HOn30 Headaches, Part deux.

Or..... Keep on truckin....

Continuing on with the theme of not being able to find things easily, HOn30 trucks are a bear.  It seems like many modelers just use Micro Trains Archbar trucks and couplers, because they can be found just about anywhere that stocks a decent amount of N scale gear.  As a convert from N scale, I have a handful of these as well, but as far as the trucks go, I'm really not pleased with their appearance, so I started looking elsewhere.

Doing a internet search for "HOn30 Trucks" resulted in a quick review of various truck options that I found here. Grandt Line Trucks and NWSL wheels looked like a clear winner until that I realized I would be paying $17 PER CAR to outfit them all.  Maybe when I'm independently wealthy, I can afford doubling the cost of my rolling stock collection, but for now, I'm cheap Charlie. 

If you're not familiar with Shapeways, you better get on the ball. 3D printing is the future, and Shapeways allows designers to upload their 3D models, designed in various CAD software programs, and print them out for a reasonable price. I found these trucks and decided to give them a try, because they work with MicroTrains wheels. I decided to order the 3D printed trucks as a test, along with some Grandt Line SR&RL trucks, and NWSL wheels, just to do a comparison. So far, I haven't yet received the Grandt Line trucks, but I have the wheelsets.

Yesterday, the parts from Shapeways arrived, so I took a little time to put them together.

L to R: Printed truck with 20" HO wheels, Printed with 33" N wheels, MicroTrains Archbar with 33" wheels.

As you can see, they are white, and they look a little clunky. I was a little worried at first, especially when I put a set on the Mount Blue Model Company car I am building.

Mount Blue Model Co. Dyer built 24' car

Not being the kind of guy to shy away from a challenge, I painted the trucks Engine Black, then hit some highlights with Grimy Black, and then washed the assemblies in a slurry of 91% isopropyl alcohol, mixed with Bragdon Enterprises weathering powders.



Final results

I think the results are very good. Not model contest perfect, but good enough for layout use given their cost, and the ability to actually get them in any quantity.  The next step is to tune them some, because they aren't as free rolling as other trucks. I am planning on ordering some Fox Valley Models 36" N scale brass wheelsets to use, the idea being that the heavier wheels will help the cars track better, and possibly roll more freely. They aren't cheap, but they are roughly 66% less expensive than NWSL wheels. With the Shapeways trucks, and FVM wheels, the cost to outfit a car will be about $6.

If you were hesitant about trying 3D printing, I suggest you give it a try, certain models will be better than others, based on the material used to print, and the design, but there is no reason to fear the future. I think the 21st century parts blend nicely with the wooden kit.

Go build something awesome!

HOn30 Headaches, Part 1.

Five79 Forney prepped for paint

On my kick of cleaning up started projects, I picked back up on the HOn30 Forney from Five79.  If you are a glutton for punishment like I am, HOn30 is a good scale to start with. There is no one stop shop for all of your needs, and no manufacturers really support the scale, except Minitrains, which produce a limited (but growing) line of locomotives and rolling stock, but only import into the US through a small hobby shop in California, that doesn't exactly have a "buy now" or shopping cart feature.  Sometimes I feel like Indiana Jones searching for the Holy Grail. "The penitent man will pass"....

This particular model I'm building is a a fine kit by any scale standards, and at roughly $65, not terribly expensive, until you realize everything you need to add on your own. Unfortunately, that $65 is variable, because it's converted from British Pounds, because the only dealer on planet earth for a Maine (USA) prototype locomotive is a shop in Scotland. Parkside Dundas is the shop, and you can find the kit here.  The rest of the story, as it is said are the other items listed here:

N scale Bachmann 0-4-0 mechanism.  You won't find this at any hobby shop, or online store. The old model has been discontinued quite some time, but because they run like garbage, people are always selling them on eBay and at shows.  Yes, I did say that they run like garbage. On anything other than perfectly clean and level track with no turnouts, the 0-4-0 will fail to run. They have horribly poor electrical pickup and transmission, and they tend to wobble a lot because they were assembled hastily in Chinese factories, and there is not enough weight to keep those 4 wheels in constant contact with the track. By adding electrical pickup with a trailing truck (see below) and piling on as much white metal as possible (the Five79 kit), the mechanism can be salvaged.

N scale trailing truck.  I'm using a Bachmann Spectrum Tender truck, because it has 4 wheel pick up to improve electrical contact. In the picture below you can see that I have filed off all of the molded on detail to be replaced with an archbar truck side frame. There are two contact pads that the wheels ride in, which transmits electricity from the track, to the wheel, through the truck, and eventually to the motor. This doubles the amount of electrical contacts the locomotive has, which, in theory, should dramatically improve performance.

Modifying the Bachmann Truck

N scale handrail stanchions. I used an old Gold Medal Models set. 

N scale pilot wheels and axle.  I used a metal one from an older Atlas car, and ground down the axle points with a dremel.

Of course, you need a variety of modeling tools, and not a small bit of skill. I told you that you need to be a punishment glutton didn't I? 

This is part 1 of a two part series. In the next installment, I'll discuss finding decent trucks and wheels for your freight cars.

Unfinished Business

It's exciting to see progress even if it's just 5 parts coming together over the course of 2 evenings. I was able to get the second (and final) gable dormer assembled and placed on the mine roof. For whatever reason, I put this on long term hold while I worked on other projects. I usually do things like that when I am faced with a challenging bit of construction, or when I don't know how to proceed. In this case, I think I just really didn't feel like fighting with geometry!

Whatever my reasons were, now that I have this part behind me, I know that shelving the project was foolish. It looks good in my opinion, and even if it isn't as perfect as I would like it to be, it looks better than an unfinished structure.

I guess my point in all this rambling is that while your models might have some flaws, finishing them is more important and rewarding than having a shelf full of unfinished or even worse, unstarted kits.

Go build something awesome.

On30 Flat Car kit now available!

Flat car kits are available!!!

Price is $13.00, not including shipping. These are fantastic bare bones kits that can easily be used as a basis for all kinds of other cars. Super simple to assemble (two parts), and chocked full of subtle wood grain texture, they will look great on your layout. Minimum radius on this guy is about 10", so it will work well on small and micro layouts.

Look for a Gondola version of this car soon!

HOn30 Shay

I love Shay locomotives. Well, I suppose I love all geared locomotives. Growing up in North Central Pennsylvania, I remember traveling the skid roads and jeep trails all over the mountains in Clinton County. What I never new, was that many of those jeep trails were actually railroad grades 100 years earlier. When I came to that realization later in life, I was shocked at how tons of steel and wood would climb 6 and 8% grades on ribbon rail to get logs to the mill, and how the hell someone designed and built these monsters with a stubby pencil and a slide rule.

I'm floating between 2 scales, On30 and HOn30, and by chance last night, I found an Atlas N scale Shay for a really reasonable price. I used to model N scale, but I caught the "n30" bug a couple of years ago, so when I decided to buy the shay (it didn't take long), I had thoughts of reselling and turning a profit, or maybe even dabbling back in N scale. I didn't want the model to convert to HOn30. That is until this morning, and I started searching for Atlas shay HOn30 conversions.  Most of the conversions I have seen look ridiculous, with a gargantuan cab, and a teeny boiler, with gargantuan domes, and a stack that is pencil thin and (seemingly) 20 feet tall.

If you have built one of these, and are getting angry with me, please un-wad your panties. It's not a personal insult. I just don't like the way it looks. You may, and that's cool with me. Some people think that Camelback locomotives are hideous, but I think they are wicked cool. Anyhootie...

I wasn't going to convert it until I saw this:

Photo Credit: Kermit Geary, Jr.
 

That is an honest to goodness 3 cylinder, 2 foot gauge shay. As Wayne used to say: "SCHWING!!!"

You know what is even better? That sucker runs...right MEOW! 

Better yet? It's in PENNSYLVANIA!!!

Shay S/N 3118 was built by Lima in 1920 for Good Roads Construction Co.,  Leachville, AR.  I'll spare the rest of the details, but in 2003, it was born again for Doug Kuntz (railfan), Foster Brook & State Line RR #12, Bradford PA.

Here are some more porn shots for you slobbering weirdos (like myself)

Photo Credit: Kermit Geary, Jr.

Photo Credit: Kermit Geary, Jr.

Photo Credit: Kermit Geary, Jr.

I found all these at http://biglittlerr.blogspot.com
Hope this gives you some inspiration to:

Go build something awesome...

Changing plans

Last week I discovered that the Five79 Forney rolling chassis wouldn't navigate the north end of Buzzard's Cove. Forneys have problems with tight radius turns, and can have a large lateral movement of the rear of the locomotive when modified to take tighter turns. Long story short, it's butt was too big for the bridge. Insert your favorite Sir Mixalot or LL Cool J song about generous posteriors.

The only solution available for me was to rip out everything north of the creek (I need to name that I guess huh?) and modify the bridge, and change the track plan slightly.

The north end

You can see where the spur track originally went, next to the seawall. The divergent radius was too tight, and the locomotive was hopping the rails. I have also decided that the RDA Johnson's Loft and Boathouse was too big, and not aesthetically interesting enough for the front of the layout, so it was replaced with Bar Mills' Staton Marine. I have found that building laser cut wood kits is actually too much fun. I've been scratchbuilding quite a bit of stuff, and these little kits fly together at ludicrous speed. Now that Bar Mills is including injection molded windows with their kits, I'm hooked. My one complaint about laser kits has always been the windows. In my opinion, the wooden windows don't look as nice as plastic, because the mullions are far to thick, and the layering of parts is too easy to screw up, so your windows look crooked.

 

Demolition Man

 

While I had the track ripped up, I decided that I didn't like the long straight sea wall, so it came out as well. A new section of dock will have to be built to replace it, so that the boats have a place to tie off to and get their fuel and repairs from old man Staton.

 

 

Under new lights

The north end is still functionally the same as before, with the "exit stage right" track, and the spur, but now I think the scene is better looking, with the tracks going behind the structure. I carved a boat hull out of some balsa, and it will fit nicely along the dock. I think I could even squeeze another 10 feet out of the hull. We'll see.


Off to a train show to find some goodies....

Go build something awesome.

 

Hobbytown USA Annual Model Contest

What does Bruce Lee have to do with trains?  Everything.  More of that in a minute...

Yesterday my Mill Pond diorama won it's class (dioramas) at our local Hobbytown USA. I am pretty happy about that. I got a nice plaque, for the low price of three dollars (entrance fee).  More importantly, I got to see an old friend, and I got a chance to see models that ran the spectrum of very good, to very, very, bad.  Before you get a bad taste in your mouth for me "gloating", hear me out.  Even those really crappy models were on display, and I didn't see any of YOU there.  The people who had the balls to come out and compete are all winners, because they took time out of their day to at least show up, with glue runs, finger prints, and duct tape shadowboxes in tow, to share their hobby with others.

 As Model Railroaders, we kind of hang out with the other weirdos like us.  My friend today said: "ever notice that model builders are strange?"  Well, of course I had noticed, look at the two of us here!  We tend to be basement, garage, or attic dwellers, total geeks. Getting out to a contest or show to socialize with the other socially retarded folks is good for you, and competition is healthy. It also gives you ideas, and a chance to get to know other people who share your interests. 

What did I gain from looking at bad models? I got some inspiration to maybe try other genres of modeling. There were good ideas, just maybe not executed the best way.  Unfortunately, I couldn't really hang out and talk with all of the modelers, because I would have liked to give some of those guys some tips or ideas, and maybe I could have gotten some tips on my own modeling, and maybe those guys could have pointed out things that I could have done better that I missed.

Enough of the lecture. Here are some photos of my diorama.

So... Bruce Lee?  Did you watch the video? If I told you I am good, you would say that I am gloating. If I told you I am no good, you know I'm lying.  Become like water, and flow.

Go build something awesome.

Devil in the details

I'm now at the point in the diorama build where the nits come out to pick. I placed the logs in the pond, and now I just need to detail the scene a little. Saturday is the contest, and I'm pretty happy with what I have been able to accomplish in just under 3 weeks (to date). 

I still have too many projects, and too little time, for example:

* half a dozen HOn30 freight car kits to assemble

* On30 shay conversion

* On30 Porter rebuild (two of those)

* On30 Davenport detailing

* finish an HOn30 Porter

* finish my Mining micro in On30

* Buzzards Cove HOn30 micro layout

* finish the masters for my flat car kit

And...

This little guy. An HOn30 Forney kit, from Five79. While that is a pretty straight forward build, just like everything I do, I am over-complicating it by adding Radio Control. At least, that is the plan anyway. It's going to require me to get over my electronics mental block. 

I should probably start RC with an easier project, like one of the Porters in On30, and I may still, because I should be able to get this bugger running well  with the addition of a flywheel, and a conductive rear truck. I'm going to head to the Mid Atlantic Narrow Gauge Guild's annual module meet in Kimberton, PA in a few weeks to talk to the RC gurus of On30 to get some help, and maybe go from there.  

I'm not going to let this stuff stop me though, I'll just do what Dad taught me on my way to the Fort Benning School for Wayward Boys: "Just put one foot in front of the other."

Go build something awesome.

Dead Rail?

Over the last few days, I have been contemplating some pretty deep stuff, like:

Why do we drive on parkways, and park on driveways?
When is it okay to tell a person they have a hanging booger?
What makes an "innie" into an "outie"?

But the biggest question I have is:

Why do I get so frustrated building layouts?

I have the answer: I hate wiring. Hate is a pretty strong word, and I don't just hate wiring, I hate everything electrical.  Loathe it.  It's probably because I don't understand it, and that pisses me off. I could dive into books and websites and teach myself everything about electrical engineering I could ever want to know, but that would take time away from what I love, which is building, detailing, and weathering models. I'm not willing to do that. My modeling time is limited as it is, and I couldn't care any less to waste energy on the flow of electrons, amps, watts, ohms, and volts. 

Enter a few guys on the internet.

"Convert those locos to battery powered RC, and never worry about electrical again!" they said.  No worrying about any of the garbage anymore.

Well, I'm thinking about it, and I'm trying to figure out whether or not I can shoehorn RC gear into HOn30 locomotives, or if I'll have to run cheater cars with them.  The current (and only) HOn30 locomotive on the roster is a Railway Recollections Porter, which will probably not have the room for gear, without a cheat car. (a cheat car is a piece of rolling stock that is permanently connected to the locomotive that hides all the RC gear, It used to be pretty common for N scale guys to run cheaters with small steam locomotives).  I'm waiting on an order from Parkside Dundas to ship of a Five79 2-4-4 Forney that will go over an old Bachmann 0-4-0 mech, that are notoriously bad runners, mostly because of poor electrical connections (sounds like a candidate for RC). The Forney might have enough room in the cab and bunker to house the receiver and batteries. Once I get the kit, I'll be scrutinizing it thoroughly.

In the mean time, my Porters and lone Davenport in On30 would be able to run RC with one of my gondolas set up as an auxiliary tender (cheat car).  From what I can see, it doesn't look like costs would be much different than converting to DCC. 

Never having to clean track? Now that would be Awesome.

A million miles an hour

My brain is moving faster than my hands can build, write and type.

I've committed to attending a show in July, and while it might be just over 5 months away, I feel as if I have no time to prepare for it. Trying to balance long range planning, with the things that have to get done right now is just insane. I've got so many ideas, and I don't seem to have time to even catalog, let alone prioritize them. My goal is to have 3-4 kits ready for that show, with around 100 total in stock. I have a ton of other things that have to get done in order for me to feel prepared for the show, finishing the display layout, getting a packing list together, and identifying shortages on the list, and fixing them.

It would also be pretty awesome if I could do some of my OWN modeling while the winter is still on...

Back at it.

Go build something awesome.

Creative kitbashes

 

Models and Photos By Al Judy

 

 

Customer photos!

Al Judy sent me a bunch of photos of the very first Marsh Creek Miniatures kits assembled...ever. Al works super fast, and had two done by 5 pm the day he received them in the mail! Two were built as mine prop carriers, one as a tool car, and one as a bite sized bulkhead flat. You can see all of them above.  You can see more of Al's work on his Facebook page, the Mill Creek & Lycoming Railroad.

 

 If that isn't enough Pennsylvania goodness, order a copy of the 2014 On30 Annual where Al has a layout tour featured in one of the premier publications for the On30 crowd.  Here's a few more shots of Marsh Creek's kits on Al's Layout.

 

 

Models and Photos By Al Judy

 

 

It makes me incredibly happy and proud to see something I have designed executed so well. Thank you Al for the pictures!

Like the kits? You can buy them here.

 

 

Go build something.
Rich



Online shopping?

 

Technology is fantastic. I am pleased to announce that you can now purchase the little On30 4 wheel gondolas directly from this blog! Ever since I offered these for sale, the most common questions I got was "do you take PayPal?"

 Of course I accept PayPal. What kind of a tech savvy train geek would I be if I didn't?

Keep checking back often to see the latest developments with the kits, the blog, and my pseudo philosophical ramblings.

An unexpected surprise

Yesterday I was finally able to sit down and build one of the mine cars that I had cast. With life being so hectic, I haven't had a whole lot of modeling time since Christmas. I think they came out pretty good. There are some other things that I'd like to do with them, but overall, I'm very pleased.

 

 

 

 

 The surprising thing is that they have gotten quite a lot of attention in a short amount of time. I had originally offered them as trade bait, thinking I might be able to get some small kits or parts for them.  Since Thursday, with a very small audience on facebook, I've gotten orders for 16 of them, from as far away as Scotland and New Zealand. I was shocked. I personally thought they were a pretty cool little car, and they were up to my standards as far as detail (of course they would be, I built them), but I had no idea there might be enough interest to make them available commercially.

 

 

 The response was so good in a 5 day period, that I literally have run out of supplies to make any more kits than were ordered. I've got more resin coming, and I'm contemplating making a second mold to speed up production.  One of the guys who bought the first kits suggested that I work on a shorty 2 truck car, between 12 and 15 scale feet in length. Bachmann's 18 foot cars are wildly popular, and for the guys who like to run tight curves on small layouts, even smaller would be a nice to have item.

 

 

 

 

Between School, the kids' extracurricular activities, Cub Scouts, and finding time for the Mrs., things take me a while. I'm not a retired guy who has nothing but time on his hands. I wish I could spend as much time as I wanted in the basement sniffing glue, creating things, but right now that's not in the cards. There may however, be just enough time to turn my creations into a small hobby business...

 

 

We'll see. I certainly hope there is, but I'll leave it in God's hands for now. Or, like they say in Iraq..."inshallah" (As God wills).

 

Stay tuned.