News New Detail Items Coming Soon

For a peek into the (very near) future, check out the NZT Products Blog. It offers a glimpse at several new detail products coming soon to Z Scale.

nztproducts.blogspot.com/2011/09/down-to-details.html

 

This http://nztproducts.blogspot.com/2011/09/down-to-details.html may make it easier to access.
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Thanks, Jeff. I've no idea why the link came out like that; I'd entered it properly. Such are the mysteries of HTML!

 

David the tie plate indentations on the used stacks are a great touch. I had to look twice to see it.

 

With the right lighting on a casting, you can make out the tie plate marks much better.

 

David,

Outstanding! Will they come with recommended painting tips to make them look close to real ties?

John

 

John, for the ultimate in realism, maybe David can get the creosote smell included.... )

 

I think the weathered wood technique shown here might work pretty well on the used tie stack.

 

Weathering resin is similar to weathering real wood. Start with a "wood" color (close to the color resin already is) then hit with india ink washes.

 

I'm looking at the possibility of offering them already painted and finished. Even if I don't go that far, the resin will be tinted to appropriate colors, including dark brown for the new tie bundles.

 

Here is an early test casting of the 55-gallon drums:



This was really difficult to pull off, but I finally got it:

 

David,

Sweet!!! Can't wait to order these!

John

 

Here is a test casting of the tie bundles, posed on a bulkhead flatcar.



The castings were not painted; that is the color of the resin.

 

David,

These and the 55 gal drums are outstanding castings! What type of resin and casting process are you using? When will they both be available to purchase?

Yours,

John

 

SHIP THEM ! I'm ready.

Those are CLEAN looking cans. And the ties are what I need !
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Here's a quick test of some of the crates (there are more on the way).

For the 55-gallon drums, I'm using a slow-cure (48 hours), high-resolution resin and casting them under about 75 pounds of pressure. It's the only way of reliably getting clean castings of such small features, especially the individual barrels.

They should be ready to purchase in a week or two.

 

David,

Another set of outstanding casted items! Standing by to purchase them!

John

 

David,
Wouldn't a faster set resin work equally as well?

 

No, not for the drums. It starts to kick before it can completely fill the mold. The drums each contain less than one drop of resin.

 

David,

Neatly stacked and losely piled cinder blocks would be a great thing to develop and cast next.

John