The Little Deuce Coupe

Well, what's the sense in having a blacktop highway (crossing or not) if you don't have some cars to race on it?  With deference to "American Graffiti", I've used their two car "stars" as models for mine.  The black '55 Chevy was not too tough to get -- die-cast models can be found easily on the Internet.  I believe mine came from Model Power.  It came as two-tone, black and white BelAir.  I painted the white, black.  I haven't done much with the BelAir, but I'm pretty sure Graffiti's was a 150.  Maybe I'll fix that as well as put a hood scoop on it at some time.

The Deuce Coupe was another matter altogether.  I hunted the Internet until I finally found one at GHQ (www.ghqmodels.com).  It's a kit with "pewter" metal parts.  It came with full fenders and running board.  That's NOT what Graffiti had.  So, I asked GHQ if they knew of anyone who had removed the fenders and running board from their model so I could use that as a guide.  No luck, although the instructions actually HAD a picture of a fenderless roadster on it (but there were a lot of other changes for that model -- different front and rear wheels, a windshield frame, radiator/hood support -- so this may have been a different kit altogether).  GHQ suggested I might want to practice on something else before messing with my kit.  Gee, you gotta practice on SOMEthing; why not the kit?  So, I did.  I couldn't figure how to get the front fenders like Graffiti's (basically motorcycle fenders, and I could not get down to that level of detail).  I just cut off the running boards with a Dremel tool and bobbed the fenders a little. 

My biggest problem was that I dropped the steering wheel when I tried to clamp it in a clothespin to paint it.  I still haven't found it, so I have not glued the body on!  Maybe the steering wheel will show up!

I'll include photos of Graffiti's Deuce Coupe. the GHQ Deuce, and my model (with the '55).  See what you think!  Now, mine is a Flathead, not a 327 Chevy; it doesn't have headers, but I'd like to consider putting them on; etc.

Cotton Factory Smokestack -- Details

I plan to post a link on Clever Models website/discussion, so here’s a little more detail on the construction of the Cotton Factory smokestack.  I’m getting to feel like Dave and Thom Miecznikowski, the Clever Bros!!

I actually stepped off (roughly measured) the base of the smokestack at the factory although I’ve never really planned to make an exact model.  The base was about 12 ½’, square.  I couldn’t measure the height and didn’t necessarily want to use my Boy Scouting skills right there in the parking lot to determine – besides, my wife was with me and she probably would have been more embarrassed than I.  In any case, the 8 ½ X 11” sheet of paper only allows a height of about 70’, so I used that.

I could have pieced the stack together, but for some reason I wanted it all to be one piece.  I did use my “engineering” skills to make a prototype out of typing paper (these days I think it’s called copy paper).  I glued it together with a glue stick, although I didn’t really complete it.  By doing the prototype I was able to gain confidence that it would work.  I also learned I needed to give the top of the stack some glue tabs! 

The “final” model was cut from one sheet of the Clever Models Old Brick (HO-105) texture.  I drew the one-piece stack on the back of the printed cardstock after cutting exactly along the bottom of the printed area from the front; this gave a reference for the rest of the drawing.  There’s a section at the bottom with vertical (not slanting) sides as well as a section at the top with vertical sides.  The full, scale, dimensions are:

Height – roughly 65’, the slanted sides reduced the full height a little

Bottom width – 12.5’

Bottom section height – 10’

Top section width – 6’

Top section height – 5’

I included tabs on the top, cut at 45 degree angles, to give a 1’ rim around the top plus a 1’ “turn-under” for gluing and to give a little depth of field.  In addition to vertical gluing tabs for the top section, I included a gluing tab on the bottom section, and long gluing tabs along one side of each of the four slanted sides.  I used two, horizontal stiffeners on the bottom section, two on the top section, and one in the middle where the width of the slanted sides was about 9’.  Scoring the folds is almost imperative.  I actually scored the horizontal folds of the top section from the inside even though they folded the opposite way.   I just didn’t want the scoring to show.  I used white glue instead of CA since I felt it would take me a while to line every thing up; that was probably a good idea.

On the top section, I added four rows of bricks.  I did this by cutting a length from the old brick texture from Clever Models that was nine layers of brick high.  I scored and folded both sides of this long strip to leave four bricks showing, about one brick, total, was taken up in the two folds, and the rest almost met in the back – glued this together.  Then I just wrapped it around the stack, cut it to fit, and glued it on the stack.

If I really were Thom and Dave Miecznikowski, I would probably do this a little differently.  Working with only one piece was an interested Geometry puzzle, but the gluing was a nightmare for the last side – I was working with glue tabs from two slant sides, two top sections, the bottom section, and five stiffeners.  So, maybe one piece for the bottom section, one for the top, and four separate slanted sides would be a good idea.  By making it from one piece, I ensured that the bricks were all parallel with each other.  The Clever Bros would be able to print all that, piece by piece, and ensure it was lined up.  Since my glue tabs were cut from the brick texture, that helped to hide where they were folded and therefore not have to worry about white cardstock showing.  But, cutting from one piece for me meant I could not run the glue tabs all the way to the bottom of the slant sides.  So, my smokestack tends to have small “cracks” on the sides where there are no glue tabs.

Later:  After driving by the Cotton Factory again, I find that the smokestack doesn’t have vertical sides at the bottom OR the top.  And, instead of a row of bricks at the top, it actually “flares” out a bit.  Oh well, we never said it was going to be an exact replica.  I like it as is!

Cotton Factory Smokestack

One of the distinguishing characteristics of the Rock Hill Cotton Factory is it's squared (not round) smokestack.  So, here's a stab at making one to "resemble", not copy, that smokestack.

Oops, now I can't tell which is the REAL one and which is the model. . . .  Well, it's not so hard to tell and the model photograph is not so hot, but it's getting there.  Used the Clever Models Old Brick (Colonial Brick?) texture for the model smokestack.  Interesting how the real smokestack is obviously from the old brick, unchanged.  The renovated factory, itself, seems to have been painted or, at least, cleaned.  Don't know if I should leave the model factory all shiney or try to weather/age it to match the smokestack.

Holding off on building the model factory until my [older] grandson shows up for a few days.  Seems we may need some ramps, roofs, and such.  Hope the factory kit has that -- I had planned on fabbing a boiler room, but wasn't thinking about the other details.

Two Gnarled Trees

Oops, looks like I've caught up with myself so I'll post comments and a picture of the latest additions:  two "gnarled trees" from a Woodland Scenics kit.

This kit was a Christmas gift from Santa or my wife, not sure which.  The soft metal castings needed a small amount of flashing removed and then the limbs needed to be bent to shape -- so they were not all in roughly the same plane (as cast).  Not too tough, and the identical castings could be shaped to look like two different trees.  The directions recommended dark grey trunks with highlights of browns.  I tried dark grey with bark brown highlight for one and bark brown with dark grey highlights for the other -- acrylic paints brushed on.  I also tried something I had seen, probably from Cody on Model Railroader website, that was called dry brushing.  I used "cafe latte'" brown for that.  I'm not sure it added much although I could see a bit of the details in the casting in a place or two.

The kit came with lots more "leaves" than apparently is needed, and the directions commented on that -- the lacier the better. . . .   I cut (about 1"X2") and pulled the leaf mats in several directions.  Then I applied white glue to the ends of the limbs and pressed the fluffy mats on -- I had done a dry-run with the mats prior to gluing.  After that, I sprayed the whole mess with heavy-duty, cheap hairspray in a pump bottle.  After a second or third spraying, I dropped a few pinches of a different colored (maybe "dead grass") ground foam on the trees; the hair spray was still damp.  You can even see some of the highlights in the photo, especially the left tree (it's NOT the flash).  By then, I was feeling like a hairdresser (highlights, hair spray, and a peculiar aroma for a train layout. . . ), so I quit.  I might go back with a little more of the different colored foam; or I might not.

The cheap hairspray produced a good bit of "shine" on the tree trunks.  I was fairly well pleased with the trunks before the spray.  Not sure how I'll remedy that.  Maybe I'll just keep bright lights off the trunks!

I think these trees will look best near the mill village.  Maybe we can add a tire swing to a low-hanging branch.

Most of the layout will probably have pine trees instead of these hardwoods (where there are trees), but I like the emphasis these two trees can provide by their "difference".  I'm looking at the bottle brush method for the pines.

Looks like I'll need to determine the location of all structures, roads, track (well, that's pretty well settled), trees, cotton field, etc., before I do much of the general scenery.  With the exception of a few pine trees and maybe some small cedars as a hedge row around the (to be applied) cotton field, we have all the structures that are needed.

Although I have not advertised this blog very much (the main purpose was just to put up some photos of the Clever Models cardstock structures that I had made), I would still like any comments from those who happen to bump into this site.

Thanks!

The Passenger Station

Here's the last structure on the Blacktop Crossing layout that is currently "complete" -- I suppose several of them need a little touch-up, maybe some weathering, and such.  It is a plastic passenger train station from Atlas (#706).  My 11-year old grandson helped to put it together.  He is a GREAT helper.  If you've ever worked with someone else to build something, you know the difference between a REAL helper and someone who gets in the way -- the former will be at the other end of a 2X4 when you pick it up as the next lumber you need, the latter will be at the end of a 1X4, instead. . . if you know what I mean.  My grandson was always at the 2X4 and sometimes even handed it to me just as I was thinking I needed it.  I really enjoyed working with him on the station.

I'll admit that he and I, both, tended to get glue on our fingers and then spread it to the station, but we recovered from most of those errors.  Here's the result:

This is supposed to represent (not model EXACTLY) the station in my grandsons' hometown of Belton http://tsalmon.topcities.com/belton.htm OK, so keep in mind, it "REPRESENTS".  There are a few similarities!

Our route is supposed to be the Southern Railway, although at this time our locomotives are Santa Fe, B&O, Seaboard Coast Line, and the non-prototypical "Mystery Loco" shown in a prior post (at least it has "Southern" on its side).  The passenger car at the station IS Southern, so we're trying.

New additions to the layout include the Seaboard Coast Line loco (a GP-35, so we are CLOSE on rail line and CLOSE on era; but it runs really well on the layout!?!), a junk yard gondola, a hopper, a clothes line with clothes (that Santa brought to my wife, she really liked it, sort of), and a couple of Woodlands Scenic build-your-own hardwood trees.

While the 7-year old spent a couple of days with us over the holidays, the 11-year old didn't.  We labeled the control board schematic and ran the trains, but the Cotton Factory didn't get built.  Maybe this summer.

Our New Year is off to a good start.  Hope yours is, too!

The Quonset Warehouse

So, in my usual approach to this Blog, here is another structure that was made earlier than any of the others posted!  It's a Clever Models' Quonset hut that will be used as a military warehouse on the Blacktop Crossing layout.

My 7-year old grandson likes military, his train started all of this, SO we'll need to include the military.  The Armory here in Rock Hill, SC, actually HAS two Quonset huts in the rear of the lot, so this seems to fit the model location fine.  We may have to do something to "date" the military vehicles back to the 1950's!!

The hut is from cardstock and was my first attempt with this "medium".  I found it challenging but rewarding.  From a few feet away, the hut looks pretty good.  I was amazed at how well most of the parts fit together.  I could not believe that the roll-up door chain drive cover could really be made from cardstock with its many folds.  But, the creasing of the cardstock at the proper places ensured that it went together well.  I was using 80-lb cardstock on this model and ran into some issues on the large door on the side (I guess it's a drop-down door/ramp; I'll have to look into this so I'll know where to put the structure in relationship to track, road, etc.).  The door "frame" required some compound folds and the cardstock seemed a bit too thick.  I've since gone to mostly 65-lb cardstock which seems to work better.

I took my grandson by the Armory to see their Quonset huts, and while the view was a bit distant I think he got the point:  the hut fits the use and scene!?!  I also mentioned that my 8th grade classroom in Panama City, FL was a Quonset hut.

The Mystery Loco, II

The Model Railroader forum is amazing.  Concerning the "Mystery Loco" in my last post, I received two replies almost immendiately.  Both gave informative details about the little Southern steam engine.  Check it out:
http://tycotrain.tripod.com/steamengines/id3.html

This is obviously the correct, Tyco, locomotive.  AND, the timing is about right, around 1976.  My son would have been about three years old, and I was probably getting ready to introduce him to HO Gauge at a young age.  I also have several copies of "Model Railroader" and "Railroad Model Craftsman" from the mid-1970's.  These magazines are stacked with some from the mid-1950's, when I first became interested in HO Gauge trains.  Frankly, the current "go-around" with this hobby is the farthest I've ever gotten.  Wonder how far it will go. . . ?