MODELING TIPS

The Mountaineer Precision Product's ATSF sandhouse kit has proven to be a very nice structure. It is actually modeled after the San Bernardino facility as it was in the 40's and 50's. The kit is well done and easy to assemble (I did it without instructions). I wanted to share a few of ideas that I used to build my kit which I can now proudly say won first places in structures at the Santa Fe Historical and Modelers Society convention this month.

1. I hand painted the structure using Floquil's ATSF Mineral Brown. The paint turned out to be a bit more red than I wanted it to be (I suspect Testors has changed things.), but not to worry. Weathering can solve any problem. The first thing I did was to sand some of the boards. You can do this with a fiberglass eraser or a piece of sandpaper. Try to sand the individual boards. I actually removed the paint in several areas. Next brush on a VERY dilute stain. I used ACE brand wood stain - Jacobean, but any dark color would work. Dilute it with mineral spirits. I finished up with some brown and light gray chalks. Don't forget the pigeon poop on the roof and sand on the ties!

2. The kit is designed to use wire for the sanders. At the time I was building my kit I was also wiring a module. The fellow helping me brought over some shrink tubing that happed to be the perfect size to use on the model. Unfortunately it was too late to include in the kit, but it is easy to get. just take the wire for the pipes down to an electronics store or Home Depot and look for the right size. Get the rubber stuff - not the plastic. All I had was red so I just painted mine, but black would have been better.

3. I bent small pieces of wire for the conduit to the lights. I actually heated I up with the soldering iron and pressed the wire into the top of the lamp shade. I built wooden supports for one light out of pieces of extra material from the kit. I put a piece of wood across the square opening on the lower side of the tower to give a semblance of a foundation. Again I cut it from the leftover wood in the kit.

4. I used a small piece of flat wire to model the support at the end of the sanders for the cable/wire supports coming down from the walls above the sanders. I cut it to length and used a file to round the corners then soldered them to the wire sanders just above the bend toward the locomotives. Set the sandhouse in place on the layout or a mockup to be sure you have room for the locomotives. The sander with little or no hose comes down over the top of the steamers. the other two are made to come down either side of the diesels.

5. For the diesel sander closest to the wall I formed a small hook out of thin wire to hold the hose to the wall - this idea came from a photo of the prototype.

6. I used some of the thin wire from the kit to add a small piece of detail - possibly the on/off valve controller. I made a small "S" and soldered it to the pipe at the bend. BTW - I use electrical solder because I can get in and out quickly. I also draped pieces of wet paper towel next to where I was working to prevent unsoldering parts I already installed.

Well - I hope you have as much fun with the kit as I did. I didn't have instructions when I build the kit and had to refer to pictures and prototype drawings to finish it up. Andy Lester of Mountaineer Precision Products has done a very nice job with this one. The kit I built will look very nice installed on my layout.

Atlas produced a very nice looking Hart ballast Car. Unfortunately they issued it with the incorrect trucks and left out much of the interior frame. The lack of frame makes the car look like a pair of high-water pants. I used 3/16th styrene channel to fill in the frame on my car. You have to do a little trimming to match the angles on the underframe and to fit over the bolster. The rectangular supports on the side of the kingpin must be trimmed also - easily done with a Dremmel cutoff wheel. DO NOT trim to two pins on the "A" end of the car that keep the trucks from rocking. DO NOT INSTALL THE CENTER FRAME BETWEEN THE BAYS (LEFT SIDE OF THE TOP PHOTO) AS I DID IN THE PHOTO. Steve Orth directed me to a photo of a car laying on its side and they are not there.

I built the bolster by cutting a length of .020"x.156" styrene. It should be long enough to extend from the inside portion of the channel to the end of the angle in the molded "mini" bolster. Cut the piece of styrene length wise from corner to corner forming to equally sized triangles. Glue two on each side of the frame - about 1/8 inch apart - On the edges of the razed portion of the molded bolster. You'll have to trim the top of the triangle slightly to fit. Finally Use the .020"x.156" styrene to form the top plate on the bolster. I use some pliers to pre-bend the angles. A combination of liquid styrene cement and CA to glue everything up. I also found that a portion of the top plate needed to be trimmed so the truck can sit correctly on the kingpin.

I was trying to find a good method for turnout position indication. On Cajon pass the turnouts were thrown by the train crews. My operators are required to do the same during operating sessions. It is their responsibility to return them to the normal position when they are clear. On occasion they forget with interesting results. I was considering LED indications on the layout fascia when I stumbled on what we all should know - following the prototype usually solves the problem. I found a way to animate Details West switchstands. It is experimental, but so far so good. By soldering a piece of flat brass wire to the rod that holds the target and then in turn connecting the flat brass to the turnout throw rod via a wire throw I'm able to get the target to move when the turnout is thrown (turnouts are motored and thrown with toggle switches on the fascia). The target on the switchstand has proven to be the best indication of turnout positions for my operators.

One of the interesting things about the pass is the difference in the weathering of the two opposing tracks. The uphill track has a white appearance from the constant sanding while the downhill track has a dark rusted appearance from the constant braking as the trains descend the steep grade. I achieved my results with dried pigments. For the uphill track I used white powdered paint I picked up at a local art store. I brushed it on dry with a stiff brush. For the downhill track I used a mixture of dark colored pigments sold by Bragdon Enterprises for weathering. When I had done some, I stepped back and looked at it to find the results too stark, especially with the contrast of the two tracks. I thought about it a while, then used the same stiff brush dipped in water to brush out some of the color. I used a paper towel to blot the wet paint up. I also brushed some of the white paint up against the rails to whiten them. The whole thing is easier to do than to describe, but the results were a more subtle weathering effect which I quite like.