Ralph Wrote:Good luck with the modification Val. Tom...please feel free to post more prototype steel industry pics! Those background buildings are terrific.

Ralph

I will but start a thread on the pictures, right now I'm going to 'public' a folder from photobucket with full size pics I've taken from bethlehem steel

Val, I'm puzzled with that starting thread ( dated january 2009 )
In Canada tax refund check comes in the mailbox around june or july.
How can you wait for 8 months before using that money ?
Obviously, that money took a long time to burn a hole in your pocket lol.
I was born in the Belgian "Pittsburgh" ( Liège ) with plenty of coal mines and steel mills ( 100 meters down the road )
So I appreciate the titanic work of modeling a steel mill and your attention to its details
Right now I'm checking the Model Railroader special issue " Model Railroad Planning 2008" page 16 . There is a very interesting article about modeling a HO 4" X 8" steel mill.
And if my memory is correct I remember you posted a reply on the N scale subforum about a steel mill started by Josh.
I prefer to model another part of my Belgian heritage ( breweries ) . It takes less space on my 23" X 11" switching layout.

Jacques

Spitfire Wrote:Well, I have a tax refund burning a hole in my pocket...
Val

Thank you Ralph and Tyson!!!

Gus, thank you as well. I hardly know what to say, except that this is high praise indeed and I'm not sure I really deserve it.

Biased turkey Wrote:Val, I'm puzzled with that starting thread ( dated january 2009 )
In Canada tax refund check comes in the mailbox around june or july.
How can you wait for 8 months before using that money ?
Obviously, that money took a long time to burn a hole in your pocket lol.
I was born in the Belgian "Pittsburgh" ( Liège ) with plenty of coal mines and steel mills ( 100 meters down the road )
So I appreciate the titanic work of modeling a steel mill and your attention to its details
Right now I'm checking the Model Railroader special issue " Model Railroad Planning 2008" page 16 . There is a very interesting article about modeling a HO 4" X 8" steel mill.
And if my memory is correct I remember you posted a reply on the N scale subforum about a steel mill started by Josh.
I prefer to model another part of my Belgian heritage ( breweries ) . It takes less space on my 23" X 11" switching layout.

Jacques

Ah well you see Jacques, I submitted my tax return a little (cough) late.... So no, I didn't wait 8 months to spend it... more like 5 minutes!!!!

Anyway, right now I am stuck waiting for parts, so to keep things moving along I've started to weather some of the rolling stock. I have 1 each of the bottle cars and slag cars done, with 2 more of each to go. It would be nice to have 6 of each in total, but they are RTR and too expensive to have more at this point.

Here are a couple of shots of my weathering progress to date.





I changed the number on the bottle car from 3 digits to 2, but now I notice both cars have the same number 27. :oops:
I think I'll paint out the 2 on the slag car making it no. 7.

cheers
Val

Why couldn't both cars have the same number?
They are both two different types, one being a ladle car and the other a bottle car.
Don't see why both can't be the same number.

Nice job on the weathering of the cars.

awsome job of weathering! but how did you do the weathering on the hot metal car?




todd

I was going to ask too about the bottle car Val. How'd you get that great looking molten metal effect on the top?
Ralph

The molten metal really IS solidified molten metal. Many years ago I took a jewellery course and learned to do lost wax casting. There were always little bits of flash and I saved them, never really knowing what their use might be. 20 years later I found a use!

The rest of the weathering was as follows. A coat of dirty brown paint, full strength on the trucks, wheels and couplers, diluted as a wash for the rest. Then I applied various colours of Bragdon weathering powders. I like these because they contain an adhesive that is activated by rubbing, and thus do not need to be dullcoated. I used ash colour around the top of the car, and dark and light rust shades on the other areas, with various photos from the net as reference.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.trainweb.org/marcrailfan/hotmetal.jpg">http://www.trainweb.org/marcrailfan/hotmetal.jpg</a><!-- m -->

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.toytrains1.com/images/trains/bo-2002-44.jpg">http://www.toytrains1.com/images/trains/bo-2002-44.jpg</a><!-- m -->

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://farm1.static.flickr.com/67/197104357_ab1a47deb2.jpg?v=0">http://farm1.static.flickr.com/67/19710 ... b2.jpg?v=0</a><!-- m -->

The next 2 bottle cars won't be using real metal for the overflow, since I don't have any more pieces the right size. I am going to experiment with thick layers of paint, and I'll let you all know how that works out.

cheers
Val

Val those look stunning!! I love the overflow of the molten steel on the bottle car, Beautiful job on the weathering too!!

Brilliant Val, The whole lot is an admirable piece of work.
And it is a true artists touch with the weathering.
I wish, I wish, I wish, ........... No I'll just have to take weathering lessons I guess.


Jack

Thanks Josh!!

OBJack Wrote:Brilliant Val, The whole lot is an admirable piece of work.
And it is a true artists touch with the weathering.
I wish, I wish, I wish, ........... No I'll just have to take weathering lessons I guess.
Jack

Well Jack, having seen your layout thread I'm sure you'll be fine. I felt the same way about wiring. I had never done it before, never used a soldering iron, and found the whole idea pretty intimidating - that is, until I actually started. Pretty soon, I wondered what I'd been fretting about, because it wasn't really all that hard at all.

As for weathering lessons, there's a lot right here on the board. And like the man said when asked how to get to Carnegie Hall, "practice, practice, practice"!

cheers
Val

Well, I finally got my order from Plastruct this morning, so I'll be able to start the tanks and stills in front of the benzol plant once I calm down.

And why do I need to calm down you ask?

Well, because when the order arrived, the UPS guy charged me another $40 for so-called brokerage fees (ie ransom), in addition to the $16 I had already paid for shipping. The actual order was $57, so those parasites charged me more than half of the actual cost of the products. I fired off an email to Plastruct to let them know their shipping company was alienating and costing them customers. No point calling or writing to UPS, as I've done it before and found out they only employ robots.

I thought I would be happy when these parts got here, instead I'm like our good friend Jack: piston broke. What a ripoff!

Val

LOVE the molten steel idea

Val,

You have an incredible eye for color and detail. I am willing to bet that if you have not done it before, you would be great at drawing and painting still life.
I could only wish for half your eye, and a quarter of your dedication. I have a list of people, on this forum, to watch (I mean this literally), as they are incredible at what they do, and you are definately on it. I can not wait to see more.
The use of real metal in the weathering and detailing is absolutely brilliant!!

Matt

Spitfire Wrote:Well, I finally got my order from Plastruct this morning, so I'll be able to start the tanks and stills in front of the benzol plant once I calm down.

And why do I need to calm down you ask?

Well, because when the order arrived, the UPS guy charged me another $40 for so-called brokerage fees (ie ransom), in addition to the $16 I had already paid for shipping. The actual order was $57, so those parasites charged me more than half of the actual cost of the products. I fired off an email to Plastruct to let them know their shipping company was alienating and costing them customers. No point calling or writing to UPS, as I've done it before and found out they only employ robots.

I thought I would be happy when these parts got here, instead I'm like our good friend Jack: piston broke. What a ripoff!

Val

Val,
For shipment within the U.S. most if not all American companies will ship UPS, or one of the other shipping companies instead of the Post Office because the shipping companies are much less expensive and more efficient than parcel post. They are probably not aware of the costs involved when they ship to Canada with one of the private shipping companies. Your best bet, in the future is to talk to someone at the company doing the shipping and ask them specifically to ship parcel post. I would bet that until they read your email, Plastruct was not even aware of the charges that UPS tacked on to the shipping costs when they crossed the border. I really don't understand how UPS and other shippers get away with it. I thought NAFTA was supposed to eliminate tarrifs between the U.S., Canada, and Mexico.