridge with a new built from styrene.
    I made a new chimney from brass to backdate it to steam powered. It is more like the RR tugs of the Eastern shore now.

     

     
    I painted it to represent a Tug that had been around for a while but not too beaten up.
     
    That concludes the ship building for this layout B), in the next installment I will concentrate on the city.
  11. 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.
  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.
  13. M Graff

    Part 8: Some details

    By M Graff,

    I got some nice stuff from my wife this Christmas, a bunch of laser-cut fire escapes and park benches from "Imagine That Laser Art" in Canada.

    They were not exactly hard to build, but a bit time-consuming
     

    A little paint on it, then it will look good.
     

    I just had to see how it looks when it´s in place.
     
    The Fire escapes is very nicely designed. I have looked at some of the others on the market, but they are too ornamented to be suited in a more basic setting.

    One package is sufficient for two stories. so in this case it requires 1 ½ packages.
     

    It looks pretty decent even at close range. Laser cut plywood is very well suited to do this sort of things.
     

    Only the rest of the details to be attached, and some weathering and.........
    Really great products, and nicely priced too.
  16. 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.
  17. 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
  18. M Graff
    Evening all!
    Sometimes a lot of things happen at once.....
    After living and working near were we live for the last 12 years, we have now decided to relocate.
    We have just signed the deal for this house:

    Not so very far away though, only about 12 kilometers from were we live now,
    but it's a very much better accomodations for both me and my wife.
    Both the communications and the house is better suited for our current needs.
    My wife attends University for her theological candidacy, and I'm studying history and architecture.
    That, together with the house purchase,
    means that there will be much less time for me to both write here and build on my layout
    We will also have to sell our present house in the summer,
    so a lot of work then as well.....
    One advantage is that we will be debt free then.
    Other bonuses are that I will get a much better room for my layout,
    and I will get a LARGE workshop with a very big spraybooth!
    A bit scary to take the plunge, but sometime it's the right way to go....
  20. M Graff
    Hello everyone!
    I have built a bridge that I've longed to build for many years!
    Namely the Central valley 150 foot Pratt truss bridge in HO!
    It may probably be one of the trickier bridge kits on the market ..
    I think it may have something to do with that it is built of loose beams that has to be cut to the right lengths and angles ..... But the end result more than outweigh the difficulties.
    I built it as a dual gauge bridge with both HO and HOn3 gauges.
    With a bit of painting and weathering it will probably be a jewel on my layout.

     

    To be continued.

    Continued:
    A comparing pic of the CV bridge and Vollmer's version.
     

  21. M Graff
    My brass Sunset models K-27 is finished.
    This has been a long road....
    First I had to sort out the power pickups, and added phosphor bronze wipers.
    Then I replaced the worm with a new one from NWSL.
    The next was installation of a Econami decoder with stay alive and dual speakers.
    The worst problem was that the drive wheels were out of gauge (and so was the tender wheels...).
    I corrected that, and finally I could paint it!
    I used Scalecote 1 engine black and baked it in the oven.
    Then I painted the details with water based paint and a brush.
    The decals are from San Juan, and it was a quick job to apply them.
    The weathering is a mix of various water based paints except for the rods and valve gear which got some MIG engine oil wash (oil based).
    Now I just have to add some details, such as cab curtains, water bags and such and crushed coal in the tender.
     

     

     

     

     

  22. M Graff
    So, finally part 50!
    I have started the benchwork.
     
    It's 1/2" construction Plywood that I had the lumber yard rip for me in 5" widths.
     
    I have glued and nailed the modules together.
     
    The longest sections will be 8' and no one wider than 2'.
     
    That will make it easier to move if needed.
     
    This is the first two sections:
     

  23. M Graff
    Thomas Yorke's kit of the "Pool Hall and Bordello" in HO scale.

    Finished!
     

    Front
     

    Primed the castings with grey and started the stone color.
     

    I paint the stones with a light ochre.
     

     

     

     

     
    The floor:

    I used the Vallejo wood paint set.
     

    Looks nice when dry.
     
    The fronts are very time consuming to build, as they need to be built to fit.

     

     

    Interior wall for the stair well.
     
    Most of the building assembled.

     
    The rooms are lit up with SMD LEDs

     

     

     
    Rear:

     

     

     

     
    Side:

     
    Roof details:

     

     

     
    Fuel tank;

     
    Interior:

     

     
    Details:

     
    I'm very happy with the result.
  24. M Graff
    I made an updated trackplan that is more accurate.

    The track laying is progressing.



    The tracks around Holy Cross jct are getting closer to being finished.... (yes, the town is named to give me some bonus points with my resident priest. It's not easy being a priests "wife" ) 
     
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