What's on your workbench?

JR59 Jan 29, 2006

  1. SJ Z-man

    SJ Z-man TrainBoard Member

    3,007
    1,020
    62
    Haven't abandoned, just tied up with everything or something ! In some cases, now money is worth having someone else do it ;)
    Then again, AZL has given us an whole new platform to work with, between passengers and new runs of the diesels, with more to come. MTL seems to be tied up in their them products and I can almost sense the impact that recent AZL has created. I hope not. MTL had some loco mechanisms slated from Sanda Kan. That didn't help.
     
  2. Curn

    Curn TrainBoard Member

    751
    497
    31
    Those are some great models you have going Tim! I can't wait to see that steamer finished.




    I just finished painting my Micro Art bridges for my new layout. I got a sudden urge to work on it since the new Mikados are coming soon.
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  3. HoboTim

    HoboTim TrainBoard Supporter

    1,599
    451
    41
    I can do that!!!

    Hobo Tim
     
  4. HoboTim

    HoboTim TrainBoard Supporter

    1,599
    451
    41
    The steamer is a project attempt that I started more than 5 years ago. Robert Ray has always had a desire for the USRA 0-8-0 locomotive to put in his Northern Pacific collection. He sent me one of his Marklin 0-8-0 locos and a white metal kit he got from the UK to fit it but was nothing more than a Marklin revised shell. Looked nothing like the USRA shell. NOTHING!!! Well, I figured I could do better. What you saw in the photo is the master copy that I will use to make RTV molds intended for white metal spin casting on my homemade spincaster.

    I could not make the shell exact to the USRA 0-8-0 drawings as the Marklin mechaniZm was not long enough. The drivers and axle dimensions are very close but not the problem. The issue I had was the motor was set too close to the drivers so I had to shorten the shell by a few millimeters to make it work. The detail has been proportioned to look freaking awesome!!! Just hope the spincaster can do magic and make perfect copies of the shell. This shell is being assembled so that it will fit over the Marklin 0-8-0 chassis with no modifications required. Crossing my fingers and toes to the point of cramping, and then some! Ouch!

    Stay tuned for more progress!

    Your Micron Art bridge looks great! I have always wanted one for myself but never had the funds, or the layout to put one on. I just like assembling cool model kits. The coolest model kit I ever built was the first Lajos Thek (ZThek) yard switcher from the Marklin 0-6-0 chassis! Awesome!!!!! Have built about 20 since then, but the first was the best! Look forward to seeing your future progress on the scenery around this bridge!

    Hobo Tim
     
  5. rray

    rray Staff Member

    8,277
    9,277
    133
    Your projects look great guys, that bridge is awesome! I can use 2 of the 0-8-0 shells Tim.
     
  6. bremner

    bremner Staff Member

    6,267
    6,247
    106
    OK, I am an N Scaler, I never post in the Z forums...but HOLY EXPLETIVE, THAT'S Z?!?!?!?!?!?!
     
  7. HoboTim

    HoboTim TrainBoard Supporter

    1,599
    451
    41
    Dude, you have 238 pages of awesome Z to look at ahead of this page!!!! Be AmaZed!
     
  8. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

    1,976
    4,712
    63
    In between a lot of the usual mayhem that ppasses for family life I have manage to get a bit of railway modelling done this week. I've been having my first play with some of Stoneysmiths designs from Shapeways. Who would have dreamt a few years ago that a guy would design them on a computer on one continent and they would be printed and despatched from a factory on another continent to my door within five days of taking the plunge and ordering?

    The process was seamless and I recieved the four pack of Difco side dump cars and a whale belly cement car through the post.

    First inspection found , as others have, that the end platforms on the Difcos get in the way of the trucks and couplers but that the whalebelly had no issues like that. getting some weight into it was another matter though! Its moulded in one piece and is hollow but the only access to inside is a vent hole at the bottom where the liquid out of the printer drains. The solution here, if you'll pardon the pun, was to push a load of old brass rivets through the hole,shake them till they formed a level layer at the bottom of the tank and then inject superglue to bond them all together. On both styles of the cars the mounting post for the trucks looked a bit on the skinny size to drill and fit a full throttle bolster pin so I drilled and tapped them 10BA and attached the trucks with machine screws. I got round the clearance problems on the difcos by shimmimg them up with 10BA washers so they sit slightly high but as they are going to run together on a works train I'm happy enough with the ride height. The layer lines left by the casting process were very easy to clean up by sanding on the cement car but very difficult to get at on the Difcos because of the side ribs. Spraying the mouldings first with a couple of coats of car primer paint helped to smooth out the imperfections though.

    The Whale belly was done in a 'might have beem' Burlington Northern colour scheme! The lettering should be black but I only had green in stock and they were a bit too big , even so it looks pretty plausible I think.

    [​IMG]


    The Difcos were done in a mix of BN red and black with one being heavily weathered. The weight for these will be in the ballast load intended for them. Once again they are fitted with Full Throttle trucks.

    [​IMG]

    I've been quite encouraged by how these have come out and I think I'll give the Taconite hoppers and the Ballast hoppers a go next.

    KEV
     
  9. JoeS

    JoeS TrainBoard Member

    3,191
    1,211
    64
    I think the BN looks more than plausible. Seeing that begs the question, does shapeways make a vandy tender?
     
  10. Mike Skibbe

    Mike Skibbe TrainBoard Member

    401
    9
    24
    [​IMG]

    Kev- If you're interested, I think have some extra etched end platforms for the Difco cars. Send me a PM.
     
  11. SJ Z-man

    SJ Z-man TrainBoard Member

    3,007
    1,020
    62
    OK, ordered that Whale Belly ! That is what makes Z great. Always something new !
     
  12. PuppySnacks

    PuppySnacks Guest

    0
    0
    0
    MOW Truck Project

    Project overview of Showcase Miniatures MOW trucks and proto-reference:

    Project Overview.jpg Front Bumper Whips.jpg Primer Complete.jpg Trimed Flashing - Filed & Washed.jpg
    CSX MOW  - 1.jpg

    ...to be continued.


     
  13. SJ Z-man

    SJ Z-man TrainBoard Member

    3,007
    1,020
    62
    Excellent ! Plus points for all the detail painting prior to assy. Minus points for having one in the backyard for reference !! :rats:
     
  14. shamoo737

    shamoo737 Staff Member TrainBoard Supporter

    4,596
    550
    72
    What Jeff say, except for the two points I will deduct for easy access to the real one. :D
     
  15. pmx

    pmx TrainBoard Member

    188
    5
    17
    Looks very nice. I would like to suggest that for the whips you try stretching a plastic sprue to for a finer stiff whip. Alternatively you could use wire or pet whiskers that have been shed.

    ~Paul E
     
  16. PuppySnacks

    PuppySnacks Guest

    0
    0
    0
    MOW Truck Project - Con't.

    Showcase Miniatures MOW truck project continued: cab door decal application, rear cab exhaust stack detail [passenger side], front bumper whip detail...mock test fitting.

    MOW Cab Detail.JPG Mock Test Fitting.JPG Front Bumper Whip Detail.JPG

    ...CSXT 707 Authority Project - to be continued.

     
  17. zscaler

    zscaler TrainBoard Member

    1,286
    157
    28
    I agree with a previous thread of using a human or dog hair for a whip and paint it orange.
     
  18. PuppySnacks

    PuppySnacks Guest

    0
    0
    0
    MOW Truck Project

    David,

    A few people have suggested orange whips and I am not exactly sure why...it may be a z scale hobbyist thing or even a BNSF-Foamer thing, but I assure everyone concerned about the bumper whips it is proto-referenced via the equipment I am around day-in and day-out...they are yellow, not orange [anyone else that actually works for CSXT, let alone a Class I Railroad, please chime in here]. In fact, there are also black caps on the top of the whips I haven't added yet with a white reflective line just below them...but nobody has mentioned it, imagine that ^_*. But now I am curious; why do you and a few others believe the front bumper whips should be orange and not yellow as per the prototype reference? If you post pictures of your MOW trucks with orange whips & a prototype reference to compare with my CSXT MOW trucks having yellow whips, I just might do a pair if they are aesthetically pleasing.

    I am however re-considering the material I used cut to length; they are a bit out of scale...but then again the entire truck is out of scale, and not even a true prototype, when situated next to an SD70M/SD75I, C44-9W, SD40-2, GP38, F59PHI, and even a 53' container...so I'm not losing sleep over it. On an endnote, I don't have a cat or a dog anymore with me, but I do have a business of ferrets I could try out; I really hope PETA doesn't monitor this thread...to be continued.
     
  19. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

    1,976
    4,712
    63
    Well I've finished the iron ore jennies that I showed a few weeks ago and have been pottering about finishing another Hallmark PA1 conversion ready for the show at Fleetwood in a couple of weeks time but here is my latest project

    Burlington Northern SD40-2 with fuel tender and DCC sound

    I've followed everbodies threads on DCC sound using box cars and autoracks and wanted to do something similar but with a plausible reason to have the same car attached to the loco all the time. The answer was the Burlington Northern SD40-s assigned to Crawford Hill in Nebraska. These were given additional fuel capacity by converting tank cars to fuel tenders that ran with the locos all the time.

    [​IMG]

    I found a couple of photos in a book called Burlington Northern into the 90s by Joseph W Shine that clearly showed them in action

    As I couldn't think of a ready to run tank car in Z to convert I asked stonysmith if the would be interested in drawing it up to be 3D printed by shapeways and also if he could split it along the horizontal center line to allow me to fit the electronics in

    This is the result

    [​IMG]

    There is a bit of bowing on the lower half on one side but otherwise it is a nice piece of work.

    I will correct the bowing when I put the frame in to hold the chip and speaker

    [​IMG]

    Here is the SD40-2 with the body off ready for the conversion.

    [​IMG]

    More in a mo

    KEV
     
  20. kevsmith

    kevsmith TrainBoard Member

    1,976
    4,712
    63
    Here is anothe pic from the book showing #7231 and two others in helper service

    [​IMG]

    I have decided to use the ESU Loksound chip and a ZIMO sugarcube speaker with the port for the sound at the loco end of the tank underneath

    [​IMG]

    I'll keep you posted on progress. I hope to have it done by Zedex 2013 in October.

    By the way Stonysmith has also done it as a one piece car if your'e not bothered about stuffing it with electronics!

    KEV
     

Share This Page