I thought I’d get this started even though I’m not ready yet. I have to make a trip into the 'Burg**."** In truth anyone can and should start this post, but I figured y’all might be a little shy.
Again the purpose of this thread is to show off what you got done this week, be it painting a scale mail box or completing a 1:1 replica Challenger.
Show us whatch done did.
OK, I got a bit of modelling squeezed in between hanging a full-scale door and setting up for our gourmet club Saturday night.
Here’s this week’s installment of Charlotte’s Web. I’ve cut a piece of foamboard to level out the space, and raised up one corner of the Swift packing plant so that the throw rod from the switch machine I hid under it can get out. Once I settle on an exact position, I’ll probably cut a notch in the building. Your eyes don’t deceive you, and it’s not a weird camera angle. The building is crooked.
Here’s a pig’s-eye view of the idyllic Paradise for Porkers retirement home where Wilbur will spend his final days, unless pigs learn to fly and he gets away. What I’ve built so far is the front part of one-half of the Walthers stockyard kit. I cut off the back corral/shed so it would fit in the space between the tracks, and I’ll put that sideways a bit further down. I’ve got some more fencing to put in, and then I’ll do some ground cover.
I am going to build a N scale shelf layout (folded dog bone 16’ long). I purchased roadbed, track, turnouts, 2 loco’s, 19 rolling stock, and a bunch of misc stuff needed to lay the track.
Here is all of the stuff sitting on a 30" x 60" of ply that will be my test track (to make sure that everything works correctly).
I got the test track (oval) completed and unpacked the loco’s and a few of the rolling stock. Here are both loco’s running on the test track.
For you Digitrax Zephyr users out there: I brought the Zephyr up from my workbench (where I had been using it with decoder pro for several months) and had to go back down and get the manual just to find out how to change the loco address on the programming track (I left the computer interface on the work bench). Who sez that you do not need a manual to use the Zephyr?
I’ve spent some time superdetailing a loco.
Here’s a shot with Cannon & Co fans
This is actually a Kato GP35 with the fan blades painted silver and the grill repainted. Not a bad way to go for those that are unsure of drilling holes in a perfectly good shell for Cannon fans
Still more superdetailing to do.
Speaking of painting small ridiculous things, I needed more fire hydrants , had one, don’t know where it came from , so I made a mold and cast six more in resin , painted them this morning, need to touch them up a bit.
I’ve worked with scenery at the east end of Third Street District, this is the west end of Westport.
And I’ve made some videos. More at my blog.
Wolfgang
I saw your step by step picks in the other thread and I was wondering what you used to make the holes. It almost looks as if you plunged an end mill to get such a clean holes.
The final image looks really good, great job.
Sorry to quote with the photo, but it is necessary. The pic above is NOT the Cannon fan installation. It is the stock fan cast into the Kato GP35. The fan blades were painted silver and the grills were then repainted black. It looks very good, even when compared to the Cannon fans on the SD40-2
The holes were cut by hand. I first center mark the fan. Then drilled a small hole with a pin vise. The hole is then enlarged using a reamer, carefully maintaining its centering within the fan housing. With the reamer I can actually ream out the fan and leave just the shroud sticking up. The reamer allows me to get the exact diameter hole need for the fan base. All in all, maybe 5 minutes work per fan.
JK,
Thanks for the quick response. I know you model HO, I had only seen grills available in N scale and I’d never seen a kit as complete as the one you used. Are those available for N scale?
Nice work guys. My work has been pretty mundane. I have 5 turnouts complete for my new layout. I need to build 5 more to lay my track. I was hoping to get it done this weekend, but oh well. The good news is I now have it down to two hours. I thought they would go much quicker.
SpaceMouse, How do you build your turnouts? They look good. What are the advantages/disadvantages of building your own? More reliable, Custom radius, Are they a kit form or do you buy the rails etc and start from there? I am not completly satisified with mine and might consider building my own on my next layout. E-mail or PM me if you would like, I hate to hijack a mans post. Mike
These are from a Fast Tracks Jig. The main advantage is that they are in guage and failure and derails are uncommon as long as your wheels are in guage. Commercial turnouts are known to be out of NMRA tolerances fairly often.