Flat car loose ends

While I was happily installing flat car decks at VTEX, it was John Green who noticed that the ends of some of the boards were lifting. Thank-you John for pointing this out while it was still relatively easy to fix. As I’m finished with casting experiments for now, I spent tonight’s modelling minutes on fixing […]

Decking demonstration

The Vancouver Train Expo filled the PNE Forum this past weekend. Unlike last year, I’d actually coordinated with Doug Hicks to have a time when I was supposed to be helping at the Craftsman’s Corner. He usually likes to have two-hour slots, but I find that is barely enough time to get my tools out […]

Flatcars painted

Despite all probability, those flatcars have slipped into the paint booth over the past couple of days and received not only a coat of primer, but also some paint. Truly, when it came to painting, the odds were not in their favour. Not only did I have to mine Mount Deluge for the airbrush and […]

Prepped to prep

The flat cars have taken a little hiatus while I figured out the best way to make paint stick to the plastic parts. My usual method is to give plastic models a good scrubbing with Vim under running warm water. But with parts made of wood and even paper, that method was going to lead […]

Bubbly bolster

The wheel plan for 622 requires perfect castings. Unfortunately, every attempt so far using my test molds has resulted in large bubbles. These bubbles are not there when I pour the resin, but seem to be forming during the curing process. According to the Smooth-on website, this could be due to humidity, and I should […]

Solvent fail

I should have known I was in trouble when the Tamiya cement so reluctantly entered the syringe. But, my trusty MEK Pak has finally breathed out the last of whatever makes it work, and so, I was stuck (so to speak). So I went ahead and made that test mould with Tamiya Cement. Plainly this […]

Test masters

I was just about to glue my 3D printed wheels to the bottom of a box and rashly pour rubber over them, when my inner project manager whispered in my ear and pointed at the risk register. Wrecking the Shapeways wheels would put me back a couple of weeks and $16 in shipping alone! For […]

Treasure at the Winnipeg Railway Museum

The day after our trip on the Prairie Dog Central, I carved half an hour out of the family vacation to visit the Countess of Dufferin at the Winnipeg Railway Museum. This venerable old engine is the one that I could find that has a mud drum, and she was going to help me with […]

Six holes of triumph

It’s midnight, and I’m having a little celebration over having drilled six holes in the flatcars. Ordinarily, drilling a few clearance holes through the weights wouldn’t be cause for a happy dance. However, it feels so long since I overcame the calls of work, family and community to spend a little time on my projects, […]

Not that much room under flat cars

The Vancouver Train Expo seems a long time ago now. The bolster pattern that I worked on there? Yeah, it didn’t work out. I had forgotten to leave room for the straps and bolts on the tops of the trucks. Well, one nice thing about modelling in styrene is that mistakes are quick and cheap […]