What's in a name?

I don't do prototype fidelity.  Some modelers are obsessive-compulsive about getting things exactly right for a particular railroad, and I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that, it's just not my thing. I like building and detailing models, and scenes, and I am not overly concerned that a particular detail is out of place, that's why I don't really care to follow a particular prototype.

Image from http://www.mainenarrowgauge.org/history/maine-two-foot-railroads/

When I started Buzzard's Cove, I wanted to model a waterfront in 2' gauge. I wasn't trying to replicate the Wiscasset Waterville and Farmington, or any other of the Maine two footers. I wanted "Maine-ish".  Also, at the time, I was (and still am) interested in On30, logging and mining railroads, and my heart still belongs to Pennsylvania logging lines from 1880-1940. I have a thing for geared locomotives, and apparently (which I was unaware of) a penchant for diminutive Forneys.

I'll admit that I have no idea what I'm doing, when I have no idea what I'm doing.  Right now, I have no idea what I'm doing!  If you have noticed, I have not lettered any of my models in HOn30. The reason that I haven't broken out the solvaset is because I don't know what to call my fictional Maine 2 footer.  I could go the easy route, and buy sets for WW&F, or SR&RL, but even though I am not concerned with prototype, that doesn't feel right to me. I could also order some custom decals that just say Marsh Creek, but that doesn't feel right either, because Marsh Creek (MY Marsh Creek) is in North Central Pennsylvania, which is where the family farm is, and I was hoping to keep that name reserved for whatever logging line I might create.

Buzzard's Cove is an actual place in Massachusetts that I found by doing a Google Maps search. I just love the name. Dad and I used to fly R/C Airplanes at "Buzzard's Field" which coincidentally was not too far away from Marsh Creek.

What is all this blathering about Rich?  Well, I need a name. I searched last night for rivers in Maine, and panned around Google maps to find something that struck me, and somehow I ended up on Bear River, which I liked because it's the name of my dearly deceased Boo Bear, the lovable and dumb black lab who used to catch Jello eggs after my sister would spit them out of her mouth. (gross right?)

I also found Mad River (which isn't really a river, more of a runoff stream) that's in New Hampshire, where my Mom's side of the family is from. If I used Acadia (National Park) and Mad River RR I would probably confuse the heck out of some California logging modelers. (Arcata & Mad River).

If I took the semi-prototypical route, modeling something that could have been, I'm not really sure where to begin. I have plans to kitbash an Atlas Shay into an HOn30 model, so I want to include logging somehow, and of course, there needs to be a seedy waterfront. 

Image from http://www.maineboats.com/online/harbor-features/maine-eastern-railroad-route

I'm open to suggestions. I like "cool" sounding place names (Bear River, Mad River) and American Indian names (lots in Pennsylvania) and I also enjoy tongue in cheek (Gorre & Dapheited).  If you have some ideas, please post a comment to the blog, or comment on this post where you see it.

Go Build something Awesome.

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!

King of seasons

The summer is soon over, kids will be going back to school, jackets and sweaters will be coming out of storage, and modelers will be heading back to workbenches. I got an early start this year on modeling season, in the hopes that I will get some projects cleaned up and finished.  I believe that Autumn is king of seasons, and living in the Northeast, I am blessed with watching the Appalachians turn from green to a cornucopia of blazing colors in nature's annual ritual.  

I decided that since I love fall so much, I should model it, that way I will always have a reminder that cooler temperatures are always coming, and bringing with them harvests, Halloween and hunting season. 

I took advantage of a back to school sale to buy some artist acrylics. I found the cheapest tube acrylics at the store, and got enough of a variety of colors to do simple backdrops ala Bob Ross.  Happy little red orange and yellow trees jumped off my brush and onto the Masonite. I'm a detail oriented guy, but for this, general colors, textures and shadows will do, because a lot of my work will be covered by trees, structures and details.  The idea  is to fool the viewer into believing that there is something behind the meager 12" deep shelf layout, rather than painting an Italian chapel ceiling. 

I am pleased with the results, and hope you are too. 

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.

Summer blues

Yesterday I was able to sit down and glue 6 boards onto a piece of cardboard. I know this sounds like a lot of work, and many of you are thinking that I should slow down before I burn out, but I am committed to push forward! (Maybe I should just be committed?) Summer is a terrible time for modeling for me. There never seems to be an end to the list of things that need attention outside, and I'm not a happy guy when I am sweating all over everything. Last night though, those 6 boards meant a lot. We're having a weird cool spell in Pennsylvania, where it is dropping to below 60 at night, and something about the weather cooling down gets me excited. Most people are losing their minds waiting for the NFL season to start, and I could care less. MODELING SEASON is coming up, as well as The holiest of holies in Pennsylvania, HUNTING season. Yes, kids get off of school on the first day of buck season here. I think it's more practical than anything, because hardly any boys age 12 and up would show up to class even if they were scheduled. Autumn is the king of seasons, and I can't wait for it. I'm thinking that tonight I'll steal another 20 minutes at the bench... Go build something awesome!

Quick update

It's been a while, I admit. When the weather breaks in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvanians go outside. I have been busy with 1:1 scale projects in the back yard, and continuing to rock a 4.0 GPA at school, along with all the Mr Mom tasks that round out the day. 

The most exciting thing to happen this year is the shop now has a dual extrusion  3D printer! ( see minion above) I have lots of ideas on how to incorporate the printer  into the models, so many more ideas than I actually have time for! One of the coolest ideas is how to use this tool to make MORE tools! I plan to build an x,y,z milling machine powered by my dremel, and a micro lathe, also for the dremel. 

Of course, the 3d printer will make quick work of complex masters for kits and conversions.  I have a two week summer break coming up from school, so I plan to get some modeling done during the hottest part of the day, so stay tuned...

Go Build something Awesome!