What did you do today on your layout? (HO and other scales)

[shadowtiger25]

Been working on my Niseko Expres

Installed a lighting kit for the cars

Now, if I can only finish painting all of the people for them...

Also now that the cars are super bight inside, I want to paint the floors to look like the real cars and even add the over head luggage storage racks and things like that. but that's for another time

[marknewton]

On 5/14/2019 at 5:20 AM, Kiha66 said:

Love those HO D51s!  They've been on my wishlist for a while, I hope kato re-releases them at some point.  Great work with the detail parts, how do you go about touching up the paint once they've been installed?

 

I use MicroLux acrylic Engine Black applied with a fine brush. It closely matches the Kato factory paint finish. Any slight difference in appearance disappears once the weathering goes on.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[marknewton]

On 5/14/2019 at 12:30 PM, miyakoji said:

I've seen these but have never read any detailed information.  Based on the shape I assume they channeled smoke directly behind them, horizontally.  Is that correct?  Was this for operation in tunnels?

 

Yes and yes. I have some photos and drawings that show how they work, I’ll post them when I get a chance. In the meantime this page is worth a look:

 

http://yoshiokasyd.web.fc2.com/Annexes/Retro_Photos/Kyuusyuu/hisatsu/index.htm

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

Edited May 16, 2019 by marknewton

[shadowtiger25]

I decided to work on my キシ80 today. after installing the rooftop parts, I decided to put some people in it and paint the kitchen to give it a more... kitchen feel rather than the base color.  could still use spme more people and some more food, but that's a project for another day

[shadowtiger25]

Another super detailing job, this time on my Tomix Oyu10 

The lighting kit was a pain to install and I cant keep it on for long because the weird way Tomix has the connections.. if I had any small wire I would solder it, but that's for another day

Added some mail, posters, and some one to sort it all

I want to add more packages and some bags of mail, but I have to order/tinker with ideas for how to do those

Note: I know the boxes are not all filled with mail, but you really cant see much trough the small windows of this car, so I just did what can be seen

[marknewton]

Having finished detailing the Kato KiHa81, I’ve made a start on the Tomix 70 series EMU. Here’s what the beautiful KuHa76 looks like almost finished. I still have to install the photo-etched cab window demisters. I wanted an EMU with a “Shonan” cab for so long - but the Tomix models were worth waiting for. They really are gorgeous in every way. 

 

 Cheers,

 

Mark.

 

.

[Khaul]

On 5/13/2019 at 8:26 PM, marknewton said:

I’ve been gradually tidying up my fleet of Kato D51s, all of which I’ve bought second-hand. Some of them are missing small details such as the cab and smoke deflector handrails. So I’ve been replacing those where necessary, and adding a few extra details. Most engines fitted with smoke diverters had small pneumatic cylinders to operate the diverter. On this engine I’ve used a slightly modified door engine from a Tomix 485 series, which is very similar in appearance to the mechanism that the real loco carried.

 

 

Still to be fitted are handrails made from phosphor bronze wire. Then I think some weathering will be the go.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

 

How about a C62 like the one Shigemon got recently. I probably sold a kidney to get it.

 

 

[Martijn Meerts]

That C62 looks great.. If IMON ever does a H0j kit of a C62, I'm getting it no matter what 😄

 

 

As for my packages, my Micro-Mark tools arrived yesterday after a bit of a hickup initially. So now I have the Chop-It XL, Sand-It, and the magnetic glueing jig. That should help a lot with scratch building for both the N-scale and H0j / H0e stuff.

 

My package from Fast Tracks with all the things I needed to start building turnouts and laying track should arrive sometime today. If it does, I'll see if I can grab a few pictures of everything. Probably won't have time to actually start on something until the weekend though, but at least it's a long weekend since I have Monday off.

 

[marknewton]

9 hours ago, Khaul said:

How about a C62 like the one Shigemon got recently. I probably sold a kidney to get it.

 

As much as I’m a fan of JNR steam locos, I have to say that the C62s have never appealed to me. So I’ve never been tempted to get one. I much prefer the looks of the C60 and C61 class 4-6-4s.

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[kevsmiththai]

Well funnily enough I also had Tenshodo C62s in mind just a bit smaller. Last night was more filming and editing part one of the Hakuho build. The main thread of which is over in the personal projects section.

 

Extensive testing had gone well apart from the two Z scale C62s which seem to have the front plows just catching some of the Marklin point motors and derailing. The D51s and  C11 are fine.

 

The story so far

 

 

The next part will look at the lighting rig and photo-extension scenic boards

 

Kev

[Martijn Meerts]

11 hours ago, Martijn Meerts said:

My package from Fast Tracks with all the things I needed to start building turnouts and laying track should arrive sometime today. If it does, I'll see if I can grab a few pictures of everything. Probably won't have time to actually start on something until the weekend though, but at least it's a long weekend since I have Monday off.

 

Well, apparently paying 98 USD to UPS to get a package delivered doesn't mean anything to them. All day it said the package would be delivered today, even said it was on the delivery van, but all of a sudden they decided to change it to being delivered on Friday .. Took them 3 days to get it from Canada to Germany, and now seemingly 7 days from Germany to the Netherlands. They haven't specified a reason for the delay, or even notified me for that matter, it's only the tracking page that was updated. Interestingly though, tracking still says it's on the delivery van …

 

UPS Worldwide Expedited, 2 to 5 business days. But not really o.O

 

[chadbag]

1 hour ago, Martijn Meerts said:

 

Well, apparently paying 98 USD to UPS to get a package delivered doesn't mean anything to them. All day it said the package would be delivered today, even said it was on the delivery van, but all of a sudden they decided to change it to being delivered on Friday .. Took them 3 days to get it from Canada to Germany, and now seemingly 7 days from Germany to the Netherlands. They haven't specified a reason for the delay, or even notified me for that matter, it's only the tracking page that was updated. Interestingly though, tracking still says it's on the delivery van …

 

UPS Worldwide Expedited, 2 to 5 business days. But not really o.O

 

 

Get the sender to complain to UPS.  And take screenshots of the tracking info so they can't turn around and say it was stuck in Customs or something (if it says it is already in the delivery van).

 

[Martijn Meerts]

Yeah, I'll have to see. It's not like I'd be able to use the stuff until the weekend anyway, but it's just annoying.

 

Edit: And the package all of a sudden got delivered today.. No notification that they were on their way or anything.. Good thing someone was home o.O

 

[shadowtiger25]

I decided to work on my Seki 3000

Adding the break hoses and the cross bar though the coal load

 

What I did was drilled holes in through the load and placed the bar through and then touched up the coal on top with a little glue and iso.  3 done 17 more to go!

 

(also, I've been home all week because of bronchitis.. but I got a lot done while I have been recovering! its back to work tomorrow and I'm probably not going to do much tinkering for a while..)

Edited June 7, 2019 by shadowtiger25

[marknewton]

I roughly assembled one of the papercraft buildings from a book I’ve had for ages. I’m not going to use it as is, but instead I’ll use it as a template to build a copy out of styrene. I wanted to see how it would look assembled, and to gauge whether it was close to 1/80th scale. I think it’s near enough for my purposes. 

 

  

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[Martijn Meerts]

Those would be good as is for background buildings when you're trying to fill up a city with stuff actually. 

[marknewton]

Yes Martijn, they could be used that way, and that’s probably how I’ll eventually use them once I’ve copied them. Here’s another papercraft structure ready for assembly. I think this one’s slightly oversize for 1/80th, so it’ll need reducing before I reproduce it in styrene.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[marknewton]

Plotting and scheming... The second building looks alright when compared with the first, and some vehicles, so I’ll leave it’s dimensions alone.

 

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

[GDorsett]

Where do you all get your styrene sheets? I've been using wide "planks" and just sanding them down so they look like panels and when I'm modifying railcars.

[Khaul]

I like those buildings just like they are.

[miyakoji]

13 hours ago, marknewton said:

 

Mark I'm pretty sure I walked past this place in Kasaoka.

 

Looks great

[marknewton]

On 6/14/2019 at 10:13 AM, Khaul said:

I like those buildings just like they are.

 

If I was only using papercraft buildings then I’d agree, and I’d use them as is. But for me, consistency is important, and when you mix papercraft, Sankei, plastic kit-built and scratchbuilt structures it’s hard to maintain that consistency. And there be a couple of structures in front of the track as view blockers, which will need to have more detail and surface relief than a printed building can provide. So I’ll only be using these two as templates.

 

All the best,

 

Mark.

[marknewton]

As much as I’d like to press on with the construction of the big, more-or-less permanent home layout based on Mitaki, I can’t do much  work on it until I can afford to renovate the shed it will live in. And right now there’s no spare cash for that. But I’m tired of not having something to run trains on, or take to exhibitions. So inspired by an Iain Rice book, I’m going to build a what he calls a cameo layout. It will be based on Bakuromachi station on the Sakai Line in Yonago, Tottori prefecture.

 

If I’ve understood what I read correctly, before Bakuromachi was electrified it had a crossing loop, but to make it more operationally interesting I’m going to retain both tracks under the wire. The real platform at Bakuromachi will accomodate  a 4-car train, but I’m going to condense that down to 3 cars long. I’ve already got a suitable base which will accomodate the station nicely. It’s the one I built for the HOn30 project. I can’t plan accurately by making little drawings or using track planning software, so I’ve spent the last day or two playing with track, trains, buildings and vehicles to get an idea how it will all fit.

 

 

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

 

[GDorsett]

Best way to build a modular layout is with the base first, then have a goal, and then have track to fiddle with. Software only gets you so far.

[marknewton]

You’re not wrong about that. So now that I’ve primed and sanded all surfaces of the base I spent some time this evening playing with track, structures and trains. This is what I have in mind:

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The WS riser is just a stand-in for the platform - the proper version will have tapered ends and be long enough for three cars. And as there won’t be any turnouts on the visible part of the layout I’m going to do something I’ve wanted to do for a long time and superelevate the curves. (I’ve been playing around with a couple of pieces of Kato Unitrack with superelevation. The improvement in appearance is amazing.)

 

Cheers,

 

Mark.

Edited June 29, 2019 by marknewton