Great Northern railway

'Planted' my conifers.

Placed them on my snow scene at Glacier National Park, Montana.

The bases have 'hokey'  plastic white bases, but with the white snow, I left them on and they blend in nicely.  Besides, drilling in the snow would have messed up the snow.  That area needed some trees.

'Big' upfront and 'little' in the back for forced perspective.

0402 LED's.

Setting up the green ones for the front marker lights. 

Twisted the wires together near the LED and painted them black as one of the wires is red.

Art, niec addition to your snow field! I seen on here where someone was getting the trees really cheap at homedepot and somewhere else. I might have to give it a try, he removed the Christmas decorations and repainted them. They turned out looking really well!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

https://www.ashland.edu/admini...admissions-greetings

New arrival:

Getting back to the 'Lionel' days!

BLI functioning water tower.

Push button and the water spout drops and water noise starts.  Wait too long and the water overflows the tank.

Will need to dull/coat or repaint it to get rid of the plastic look.

New delivery.

Just what I needed. another UP 4-12-2!

I bought it because it was cheap and, since I like multi-colored engines, this #9000 will be painted up with a gray boiler.

Wire from motor to draw bar was broken so soldered it.

Also, screw for holding front trucks was inside the boiler.

Unusual how it fell out and then went into the boiler.

Has the greasley valve detail but non-functioning.

Comes with two 'blind' drivers as spares but I'll be using all flanged drivers.

Comparing the three 4-12-2's.

Right engine: key, FP, Coast drive, opening smoke box door, sand hatches and tender hatches, working greasley valve.  Bought this one first as it had so many 'bells and whistles' and figured I'd just have one.

Center engine: Key, CP, only the smoke box door opens.  At a local train show and this one was at a good price so I bought it.

Left engine: Sunset, nicely detailed but no functioning doors.  This one also has the greasley valve but non-functional.

Bought it because it was cheap, I like pumps on the front and it is the only 4-12-2 that has a gray boiler.  

Interesting notes:

All are by Samhongsa, they are all the same length and about the same detail, save functioning stuff as they get more expensive. 

The sunset was first one made in 1978.

The other two in 1984.

I'm guessing Samhongsa used the same patterns for all three but just kept adding extra detail.

What it will look like after painting.

New delivery.

C&O J-3A 4-8-4 by Overland.

Whoever painted it, did a nice job. They also added a headlight.

It's not a multi-colored engine but it's a northern and I like the low headlight and the real reason: it was under 300 bucks, shipped (pretty cheap for a big northern).

On arrival the steam dome was off the engine and the steam whistle was broken off the steam dome.

Taking it apart, I found no screw in the engine nor box so I'm guessing the paint was the only thing holding the dome to the engine and 'shipping' broke it free.

Some fast soldering re-attached the whistle to the dome without damaging the paint. 

Will want to add extra lights to the marker lights, number boards, cab, fire box, below the running boards and tender light, but that's 'down the road'.

The part was too small to use metal clamps on and not scratch up the paint so I used some band aids to insulated my fingers from the heat while holding the part.

Nice cab detail.

Never saw that part on the back of the roof of a steam cab, before.  Guessing it's some kind of radiator!

Has functioning tender trucks where the side frames move independently of each other.

I've only got 2 C&O engines.  The other is an H-8 by Key.

One other that I wouldn't mind getting is the 2-6-6-2 H-5: the 'work horse' along the mines.

New delivery.

18' of backdrop, pretty cool.  Plan on cutting them out and gluing them to that plastic 'foam core' so each can be positioned, individually.  Has multi-scales and pre-mounted, if you 'so choose'.  They are printed on heavy duty paper.

The one I got was #402.

This one is 2' wide by about 7.5' long to give you an 'idea' of the size of the buildings.

ebay's web site:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/angie...rksid=p2047675.l2562

samparfitt posted:

New delivery.

18' of backdrop, pretty cool.  Plan on cutting them out and gluing them to that plastic 'foam core' so each can be positioned, individually.  Has multi-scales and pre-mounted, if you 'so choose'.  They are printed on heavy duty paper.

The one I got was #402.

This one is 2' wide by about 7.5' long to give you an 'idea' of the size of the buildings.

ebay's web site:

https://www.ebay.com/sch/angie...rksid=p2047675.l2562

 

Looks great, I don't know if you have been fallowing Paul2 but he recommends 3M Spray glue!

Thanks, Mike,

That's where I found about these great back drops.

3M is my 'go to' spray glue for sticking two thin objects together.

backdrops (cont)

Didn't take long to cut all the buildings out.

Some L angle iron (with sandpaper on one side to prevent slippage) and a new Xacto blade worked well.  Cut out along the main outlines and didn't worry about antenna's, etc in order to remove all the sky.

Now will go to Michaels and office depot to get some foam board and home depot for some 3M spray adhesive.

Michaels 20"X30" 2 bucks and office depot 40"X60" for 13 bucks: both in same strip mall so easy to check both stores.  Both are 3/16" thick.

SAMPARFITT, I bought those two rolls too. When I unrolled them I had a piece of PVC pipe and I flipped the sheets over and rolled them back up. I let them sit for a day or two and when I unrolled them they laid flat without curling up. Also you mentioned a sheet of black foam at Staples 40 X 60. If that is the sheet that has two folds in it I found the sizes I needed for the larger buildings at HOBBY LOBBY. And right on with the 3 M for gluing......Paul

Building flats (cont)

Got four 20X30" white foam core from Michaels and painted them sky blue.  Should be enough for all the 'cut outs'.  They were 14 bucks for a 2 pack.  So much for 2 bucks a sheet: that was online and then there's, probably, a high shipping rate for such a bulk item. 

There's some slight bowing from the paint so I might have to paint both sides: surprised plastic would warp since it doesn't soak up any paint.

Did the painting in the basement as it's only 28 degrees in the detached shop and too expensive to heat it up for such items.

Paul,

Good idea on 'back folding'.

SAMPARFITT, are you using the foam as your backdrop. Building the layout in the basement I ran Masonite around the layout 2' high. First primed it white then added my blue colors to that. When I cut out the buildings I attached them to black foam board. Once the adhesive had dried  I cut just the buildings out and then attached them to the Masonite. I think the foam is bending because I think Latex paint shrinks as it dries. Here is one wall done with the buildings. It is a mix of the same two sheets you bought............Paul

Yep, I've got masonite up, also.  Thought I'd 'dress up' the laundry area.

WOW Art, I sure hope those are new furnace and hot water tank! I sure would hate to see you have to take some of your layout down to get new ones put in!

mike,

Plenty of room for the furnace.  I had the furnace replaced in 1993, after the return/staging loop was installed with no problem with the furnace guys.

===========

Learning curve.

There is a shiny side and a dull side on the foam core.  Of the 4 that I painted, only one didn't warp: the one that I painted the shiny side.  I'm guessing the outer surfaces are thin cardboard and the dull side is not treated so it warped the boards, whereas the shiny side is treated.  I painted the opposite sides, hoping it will remove the warp, but I doubt it.

Back drops (cont)

So much for that 'theory'!

Thought I'd stack and weight the foam board to remove warping but all that did was have the paint stick to each other and make a mess

New delivery.

GN S-2 4-8-4 by Oriental Limited.

Factory painted and coast drive.

It has some issues where lights don't work, rerailers broken off under tender, and wire below air piston cylinders is off, but it was cheap so I purchased it (all easy fixes).

Thought I'd compare it to the Sunset GN S-2: both made by Samhongsa.

The Sunset was made in 1978 and the Oriental Limited in 1985.

They are, virtually, identical.

Oriental limited has coast drive, lights, FP, functioning deck plate between cab and tender and lag stays along the top of the boiler. 

The Sunset has two lanyards to bell and whistle and functioning cab roof hatches.  The lag stays along the top are more, just, dimples in the brass.

Sunset on the left, OL on the right comparison.

samparfitt posted:

Back drops (cont)

So much for that 'theory'!

Thought I'd stack and weight the foam board to remove warping but all that did was have the paint stick to each other and make a mess

Well that just sucks Art! Now what?

back drops (cont)

If I was smart, I would have listened to Paul and gotten the black foam board (I'm stupid but tough1).

Went to walbox and got four more 20X30" foam board.  Did some more online checking and board was only 3 bucks a sheet at walbox.  

Black should work out better:

1) no painting this time.

2) should hide the sides when the buildings are glued to them.

Glad I asked: wasn't any black foam board on the shelves, asked and they found them in the 'back' storage.

While waiting, picked up some dowels and cloth pins.  Didn't know they made them that small.  !", 2" and regular size: will make good clamps.

Don't need the dowels but haven't seen them in 1/8" and 3/16" at HD so I bought a few.

Good luck Art! I hope it works better this time!

Mike,

Buying 'new' always works!

SAMPARFITT, believe me I have had a lot of trials and errors. I am getting better though. Not having to redo things as often.The black foam was a first because if I bought the white I would of had to darken the sides......Paul

HAPPY NEW YEAR:

Click and open file.

Turn volume up, full.

Happy New Year Art! May this be even better then last!

back drops (cont)

Sprayed both the foam board and each building,  full surface, insuring the edges are covered the best.  Didn't try to align right on the foam board edges, just get close as, once they contact each other, there is no 'sliding it around'.

Was thinking it was a waste of time cutting around all the building edges to remove the blue sky but, figuring the foam board is not as easy to cut as paper, won't have to worry about any sky showing, should I not be able to be as accurate  with the foam board cutting.

Used two cans of spray.  The 3M  'general purpose' I used was around 4 bucks (they have different prices).  The loctite was around 10 bucks but gave a wider spray pattern whereas the 3M was a more concentrated pattern. 

Used a set of latex gloves per foam board to keep contaminants off the buildings.

Didn't wait to apply buildings but put them on as soon as I sprayed them.

After initial finger pushing down of all edges and center, gloves came off as it was easier to insure all edges were not 'lifting'.   Went back after several minutes to insure all edges are not 'lifting'.

Unless one is having a loading dock on the buildings, I could see using the HO size for O gauge to give a 'forced' perspective.

Sam

Turned out nice Sam, now the hard part cutting them all out!

Sam, like Mike said the buildings turned out good. If you still have bigger buildings I used my PVC pipe to roll them out on the black foam. Also I see you have Loc tite glue. Let me know how it works for you. I did one set of buildings with it and I had to re glue a bunch of them and lost one building trying to re glue it they had been done for a while. I am sticking with the 3M.........Paul

building flats (cont)

Surprising, cutting them was easy.  Instead of an X-acto knife I used one of those cheap 'break away' blade utility knives.  I think I 'broke away' 4-6 mini-blades off, while cutting out the buildings, to keep a sharp edge.  Again, I used some L angle iron for a straight edge.  Cutting 'free hand' around complicated roof tops worked well.  Normally, 2-3 passes were needed to get a full cut through the 3/16" thick foam board.

As for the loctite spray glue, went down this morning and checked all the buildings and no 'curling' of any buildings from the foam board.  I think the key is to make sure a 'good' amount of spray glue is applied to all edges. 

A few months ago I put up some full sheet (walthers) back drops and the edges curled do to not enough glue on the edges (see last picture).  Getting glue on the edges can be more difficult when the edges are curled so the glue is not hitting them at 90 degrees to get a good coverage.

Presently, I just laid the 'flats' against to wall to see if they are a good arrangement.  I'll probably just used some double faced tape to hold them in place.

Sam, your buildings came out great. I cut mine out the same way using the same knives. I sprayed the Loc tite the same way you did but my luck was not that good and I sprayed the foam exactly the same way I did with the 3M. For the price you can't beat the variety of flats Angie carries. On my main street scene I started off with the O gauge flats. Then I decided to get some HO flats to place in back. I didn't order enough of them so the next order I decided to try a N gauge flat behind the HO flats. And at first I tried to glue the flats up with those glue dots but they were not strong enough to hold so now I am using the double faced tape which is working much better. Like watching your progress...................Paul

Sam I agree with Paul, the buildings turned out looking just Great! Keep up the wonderful work!

Thanks, guys.

Once in awhile, I get 'lucky'.

GN RDC-3 by Hallmark.

With a motor and shaft easily seen through the windows, I used scotch tape over clear plastic to hide seeing the interior.

Put all LED's into the interior. 

The string of large LED's along the roof.  I put some plastic over the top vents so light doesn't show through.  The new, smaller 0402's are used for the head lights and marker lights. 

Still need to add decals.

WOW Sam, your just into everything! I am glad I fallow you, cause you have tons to learn from!

Thanks, Mike,

Like 'they' say:

Good judgement comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgement.

LOL I should be golden! I have a past full of both!

SF 2-10-4 finished.

Used all the 0402 LED's for headlight in engine and tender, green marker lights, lights under running boards for engineer to oil valve gears, cab light and flickering fire box light.

One SF engine done, three more to go.

GN RDC-3 by Hallmark (no, not the card company!)

A ton of wires inside for this motive power.

There were two head lights holes at each end so they got a total of 4 LED's.  I made the baggage area as the 'forward' direction so the front marker lights got green LED's and the back got red LED's.

The string of LED's along the ceiling is the first time I have used these lights.  They were bought for the passenger cars but this was a good place to test and use them.

I have a small 'circuit' made up that give me constant voltage and keeps the LED's on in either direction.   The LED's on the ceiling were too bright before the 'circuit' and too dim using the 'circuit' so I added a 330 ohm resistor before the 'circuit' and it gives a 'comfortable' light without blinding the 'passengers'.

Microscale has a set of decals just for this RDC-3 which were applied. 

I forgot to add led's behind the number boards but, with all the other lights, I don't think it will be needed.

The rear with the red led's.

Head light comes on when 'backing' up.

SF 4-8-4 by United.

Assembly completed.

A new, larger lead weight was made rolling up some flat 1/16" thick lead.

I was able to remove all but one resistor for all the LED's and connect all the LED's through one resistor, which saved some space in the boiler.

Same lighting as with the 2-10-4: headlight in engine, tender, cab light, marker light,  blinking red fire box light and 2 lights under the running boards.