Well here's the second installment, laying out the base foam.

I started by cutting the large sheets down to cover the two main sides and used the left over bit for the middle.

I used an electric carving knife, and it worked great with nice smooth edges. This actually an old upholstery trick for cutting foam cushions.

Well my desktop computer is backup and running and I haven't posted anything in a while because of it. But I've been busy building my first meduim size layout.

I've based my benchwork on a design by Iain Rice from his book "Small, Smart & Practical Track Plans". I'll modify the track layout and scenery to fit my skill level and needs.

Here's a scan of the project.

Well, I finally got a chance to update ya'll on this build. 

Pic of Hatch assembly. I left it on the parts tree for easier handling.

Another pic of hatch.

This update covers Brake Rigging on the under frame.
First up, Tichy provides a template to cut .010 wire for the brake lines. The wire is provided in the kit.

They have you cut the wire between the two bends in order to fit it through the fish belly frames. Looking at the clearance, you might be able to work it through without cutting. I’ll have to try it on the next kit.

Yesterday while the frame was drying, I worked on the basic Car Body assembly.

First ends are cemented in place, and then a small angled piece in order to keep it square with roof. This actually went together better than I thought it would.

Close up of angle support.

Well this morning spent some time on the underframe assembly.

First installed the Fishbellys in place. You can't put these on the wrong sides as one has two slots to fit in and the other has one. When you do this, you need to make sure the detail is facing out so they're not backwards.

Then put together the Body Bolster halves.

In this update, I tried Joe's suggestion on the touch up. It looks to have worked pretty good, so thanks for the tip again.

Tichy recommends a mix of Boxcar red 70% and Tuscan red 30% for the car ends and ice hatches. So this is what I had on hand. Poly Boxcar red and some art acrylic Tuscan red. Gave the mix a try and it worked out good.

Well I decided to tackle a Tichy Pacific Fruit Express kit. I've accumulated a couple of these from EBay buys.

The Kit looks to have quite a few parts and looks fairly detailed. So we'll see how this adventure works out.

Well it's been quite while since having a chance to post any projects, almost year. We went from being renters to home owners, So we've been busy fixing and painting most of the year.

Having Gall bladder surgery this week has prevented me from doing any heavy work, so it's actually given me a chance to put a couple of kits I have together.

This post is for a Blueprint series 40' wood reefer. This kit is somewhat challenging as it has quite few delicate detail parts. I didn't have any assembly pics to post so just finished project ones.

http://youtu.be/r05gjLfDX2E

​updated version of 3doodler here https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1351910088/3doodler-20-the-worlds-first-3d-printing-pen-reinv