Modeling on the cheap
Everyone wants to stretch their hobby dollar. Here's one afternoon's work with Pollyscale and some Krylon spray on an old $2 AHM snap-tight kit from a swap meet. The depot will be a placeholder at Oakhill on Charlie Comstock's Bear Creek and South Jackson.
The depot was primed with Krylon Light Gray Primer and the roof sprayed with Krylon Flat Black. Pollyscale EL yellow was airbrushed on after the primer set up and the trim picked out in Southern Sylvan Green. The foundation and platform are D&RGW Building Brown. The roof was drybrushed with UP Harbor Mist Gray and then with Engine Black -- the finish is flat, not glossy as the side lighting makes it look in the photo.
I took the picture with two desk lights and a couple of 5600K compact fluorescents, using a Canon A560 digital point-and-shoot on a tripod. As always, now that the photo has been made, I see a couple places to touch up the paint.
Don't tell Charlie -- he's away at the National Narrow Gauge Convention and doesn't know Oakhill is getting a depot.
Anyone else have a bargain project to show off?
| Attachment | Size |
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| Oakhill depot front MRH.jpg | 404.11 KB |
| Oakhill depot rear MRH.jpg | 408.24 KB |
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Nice!
It looks pretty good Joe, I can't see where the touchups would go.
As for telling Charlie...your secrets safe with us but I think maybe the cat might be out of the bag anyway. Horace Fithers is bound to write it up for the next edition of the BC&SJ Gazette. I think Charlie subscribes. [wink]
Thanks for the detailed description of how you pulled off the transformation.
Paint can cover lots of stuff.
Your photos of this building show just what a good pain job can do on an old crap kit. Of course in it's in HO but you can do the sa,e in N Scale.
Irv
Not such a bad kit, Irv, and
Not such a bad kit, Irv, and an easy one to find. The detailing is pretty heavy, but the board and batten siding makes it easy to cut up and either extend or shorten.
OK ....
If Charlie drops in we won't tell him !.... But then...
Marc Fournier, Quebec
Neat Paint Job
I guess that's why car thieves get away with things so easily - a good paint job can hide the origins of anything! ;o)
Nicely done and nice color scheme. Are you going to further weather it, to tone it down, or leave it as is?
I am working (infrequently) on an old Model Power kitbash of two factory kits, similar to what was done in the HO Layout from Start to Finish Book from Kalmbach. With just a little paint and detailing, it's becoming to look much more realistic than when it was assembled in its cast plastic colors...
Norm Wolf
"recent 'Ground Goop' discoverer"
Norm Wolf
e-mail: ndwolf68@gmail.com
Check out my blog: http://www.trainfanatic.blogspot.com
Nice
Nicely done, Joe. Did something similar with an Atlas station earlier in the summer. A bit of glue clean-up, some carefully applied paint and some dry-brushing made the world of difference.
Roy
Geared is the way to tight radii and steep grades. Ghost River Rwy. "The Misty Loggers"
http://s39.photobucket.com/albums/e185/Grampy1dad/Ghost%20River/
Weathering the roof is next.
Weathering the roof is next. I could use some technique suggestions. The railroad is set in the southern Oregon Cascades in the early 1950s, so it ought to show the effects of long winters and summer sunshine.
Now that the paint has set up for a day or two, I'll probably fade it a bit with a brown wash or else a dusty overspray.
About weathering the roof...
Hi Joe,
I just thought I would mention the article in the March/April 2010 MRH Mag, page 51, "UP ON THE ROOF" by Tom Wilson. If you have not read it yet, you might get some ideas for the roof from his article. I read it once and will probably go back to it from time to time for pointers and ideas.
Keep on trackin'
Bill
N Scale (1:160), not N Gauge. DC (analog), Stapleton PWM Throttle.
Proto-freelance Southweat U.S. 2nd half 20th Century.
Keep on trackin'
Well, there is this cheep project I have...
Yes, I got one that I've been working on for a while.
This HO scale NW/2 is my first scratch-built locomotive. So far, I have built it completely out of some For Sale signs from the hardware store, and some extra pieces of kit sprue I've gathered over the years. It is going to be a dummy model sitting on a pair of old Model Power ALCO RS-2 trucks.
It will be an abandoned locomotive, rusting away in the backwoods swamps of Florida (it will be on an 8X10" diorama, and then moved to my layout when I get started on scenery)
This is the first scratch-built locomotive I have ever done, and I really enjoy working on it. When I get the completed diorama done, I'll post photos here.
Edit: Total cost of this locomotive: about $20.00
breakdown of cost:
$4.00 of styrene (For Sale signs are good, cheep sources. Just check the thickness, as some brands are thicker than others)
about $10.00 for the locomotive (from a swap meet)
$6.00- for everything else (model car engine and parts, various bits and pieces of other kits, etc.)