doctorwayne's Spring Bash Challenge II...

[Gary S]

a pair of Western Pacific Steel Baywindow cabs that my dad scratch built in 1:1 scale in 1981. One for me, one for him for his desk.

That is a BIG cabin...

And an even BIGGER desk!

[tetters]

Of course, the TrueLine ones are an integral part of the Delrin one-piece end railing/ladder assembly, and the centre gate doesn't work, either.

The little pivot brackets for the gates were an afterthought, as my original intention was to just solder the gates to the right-hand railing assembly. I had a short piece of .010"x.018 brass bar that I tried to use when I first decided to make the gates work, but putting a .0145" hole through such a narrow strip didn't leave much material along the edges, and I had trouble keeping the drill bit centred on the strip. I finally opted for .010"x.030" strip, even though it's oversize, and I don't think that it looks too gross. I'm thinking of doing most of the ironwork in black, so it'll be even less noticeable.

Wayne

Wait... Your Center Gates OPEN!?!

'scuse me while I pick my jaw up off of the floor! :jawdrop:

[Tom]

Yeah, 40 years between WP/UP and then Amtrak. Just retired in December. He was a Carman for UP/WP and rebuilt a series of Baywindow cabs in 1981. Good looking cars when done.

[doctorwayne]

A little more progress, with the basic body brush-painted dark green, with a dark grey roof. The underbody and platforms will be done in an off-black, with the handrails black with white accents:
   

The plugs for the end windows, installed using no filler, seem to have turned out reasonably well, with the paint showing only a hint of the plug on one end, and no sign of it on the other. The latched-open screen doors should hide any embarrassing errors in these areas.
I also have the weights installed, and the screen doors almost finished, although the latter won't be installed until just before the end platforms are cemented in place. While the platforms and end railings are still unpainted, I took a couple of photos showing the open end gate. While it's nice to have been able to include this feature, it will be of no use on the finished model, so will be cemented in the closed position.
   

If I can get the lettering in place tomorrow (technically later today ), and get the window frames in the bays painted, I'll be able to clear coat the body shell, and airbrush the underbody and end platforms tomorrow night. The handrails and ladders will still need to be brush painted and, of course, the whole car will still need some light weathering (it's supposed to represent a car only a year or so old), so it looks like I'll miss the deadline.

Wayne

[Puddlejumper]

That is great Wayne! Wow, what a difference from the Blue-Box caboose to where it is now. Just remember, when you apply the decals, the "Baltimore" should be above and to the left of the "& Potomac". I number all my cabins in the 1 series, and 1-3 are taken, so I guess you can just number this one #4.



Seriously, nice work on those end rails too. Your work inspires us all!

Dave

[doctorwayne]

Thanks for the kind comments, Dave, but I've already lettered the caboose. I would have posted some pictures but my son was on the computer from 3:00PM yesterday until 6:30AM today working on a school project, and I've been busy all day with other stuff.
Since I haven't yet seen a voting thread, I'm assuming that the Challenge doesn't close until midnight. There's a slim chance that I might make that deadline, so pictures will have to wait.

Wayne

[nachoman]

Thanks for the kind comments, Dave, but I've already lettered the caboose. I would have posted some pictures but my son was on the computer from 3:00PM yesterday until 6:30AM today working on a school project, and I've been busy all day with other stuff.
Since I haven't yet seen a voting thread, I'm assuming that the Challenge doesn't close until midnight. There's a slim chance that I might make that deadline, so pictures will have to wait.

Wayne

why did you choose to brush paint?

[Gary S]

Hey, as far as I am concerned, if someone needs another day, that is okay by me.

Now GET BACK TO WORK, DocWayne!

[doctorwayne]

Kevin, the reason for brush painting was dictated by the paint, Floquil's long-discontinued Polly S. Back in the '70s, when I started painting stuff for my free-lanced Elora Gorge & Eastern, I used Polly S Military Colours for the "double grey and green" paint scheme.
   

I didn't own (and couldn't afford) an airbrush at that time, but I discovered that some of their colours brushed very nicely (my chosen ones among them ) . On the other hand, some were terrible, especially reds and yellows.
Eventually, I painted a pair of modified Athearn geeps, as shown below, and ended up doing that paint scheme for quite a few other folks who frequented my LHS, as it's a very popular home-town road. Doing paint jobs, I made enough money to purchase an airbrush, and quickly discovered that Polly S didn't spray very well, so switched to Floquil (which doesn't brush very well on plastic).
   

When Polly S was discontinued, I attempted to buy-up a supply of the necessary colours, with little success (it wasn't very popular around here) and couldn't find the same colours in Floquil. I had perhaps 40 diesels, a couple of passenger trains, a half-dozen cabooses and a bunch of EG&E lineside structures all painted in those colours, so I was at a loss. Eventually, most of the diesels were sold, along with the passenger cars, and some of the cabooses to go soon. I've kept the structures and have enough paint to do the additional ones that will be required to finish the layout, but this caboose will probably be the last piece of rolling stock for this colour scheme.

Anyway, the short answer to your question is that the paint doesn't spray very well, at least in my hands.

Wayne

[doctorwayne]

Hey, as far as I am concerned, if someone needs another day, that is okay by me.

Now GET BACK TO WORK, DocWayne!

Aye, Aye, Cap'n

Actually, I'm watching, er, waiting for the paint to dry on the handrails, then they'll need to be clear coated, and then the parts can be assembled. Weathering will have to wait.

Wayne

[nachoman]

i feel the same way about pollyS. Actually, about most acrylic. I have airbrush issues, i think due to painting outside in extremely low humidity and high temps. It dries before it leaves the airbrush tip . Lately, I have had more success airbrushing acrylic, especially heavily thinned as a weathering agent. I don't know if the paint has gotten better, or that it has been wetter and cooler around here lately.

[BR60103]

They've discontinued Polly s? What will I paint with now?

Wayne: what colours do you need? Some of mine are still liquid. But I just went through the collection and found a lot that need replacing.

[doctorwayne]

After a little more work, the caboose is presentable, if not yet completed.

Here's what the window shades look like after they've been installed:
   

...and the underframe, painted, but not yet weathered:
   

Here's a look at an end. The platforms have been installed temporarily for the photos, but require some paint touch-up, along with additional lettering and clear oversprays:
   

   

...and a view of the sides. Still needed is lettering and striping on the steps, and, of, course, some light weathering:
   

   

I hope to have some better pictures when the job is complete.

Wayne

[doctorwayne]

They've discontinued Polly s? What will I paint with now?

Wayne: what colours do you need? Some of mine are still liquid. But I just went through the collection and found a lot that need replacing.

As far as I know, I've got enough of the two shades of grey and the green to finish any remaining projects, but thanks for the offer, David.
Polly S has been replaced by Polly Scale, and, if I'm not mistaken, the original version of that has been vastly improved, too. I like it enough that I used it for the last two steamers which I recently painted, including this one:
   

It brushes nicely, and airbrushes as well as Floquil, even when thinned up to 90% with distilled water. The main drawback to it is that paint thinned for spraying don't seem to have the shelf life of thinned Floquil. Clean-up is supposedly with soap and water, but I've found lacquer thinner to be more effective - just as well, as I don't have water available in the garage.

Wayne

[doctorwayne]

i feel the same way about pollyS. Actually, about most acrylic. I have airbrush issues, i think due to painting outside in extremely low humidity and high temps. It dries before it leaves the airbrush tip . Lately, I have had more success airbrushing acrylic, especially heavily thinned as a weathering agent. I don't know if the paint has gotten better, or that it has been wetter and cooler around here lately.

Kevin, in the past I've had difficulty spraying Polly Scale, but I think that they may have improved it. I also read their recommendations for airbrushing and find, as they say, that distilled water works much better than alcohol as a thinner (doesn't dry in the tip of the airbrush) and that lower spraying pressures (15-20lbs.) seem to give better results with little or no clogging. Both of these suggestions run counter to what I've read elsewhere on the internet.

Wayne