Railphotog, that crane looks like it’s gonna take a bite out of your camera. Great shot! Howmus, I really like the shots of the gondolas. Mr. B, nice little trucks. I wonder how many of us also make plastic models as a hobby.
Here are a few more pictures from Japan.
The Yard Offices
Behind the Engine House
Downtown
Panoramic View of the Main Station
Have a nice weekend,
Don
Dammit JK! Always gotta step on my toes [;)]
I installed my strobe just as JK describes, except I won’t use a beacon unless it has a hole already in it like the Details West RB-106 beacon.
I’ve tried drilling my own holes in a beacon that was not pre-drilled. Forget about it. Its a PITA and extremely frustrating. I don’t have a drill press and trying to hold the strobe in a vise tended to scratch the lens.
I’ve installed 3 strobes so far and they look excellent. The cool thing about the NCE decoders is that they allow you to adjust the strobe to different flash rates and styles. Very cool.
Mike,
Microscale has a product called Micro Kristal Klear.
It’s made specifically for gluing clear plastic. It dries clear and you can even use it for making glazing in small window openings.
Sorry Bud! One question though. Why the drill press? I’ve always done mine by hand with a pin vise. The DW base is soft metal and only takes a minute or two to drill through. Now I’ve got some cast brass headlight assemblies that I want to fully light and they’re a little more difficult to drill through, but the pewter base is easy. Try it, I wouldn’t steer ya wrong.
JK, I meant the plastic strobe itself. Some come with a sprue attached and no inside hole to mount the lamp. I did use a pin vise for that. I find it near impossible to drill into the plastic lens accurately enough to allow for lamp insertion.
Very nice Don. It brought back memories of some of the model work I used to see in certain Japanese movies that played on Saturday afternoon television when I was much, much younger. Which leads to my next question: Where is Giderah? She seems to be out of the shots.
Thanks JK and Driline. Installing the strobe would be one of the last steps on building the loco right? One other thing, I got some fiber optic strands last time I stoped at the LHS. How would I form a round bulb on the end? A drop of Kristal Kleer, or heat from a soldering iron, or something else? Thanks in advance.
Yea its the last step. I didn’t use fiber. I bought some 1.2mm minatronics lamps in a pkg. of 10 for $10.95 from www.Tonystrainexchange.com . They work great and Tonys is the best! They will help you out with all your DCC needs.
Terraforming continues. first, all the pieces sitting on the work bench, Most are carved, none painted. Then, most put in place, some paint. The entrance to the box canyon (inspired by massacre site in the Superstitions) Offers a nice opportunity for two bridges, yet to be designed.
Looking good Art, one question…What are you going to do when you get to the ceiling?
I have a saws all if you would like to borrow it. Mike
I had two things I wanted to do this weekend…I was reading about the dual control article this past week and thought “why not Atlas snap switches?”
Granted, it doesn’t look as good as my main panel, but I can work the yard section without running back and forth now…
Pics of the other small project tomorrow (I had to do the switch work before I could do the next project…storage solution for the backdrops)
Very nice pictures so far. Nice work everyone! Holy crap Art, are you trying to model the Grand Canyon?! [;)] It already looks impressive.
I’ve spent the day getting things done ahead of a big storm coming in tonight. Tomorrow will be a write-off, so I’ll just relax and watch the PATS destroy the Jets. [:D]
I’ve also run out of pictures. This is the last one that I have not shown (I think). I’m not really crazy about it. It’s a wider scenic shot (with digital backdrop), but it makes it look like my layout has a tilt.
Oh, and to answer a question from last week, my trees are ‘Supertrees’ by Scenic Express.
Before I get to my pictures, I want to introduce myself as this is my first post. My name is Kyle and I live in the Cinncinnati area. I’m 18 years old and this is my first layout. It’s got a long way to go to fit in here, but it is constantly improving and I’m proud of it. Finally it’s gotten to the point where I’m not too embarassed to post.
This weekend I worked hard on my roads. Roads have definitely been a learning experience all around, but today I finished panting them and they look a lot better than I ever expected. The layout in the background on the second picture is my dad’s; an O Scale layout.
And here’s just a random image I took that I thought was pretty nice. I just have a point-and-shoot so I still have to figure out the techniques. The locomotive is an Atlas N&W SW-1500.
Kyle, welcome to the forum. You certainly don’t have anything to be embarrassed of. That must be nice to share a room with your father for modeling. Once again, welcome![#welcome]
The roads look really good. I hadn’t thought about adding that wide white strip at the crossroads. I’ll have to add that to my own layout. Thanks for the idea.
I looked up the Manual to Uniform Traffic Control as kind of a guidelines for my markings. I didn’t bother with the dimensions, however, because doing the crossing signs and everything at the ‘correct’ distance looked wrong. To make the lines I used these ‘paint pens’ that I got at a craft store. They could stand to be a little finer point, but it was the best technique I could think of.
How did You wire your working strobe light? I have an proto 2000 Gp9 that I have custom painted in a Great Western Rwy scheme {colorado sugar beet rr…not the chicago & great western}.The prototype also had a strobe,so I would like to add a strobe to mine.I will put a MRC decoder in mine also.Anyway if You have any tips please respond,Thanks,Ron
Very nice Kyle!
I am a teen too, 14 and a freshman. (boo - i know that’s what your doing lol)
Anyways, we have a forum for Teens here.
It’s called the Teen railfan/ model railroader place. Nice people, good modelers, good pictures.
All in all, welcome aboard.
Great pics so far everybody
mabruce that lake in your pic looks great, though the picture does seem tilted as you said
Art’s canyon work is amazing looking as usual
Well i did some work earlier this week
finished painting my basic backdrop, just blue with some white blended in to start my horizon
more details will be added, but not until some of the basic scenery work goes in
overall though im very happy with it, I’ll start laying track this week : D
I’m right there with you. My layout is about to be torn down soon too.