Hi everyone, so from here on out, I've decided to do monthly updates on my On30 and Ho progress, with the On30 being filed under the North Shore & Pacific and the Ho being filed under DTNX for the time being as I don't have any active layout projects going in Ho scale at the moment.
North Shore and Pacific: As some of you may or may not be aware of, I'm currently away from the shops so nothing new has happened. However, I am making plans for my return in December to work on various projects once more. For the interest of time, the two projects that I'm focusing in on are the #3 and the new caboose, soon to be NS&P #218. The caboose, which is currently Colorado Southern #1002 will get new decals and also will have red window trim added. Another future project on the #218 if I get to it is reworking and painting the interior, as well as redoing the lighting to add a new lantern on the rear as well as marker lights in addition to remedying the flickering on the existing interior lighting. The #3 is going to receive some minor work as well, which includes work on the headlight (removing the excess metal and adding a SMD Led) though at the very least I would like to get the headlight on. In addition to actually get the headlight on, I as well need to trim the down the headlight mount, as the new arc has a much smaller footprint than the previous electric light. The new cap stack is still on order and has not been shipped out yet but I'm hoping that it will be here soon, which if that is the case will be installed at this time as well. Two additional projects that I hope to complete as time allows are removing the second, rear sand pipe as the real #3 had it's rear sand pipe removed when it was rebuilt in 1958 prior to entering service at the park and painting the domes a gloss black color. At the time of this writing, the #271 and #1031 projects have been put on the shelf indefinitely.
DTNX: Work on the diorama (check out my Flickr page) has stalled projects prior to my time away from the shops, but I have several queued up to work on once I'm back, first and foremost #5319. The engine when I left had just had it's fuel tank weathered somewhat successfully with powders and acrylics, though I'm not sure I will carry the methods over to the trucks and rest of the locomotive. Along with weathering the rest of the engine, I'm going to look into prepping this engine for a sound decoder, possibly the WOW Sound decoder from TCS. I had originally intended to install a sound decoder first in #3851 but after deciding that I wanted to detail that unit and renumber it as #3859, I decided it was probably in best interest to add sound to #5319, as all it needs is weathering. Speaking of #3851/#3859, and as well #4109, I've put both those projects on the back burner for the time being as I'd like to focus on actually finishing the #5319 though as far as #4109 is concerned, I will continue to collect detail and rebuilding parts for when I'm ready to continue on that project.
General News: Though I'm not fully ready to discuss the details at this time, I currently working on a trade that might bring new power to the railroad in exchange for two units I currently have. The details are not yet final, but at this time, all I can say is that the project will affect the #1031 project so change might have to be made for the long term plan for that engine. I will most likely have more details revealed in next month's shop update.
Sunday, September 27, 2015
Tuesday, September 8, 2015
A New Project
Yes, I finally got a project underway. This time for a small display diorama of sorts that is essentially a beefed up display stand and is a test bed for some things that I would like to incorporate in a future project. As I am moving in a few days, I'm challenging myself to have this project 90% complete within 7 days and using only materials that I have on hand currently. So far, I'm on Day 4 and I'm a good way to making good with my goal. Photos of all my progress and descriptions can be found on my Flickr here: TFN5459 - Flickr
Friday, September 4, 2015
Finally...an update
Well, I'm finally back after an extended absence. With the hobby as of late, I tend to get small things done over a short period of time but often I've been really lazy when it comes to updating all my sites (this one included) so hopefully I can get everything I've done out of the way during this update.
Ho Scale: Well as far as my Ho scale roster goes, not much has changed. I've recently decided to address a trio of old diesels that I have: a Tyco GP20 Union Pacific #5628, an Athearn Bluebox GP9 Union Pacific #130, and an Athearn Bluebox F45 Burlington Northern #6615. I came to the conclusion that I didn't want to model an F45 in my fleet so I first eliminated that from my decision making process (more on the F45 later). Second, the GP9 was nice, but my biggest gripe with the engine was that Athearn made the engine a four scale feet too wide, which earned the early Bluebox engines the reputation of being "fat", so I eventually ruled that out of my list as well. Lastly, I came to the Tyco GP20, which surprisingly for it's toy like quality, matched the major demensions of the prototype. I eventually decided to try my hand at kitbashing and detail the Tyco model to match Southern Pacific GP20E #4109 (the real #4109 is still around but is now San Joaquin Valley Railroad #2036). The mechanism however in the Tyco unit was shot and was horribly outdated, it was at this point in time that I read an article on the web about using Athearn trucks and mechanisms to repower Tyco GP20's, which I conveniently had lying around in Union Pacific #130, which I had planned to get rid of. It was also at this time that I realized that although the Athearn GP9 shell was too wide in Ho Scale, it might just work well in O Scale. Overall, I made the decision to do the following: 1) Rebuild the #5628 as SP #4109 using the trucks and chassis of Union Pacific #130, 2) Use the shell from #130 and the chassis and trucks from #6615 to build an On30 diesel, 3) restore #5628's trucks because they are just that old ;) and 4) discarding the shell of #6615.
Ho Scale: Well as far as my Ho scale roster goes, not much has changed. I've recently decided to address a trio of old diesels that I have: a Tyco GP20 Union Pacific #5628, an Athearn Bluebox GP9 Union Pacific #130, and an Athearn Bluebox F45 Burlington Northern #6615. I came to the conclusion that I didn't want to model an F45 in my fleet so I first eliminated that from my decision making process (more on the F45 later). Second, the GP9 was nice, but my biggest gripe with the engine was that Athearn made the engine a four scale feet too wide, which earned the early Bluebox engines the reputation of being "fat", so I eventually ruled that out of my list as well. Lastly, I came to the Tyco GP20, which surprisingly for it's toy like quality, matched the major demensions of the prototype. I eventually decided to try my hand at kitbashing and detail the Tyco model to match Southern Pacific GP20E #4109 (the real #4109 is still around but is now San Joaquin Valley Railroad #2036). The mechanism however in the Tyco unit was shot and was horribly outdated, it was at this point in time that I read an article on the web about using Athearn trucks and mechanisms to repower Tyco GP20's, which I conveniently had lying around in Union Pacific #130, which I had planned to get rid of. It was also at this time that I realized that although the Athearn GP9 shell was too wide in Ho Scale, it might just work well in O Scale. Overall, I made the decision to do the following: 1) Rebuild the #5628 as SP #4109 using the trucks and chassis of Union Pacific #130, 2) Use the shell from #130 and the chassis and trucks from #6615 to build an On30 diesel, 3) restore #5628's trucks because they are just that old ;) and 4) discarding the shell of #6615.
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