Hi folks…here’s my follow up story (with lotsa PIX) to buying some really cheapo vehicles from Walmart:
UncaRoggie:
Wow, those little thingies are really GROSS! I love’ em. [:P] I like the weathering, it makes them look like they’ve really been digging around in some SERIOUS muck. Neat. [bow]
My only complaint is that I’ve NEVER been able to find stuff like that in the Walmart here in Sacramento. I have a feeling that there’s no uniformity at all in their toy departments from store to store. I remember one other poster who found some incredible ‘period’ HO cars at one Walmart, when I went in to see–and finally, after going bleary in the toy aisles looking, asked a clerk–all I got was a blank look. “I dunno.” [%-)]
But you sure lucked out!
Tom [:D]
Thanks, but I may have overdone the weathering on the excavation items…my wife had a look, and kept saying, “Oh, no, they are WAY too ugly!”
Thing is, I don’t think I’ve ever seen such equipment looking new, except maybe at a Finning yard where they sell them. In any event, the beauty of this technique is that I can UN DO the ugliness. (Its important in model railroading that things be PRETTY, right?)
sigh
Oh, wait…I was also going to suggest you try doing Walmart dot com as an internet shopper, to see if you can buy this stuff that way, since it doesn’t get shipped (or maybe it just doesn’t last on the shelves) at your local Wallymart.
I love it!!! They look like the company doesn’t take care of them much----serious muck!!![bow]
I have all kinds of water colours up here—my wife will be kind of—well—er—irritated that she could never find the things but what the hey----[:-,][:-^][swg]
As they were completely rebuilding the street near where I live, I have seen a lot of construction equipment this summer and fall.
I would say that you got it about half right, that is specifically the lower half. Most of the construction equipment I have observed in operation is usually much cleaner above the treads. The cabs especially would never be let get that dirty, because that creates a comfort and saftey issue for the operator.
Dern, those things look like they’ve been through hell and back! Great work!
Here’s what’s a little funny about the observation that the upper half should be not as dirty as the bottom: I already DID remove about half the crud I’d applied up there! I thought I should at least let the nicely done signs and so forth, be legible.
But, as I’m about to attack some of the REALLY cheapo vehicles today, (those kind that come in a pack of six, and NO amount of weathering will ever allow them to be placed on the front of the layout or diorama)—I will remove some “upper gunk” from those excavation vehicles…have to keep the wife happy, right?
Just an FYI…my local K-mart had some really nice 1:87 semi trucks today for $3.99. They were made by Norscott scale models. They would be great for some intermodal trailers! I’ll pick one up and snap some pics of it next time I am out.
I went shopping for some loads today…here are some pics of those trucks. They are quite nice for $3.99! I just wish they had some without the airfoil.
I picked up some 1:87 Dozers on clearance too…
Wow…those trucks look quite realistic and detailed, alright…for about 20% of the price I’ve seen listed in model railroad catalogs.
You’ve got a big job ahead of you, making those screaming yellow “CAT” items appear less toylike…suspending one on a string, into a sewer, for a couple months, may do the trick. Or, you could try splotching tempera on them, like I did!
By the way, I had at those rather lame looking vehicles mentioned above…and overdid it again. All passenger vehicles really need, is something to kill the sheen off the plastic (especially the absurd “chrome” bits).
Despite how there ARE some people who keep their cars real CLEAN and shiney, they just look pretty silly on a small scale layout. So I had to UN DO my globs of paint, on them—thankfully a super easy chore, just dabbing a wet kleenex. Best of all: it left a dull finish behind, if I didn’t SCRUB.