Me and my ships

[Günter]

Hallo,
here is my "shipyard" where I spend a lot of time building my models:

and a view to the other side:

me and my new lifeguard vessel and my Macdonald kilt.

Im sorry normally I don't weare Kilts when I buld my ships. But very often at the little lake where we let our ships swim:

here in my blackwatch .

nice sunday evening

[James MacMillan]

That can't be what I think of a work shop..... it's way too clean!

[Rex_Tremende]

What an awesome workshop!

What giant beer bottles!!

Regards,
Rex.

[GMan]

Those are NEAT pictures.

[Kiltman]

Danke Günter. Ich mochte daß Ich so gut einen "Workshop" hätte.

[SFCRick]

looks good

[Rogerson785]

Those are nice pictures of your kilt, and the boats look good too.

I am somewhat of a model builder myself, and was published in the June 2004 Fine Scale Railroader magazine. Below is the article I sent in, of course it was edited a little, but now everyone knows how to create a good looking model rail car. The photography was done at the Fort Huachuca photo lab where the DA (Department of the Army) pictures are taken. The photographer shot me a week prior and wanted to test some new lighting and backdrops, so my model became the subject, he was credited in the magazine too.

Kit-Bashing A Hartland Locomotive Works Mini Series Kit Into A Water Car



I found the Hartland Locomotive Works Mini Series Kits to be very inexpensive and with a few modifications can turn out to be realistic looking. I will describe in detail how to kit-bash one of these kits into a more realistic water car for your logging or mining railroad.



The basic steps that I used to modify the flat car are straightforward and to the point. There are no perfect steps to making these modifications, and for the most part, I did this kit-bashing with a little trial and error with some common sense thrown in to get the project completed in time for the 23rd National Narrow Gauge Convention.



The Car Body:

I chose the gondola to start my kit-bash from, but you could just as well use the flat car, since all the cars use the same base. I removed the cast-on details and cut down the coupler mounting brackets with a Dremell and a #11 Xacto knife. I sanded all the surfaces free of any molding flashing and assembled the car without glue to test the overall fit. The next step was to install the link and pin couplers from Ozark Miniatures.

I spray painted the car with Oxide red primer, which I purchased from Wal-Mart for less than a dollar. I let this dry outside in the Arizona sun for 45 minutes, wet sanded the car and sprayed on a second coat the following day.

I then took Popsicle sticks and covered the flatcar floor. I also replaced one section of the flooring with 1/16th inch basswood to represent a replaced or repaired section. I cut the planks to slightly different lengths for some randomness. I lightly scored the planks with two different razor saws and a #11 Xacto knife, not overdoing the scoring since I wanted this car to appear to have recently been built up from an older flatcar, something that many logging and mining companies did to save money and extend the life of their eclectic rolling stock. I used Xtream3 Bondini CA cement to secure the planks and other parts in place.

Before the wheels were added, I decided that the water car needed to have some additional bracing to the frame. I found some brass rod that I had in my scrap box, so I drilled two small pilot holes and measured out the needed length and cut the rod to fit. I had to slightly bend the rod to secure it to the frame. Once the rods were in place I lightly sprayed them with the Oxide red primer. I think that the addition of the rods give the car just a bit more character.

Once I glued the car together, I installed the black wheels by Garry Raymond.

The Tank Buildup:

This was the hardest part of the entire kit-bash since the flatcar is so small I had a limited space in which to place the water tank. I tried everything from soda cans to peach cans, until a trip to the Home Depot revealed a great PVC coupling sleeve for sprinkler systems. This was only after I had walked almost every isle with my plastic car body fitting different cylinders on it hoping for a good fit and aesthetically pleasing look. I purchased two of these PVC sleeves, glued them together with CA, and left them to dry. The following day I, spray-painted the cylinder with Oxide red primer.
I used 1/16th-inch basswood and measured out the circumference of the cylinder until I almost had a perfect fit. I ended up using one Popsicle stick to represent a recent repair. I then cut down and secured the entire wood assembly with masking tape to get a good visual representation of what the water car was going to look like.

Once the vertical planking was glued in place, I sanded the cylinder and stained it with some walnut stain. I rubbed the majority of the stain off with a combination of fine steel wool and sandpaper. I then weathered the tank with a steel wheel and wire brush until barely any stain was visible, and some graining had appeared. Then I applied some Polly’s Oil Black in between the boards to represent tar sealant.

The water car was slowly taking shape and once the wood tank planking was finished I then began to focus on the lid for the tank.

I thought that the tank assembly was the most difficult part, but the top turned out to be my biggest headache. Nothing I had was working to my liking, and I was working on a deadline for the 23rd National Narrow Gauge Convention. I ended up using some old 3/8th-inch wood that was lying on my workbench.

The final touches to the water tank were the addition of Micro-Mark #1x3/16th-miniature lag screws, which I attached to the water tank roof. I simply drilled pilot holes through the wood and into the plastic PVC sleeve. I used a drop of CA and slowly seated the screws careful not to apply too much pressure. I used Evergreen styrene strips (item #136 .030x125”) to simulate the metal banding that would have secured the water tank’s vertical planking. I painted the strapping the same color as the body and glued them in place with CA. I then used Micro-Mark miniature lag screws to give the strapping the appearance of being bolted to the tank.

I used the same brass rod for the bracing to form the ladder. I simply held one end of the rod in my pliers, bent the wire 90 degrees, and sighted the next bend until I thought the steps looked right for the car. I also used some picture wire and solder, which I blackened to represent industrial hose. I then cannibalized a lighter and used some of the brass parts to serve as nozzles and inlet plumbing.

The final addition to the water car was an Ozark Miniatures water bucket, which I thought made the car that much more realistic.

Floor planking made from Popsicle sticks and 1/16th-inch basswood.

Weathering was with pastel chalks ground down and mixed with 99% isopropyl rubbing alcohol.

Indian ink and 99% isopropyl rubbing alcohol was also used to weather some of the planking and tank.

I am afraid my hobby is not suited for kilting, i.e. I do not make knifes or sew in leather, but I do possess some talents like many of the fine people of this forum.


Chris

[Günter]

Excelent, railroad models
thanks for for this very interesting article.
got a lot of ideas for my models .

have a nice day
Günter

[BoldHighlander]

Very cool (both the ships & railroad)

You guys ever write your name in a cave with a candle?
Well back in the mid-70's (when I was a kid) I had a neighbor that turned his whole kitchen into an HO scale railroad layout, where his club met. One of his trains was an old style fire fighting setup (for forest fires). Anyhow he was having trouble painting realistic smoke damage & one day he observed me using a candle on the ends of the barrels of my WWII tank models to give them a realistic looking sooty appearance. He applied it to his rail cars and they came out fantastic. He told me later it was a big hit at the regional model railroad show in Seattle!

Just thought you could appreciate that story

[cessna152towser]

Great pics, I admire the skills of those who build scale model ships and trains. I mostly cheat by buying ready to run models.