A new Intermodal Scene for Z Track Intermodal Will use this Thread to post all Intermodal related topics in the future! Hobo Tim
Tim, is that the new MMM 53" container? I also order some containers from MMM. It looks like you are overwhelming them. My order is back up for two weeks.
Nice display, and wow, nice neighborhood! A house like I see in the background would knock down 1.5 out here. That Intermodal stuff you are doing Tim, must be very lucrative!
Hi Tim, good idea. I'm quiet new to the american Z theme; was former only in german steam. Intermodal is definitaly interesting to me. Is the container crane scratch built?
Outstanding work Tim! I gotta say I am not a modern guy but what a sweet model...you even got the worn rubber from the tires on the concrete. Very nice!
Wow!!! I didn't expect such great responses to this message thread. Cool!!! ------------- John I have no orders with MMM yet, so not sure why they gave you a two week backorder. Maybe it's end of school and they want a vacation, or their regular business is overwhelming them!! It's hard to say with MMM as the MMM business is more a hobby to them. Robert The house in the background was about $180,000 two years ago. They are trying to sell them here for $220+ now with no luck!!! Hah!!! Greedy Home Builders!!! And No, the Z intermodal is still a striving entity. Gerd The Mi-Jack crane in the photo is indeed scratchbuilt. I have had it for 3 years now. It was the third Z scale model I ever scratchbuilt and the most prized!!! I have since built several from cast resin and etched metal and am working on a batch right now. The crane makes the scene!!!! Joe This small concrete intermodal section has an embedded MTL flex track running thru it. The Thrall well cars are hidding it. No ties can be seen, just styrene concrete and rail. This is my very first try at weathering. I have a large set of Bragdon powders I have had for several months now. This was the first time I opened them up. I have to say, I need lots of practice before I can even think I am doing any good. Weathering is an extreme art!!! ------------------------ Thanks for your posted messages!!!! Hobo Tim
Very nice touch with the weathering! I like the embedded trackwork too, don't even see the flange gap. I gotta move. Can I just pay cash to move into the 3 houses around you? I should have about $700 K left after I sell my Sillycon Valley home.
Hmmmmm John Forgot to mention, that 53' container in the photo is from my cast resin batch from days gone by. I still have a few in my collection. This one is lucky as it will be a display piece now!!! I have yet to make any more containers. Jeff The sub-division I live in is approximately 45 minutes (Bat out of Hell) from downtown Atlanta, minus heavy traffic. I live in the NW part of Georgia. Where the mountains meet the hills. Very nice here. Love the weather compared to Texas. Man I am a huge Texas fan, probably the biggest you'll ever know, but the temperature and humidity SUCKS!!!!!!! Houses in this sub-division are all but sold, but alot of people are moving to other parts of the country and their houses are up for sale. This sub-division is probably 3-4 years old. The majority of the homes are two stories and are about $280,000 each. More sub-divisions down the road with nice homes too!!! The thing I like about where I live, the old Seaboard Line is down the hill from me. The Georgia Northeastern operates the shortline. I hear the locos every day. Cool!!!!! ------------------------------ Update for all those people waiting on Mi-Jacks to be finished!!! I have cast all parts. I am cleaning them up for assembly. Will then etch the brass. Airbrushing and decals come lastly. Remember, Non-Lighted Mi-Jacks first, then Lighted!!!! Hobo Tim
Tim: How did you take these photos. The shadows go from the model TOWARD the window, not away from the window. I realize you live on the NW side of Atlanta, but doesn't the sun come up on the same side of the house as where I live? ...don
Don, the phots were taken thru the clear plastic cover. I spun the case around to take various photos. The shadows are different in most of them due to this. Sorry if I confused you!!!! Hobo Tim
...ah ha. Simple when you see how. Or why magicians can fool the socks off of us. I had assumed these photos were taken INSIDE of your home and by the window. Never considered the module was so small that you could fit it inside a plastic container [even though I built one of your models]. ..don
Wow-Joe-you summed up exactly what I was thinking regarding Tim's outstanding work. I don't do modern either, but when I see stuff like this, while I wouldn't say I get jealous, I do pause in respect and awe of great stuff. I guess, quite simply, I really appreciate it, even if I don't model it. Anyway Tim-Great work, as usual! Michael
HI, This container loader (MiJack?) will we ever see them for sale? To go with our neat lil' Thrall cars? Well someone did say this was going to be THE year to be in Z didn't they! Thanks! Mike
Mike, send a e-mail to Tim to see if he is still taking orders for the Mi-Jack. He only builds them to order. I have mine from a previous batch.
Thank You John, I will contact Tim and see what the production outlook is for this item. Was this made in Brass or Resin material? I was holding off pestering Tim because I saw where he posted some photo's of either a Ford or GMC MOW Truck in it's early design stages. That one will be the one to Beg for! If it's possible to do production on that is. Thanks John!
Since I received my Dash-9 back from Oliver, I been running it a lot, but its body mounted coupler tends to derail cars with truck mounted couplers. Body mounted couplers on the cars are a better match. When I ran my double stacks, I didn't have one with a body mounted coupler, so I converted one of the Gunderson cars. It work very well. It even goes through radius tighter then 195mm. Its a very easy conversion. All I had to do is tap the car and screw in the coupler.
I have never seen a picture of a painted and decal MMM container, so I desided to decorate one. They are not as nice as Tim's container, but they are not bad. I still have some CSX 53' decals, so I desided to use those. The first step I did was to give the container a alcohol bath for five minutes to get rid of the wax residue. Then I airbrush it with acrylic white. The next step is to apply the decals. I used a lot of Solvaset to get the decals to go around the corrugated surface, and the last step is to seal it with Flatcoat.
