HO scale SP&S boxcar circa 1975-80...it starts
May 27, 2024 16:33:58 GMT -6
BUCKY, JCON, and 2 more like this
Post by Beekster on May 27, 2024 16:33:58 GMT -6
Hi, all! No, I haven't disappeared nor have I totally abandoned armor & aircraft...just set them aside for a while to dip my little toes in an old, old pond I'd forgotten about. This Spokane, Porland, & Seattle 50-foot boxcar is an old Athearn blue-box kit I nabbed for $15 at a train swap meet in Chehalis a couple of months ago. It's out of the box save for Kadee couplers, with factory finish made matte with three coats of Dullcote. Weathering was done with artist's oils & mineral spirits and a dab of pigments here and there.
You might ask how this happened. I can legitimately blame my wife! A few months ago we were wandering around upstairs talking about some remodeling we want to do next year when she retires. She's suggested turning a spare bedroom into an office/lounge space, moving some of my library in there and perhaps a futon for an occasional guest. Great; moving some of my library opens up space in the War Room. We talked about ripping out the carpet there and having wood-look vinyl plank put down along with new window treatments and improving the track lighting and getting rid of some old furniture. Then she mentioned a train; I have no idea why. Like lots of us, I had one as a kid. I eventually tired of the small layout and didn't have the skills to improve it. For another quarter century I had no room for a layout; my nephews inherited my old one and had fun with it for several years. When Nancy said "train" my brain went ballistic. I looked at the room, visualizing the space. Right away, out came the tape measure and my thoughts went wild. Wow! I have an 8' x 8' space with walls on three sides and a window on one of them. An interior wall can add an extension out to ten feet. I reasoned that this ought to be enough to build a more interesting layout.
Within a week, I purchased the AnyRail 6 design software and began learning to design track plans. About three dozen such plans later, I think I am narrowing down what I want to do: A fictional forest products company in northwest Oregon with their own short line that ties into the Southern Pacific, circa 1975-85. This time frame will allow the use of a Walthers sawmill kit with conical waste burner; the kind that I used to see everywhere around here as a child. There are also Sherman kits available in HO, so I can build a miniature yarder or two. If anybody here uses Anyrail, let me know. I'd love to have someone critique my developing track plan
Right now I'm very much in the research phase, buying up and reading Kalmbach how-to books and watching YouTube Videos. I've bought some hot wire tools co carve foam and I am playing with those to make a display diorama by way of learning to do scenery techniques. I've picked up a couple of pieces of rolling stock and will apply my weathering skills to them, as seen here. By this time next year, I will be preparing to gut the room for new floors, lighting, and a repaint (I will do that myself). then I can get a small table saw and start building benchwork.
You might ask how this happened. I can legitimately blame my wife! A few months ago we were wandering around upstairs talking about some remodeling we want to do next year when she retires. She's suggested turning a spare bedroom into an office/lounge space, moving some of my library in there and perhaps a futon for an occasional guest. Great; moving some of my library opens up space in the War Room. We talked about ripping out the carpet there and having wood-look vinyl plank put down along with new window treatments and improving the track lighting and getting rid of some old furniture. Then she mentioned a train; I have no idea why. Like lots of us, I had one as a kid. I eventually tired of the small layout and didn't have the skills to improve it. For another quarter century I had no room for a layout; my nephews inherited my old one and had fun with it for several years. When Nancy said "train" my brain went ballistic. I looked at the room, visualizing the space. Right away, out came the tape measure and my thoughts went wild. Wow! I have an 8' x 8' space with walls on three sides and a window on one of them. An interior wall can add an extension out to ten feet. I reasoned that this ought to be enough to build a more interesting layout.
Within a week, I purchased the AnyRail 6 design software and began learning to design track plans. About three dozen such plans later, I think I am narrowing down what I want to do: A fictional forest products company in northwest Oregon with their own short line that ties into the Southern Pacific, circa 1975-85. This time frame will allow the use of a Walthers sawmill kit with conical waste burner; the kind that I used to see everywhere around here as a child. There are also Sherman kits available in HO, so I can build a miniature yarder or two. If anybody here uses Anyrail, let me know. I'd love to have someone critique my developing track plan
Right now I'm very much in the research phase, buying up and reading Kalmbach how-to books and watching YouTube Videos. I've bought some hot wire tools co carve foam and I am playing with those to make a display diorama by way of learning to do scenery techniques. I've picked up a couple of pieces of rolling stock and will apply my weathering skills to them, as seen here. By this time next year, I will be preparing to gut the room for new floors, lighting, and a repaint (I will do that myself). then I can get a small table saw and start building benchwork.
