FSM Jacob's Coal

[ACL1504]

Dave,

Great job, love the coloring as well. Nice tutorial on the build.

Tom

[Opa George]

Dave, the trestle bents look great.  I always like to see those types of structures, and in particular when they are done well.
George

[deemery]

Coloring the bins...  First I tried an oil paint stain, but I didn't like the result.  That's in part because I didn't really have the right color (red oxide, all I had was burnt umber.)  So then I went to Pan Pastels.  I applied some pastel with a brush, and then spread it with a rag dipped in paint thinner.  That gave me an overall faded look.

The next step was to 'coal-ify' the bins.  I did that with dark neutral grey (NOT black) Pan Pastel.  I applied this by brushing from the bottom up, and did some spreading with my finger (so it's less even.)

I also did the framing timbers with the Pan Pastel.  The kit calls for little pieces of wood to simulate the timbers that go through the bins.  I -should have colored them first-, but I cut them first.  So I stained them with black oil paint in paint thinner, adding paint until it was strong enough.  I think the color should be close enough, and if not I can always go back and do some Pan Pastel after assembly. 

But for now things are drying, and I'll pick up tomorrow.

dave

[jerryrbeach]

Dave,


I am always interested when I see a modeler use Pan Pastels.  I have to say your results look absolutely outstanding.  I am getting closer to actually buying some and trying to learn to use them effectively.  I'm glad to see them used by you and appreciate the description of how you achieved such a realistic result with them. 

[Lynnb]

Nice tip with the wax paper. Although I've never used the Pan Pastels I have followed others that used them , didn't realize the were a friendly partner with paint thinner and I would imagine the others such as acetone . I had a brain fart yesterday and was making a wash with paint thinner and black acrylic, WRONG! Quickly remembered its Floquil Black and paint thinner I needed . Have you tried the Pan Pastels making a sort of wash using paint thinner, something to thin the pastels and perhaps push them along? I would imagine the pan Pastels can also be tinted or shaded as well using other colors of the Pastels.
Enough rambling, keep the tips and pics coming . 

[deemery]

I have not tried mixing Pan Pastels with enough thinner to make a wash.  But I've done similar things with regular pigments and with ground chalks/pastels (which don't have the binders that Pan Pastels have.)  I think pigments and solvents (including alcohol) is a better choice.  If you go to YouTube and look for 'pigment wash' you'll find a lot of stuff from the armor modeling community.  They do great weathering! 

dave

[deemery]

Turns out putting the external bracing on the bins is harder than I thought!  Because there are 3 bins, you have to get the positioning exactly right (aligned and parallel to the ground), otherwise your eye picks up any discrepancy.

Next I have to add the little stubs representing the sills that go through the bins.  There are 72 of them, and I figured trying to get them all properly lined up would drive me crazy, so I built a jig.  I cut the slots for the stubs, and then glued that extra styrene strip down to ensure the stubs are tight against the sill underneath. 

And the results...

dave

[S&S RR]

Nice tip with the wax paper. Although I've never used the Pan Pastels I have followed others that used them , didn't realize the were a friendly partner with paint thinner and I would imagine the others such as acetone . I had a brain fart yesterday and was making a wash with paint thinner and black acrylic, WRONG! Quickly remembered its Floquil Black and paint thinner I needed . Have you tried the Pan Pastels making a sort of wash using paint thinner, something to thin the pastels and perhaps push them along? I would imagine the pan Pastels can also be tinted or shaded as well using other colors of the Pastels.
Enough rambling, keep the tips and pics coming . 

Lynn


I use alcohol with Pan Pastels, Rembrandt Pastel Chalks, and  Vallejo pigments. Works great.

[deemery]

Norm asked about NBWs.  The FSM instructions show a 'metal' plate with an NBW.  That would make sense for an iron/steel tension rod.  But I'm not sure why the tension rod would be needed in addition to the sill running in the same direction.  And coal generates carbonic acid, which eats out iron/steel (that's a big problem on coal gondolas.)  So instead I did NBWs to represent bolts connecting the the sills running in each direction.  That took A LOT of NBWs, I was down to my last sprue when I finished.  Fortunately Tichy is having a sale right now so I can replenish my stock.

Finishing the nubs representing sills that run through the bins, and then adding NBWs top and bottom wherever the sills crossed took up an afternoon.

dave

[deemery]

After -3- attempts to get the sills the bins sit on over the trestle bents, including a bunch of jigs, etc, I've given up for the evening.  I need to rethink this!  The problem is these sills are the only thing that hold the bents, and they're a huge structural weak spot in the model. 

Part of my problem is that I keep on cutting or assembling the damn things upside down!  I've made 2 extra sets of the sills (thankfully I have the right size stripwood), and will have to make yet another set, once I figure out how I'm going to do this.

But for now, it's time to step away from the workbench!

dave

[PRR Modeler]

Excellent work Dave. Aluminum foil will work also (what I use).

[Opa George]

Dave, beautiful work on the bins and bracing. Hope your modeling muse visits and leaves inspiration for getting them successfully installed.
George

[deemery]

A quick update.  Here's the problem.  As George designed the kit, that big black joist is critical.  It holds the trestle bents in alignment, and the bin sits on top of them.  (3 Sets, one for each bin.)  The joists have to be notched for the top piece on the trestle bents.

The kit provides 2 outside joists, and then a cross piece at top and bottom inside those joists (2nd photo).  From a structural perspective, this would be a No-Go, there's nothing holding up the bottom of the bins.

Each time i tried making this assembly, I screwed something up.  Either I cut the notches on the wrong side of the joists, or I assembled it incorrectly. 

My plan going forward is to rip-cut a triangle shaped piece that will go on top of the trestle bents, with the hypotenuse at the correct angle for the joists.  Then I'll cut a series of joists (with no notches), and glue them onto those triangles.  (I'll drill some holes through those pieces into the trestle bents, and pin them with .025 phosophor-bronze wire.  This will add substantial rigidity to the assembly, which otherwise would be a bit rickety.)  Finally, when I'm ready, I'll glue the bins onto these pieces (or more accurately, turn the bins upside down, and glue the bent and joist assembly onto the bins.)   I just hope I have enough wood for the 3 sets of joists (and I need to figure out the spacing for them, which in part will depend on how much wood I have :-) )   I'll tackle this starting tomorrow (Steelers are on TV this afternoon, and earlier today I went to 2 "Tour de Chooch" layouts.)

dave

[Jerry]

Dave beautiful coloring!

Jerry

[Lynnb]

I agree with Jerry, nice color. There must be quite a bit of reading and rereading before making a move.