Neat idea, very well executed. Something must be in the water or the air in Norway, you guyZ just kick a**.
Home Sweet Home! Today is Friday the 18th. I have been home for a few days and it is awesome. First thing I did was inspect my work shop to see what needed to be accomplished to start get'n buZy with the Hobby!!! Heat and Humidity prevailed as the champ. No way I'm going to be able to work in here, even with fans blowing on me. Ugh!!!! Start of a hot summer season, what a great time to return home. Solution; A/C the workshop. It's already half enclosed with wood paneling(2 car garage). I put up some HD plastic sheeting to enclose the area I want to use to work in. Then purchased a 110v A/C unit and installed it in the panel'd part facing the garage door. Now it is comfortable, not freezing. Only issue is I have to leave the garage door open to exhaust the heat of the A/C. Anyways, the shop, as of right now, is in working order. Photo of what is on my workbench! Lots of Z projects to start/continue to work on. First up, SD70ACe's. Then the rest!! Feel free to copy/paste this photo, then magnify to your hearts content. Some nice hidden project in this bunch!! :tb-biggrin: ...... and that's a view of what's on my Workbench!!! WHat's on yours? Hobo Tim
I finally got around to building up the Randy Brown Utility Truck; that I wanted to have ready for Medford. Oh well, better late then never. It's a great kit; built up easily and looks perfect for my old ESPEE MoW truck. I painted it up with Poly Scale acrylics and weathered it with powder. I did add a tool box in the bed and made up some license plates too. Now I need to buy some Randy Brown Trailers for my ESPEE pig service. Bill Mock
Looks like you are going to need a bucket truck and a crew, the wires are all down on those utility poles! Looks like the copper bandits at work again. ha, ha - amazingly realistic!
laugh: I sold the copper to pay for this layout! My hair's a little friZZy now, but I'm not too crispy. Bill Mock
Hi Lajos, it’s a trick that I learned rendering building windows. I start by painting the entire window area dark gray or black. When it has dried, I paint over the black windows with a translucent wash to emulate a sun and sky reflection. For this wash I use a dab of Poly Scale GN Glacier Green, ATSF Blue, Reefer White and a hint of Flat Aluminum with lots of water. I pool the wash in areas that I want more colored reflections and use less in areas that I want to see thru to the dark cab interior. Several washes may be required to achieve the desired reflections. But let the washes dry between layers. To finish off the windows, I paint them with a heavy coat of Poly Scale Clear Gloss Finish. Have FUN! Bill Mock
Great job on that ESPEE MoW truck Bill! Very creative with the window treatment! I also love the weathering on the locomotives- looks just like the real thing-SP was not known for their clean equipment. : )
I agree, Bill's work is excellent! I really enjoyed seeing lots of his models in person at the Z convention.
Bill great tip on the windows. I really like the Randy brown vehicels. I have several. They might be one of the most underrated Z products out there.
Here is the progress on my work desk/bench. The center pictures are the cabooses that I have built from kits. A CN caboose converted to Athabaska Northern and another one in green waiting for the decalling along with a CNR Pt Claire kit waiting for some more detail work before decalling and the yellow CSX waiting for decalling. In the foreground of the center picture is this mornings project. I used parts of two Hallmark coaches to create a dining car for my passenger train consist of Hallmark cars. Pictures of the diner are the left two and both sides are shown. I also created two coaches by following someone else's idea of converting the observation into twin window coach. This car is in the picture to the right of center. The was done by cutting the vestibule off of what was left of the car body used to build the diner. This gave me two vestibule ends which converted the two observations cars to coaches. Left to do is the full baggage as I already have the post office car. This will give me a 12 car consist of Hallmark cars with 2 PA's to pull it. I am working on another coach window layout and have made the molds and will try casting them. mold is the most right hand picture.
I have a CN Pointe St Claire caboose on the bench as well, awaiting decals. This is my first foray into building anything; the learning curve has been a little steep, and it has taken me far longer than originally anticipated, but it's still having fun...after all, that's what it's all about, isn't it? Scott
Othello, to me the learning curve is what it is all about. In fact, I have to say, taking time is the number one thing that people need to do in this hobby. great work!
I hope everybody in enjoying a great summer Holiday weekend in Canada and the USA. Here in Niagara Falls it is hot and sunny and the fireworks over the falls have been spectacular in the evenings so far this weekend and tomorrow night should be another great show. We have used our weekend to finish these projects that were sitting on our workbench to be completed before Milwaukee. They will be running on the Golden Blackhawk and Central City Layout in the NMRA National Train Show in Milwaukee July 17-19th. A Pointe St. Charles Canadian National Van which still needs a few grabs at the roof line behind an SD75i. A CSX caboose, this is a Robert Ray kit. I had to have something to go with the first SD40-2 model that I purchased. I built a second caboose kit for my Athabaska Northern, to go behind my GP38.
