Dirty Old Girls.

[Das Steinkopf]

Recently I started to extend the weathering of my rolling stock to my locomotive fleet, I have started off with the diesels to begin with as they tend to be rather grubby beasts, I did a decent amount of research on the locomotives that I was working on and was lucky enough to see DD51-853 and DD51-891 in the flesh when I stopped at Inazawa to do a spot of gunzelling. With the DE10's I haven't seen the two units I have modelled but found enough reference photos of them, mind you I was up around DE10-1539's stomping ground in April when I was around Kanazawa and Toyama as she does work the northern end of the Takayama Honsen. With the original JRF livery I had initially wanted to do DE10-1136 as she was an absolutely filthy beast that looked like she should be scrapped, sadly for me the period I am modelling 2015 onwards she had already had her date with the gas axe and is no longer with us, I then opted for DE10-1526 instead. I still have one piece of work to do and that is swapping out the couplings, I am not sure which way I will go there as I am toying with idea of using Micro Trains couplers which will be handy for shunting, that said I will have to do a bit of kitbashing to fit them, as well as the fact that I will need to fit them to close to 100 wagons is a rather daunting task. I have also thought about using TN couplers as they are easier to fit as well as less costly, that said I will lose the versatility that using the Micro Trains couplers would have to offer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 8, 2017 by Das Steinkopf
Issue with links

[Takahama Trainwatcher]

Hmm.. can't see the pictures, just file names.

[Kiha66]

Nice job!  What did you use for the weathering process?  The dirt really makes the details pop on the models.

[Das Steinkopf]

28 minutes ago, Takahama Trainwatcher said:

Hmm.. can't see the pictures, just file names.

 

Fixed now, I don't why but when I uploaded it an an ungodly hour this morning it showed the photos from my Flickr account before I posted it, after then it seems to have  only provided links that can't be opened, in the end I just loaded the photos instead of the Flickr links.

[Das Steinkopf]

Just now, Kiha66 said:

Nice job!  What did you use for the weathering process?  The dirt really makes the details pop on the models.

 

 

Generaly grime is a wash made from Tamiya Flat Black and Hull Red, for the dirt I use various mixes and shades of Tamiya Desert Yellow, Hull Red, Red Brown and Flat Brown, I apply those using a dry brush technique so it highlights the raised detalis.

[Densha]

30 minutes ago, Das Steinkopf said:

Fixed now, I don't why but when I uploaded it an an ungodly hour this morning it showed the photos from my Flickr account before I posted it, after then it seems to have  only provided links that can't be opened, in the end I just loaded the photos instead of the Flickr links.

We're having some difficulties with external images at the moment, so just upload your pics as attachments for now. I always recommend doing so anyway, because it would be a pity if externally hosted images in a post were to disappear at some point in the future due to termination of the hosting service or account amongst other reasons. Attachments will always stay there as is, so it is the best option really.

 

Anyway, nice weathering job! Are these Kato or Tomix models?

Edited September 9, 2017 by Densha

[Das Steinkopf]

14 minutes ago, Densha said:

Anyway, nice weathering job! Are these Kato or Tomix models?

 

Thanks Densha, all of my JRF diesels are Tomix and I have decided to standardize on those for the fleet, that is unless Kato or MicroAce decide to bring out a DD200 or DF200-200, the DD51's are both High Grade models. With my electric locomotives I have a mix of Kato and Tomix models.

[nah00]

11 hours ago, Das Steinkopf said:

 I still have one piece of work to do and that is swapping out the couplings, I am not sure which way I will go there as I am toying with idea of using Micro Trains couplers which will be handy for shunting, that said I will have to do a bit of kitbashing to fit them, as well as the fact that I will need to fit them to close to 100 wagons is a rather daunting task. I have also thought about using TN couplers as they are easier to fit as well as less costly, that said I will lose the versatility that using the Micro Trains couplers would have to offer

 

 

I can't say I suggest Micro Trains couplers. It seems that on most Japanese rolling stock and locomotives that coupler is set lower and that leads the magnetic uncoupler getting snagged in switches or crossings. Though the TN couplers don't gie the versatility of the MT ones they are more reliable and don't require modification to be put into the cars and locomotives. 

[velotrain]

1 hour ago, nah00 said:

 

I can't say I suggest Micro Trains couplers. It seems that on most Japanese rolling stock and locomotives that coupler is set lower and that leads the magnetic uncoupler getting snagged in switches or crossings. Though the TN couplers don't gie the versatility of the MT ones they are more reliable and don't require modification to be put into the cars and locomotives. 

 

I thought that MT offers their couplers mounted at various heights on the shank?

 

Also - it sounds like the trip pin is your issue and those can easily be bent up.

 

[Suica]

They look amazing!

Especially the DD51 in new JRF livery!

[nah00]

11 hours ago, velotrain said:

 

I thought that MT offers their couplers mounted at various heights on the shank?

 

Also - it sounds like the trip pin is your issue and those can easily be bent up.

 

 

Yeah the trip pin is generally the problem, I couldn't for the life of me think of what it was called. Doesn't bending them up interfere with their operation though? 

[velotrain]

1 hour ago, nah00 said:

 

Yeah the trip pin is generally the problem, I couldn't for the life of me think of what it was called. Doesn't bending them up interfere with their operation though? 

 

Nope - not unless you get excessively carried away with it ;-)

 

 

There's a special plier designed for it.

 

http://www.micromark.com/Trip-Pin-Bending-Plier-N-Scale

 

 

If Japanese rolling stock does tend to have the coupler mount too low, you might need to customize your height gauge.

 

https://www.micro-trains.com/index.php?_route_=coupler-height-gauge-1055-98800031

 

[Khaul]

Do you plan to use magnetic uncoupling? I am getting hit and miss results with that. 

[velotrain]

37 minutes ago, Khaul said:

Do you plan to use magnetic uncoupling? I am getting hit and miss results with that. 

 

How so?

[Khaul]

Uncoupling happens when running a train over the uncoupler, without stopping.

[Das Steinkopf]

1 hour ago, Khaul said:

Do you plan to use magnetic uncoupling? I am getting hit and miss results with that. 

 

I am toying with the idea as I would like to build a small modern freight yard and want the ability to do some shunting, mind you most of the freight trains would simply pull into the yard and then pull out, I would however like to be able to uncouple locomotives at ease and at times cut down the size of the rakes or change their composition. Yard wise I am looking at something similar to Nishi Gifu, with the train lengths I am looking at about a 12 wagons in length as I feel this is a decent length for a model especially when that is about 1.8m/6' in length in N gauge. At that size you still need a decent but reasonable amount of containers to sit on the storage pad as well as on the Koki's that have containers on them, god forbid how many you would need with if you were to model a 26 car long train which would come in at about 4m/13' long. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 10, 2017 by Das Steinkopf

[velotrain]

2 hours ago, Khaul said:

Uncoupling happens when running a train over the uncoupler, without stopping.

 

Are you using MT equipment, or something else?

Are the couplers at the correct height, based on the gauge?

Which uncouplers are you using?  I've seen this sometimes happen (in HO) with the hidden/buried magnets, which I think might be stronger.

It generally shouldn't happen so long as there is no slack between the couplers.

[Khaul]

This is happening with the magnetic couplers I got from Kato USA. The magnet in the track attracts the metallic wheels thus producing accordion slack. The long story is in the "Fitting Kato magnetic couplers" thread. MT couplers may work better but they are a bit of a pain both to fit and to find the correct ones. I have found evidence of frustration with them among American modellers and advice about how to generate enough slack by using springs.

 

Some people like kvp advocate for keeping the Rapidos and use uncoupling ramps, or add magnets to raise the coupler when passing through an uncoupling magnet.

 

 

[kvp]

1 hour ago, Khaul said:

 

Some people like kvp advocate for keeping the Rapidos and use uncoupling ramps, or add magnets to raise the coupler when passing through an uncoupling magnet.

Those are the solutions suggested by european manufacturers and in case of the 2nd, Tomix itself. On the other hand, if you prefer the american couplers, then imho all through tracks should use either electromagnetic uncouplers or a mechanical contraption (either hand or motor operated) to raise and lower the underfloor uncoupler magnet. This means the permanent magnet is out of the way for normal operation and put under the track only during the uncoupling. This is also important as not only the wheels, but some of the cars themselves have iron parts in them (mostly weights).

 

Btw. that's really nice weathering!

[beakaboy]

I read recently that Microtrains ,from memory ,were going to produce a new coupler with no spring which would eliminate the slack effect. Also they were going to be true scale and therefore not compatible with larger couplers, so you would need a convertor car/wagon which comes with a true scale coupler on one end and a magne-matic on the other. They are also not suitable for magnets for uncoupling and require a sharp needle or toothpick. I find my existing Magne-matic couplers quite enjoyable to manually uncouple in my yard. Feels like I am part of the yard crew.

[kvp]

10 minutes ago, beakaboy said:

I read recently that Microtrains ,from memory ,were going to produce a new coupler with no spring which would eliminate the slack effect. Also they were going to be true scale and therefore not compatible with larger couplers, so you would need a convertor car/wagon which comes with a true scale coupler on one end and a magne-matic on the other. They are also not suitable for magnets for uncoupling and require a sharp needle or toothpick. I find my existing Magne-matic couplers quite enjoyable to manually uncouple in my yard. Feels like I am part of the yard crew.

That's roughly what you get from the near proto scale Tomix TN couplers (the freight variant), but automatic uncoupling is often needed if you don't want to keep reaching in though the thick scenery. (btw. in theory there is a rapido adapter for the TN couplers, but i wonder how usable is it)

[beakaboy]

thanks Kvp. Can you post a link to these Tomix TN couplers