A lot of us value the experience we gain through practicing the hobby. We fearlessly hack into the shells of $100 locomotives, we hang upside down under the benchwork soldering wires, and we take chunks of 2" foam and work feverishly to transform them into the Allegheny Plateau…
Tell us about the last project you worked on that pushed you beyond where you thought the limits of your talents were. It could be an electronics installation undertaken by an art major, or a custom painted engine, or perhaps some scenery acrobatics you’d never tried before, or maybe even a model photography trick you tried.
It’s important to talk about how it turned out, and what you learned from the experience. Scale is not an issue, unless the project involved working in a new scale that you hadn’t dabbled in before.
As always, photographic evidence is always a plus…
Okay… Discuss…
Lee, you’re a tough guy to top in terms of modelling ability, but someone has to rise to the challenge and put his mouse in his mouth.
A couple of months ago, it was time to tackle water. I’d never done a significant “water feature” before, and I was kind of intimidated by the whole thing. I did a few test pours with Envirotex on a piece of scrap foam, and I found a lot of information on a couple of threads over in Layouts and Layout Building. Again, I must credit Joe Fugate for his excellent photo essay on “making water.”
“We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” Winston Churchill. Was this guy a model railroader? Did he have that feeling in the pit of his stomach when he attacked his scenery in some unforgiving manner, in hopes of making it better? Well, then, the Prime Minister and I have something in common. I was petrified at starting this. But, with guidance from forum members, I did go out and make the mill pond behind the Weimer’s Mill, and the stream. I was so happy with the results that I kept going, and built a short trestle over some more water beyond the main line…
I once tried to push myself away from the dinner table and found that exceeded my limitations and talents!
Seriously though…everything I have tackled in building my first layout has pushed me to the limit at times (except for the benchwork) because I’ve never done this type of work before. However, it didn’t take but about 6 months of having a mentor (published in MR) teaching me that my woodworking talents just needed to be refocused and applied to new techniques and reduced in scale. Once I finally understood that, trying new aspects of layout building such as scenery have come much easier with a lot less fear and apprehension. Here’s a shot from a portion of my layout…
I have become quite fond of my PCM Y6b, and I would say it retails as my most costly engine. It is my best puller. I think it is a fine model. So, the idea of dirtying it up left me cold. Still, it seemed that a necessary step towards realistic images means making things look realistic…used, hard working, and such. So, I dirtyed it up over two weathering sessions. I have little experience doing this, and can’t say I have had great results so far. I don’t feel I am there yet, but it does, to my eyes, look pretty convincing. I used coloured images available online as guides.
To my uneducated eyes, I think the weathering looks great! I think you need to do an out and back with that train so the engine is closer to the camera for another photo when she returns.
I’d say that pushing myself to almost the limit–and beyond–came about when I took a look at a large 6 foot long, 2 to 3 foot high of some semi-contoured raw granite I’d installed originally called “The Buttes” on the Yuba River Sub and decided “No, this is not what I really wanted.” Oh, I wanted The Buttes all right, but not how they turned out. In the meantime, I’d built a 3’ shelf in front of them that precluded leaning over and redoing them.
Step one: Get something that would allow me to reach them to reface them. I’m not that young anymore, and I can’t do my old ‘basketball’ reach as well as I used to. I found something in Micromark catalogue, the “Creeper” that would allow me to climb up and reach over and start working on them. But it wasn’t cheap. Well, should I save some money and ignore the Buttes? Hey, you only live once. I invested in it. Got started. Realized that the expanse was going to be far more than I could do with just rock-casting moulds, even BIG ones. Back to the drawing board. Found Cripplebush Rubber Rocks, they’d work pretty well on at least a PORTION of it. Ordered them in. Went back to work.
Then one night, coming in from the kitchen eating a banana, I tripped over a BLI locomotive box I though I’d put under the coffee table. Not that far, unfortunately. I fell through the glass table, ended up in the hospital for several days having my right leg rebuilt. And two months of therapy. Needless to say, I could not get up on the “Creeper” for some time. Finally got back up last week, just in time for the Fall rains out here in SunnyCal–the Buttes face my garage door and the door has to be closed during rainy weather.
So right now, The Buttes are in a kind of Limbo, half done and half-undone. I’m waiting for both my leg to feel comfortable climbi
Probably the most recent example of “pushing myself” was when I did an exact prototype replication - including weathering - of a PS-2 2600-CuFt cement hopper, starting with an Athearn RTR HO scale model. I wanted to see if I could succeed in getting it past the eagle-eyes on ModelTrainsWeathered.com.
So, armed with a few photos of my subject that I found on rrpicturearchives.net, I broke out the ol’ airbrush and applied a base layer of paint, followed by glosscote and decals; this took all of 2 or 3 days. Then I spent another 4 weeks (that’s right, four) applying the various combinations of Bragden powders, oil paints and gouache to make the model look exactly like the one in the photos. I redid the end wheel splatter patterns 3 times to get them looking right, this was what really ate up a lot of time. But in the end I achieved my goal: Several of the “top dawgs” on modeltrainweatherd complimented it - with a usual suggested “tweak”, of course! That experience gave me a great sense of satisfaction which I rarely ever feel.
I deference to Lee, who has allergic reactions whenever he sees “Chessie” anything [;)], I won’t embed the photos directly - I’ll just post this link to the MTW thread if you’re curious. On second thought, I think you need to be a member to view stuff on that site, so I’ll hafta post the pix directly after all:
The Buttes are off to a great start! Don’t fret over the lack of progress during the rainy months; the knee will have ample time to completely heal instead of rushing into working on the layout again. Just be sure to watch your step in the meantime!
Thanks greatly, Don, but you see…(gulp)…that way the engine would be a lot closer to the camera, and…um…well…then everyone could see just how bad a hash I made of it. But, sometime soon, I’ll screw up the courage to do as you ask. [:I]
Not to sound smug, but I’ve never really thought that there were limits to my talent. [swg] However, I do find that my efforts are affected by my level of interest in a project, and something started in a blaze of modelling fervor can end up less than representative of what I feel my capabilities to be if the interest dies. This occurred when a friend and I discussed the possibilities of finding an older model to modify to represent a particular prototype locomotive of which he was particularly enamoured.
We searched, on and off, for two or three years for that locomotive, until I came across it one day in a hobbyshop which I frequented. Once the loco was secured, we (mostly me, since I’d be doing the work) searched for more info on the prototype and began to order the parts which were needed. I had been formulating a sequence of tear-down and re-construction in my mind, and, as soon as the resources had been obtained, eagerly started on the project.
Not too far into the rebuild, however, an opportunity arose that required me to set aside this particular task for one involving the full-scale rebuilding/remodelling of a house, a project that consumed most of my time for the better part of a year. While I had initially been eager to get done with the renovation so that I could return to working on the loco, I realised that my passion for the project had died
I am not in the same league as you guys with my layout, but my most challenging project so far is my first craftsman kit. I love to model structures but realistically can only be considered one step up from a beginner. I got a Campbell Scale Models kit from a show and boy was I in over my head (Ayers Chair Factory). My first indication of trouble was seeing that I would have to cut all the corrugated metal siding. There were four or five different sizes and all had to be cut into different scale widths. It was tricky work since the stuff was tinner than most aluminum foil and ripped easily. I took my time, used the correct tools, a good work surface and did it without messing up to bad. I have used a lot of hints and tips from this forum and it would have been much harder to build the kit without the help. Which reminds me by the way, I have a question. The inside walls of this kit are cardstock, after all the hours I will be putting into this, I don’t want it to warp as it ages. My I have some suggestions before I finish assembly? Is bracing on the insides enough? Is there some other measure I can take? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I am not done yet so I don’t have a picture. I am learning as I go, having a blast and building my confidence along with a great looking kit.
I like to build industrial animation into my layout and here is my latest industry that allows loading and unloading of HO gravel hopper cars. Doing the electrical for the the gravel loader was my biggest challenge. This model is all scratch built except for a solenoid. Building the Gravel Loading Bunker Operating HO Gravel Dump Cars
My last “big’” challenge was putting a decoder in an N-scale Kato Mikado. But with the help of Allen Gartners tutorial I got it done.
The other big challenge is just staying motivated to work on the layout,seems like all the competent modelers around here are lone wolves, So the inspiration is sporadic, This forum helps alot and just getting in the train room does too. BILL
You’re not alone. I’ve both, scenicked part like my Third Street Industrial District and bare cork parts like my new yard at Westport. But I can have op sessions! [:)] [:)] [:)]
One of my problems is that I’m too easily distracted by other hobbies. I also like to draw and paint,build model airplanes and ships,and worwk in the yard. Bill
