I painted my tractors today. I had a spas moment where I dropped the airbrush and in the fumble broke 2 of the tractors. I lost the seats, but was able to glue the wheels back on:
Funny thing is I was so dialed into the the wheels and engine I didn’t notice missing seats! Very nice as always!
For those who were following Rob's Motel 6 project I wanted to tell you about the one I just received from him a couple of days ago. To say it is amazing does not do it justice. The detail, the lighting, the excellent craftsmanship all make for one amazing structure. I feel honored to have it, and it will become a centerpiece on my layout for sure! Thanks Rob! Steve W
Well noted on the wheels. I painted a couple of Carlos Pinto tractors and it was a struggle to paint the tires apart from the rim area and not have it look choppy. Like you Joe, that was the first thing my eyes were drawn to was the tires. Funny story about losing small parts in carpet (if that is the case here), but as a kid working on an N-scale loco, I lost a pinion joint of one I was working on. It fell right into our 1970s shag carpet. To find the part, I took a pair of pliers and knowing the area were it had potentially fell into, I grabbed a section of that carpet with the pliers and pulled the carpet upwards. This raises about a square foot or so of the carpet, depending on how far you pull up. Then I proceeded to hit the lifted carpet area with my palm to loosen anything up that may be lodged in the carpet. You’d be surprised at all the little things that pop up to the carpet surface. Used this technique many times over the years……
My eyes go right to the tire and rim painting as well. A while back I stumbled across a stack of HO decals from my...shall we say scale adventures? Microscale set 87-1343 caught my eye for skinny black lines, then I noticed the silver marker light decals. They looked about right so I tried it. On Carlos' Mack they fit the front rims just fine. This does not help the rear axles with deeper rims, but it's a start. For my 3D designs I've been exaggerating the rims to help with painting. I'm also experimenting with separate tires. Once I nail down the tolerances etc. I plan to convert all of my designs to separate tires. Steve W
The industrial dumpsters arrived for my mill T-Trak-Z module. A big thank you to Walter Smith for these! I used a brown primer for the interiors. I then used dark blue and red paints to represents bins for different types of metals. The blue one is being used for stainless steel, and the red bins for steel bi-products. Once the paint dried, I applied a layer of Matt Medium to the bottom of the containers. As Robert Ray always says, "Nothing looks more like a material than the material itself... so that is what I went with. I added the stainless steel shavings, and the rusted steel wool to the bins. I cut up the steel wool into very small pieces first. I used a blunt end of a brush to carefully push the metals into the Matt Medium. The final step was to brush on some different powered rust colors. My main goal for the powders was for it to fall into any remaining exposed Matt Medium. This would help reduce the sheen that could happen when it dried. Note I used more non-rusted steel wool on the right bin. I wanted a little variety. Who says you can't detail in Z like you can in the other scales!
Rob, Looks great! Nice idea using the steel wool. I like your weathering job on the bins, and the tracks as well. Scott
Thanks! I used Model Masters' RUST enamel stain marker for the rails. Super easy to use. Just run it along the inside and outside of the rail. It also hits the spike heads at the same time. Once dry, clean the top of the rails and you are done.
Steve Woodward NJ - please check your “conversations”. I sent you a couple of questions regarding the 3-D printer you’re using. For some reason it says message bounced???
Lance, I have no idea why it would have bounced. I sent you my email address in a new conversation. Steve W
Email sent. Yeah it was weird, I’ve never seen that bounce back notification before. May have been a one time glitch in the system.
I was working on some wood decks for the MTL Army series 60' flatcars, and I found that I had 3 MTL 60' bulkhead flatcars in my junk box. Since they are almost the same as the Army flat, I decided I wanted to modify mine into Trailer Train THHX Heavy Equipment Flatcars like they had in the day. These were a 1966 build date car, and have the tie-down Chock Strips on the inside between wheels or tractor treads as well as on the outsides of the car. Next I lasercut new carsides and chock strips, sanded down all the molded on detail from the deck and sides, primed and painted the car silver before Floquil TTX Yellow. By painting the car silver first, the yellow will cover in one coat and any slight scratches will reveal silver bare metal underneath. Next I cut the decks following the diagram Hobo Tim sent me when he made his 60' TTX cars, and made decks that fit the MTL car. Then I made decals, applied them, applied the decks, distressed them heavily following photo examples, and applied custom etched brakewheels that Tim also etched for me back in the day. So, I had to do something with the MTL trucks, which was a bit of rust effects, and rusted the wheels. I lasercut what I'm calling a "Wheel Bobbin" to hold the Fox Valley metal wheels for easy rust effects painting, and that turned the job into a few minute pleasure instead of the lengthly nightmare it was before. I also added the blue sharpie trick on the roller bearing tips of the trucks for that added flair. Now I think they are ready for some of SouthernNScale Walt's 3D load. Reference Photo:
Rob, Beautiful work on those cars! The decks look great. Nice idea on the wheel bobbin. I think I'm going to use that. Scott
