Sierra West Scale Models - Work Train - HO

[coors2u]

That scrap car looks fabulous. Like others have said each car gets better and better.

[nextceo]

Thanks for the comments Sam, Dustin and Jeff.

Hey Sam, you should post some updates of your diorama showing the installation of your water...

Alan

[nextceo]

Hey Gang,

   Just finished up the repair car. The issue I ran into is my kit didn't come with the dry transfers required for this car. When I contacted Brett, he no longer has any decals for this kit. Therefore, I clipped out a few of the numbers on the Wet Decal sheet for the back of the car. After applying the number 19 to the three boards, I used a new razor blade to cut out the space between each board. It turned out fine...I just wish I had the dry decals as there were also suppose to be words on the back of the car. The only modification I made is the front railing with the 2 rags on it. The instructions called for it to be higher. For aesthetic purposes, I made it shorter (not as high). One tip, try to push the work bench up as far as possible to the front of the car. I left a half a board space from the front and wish I hadn't. If you look at the back of the car, there is a hand rail. On my car, the person climbing on only has one board to step on...if I would have pushed the bench up farther, the person boarding would have had more space...making it look more realistic.

Next up are the Flat Cars...

Alan

[Mike Engler]

Great job Alan. The cars would be terrific with or without numbers and lettering.

[S&S RR]

Alan

The cars are turning out great.

[nextceo]

Thanks Mike and John for the kind words.

Alan

[nextceo]

Just finished up the 2 flat cars for the work train. The modifications I made:

- Added a board and a crow bar to the small flat car
- Added 2 chains to tie down the sled, a chain to the box that's sitting on the deck, a board to the back of the car as well as a grease pot to the large flat car.

I used Old Silver to highlight some of the metal seen on the sled to make it "pop". I only included a few pictures of the small flat car as its not very interesting...

Next Up...the 2 slab cars.

Thanks for looking!
Alan

[coors2u]

Alan, the rope really adds to the overall look of the car. It really makes it stand out. Keep up the good work.

[martin.ojaste]

Alan, these look fantastic. Have you tried to run them?


Marty

[ACL1504]

Alan,

They all look fantastic. Great job on the work train.

Tom

[nextceo]

Dustin - Thanks for the comments on the rope. If you have any other suggestions on how to setup the rope to make it look better, I would like to hear your thoughts.

Marty - Thanks..I have not tried to run them. I was going to try this afternoon. I've heard they are more for looks than performance. I'll let you know.

Tom - Thanks for the nice comments.

Alan

[nextceo]

Finished up with the Slab Cars. The only things I did differently are as follows:

- Instructions call for the cut ends of the wood on the castings to be colored with Buff Depot and Grime. I found this color to be too gray and not enough yellow...and didn't match my cut wood I made myself from sticks. Instead I mixed White with a little Yellow and a little Buff Depot. I guess you tell me from the pictures if it looks like a close match.

- After I cut up some sticks for the large pieces of wood you see on the deck of the large slab car, I cut little tiny pieces of wood and glued them among the wood castings on both Slab Cars to help blend in the colored castings and the real wood.

- I added an Axe to the deck of the Slab Car.

That is it...next up the Gravel Car.

Alan

[nextceo]

Just Finished the Gravel Car. Not much to this car. The only thing I did differently is I added a Barrel and Crow Bar to one end of the car and a pile of sacks to the other to add some additional interest. The load in the gravel car came from Arizona Rock and Mineral Company...

That is all...next up is the Caboose.
Alan

[nextceo]

Just finished up with the Caboose. Followed the instructions except for the following modifications:

- Make sure you add the side railings after you install the roof. I followed the instructions and added them before. During the installation process of adding the roof, you use rubber bands to hold the roof in place...yep those rubber bands ripped off the side railings.

- The vent casting that comes with the kit is really long. I cut off a 1/4 inch to make it a little shorter for aesthetic purposes.

- I added a chain and a gas can to the porch of the Caboose to add interest.

That is all...next up is the Blacksmith Car...
Alan

[nextceo]

Hey Gang,

   Just finished up with the Blacksmith Car...and yes, it is the neatest / funnest (if that's even a word) car of the kit with a bunch of details.

In addition to following the instructions, I made these modifications/additions:

- The biggest addition was the shelf on the back of the car. This is not in the instructions but after seeing a picture of the O Scale version of this car with that shelf, I decided to add it along with everything you see on that shelf - Jack, Hanging Chain, Wood Toolbox, and the Tool Rack with Hammer.

- The round saw blade on the side of the car was just suppose to be weathered with chalks and a brush...I took the lead from others who have done work on the infamous Twin Mills kit where they used a Dremel to get an extremely neat used look. I used a 1/16 drill bit, wrapped a small piece of masking tape on the bottom of the drill bit, slid the round saw blade on to the drill bit and then wrapped another small piece of masking tape on the tip of the drill bit to prevent it from flying off. You then turn on the Dremel and touch your brush which is loaded up with various colored chalks to the spinning saw blade. I think I spend 20 mins playing around with it until I got the look I wanted..and I could have probably spent all night doing it...its honestly quite fun.

- The kit comes with a solid styrene tube foe the Stove pipe. I replaced it with a .65 Steel tube from ngineering.com.

- I added 2 propane tanks

- I added 1 extra hose to the floor on the front of the car. Solder painted Grimy Black.

- I added 1 stump with axe and chopped wood to the floor for the stove.

- I added 1 extra barrel to the front of the car (Red/white one in the pictures)

- I added 3 rags. A black and red one at the front of the car and a red one on the workbench at the back of the car. The rags were made the same way as the rags for the tool and oil car. Painted Kleenex.

- A rope hanging on the inside of the car. I just used tan thread and roughed it up a little with my distressing tool.

- Per numerous requests on my couplers, I decided to clip off the tails to make them look more realistic...so much for using the Magnetic Couple feature for my layout...but I think after seeing the end result it was worth it.

- On alot of my cars...including this one, I use a Distressed Weathering brush on the wood after it has been installed and stained using Chalks and Alcohol to help give the wood that neat faded look. You can kinda see what I'm referring to on the roof and side walls of the Blacksmith Car. I got the tool thru Micromark...its kind of expensive for what it is ($15) but it allows me to get into small areas without disturbing the look of the rest of the car. (See the first picture)

http://www.micromark.com/distresser-weathering-brush,8057.html

10 Cars down...1 to go! Next up is the Box Car.

Thanks for looking!
Alan