*
I spent a little time working on making the remaining seats. You can see in the picture that I got the seats made for the center on one side. They get end pieces, which I didn't make yet, and they also get cushions on the seat backs. They are made the same way as the long benches - basswood for the support pieces, and balsa wood for the cushions. And they will get painted the same colors.
These are fun and easy to make - and they turn out so cute!
Posted in:
1273 - brooklyn union 'gate car'
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seats
,
wood
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I got the wood siding made and installed on the long sides for the gate car. I did both sides. They still require all the trimming and framing for diving up the plastic into windows. I think I should get started on the little short sides... The wood siding is scale lumber basswood 2x4's - I thought about making the siding out of 2x2's but decided that was not the right answer. The pictures look like 2x4's. I painted the 2x4's like I did for the RhB boxcar [Güterwagen] - taped them down and painted them. Then sanded them. I used the traction red paint that I had mixed with the Holbein acryla-gouache paint. The paint had come a little unmixed, and despite my remixing it, there is a little red shade variation through the siding pieces.
I chopped the 2x4's up into pieces about 50mm long, then taped them down neatly to Bristol board. This allows me to get them spaced as I want and maintain control of the wood pieces. Then I cut them in half and glued each half to one long side. After the glue dried, I trimmed the pieces to the correct length. thus getting a perfect fit.
Since the sides were too thick, I removed two layers of the Bristol board from the inside along the bottom of the sides. This made them the correct thickness and makes them fit nicely to the undercarriage piece.
Posted in:
1273 - brooklyn union 'gate car'
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bristol board
,
paint
,
wood
*
I made one of the bench seats for the gate car. There are three more of these, then some regular type seats. The seat is made of both balsa and basswood. I used balsa for the seat "cushions", which I shaped using a big metal file and 330 grit sandpaper. The supports for the seat cushions are made of basswood. It is glued together with wood carpenter's glue. I think the bench seat turned out quite cute! It will be painted eventually.
Posted in:
1273 - brooklyn union 'gate car'
,
wood
*
I started the under-carriage for the gate car. I'm making it out of basswood, which will be painted. I'm still missing wheels, so I can only progress so far, but I wanted to start it so that I can use it to make sure that I make the sides correctly. I bought couplers and need to determine if they will work, but alas, I need the wheels for that.
Posted in:
1273 - brooklyn union 'gate car'
,
wood
*
I soaked and bent some 4x4 scale lumber for the roof trim - along the long top edge. I did this a number of times. Since I am bending the wood with the grain instead of across the grain, it took longer soak times, and more force. I taped the bent pieces to foam core to dry. In the photo, you can see on of the bent pieces still taped down. I made three pieces, even though I only needed two. I like to have a spare in case I mess up.
I need to sand along the edge where the trim pieces are glued to the roof. I did a test mock-up and it worked ok. I was worried that it might not sand nicely since the roof is balsa wood and the trim is basswood, and the basswood is not as soft as the balsa.
Posted in:
1273 - brooklyn union 'gate car'
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roof
,
wood
*
At precisely 13:00 this afternoon the builders started removing the windows at the back of our apartment.
We are currently in the process of replacing all wooden window sils in our building with plastic and steel ones. The wooden ones are almost completely spent and the plastic ones will last us at least a few decades.
In about four hours the workmen should have everything replaced and built. By sundown the back of our apartment should be weatherproof again.
Update @14:12:
In a litte over an hour the guys have completely removed the old windows and their sils. They're now cleaning up and sizing up the various parts for the new windows.
Update @16:30:
They're done! Wow, they're fast. The new windows look great and feel much more solid than the ones at the front side of the building. Good stuff :)
Posted in:
break stuff
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plastic
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windows
,
windowsil
,
wood
*
The roof top part has a trim piece that I want to add. I'm making it out of 4x4 scale lumber made out of basswood. I hope that doesn't cause problems doing sanding. But there isn't any scale lumber made out of balsa wood. I soaked two 4x4's in water and bent one end of each. This is too make it fit to the curve at the end of the roof. I taped them to foam core to dry overnight. Then I will trim them to length and bend the other end.
You can see on the right-hand side of the photo, the long strips of sand paper that I used to sand the roof. I really enjoy 'sculpting' things out of wood.
Posted in:
1273
,
brooklyn union
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roof
,
wood
*
I spent some time doing research and found some old photos of these cars. I also learned that they are referred to affectionately as "gate cars". Majority of the old photos were in black and white, so they are not useful for colors. They will be useful for details while building the model. I did find two old photos that were in color - but they are terrible color - in one the sky is green - so that doesn't help much. The other color photo was better, but not much. Both show a red car, more or less, and the entire car (including the roof) is the same color. I rather like the current color scheme where the car is a dark maroon and the roof is a lighter color. I haven't decided what to do about this yet. I emailed somebody who knows a lot about the old subway cars, so here's to hoping for some help. Otherwise, I'll just make a wild guess!
Meanwhile, I worked on the balsa wood roof. Yes, it looks much like the previous post's photo of the roof, but if you look closely, you will notice that I refined it. The lower side parts of the roof are sanded down to a nice slope now. And the ends have been shaped properly, too. Notice the nice curves coming to a point along (when viewed from the side).
I used 320 grit sand paper to sand the sides. I used the big file to shape the end slopes. Then I sanded the entire piece with 600 grit sand paper to make the wood smooth. I noticed when working with the balsa wood in the past, that it feels nice and smooth, and looks nice and smooth, but when you paint it, you find lots of pits and pocks. I'm wondering about getting 1200 grit sand paper, and sanding it extra smooth.
Posted in:
1273
,
brooklyn union
,
roof
,
wood
*
A balsawood roof (Studio Pickett (Soph)) by gmpicket
I started fiddling around with the roof for the Brooklyn Union car. I'm using balsa for the roof, and am shaping it with a big metal file. When I finish shaping it, I can fine tune the shape with 600 grit sandpaper. Sanding balsa makes a mess - lots of dust! Since balsa is a soft wood, anything can mar its surface, including fingernails. I forgot to trim mine before starting, and had to stop and clip them.
The black and white photo in the photo is from a book about the NYC subway. It shows the Brooklyn Union car 1293 in the year 1964. Both cars are the same type and style, so I will be using it as a guide. These cars were originally made to be run on elevated tracks in Brooklyn. They were later overhauled to be run on underground tracks - best I've gathered - the roof was lowered. According to the book, the celestory windows were to allow light and air into the train cars, but these windows were sealed shut and painted over. When the roof was lowered, the windows were removed. I'm going to model the car based on the 1964 photo, which has the windows extant but painted over.
Posted in:
1273
,
brooklyn union
,
roof
,
wood
*
I adjusted the size of the brakes a little. The were 8mm long last time, and I made the 6mm long this time. I think I should have made the 7mm long. I will add a little piece to the top to lower the placement of the brakes on the wheels. This actually might be better - it should get the long sides at a 45 degree angle better. I also made the wooden parts of the brakes out of 4x8's scale lumber instead of 8x8's. This way the brakes can fit the the wheel without hitting the flange. This should result in the brakes looking better - instead of them looking like they are way off the wheel.
You can in the photo, the brake on the left is ready to be painted. The others still need to be glued together. The long skinny pieces are Bristol board, same as always, painted to match the under-carriage. The half-moon shaped pieces are basswood scale lumber, cut into triangles, then shaped with jewelers files to get the half-moon shape.
Posted in:
boxcar
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brakes
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bristol board
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gb 5079 - boxcar
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güterwagen
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paint
,
wood
*
After careful measuring, I glued the vertical pieces down on the long sides. I also glued down the doors. And have decided to put off doing the dirt wash with watered-down black paint. I already did a wash of black paint - but it was so watered-down it didn't read - despite that I keep having visions of all the siding boards popping loose if I do another wash, so I am postponing it indefinately. The vertical pieces are basswood painted to match the siding. I glued them down with wood carpenter's glue.
You can tell from the picture that the long sides are warping just like they did on the previous boxcar. Oh well. It turned out ok last time, so hopefully, it will turn out ok this time, too. *sigh* Meanwhile, onward with more siding detail pieces.
Posted in:
boxcar
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gb 5079 - boxcar
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güterwagen
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paint
,
wood
*
I've lightly tapped down the doors (the tape is underneath the doors and thus not visible) to hold them in position. I need them as guides while I glue down the vertical pieces. But I want to remove the doors while I paint a wash coat of black paint to get "dirt" in the corners and edges of the vertical pieces. Then I will glue the doors down permanently. The vertical pieces need to be trimmed to their correct lengths, and have the ends painted pink before I glue them down. The vertical pieces are cut out of scale lumber basswood - 2x4's for the thin ones and 4x4's for the fatter ones. I'm going to try a 2x4 and 2x6 combo at the left edge of the door - this in an effort to mimic a detail that I noticed when I was there visiting and saw one in real life.
I've taped the sides to foam core with copies of the drawings underneath the sides. I used foam core because I wanted something sturdy and stiff. I'm hoping this will help prevent the sides from curving like the did last time. I will add some extra tape after I get the wash coat of paint on and dried. Currently, the sides are fairly flat and not too curved. They've been sitting under a pile a weighty books for awhile now - so it amazes me that they are not flat!
I traced the vertical pieces location on the drawings in pencil and extended the lines so that the are visible above and below the sides, thus they become guides for me to use to glue the vertical pieces in the correct locations. I plan to do some measuring to ensure that the vertical pieces get spaced the same on each side. Hopefully that will correct the trouble with the windows not all being the same size.
Posted in:
boxcar
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doors
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gb 5079 - boxcar
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güterwagen
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wood
*
Boxcar siding (Studio Pickett (Soph)) by gmpicket
You can see in the photo that the siding for the two long sides is ready to be glued onto the supports. The supports are lying flat nicely since I painted them. I glued the siding down after this photo was taken. I used the Liquitex matte medium this time, whereas in the past, I used wood carpenter's glue for this. I decided to use the matte medium because it dries clear instead of yellow, and because it dries to a matte finish. The wood carpenter's glue dries a little shiny. In gluing the siding, I discovered that the matte medium dries faster and leaves less time to maneuver the siding into position. I'm a little upset now. The siding over-all seems to not have enough height - and one side glued high and one side glued low. Grrrr. I may re-do it.
I used 2x4 scale lumber for the siding. It is a smidge too small, but the 2x6 scale lumber is too big. So, I added a couple pieces to make up for the being a little small. Things that are too small look better at the end of the project than things that are too big.
Posted in:
boxcar
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gb 5079
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güterwagen
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wood
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Step 1: Find a large piece of Bristol board and tape it to your workspace.
Step 2: Tape down a piece of wax paper that is just short of the 2x4's in width/length.
Step 3: Tape down the 2x4's.
Step 4: Paint the 2x4's liberally - you want to make sure you get a good coat of paint on them and not miss any places. You also want to make sure you paint the edges. Let the paint dry.
Step 5: Use a flat piece of metal such as a paint knife to work the 2x4's loose of the wax paper.
Step 6: Remove the tape and free the 2x4's.
Step 7: Use 600 grit sand paper to lightly sand all surfaces of the 2x4's.
Step 8: Use soft tissue, such as Kleenex, to remove any sanding dust.
The photo was taken after Step 5.
Posted in:
boxcar
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gb 5079
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güterwagen
,
paint
,
wood
*
I'm constructing the under-carriage from pieces of basswood. It's looks a little reminiscent of the logcar under-carriage because I added the flange things. On the previous boxcars, I skipped making these since they don't show. The boxcars always have a Bristol board floor put in them, which effectively does this job. I'm adding this with wood this time so that I can make the little beams that come out (like on the logcar) - but these meet with the long skinny vertical pieces that hang down on the boxcar sides. I had suspected this was how the real boxcars were constructed, and I got a good peek at them in Switzerland, and verified that it is correct. I haven't made the little beams yet - I think it may be better to wait until I have the boxcar sides ready, then do the beams to ensure that they meet the vertical side pieces. [...]
Posted in:
boxcar
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gb 5079
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güterwagen
,
wood
*
I added a few piece to the top of the dome - I think it has a hatch and can be opened (in reality). I also finished gluing and painting the ladder - you can see it in the photo - I also bent it to fit on the silo. It seems to be somewhat sturdy - I had no trouble handling it to paint it. I'm sure it could be pulled apart easily, but I just need it to stay together under nearly no-stress conditions. So that appears to be good. I also started the platform that goes on top of the dome, where the ladder comes up at. And the C-shaped pieces are to be trimmed and used to support/attach the ladder and the platform. [...]
Posted in:
cement silo car
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glue
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ladder
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paint
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uce 8014
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wood
,
zementsilowagen
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Front deck tank (Studio Pickett (Soph)) by gmpicket
Actually, I'm not sure what this thing is supposed to be - but it looks like a tank. It needs a little more glue and some dirt painted on it. The glue will be added soon, but the dirt paint will have to wait a bit. I plan to paint it's dirt using the same paint colors as I will use for the deck dirt, so I need to get the deck all down first. And before I do finish laying the deck, I have to finish making the silo and get that glued on.
The tank is made from styrene plastic rod, painted. The ribbing is made from narrow strips of Bristol board, also painted. I added a little white paint to the gray to get the lighter color here. The dirt will soften the dual-color appearance.
The tank is sitting on supports that are made from balsa wood. I shaped the balsa wood to be curved on one side using jewelers files. Shaping balsa wood was a daunting task the first time I tried it, but now it is easy and old hat. I enjoy working with the wood to shape it with files.
Posted in:
bristol board
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cement silo car
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uce 8014
,
wood
,
zementsilowagen
*
I installed the front steps today. I've also installed part of the decking. I need to finish assembling the silo before I can install all of the decking. The pieces next to the silo will need to be cut to fit. I wanted to get some decking on so that I can install the front railings.
The front steps are made using flat brass strips that have been bent, then painted with the undercarriage gray. The brass is stuck into holes drilled into the underside of the carriage, then glued in place with wood carpenter's glue. The flat part of the step, is the same as the decking. That and the decking are basswood 2 x 8's that have been painted with very watered down Holbein acryla-gouache jet black paint. The idea being to give the impression of old unpainted wood decking. [...]
Posted in:
cement silo car
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metal
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paint
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uce 8014
,
wood
,
zementsilowagen
*
So first I find a flaw - the proportions aren't quite right - but that has never stopped me before. I'm still wondering if this much tiny detail will read and be worth the effort, or if I would ever try to do this much detail again on future cars. Even if it doesn't read, it would make the car worth a really close look - rewarding the looker for bothering to look so closely.
I glued up the pieces that I had prepped. Now I'm working on the detail that goes across the top of the journal. It will be made of basswood and painted gray.
Posted in:
cement silo car
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journals
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uce 8014
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wood
,
zementsilowagen
*
I started over making the wheel journals. The top row is the two layers of Bristol board glued together, complete with the top layer having parts cut-out. The solid bottom layer gives structural support to the top layer. The areas painted black are where the journal is not really solid. [...]
Posted in:
bristol board
,
cement silo car
,
styrene
,
uce 8014
,
wood
,
zementsilowagen
*
I assembled the wheels hubs, scavaged the wheels, and painted them. The wheels are painted with the same gray that I mixed for the undercarriage. This is the first time that I've used the Holbein acryla-gouache paint on metal - and it worked very well. [...]
Posted in:
brakes
,
cement silo car
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uce 8014
,
wheels
,
wood
,
zementsilowagen
*
Piecing basswood (Studio Pickett (Soph)) by gmpicket
In the photo you can see the beginnings of the undercarriage. As has become the established method, I am cutting pieces of basswood, and fitting them together to make the correct shape. [...]
Posted in:
cement silo car
,
uce 8014
,
wood
,
zementsilowagen