NEW PRODUCTS: New Hand Brake Sets and Switch Kits

 

SMOKY MOUNTAIN MODEL WORKS PRINTED DETAILS

You probably noticed that detail parts are sometimes harder to find these days.  Changes in ownership and other circumstances have contributed to this scarcity.  Jim King, owner of Smoky Mountain Model Works has decided to take a new approach to the traditional methods for manufacturing detail parts.  Manufacturers have been using white metal, plastic, brass and even resin to make the parts.  Their methods are expensive to tool and produce quantities.  Jim King’s approach is  to use 3D design and a high resolution Form3 SLA printer to make production parts.  His first releases are three different hand brake sets for house cars (box, stock and reefers)  Jim is a first rate designer and has produced some very nice kits in S and O using a combination of printed parts that were molded in resin.  For detail parts he has decided to go straight to a clear printed resin.

Here photos of two of the three sets.

As you can see the quality is equal to injection molded styrene parts.  The price for each of the hand brake package is $15 which includes three complete hand brake sets.

You will be amazed at the number of models out there with the wrong hand brake.  Spend some time researching your equipment and you will see the need is there to improve the accuracy of your models.

RIGHT O’WAY SWITCH KITS COMING

Jau Criswell is going to try out a new kit to build switches intially in P48 and hopefully in O Standard.  The concept is to offer various options for the kit ranging from the assembled rail with lost wax frogs, points and guardrails to a “Full Monty” with tie plates, pre-cut ties and neat plexiglass jig to hold the ties in-place while spiking the rail.  Development is still going on so the options are still fluid.  Once the kit is ready for prime time it will be announced on social media and other outlets.

This likely to be the configuration of the “delux”  version of the Right O’Way #6 switch kit

This is a very useful product for those who are building layouts and need P48 switches.

Gene

NEW PRODUCTS: ‘This the Season for Modeling

It is the end of October and modeling building may be on your horizon.  I have a few new items to temp you with.  We only have a few suppliers in our scale these days so we need to support them by purchasing their wares.

 

GLACIER PARK MODELS

Glacier Park offers a few really nice kits for 1/4″ scale modelers.  Their original Southern Pacific G-50-23 composite gondola has been joined by two new adaptations.  The first is the G-50-22 all steel gondola and the G-50-23 extended height G-50-23 gondola.   All three kits offer an entertaining build that will result in an exquisite scale model of real prototype cars.

G-50-23

EXTENDED HEIGHT G-50-23

G-50-22

The much needed all-steel drop bottom gondola kit is now available.

This version is equipped with the Miner hand brake system.  The other cars come with the Klasing style hand brake.  This version of the kit is similar to many modern general service cars used by other railroads.

 

The price for the kits is $99.95 each and $14.95 shipping. An optional precision cut lead weight set is $9.95.  The weight is designed to fit in the centersill.  Trucks, couplers and decals are not included but can be purchased from Protocraft.

Glacier Park can be contacted via email rocky@glacierparkmodels.com

TWIN STAR CARS

Ross Dando has a few more of his exquisite flat car kits available.  Don’t delay as they will go quickly.

This is a superb kit with an incredible amount of detail top and bottom.  Hope that Ross does another kit one day.

SOUTHERN CAR & FOUNDRY

Jon Cagle has recently moved into his new building in Sanford, FL.  His building provides space for Jon’s business and several leased spaces.  He is in the process of getting back into the Southern Car & Foundry resin car kit business.  Jon has been casting for a number of suppliers in the hobby for their kit line.    His first offereing is an absolutely super kit for a 1932 ARA boxcar just about ready for release.  It will feature a one-piece body with a seperate floor.  High quality resin, etched metail parts, wood running boards and the usual details needed to outfit the brake system and such.

The kit isn’t quite ready so don’t start bugging Jon quite yet.  He (we) will announce when it will be available to order.

Well as Bugs Bunny once said:

Gene

 

NEW PRODUCTS: New Kits

Modern O Scale has released their Thrall gondola kit.   It is a 52′ model which features a single piece body and a mix of plastic, urethane and brass parts to detail the body casting.   A custom sprue of ABS parts were made for this kit.    Like all of the Modern O Scale kits, trucks, couplers and decals are separate.  This is an excellent first kit the get your feet wet with building an urethane model.   The price is $160 plus shipping.  A second batch is already in the works based upon the customer response.  Use the link above to obtain ordering information and availability.

 

Glacier Park Models has both the all-steel G-50-22 and the sugar beet version of the original Southern Pacific G-50-23.   The kits are injection molded ABS and do require some patience in the assembly process.

Southern Pacific G-50-22 Gondola kit retails for $99.95 plus shipping.

 

The G-50-23 gondola with side extensions for hauling sugar beets retails for $135.00 plus shipping.

Twin Star Cars released a Rock Island flat car kit for a rebuilt 53-foot car. Ross Dando is the owner of Twin Star and pattern maker for this exquisite kit.

Robert Leners tried his hand at building the kit version and scratch building the original design which was 47′.

EYE CANDY by Erik Lingren

The master artist, photographer and modeler strikes again.  This time he has taken a Protocraft 1937 AAR boxcar and finished it with paint and Protocraft decals.  The model is interesting that it was built with a Duryea underframe which Protocraft did a great job on.

Eruk makes excellent use of the Colorado sky and small diorama to captue these realistic photos.   I “borrowed” the pictures from FaceBook.

Thanks for taking a look at this posting.  Hope you enjoy with has been presented.

Gene

NEW PRODUCTS: Fifty Foot Boxcars from Protocraft

 

Protocraft is working on a new release of brass freight built by Boo Rim. I have included a message that Norm posted a while back. The project is will cover a number of important prototypes.

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From Norm Buckhart, Protocraft:

The 50’ automobile/50’ express boxcars from Protocraft have been listed a bit prematurely. I had asked the webmaster to hold these until the end of January, but they went up anyway.  The necessary pilot models are being shipped for my inspection and hopefully will have few corrections, as the builder package picked up here by Boo Rim was very comprehensive: real builder plans and hundreds of 8×10 photos plus 200 pages of instructions.  If this proves to be the case I can give the go-ahead for production.  Then if all this goes according to plan, the actual models may be in stock by April or May or June.  There is no invoice yet so I can’t comment on the list price.  However with the economy and cost of Korean goods increasing year to year these models will be in the $350+ range, and a Protocraft we cut it very fine indeed.  However with Boo Rim’s fine and detailed, accurate model building, these will once again be exceptional brass models.  And I am almost sure will never be done again.

NOTE: This is a pilot model of the Rio Grande Double Sheathed Automobile Car.  The heavy wire you see on the hand brake system is going to be changed to a smalled diameter wire. 

This has been a two year undertaking.  It is a project of 24 different models of 50’ freight cars undertaken, because, with the exception of PCS’s two or three single-sheathed SP automobile/furniture cars, there has not been any brass models of the 50’ auto car, let alone an accurate one.  PCS did bring out a rather generic version years ago but not that great a model nor does it seem to have any specific prototype, although what was close to it in real life was a car having a 10’-6” inside height and PCS’s is 6” too short – so didn’t exist in the first place.  The model sold well, as it was about the only brass 50’ O scale autocar out there, and can be found on many O scale layouts – and at the time built with craftsmanship that is now 30 years old, and of course no end doors, a familiar item on automobile cars.

Many of the prototype cars were built with end doors.  After much discussion with Boo Rim it was decided to have the models with non-operating end doors.  As it was explained to me, to operate, hinges would have to be oversize for strength with oversize hinge pins, and the tall vertical locking bar would be subject to loose operation and probably scratching paint and lettering.  A one piece non-operating end door would then have the high detail it deserves.  In this project here are 3 different end doors.

In selecting these 24 different models, I have tried to find interesting and different prototypes to put in the project, even some perhaps a bit obscure, but never the less, interesting, and usually with some great lettering variations – many for the same car but different throughout the car’s life.  Santa Fe was the most difficult, the Fe-24 having displayed 17 different lettering schemes.  In all this project will feature over 60 different decal sets.  Many of the prototype cars selected represented the various road’s first investment in an all-steel automobile/furniture car, such as ERIE and C&O in the 1930’s.  Yet these cars survived in revenue service into the late 1950’s, going from first Furniture to Automobiles, to Autoparts, and finally into general freight service.  The modeler can choose 3 different eras of modeling with most of these cars and respective lettering sets.  And remember, even obscure cars could be found at one end of the Country to the other from time to time, and would fit in any consist.

Besides 3 different end doors, following the prototype, the models are built with Viking roofs, Climax-Cleveland Radial roof, Murphy Raised panels roofs, Pullman patented flat panel roofs, double-edged roofs for the NYC; 6 different ends, both square corner and the newer round corner ends, specific underframes, and almost each side are unique according to rivets and panel widths and sill tabs, with WABASH side sills going the entire length of the car. Many have auto tie-down chain storage pipes beneath the floor and roping staples. Running boards are wood, Apex Tri-Lok and Morton. Brake assemblies from tall staff hand brakes, end-mounted Ajax, Klasing, Miner, Equipco, Universal and Champion.  Throughout the project, over 350 different parts make up the construction of these models.

Here we are doing our best to build fantastic models with a great selection.

More to come.  Norm Buckhart

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This project promises to be a significant offering of much needed models.

Gene

NEW PRODUCTS: Two Interesting Products

From time to time I try to show a few new materials and tools on my blog.  The items shown below are new to me even if they have been around for a while.

First up is a new flush cutter that works for brass or phos bronze small gauge wire and plastic sprues.  The tool is being offered by P-B-L and is identified as P-B-L-843ex.  The tool is Swiss made and modified at P-B-L.  The tool is expensive at $44.95 but really is  beautifully crafted with comfortable padded handles.  I tried it out on a few tasks and found that it cut wire smoothly with a lot of control.  I recommend you try this wonderful cutter.

 

The tool can be purchased direct from P-B-L at their online catalog.

 

 

 

 

The next item is an acrylic paste made by Ammo MIG.  It is intended to simulate concrete for various projects on your layout.

I purchased a container on eBay from Burbank Hobbies.  The product is a thick liquid with the consistency of thick pancake syrup.  I tried it out on a mockup of a concrete wall section.  The material was applied with a wide brush follwed with a metal rod that allowed me to level the surface.  The Ammo MIG concrete dries fairly quickly in an hour or so.  The texture turned out the somewhat coarse but it might be a good material to create a stucco surface.  I like the texture for this application.  I tried to to float a thin coat of the material on the surface.  It did fill in some of the irregularities from the original application.

I will try sanding the material to see what happens.  Being an acrylic material, it can be tinted with an acrylic paint to create the look of older concrete.  I will continue to play around with this product to what can be done.  The large container sells for $12.95 plus shipping.  There are a number of online sources for AMMO Mig products.

That’s all for now.

Gene

 

NEW PRODUCTS: More Good Stuff

It seems that I forgot to ask several suppliers if they had anything new in the pipeline or available today.   Here is second posting to cover what has been overlooked by me.

Smoky Mountain Model Works has released their Southern Railway low-sided gondola kit in 1/4″ scale.  It features a one-piece urethane body like his previous AAR flatcar.  The masters were designed in 3D and printed using a high resolution resin printer.  The body is loaded with details on the top, bottom and ends.  The inside of the gondola is fully detailed.

The prototype was long-lasting and could bridge into a the diesel era.  It is available with two styles of lettering for the early black cars shown below and the red later scheme.

S scale pilot model shown

The kit can be ordered complete except for trucks.  It weighs in at about 10.5 ounces with  metal trucks attached.  It does have a weight cast in the body.  This probably will be ok on the layout byut weight can easily be added.  Visit SMMW website to get particulars on price and ordering.

Right O’Way received their first shipment of P48 track with steel rail.  This is 125 rail available from the company.   Jay Criswell is testing the market on this to see if there is significant interest in the steel version. The price is $135 for a bundle of 19 pieces which make 51.5′ of right of way.  You can also puchase a piece for $8 each.  The track is 32.5″ long which different from the usual 36″ length of flextrack.

Modern  Era O scale has a new car in the works for summer 2020 release.  It is Thrall gondola.  Like all of their kits it will feature a urethane castings and detail parts.  This model will come with a one-piece body.   No price or date for release yet.

KV Models has released some very interesting etched stainless steel parts for the Atlas O SW-8/9 diesel.  The parts are well thought out and very nicely etched.  You need to check out their website or look for them on eBay.

These parts will elevate the Atlas unit to more refined shedding some of the ugly parts done for the three-rail market.

Hopefully these new items will interest you.

Gene

 

 

NEW PRODUCTS: Just Around the Corner!

Modern Era O Scale has new kit in production currently.  They are a Soo Line 7-post 50′ boxcar and a Southern Pacific exterior post double door 50′ boxcar. These are urethane kits cast by one of the best foundries in the hobby.  Each kit includes a custom plastic hardware set for details.  Decals will be available for these cars.   You will need to bring your own trucks and couplers to finish off these beautiful cars.

Both kits will be released soon so keep an eye on Modern O Scale’s website to see the announcement.

Protocraft is expecting a new shipment of Barber 70-ton roller bearing trucks this week.  Check their website for when they are ready to ship.   This is a very popular truck for the modern era and sell out quickly.

Twin Star Cars continues to amaze with interesting new products they are preparing for the market.   Their newest eye candy is an EMD cut lever bracket found on hood units from the GP-7 to the latest locomotives.  PSC has offered this part but lacks the detail and accuracy possible via 3D design and printing.  Terry Van Winkle did a beautiful job rendering of the part and produced samples in white bronze castings for Twin Star.  The parts are starting the production process and will be out this fall.

Here are the new parts installed on a Red Caboose GP pilot.

All three items are in the pipeline and will be available soon.  Be patient and save your pennies.

Gene

 

NEW PRODUCTS: Rock Island Flat Car by Twin Star Cars

Twin Star is the creation of Ross Dando a number of years ago producing HO products.  Ross started the business up recently with the strong design to produce accurate 1/4″ scale products for his favorite railroad, the Rock Island.  His first creation is a stunning 53’6″ flat car kit.  It surpasses nearly every flat car produced in 1/48 scale.  The kit is primarily made from high quality urethane cast from patterns produced by Ross.  He entrusted the patterns to Jon Cagle who runs Southern Car & Foundry.  Jon is the go to guy when it comes to difficult jobs requiring a great deal of care and precision.   The basic patterns set this model above the field in terms of accuracy and fidelity to scale.

Ross is on the left side and Jon Cagle is in the background on the right.  The picture was taken at March Meet.

Detail like producing two different stake pocket designs that were crafted in 3D CAD and printed on a high resolution SLA printer.  The resulting parts were then cast in urethane by Jon Cagle for construction of the tooling master.

Here are two views of the flat car showing the different styles used on these cars.

A clue to the history of these Rock Island cars are the large splice plates on the sidesill.  The railroad’s shop extended two groups of shorter and older cars to produce a contemporary size for the era.  The cars would be able to handle the loads as the AAR 50-ton flat cars.

The detail is complete on the underside of the car.  The San Juan AB set provides the proper brake gear.

Ross developed this model while discovering information as he went along.  One example is the hand brake set used by the Rock Island.  The initial look pointed towards a Universal hand brake with a drop shaft.   Ross found a drawing on eBay that showed a Ureco hand brake set for this car.  This was after Terry Van Winkle had designed, printed and cast a number of sets.   Ross decided to bite the bullet and get the right brake set made.  Terry did a remarkable job of taking the drawing and converting them into a set of exquisite brass casting.  The CAD drawing shown below is the Ureco design.

Drop style hand brakes used a square staff on most designs.  Ross decided that he needed to do this.  He used a jewelers draw plate to form a square post out of round brass wire.

The hand brake is shown installed on the flat car.

Twin Star Cars will offer this hand brake set separately soon.  The Ureco hand brake was a commonly used appliance by a number of railroads.  I did find that the Northern Pacific 52′ flat cars had this style as well.

I have added the order announcement from Twin Star Cars.  Quality like this does cost more than a generic model made in China.  This kit will produce an exquisite and unique model.  I hope that Ross will produce more kits of this quality.

Gene

RI-53-6-Order-Announcement

 

 

 

 

NEW PRODUCTS: PBL Products

P-B-L has been around for as long as I can remember.  For years I considered them a Sn3 supplier and importer.  I discovered their paint line called Star Brand and liked it for airbrushing.  Recently, I have puchased a few tools and found them to be good quality at a fair price.

I started to build up a pilot model for a new plastic kit and discovered that Testors liquid cement was doing much.  It appears that they changed the formula to protect us from ourselves.  The kit I am working on shot in ABS which is very widely used in the industry.  At that point I decided that I needed Methyl Ehtyl Ketone (MEK).  It is the forbidden modelers elixir here in the not so golden state of California.   However, I did find that I can buy it from P-B-L in small quantities.   Maybe there is a state called do Jefferson.   There is no substitute for the real stuff.  The parts were going together nicely.

While nosing around at P-B-L online store, I found a neat 4″ file that has a blank edge on one side and teeth on the other.  The file in made by Nicholson and is first rate.   It is very handy for filing down the thickness of plastic parts without damaging an adjoining surface.

P-B-L has a number of useful tools created by modelers for modelers. 

Check their site out.

Gene

NEW PRODUCTS: Modern Boxcar Kit and Assorted Goodies

It seems that the vast majority of craftsman/urethane kits have been focused on  the steam era.  Bill Yancey has changed that paradigm with the launch of his new 50 foot FMC boxcar kits.  His company is Modern Era O Scale.  He has invested a lot of time into making superb patterns and having them cast by the best foundry in the US.   The result is a product that will grab your attention.  This series of FMC cars are common in the modern railroad scene.   The Western Pacifc car was assembled and finished by Bill.

He used a novel technique for finishing the car.   Bill learned about using gouache at the Bridgetown RPM meet held in Portland,Oregon.  Here are his words describing his method. Gouache is an opaque watercolor.  It comes in tubes and available at your local art store or online. He used 4 colors: black; burnt umber; burnt sienna; and orange.  To keep them from just beading up, you paint them on at full strength.  Bill has had the best luck using an artist brush called a ‘filbert’.  It is stiff bristled and rounded. Then you use a lint free cloth to start wiping the paint down until you have the weathering you like.  The great thing about gouache is that it’s completely reversible.  You can then overspray with Dullcoat.  Then you can add more weathering if desired without disturbing the weathering already done. I have a tendency to accidentally over weather. Being so easily removed has been a big help in mastering the technique.

The kits can be puchased from his website and are sold less decals, couplers and trucks.   There are different configurations available.  The prices is $160 plus shipping.

Jimmy Booth tried his hand at the kit finishing it with an extreme weathering job.  Paint failure was done with hairspray I believe.

Protocraft continues to bring new products to the market.  Recently Boo Rim delivered a new Pennsylvania Railroad truck called the 2D-F12.  Like all of his recent trucks, this type has ball bearings on the axles and ribbed backed metal wheels.   The truck has a leaf spring which the prototype used to control oscillations in the coil springs.   The PRR used this truck on the following car classess:

FM, F32, GLa, GS, K7a, XL and X23 through X36.  In some cases these trucks replaced 2D-F8 trucks which had all coil springs.

The truck has a uniform bolster height which makes it easier to upgrade existing cars in your collection.   It is a very clean set of brass castings assembled with care and mechanically sound.

The trucks sell for $52.95 plus postage.  They can be ordered via the Protocraft website.

 

Speaking of Protocraft, Norm recently posted a bunch of new decal sets.   There was a backup at Microscale due to a very large order of airplane decals for someone in the UK.  Things are getting back to normal in terms of turnaround.

A new resin kit supplier has entered the scene.  They are Twin Star Models.  Their first offering will be a 53′ steel flatcar once owned by the Rock Island.  The railroad spiced the cars to add length to fifty-three feet.   Here is a sample of what Twin Star is doing.

This a shot of the uerthane deck for the kit.  It is far and away the best “wood” deck I have ever seen.   Can wait to throw some weathering on this beauty.  You will be able to see the pilot model for this new kit.

Thanks for stopping by

Gene