QSSR Mark VI - More Bashing

Bashing never stop at Hedley-Junction, but it's the fun kind of bashing. Taking my brushes and pencils to add some colors on the bare plastic and merging the new parts with the old ones, I couldn't help but see new ways to improve the station.

Slowly build color layers... still more to do...

Blending weathered colors wasn't easy at first, but as you add more layers of paint, the effects build up. You may start with the "wrong" color at first, but you can modulate it and even drybrush some specific colors all over the walls to really feather the effects and create an unified appearance.

A salvaged Tyco door makes for a convincing shed

A small detail I kept for later was the old telephone booth. The telephone and some other details were molded directly on the wall part. They could be removed, but I would need to graft another piece of wall in their place. Not the kind of fun surgery to do on an assembled model. So I decided build a small shed made of wall leftovers and an old door I had salvaged froma Tyco freight shed many years ago. After some cutting and gluing, I was quite satisfied with its look. Just what I had in mind to break the monotony of the station.

For the roof, I had to give it some deeper thoughts. Replacing the original Atlas roof was a given, but how to do it was more of a problem. My goal was to have a continuous pitch all over the new roof to make it more mundane and generic. This is not a fancy station, just your ordinary rural depot on the old mainline.

The roof really helps to bring everything together

The first problem I encountered was the fact the roof brackets sit lower than the top of the walls. It made sense with the intricate Atlas plastic molded roof, but if you just want to slap a sheet of carboard or styrene to model the roof, you have to add a double layer. Not only this makes the intervention more complicated, but makes the roof extremely thick... i.e., not to scale at all.

Thus I decided to remove about 1mm from the walls so they could be flush with the brackets. Once done, building the roof would just be a matter of gluing together 4 parts together in the right angle.

Speaking of angle, I didn't know what to do at first with the roof overhang over the platform. In front of the station, the roof has a lower pitch that used to fit the Atlas platforms you could add to the station. However, with a much simpler design roof like I intend to create, this lower pitch just look silly. The solution was to replace the long front roof brackets with the shorter ones that can be found on the three other walls. Many leftover brackets where in bad shape, so I had either to rebuild them or simply kitbash the long ones into short ones, which was simpler than I originally thought.

Tichy #8071 window over the original opening

Finally, I also discovered that the chunky Atlas station windows can be replaced with Tichy #8071 double hung 8/8 windows which fit the wall openings. They can be bashed to create the larger front ones without too much effort. I always found that the thick mullions and weird trims provided with the kit looked a little bit silly and over scale. This is another easy way to change the appearance of that ubiquitous structure. Don't just forget to cut off the trim under the window sill so it fits and looks better.

I'm honestly fascinated by the possibilities with the Atlas station and I'm already planning to build another one without reusing already glued models. I already have a few ideas about how I would improve upon my design.

QSSR Mark VI - Bash the Station

Your typical poorly assembled Atlas station from the flea market

As cute as the Atlas station may look, I’ve always thought its ground floor didn’t make any sense. In particular that large baggage door at the back that doesn’t connect to a room that opens on the platform. If you had to place partitions into that footprint, you would get a very small and unpractical baggage warehouse right at the back of the office. That’s the kind of details that bother my architect eye to no end!

A typical early 20th century Intercolonial Railway depot plan

Not far from the Atlas station...

When I was younger, the local model railroad club had a large station made of two Atlas station spliced together. While it looked a little bit silly, I always thought the idea of bashing several kits together to get something more substantial did make sense. Discussing the idea with Chris Mears, he started to send me neat Prince Edward Island Railway stations photos and plans that sure did had a lot in common with the Atlas parts. Interestingly enough, ICR had copied some of PEIR designs and I happened to have a book containing several ICR architectural drawings.

I'm baffled... How can something like that happen?

Fortunately, someone gave our club an assembled Atlas station some years ago and thus I had all the required parts to experiment a little bit. Like most of these pre-built structures you can find at flea markets, it was atrocious and poorly glued. It seems Atlas was THAT kit that most people started (or ended) their modelling careers! Count myself included in that since my building skills back then weren’t that great. But let’s just say I had no regret tearing that building apart. 

Rethinking Atlas station ground floor

Some sketches before committing to the project

Using the old drawings as a starting point, I drawed a few references lines on graph paper and started to play with the parts to make a larger and more logical station. I followed a basic station ground floor plan with a general waiting room, a central office room and a medium sized baggage room. Having that design in mind, I was able to select the right parts for the right functionality. As they say, form follows function.

Disassembling the station

Cutting walls to length

Reassembling walls

I ended up keeping the original Atlas front and left walls and adding a shortened back wall to the front to create the baggage room. The new rear wall was made by splicing together an entire back wall and using heavily kitbashed front and left walls. During all the process, I made sure the roof bracket would always be spaced by 20mm centerline. Using an uneven spacing would have made the building look weird and poorly designed. I was really surprised how everything went together fast and nicely, as it was intended right from the bat!

Replicating a missing baggage door

Et voilà!

For the rest of the kitbash, I will follow some reader’s comment who advised to modify the roof. I will in fact scratchbuild it to a much gentler slope that with fit the roof brackets. I think the Atlas roof was far too much ubiquitous with its unrealistic dormers.

The new enlarged front elevation with the baggage room

New rear wall

While the new kitbashed station isn’t an exact replica of a specific station, it does follow the general arrangement and proportions of a very typical depot that could have been found all over our continent not so long ago. I hope this kitbash may inspire others to try it. After all, older kits are easy to find for a few dollars and provide countless of rewarding hobby hours.

Reassembled structure

The new back... still need to address the old telephone booth

St. Louis RPM Post Mortem

Two weekends ago was St. Louis RPM held in Collinsville, IL. Featuring over 80 exhibit tables of exquisitely crafted models made by participants, about has much of space allocated to vendors and 10 clinics, it was both a small and a big event. Small because it doesn’t compare to your typical large train show and large, because it is quite something to see so many people interested in prototype modelling gathering together in such a place. With more than 900 visitors, it was just the right size to see a lot, yet create that nice small event ambiance where you can take time to meet and talk to people.

Only a fraction of what was on display

Among the vendors, 3D printing was as expected, becoming quite a trend. It was interesting to see the models and how some companies are pushing the limits with what could be considered hobby grade printers. The technology is certainly evolving quite fast and this is opening doors for more prototypes to find their way on our layouts and workbenches. I lucky enough to get a free 3D Central 50ft boxcar printed by Matt Hermann and am looking forward to putting it together.

These silos and elevator equipments really make a difference

Another fascinating aspect of this 3D printing mania was the number of businesses offering prototypically correct grain bins, silos, conveyors and other accessories. Not so long ago, you had only a few Walthers and Rix items, most of them relatively coarse in details, to replicate elevators. Now, you can find everything that can be seen in the real world.

Scott Thornton's clinic pushed the envelope.

I also had the great pleasure to present my clinic about extreme weathering on Saturday. Most clinics I attended where well put together and interesting. Clark Propst made us laugh with his cheap $1 toy train kitbashing projects, Scott Thorton proposed a series of interesting novel ways to model mundane things like asphalt or corn fields and I recall that presentation from a gentleman going through his process of modelling a slice of Appalachia in N scale.

St. Louis station is almost a roman cathedral!

In terms of purchases, I kept it simple since I have more than enough at home. That said, I got a few old diesel detailing parts that are useful for kitbashing projects. However, the biggest purchase was a Loksound Bowser equipped Green Bay & Western red Alco C430 that I got for a fair price. I always loved how C430 just look like a slightly more brutish version of their little brothers C424 and C425. I kind of like its appearance and since I'm currently modelling a few American models right now, it was neat to discover WNYP did had red C430s at some point. I'm currently musing over altering the GBW scheme to match the ex-Morristown & Erie one, which is quite close. That would make a second WNYP locomotive on my roster to serve the switching layout.

French Canadian 18th century house in Missouri

It was certainly a long drive through Northeastern and Appalachia to get to this RPM, but the people's warmth and ambiance was well worth the effort. It was also an excellent excuse to visit many different states and cities along the way, discovering for the first time areas I’ve heard of and seen modelled for decades.

This could have been on Tom Johnson's layout

It was also weird to aimlessly drive on some roads only to discover I knew most town names and could make a detour to some local railroading spots I once mused over. I ended up discovering the area around Gauley, WV, the Erie line near Corry, PA, or even Maitland Junction in Springfield, OH. Isn't it fascinating to be in foreign lands and yet, feel you have known exact places as if it was your backyard! I also took a few pictures of covered hoppers and grain elevators, having the pleasure to discover these towns so well modelled by Tom Johnson.

Even when you leave, inspiration pop up in your rear mirror...

Once again, a big thanks to Scott Thornton and Lonnie for inviting me. You were the most gracious hosts I could have hoped to meet!

GTW Caboose - Improving an Athearn Model - Part 1

My good friend Yvan Déry is currently upgrading his rolling stock fleet to better replicate is 1948 era of interest and make it more believable. Yvan’s approach is some kind of  “good enough” mixed with exacting accuracy on the global picture. It’s hard to explain, but using mundane techniques, he tries to replicate the real thing and not to make compromises. That’s an unusual approach but it does yield fascinating results.

 

Starting with an ubiquitous Athearn steel caboose

One of his pet project this summer is upgrading his caboose fleets, removing all cars that aren’t CNR prototype and refurbishing the correct ones, which are a mix of True Line and Juneco wooden kits. He added a few working marker lamps and I must admit, they look cool. Better, they set the mood. Orange cabooses draw a lot of attention to them and making sure they are prototype is a great way to perfect the illusion.

 

Improved shell with new custom details

That said, one of his old foobie was in search of a home. It was that ubiquitous 5 windows ATSF-based Athearn caboose painted in CNR maple leaf scheme. I had been upgraded with metal grabirons and some paint, but was otherwise in original shape. He was surprised I wanted it, but it appears that this ubiquitous model do have a link with what I model. Long, long ago, GTW acquired a few dozens of them from ATSF and sure enough, I do have a few GTW locomotives in need of a caboose. Interestingly enough, they lasted quite a while and crews improved them and plated of few cupola windows. ATSF used to mount them on standard Bettendorf trucks which made them quite rough to ride. GTW decided to give them leaf spring roller bearing trucks in some cases, but also elected to mount a few ones on old archbar trucks! Just for these reasons, I knew it would be a cool project.

Fitting the parts together

I stripped all the paint, disassembled the model, removed the roofwalks, plugged the holes and eliminated all the remaining molded on grabirons. The shell, though a little bit old, was in excellent shape and the molded details are still good enough compared to other available plastic  model of that prototype (Bachmann, I’m looking at you!).

 

Caboose ends are highly visible, details matter!

My first big challenge was to recreate new handrails out of phosphore bronze wire. While I’m not a soldering wizard, I’ve discovered in recent years that nothing beats soldered metal handrails and thought I should five it a try. I was surprised by the quality I got from the first try, which boosted my confidence. I then endeavoured to replace everything I could on that model with metal, including the cupola grabiron.

 

Custom smokestack made of sprues

Some styrene scraps were used to plate over the defunct windows and new Kadee brake wheels were added. Thinner details do make a difference. Speaking of that, a new smokestack was crafted with plastic sprues and fishing line gang wires were added per prototype. I also spliced a Pyle headlight resin casting to create two marker lights that were installed on each end. It was an ATSF practice that was caried over GTW.

Marker light made of a modified Pyle headlight

The model was then primed in black and painted with Tru-Color Paint CN Red-Orange. I felt the coverage was less than satisfactory, but it was good enough to replicate worn paint. When dried and cured, I added a layer of weathered and faded red-orange mixed from various Vallejo colors. I didn’t try to apply it uniformly, but rather made it patchy just like on prototype pictures. I will probably add another more yellowish layer here and there go get more dramatic weathering effects. I still have to work on the roof, but I’m leaning toward applying chipping fluid and a coat of faded dark grey to create neat effects. Decalling will happen much more later when most of the weathering is done, military style!

 

Ready for weathering fun!

So far, I’m quite happy the model has lost its Blue Box look. I still have to decided if it will ride on Bettendorf, leaf springs or arch bar trucks. I will probably do a few tests and choose what looks the most interesting to my eyes!

QSSR Mark VII - The Atlas Station

The Atlas station has always been a classic of American railroading since at least the 1960s. While it has become far too ubiquitous at this point, it is still a nice kit with excellent details. When you compare it with the old Revell station and some others cheap kits from the same era, it's holding ground.

It has been said it was based on a NJ prototype, which seems to be true to some extent. But beyond a few similarities, this station should be considered proto-freelanced. Neverthless, the design is kind of cute even if I had serious reservation that the second floor under the roof must be extremely cramped and unpractical. I've yet to understand why you would bother having so many dormers on such a small roof and fit them with minuscule windows!

First pass of coloring

Notwithstanding this critic, I always wanted to repaint mine in a more realistic fashion and see what could be done. Missing a few windows and details, it was also a great opportunity to weather it as an abandoned structure that was left to rot like depots on Tom Johnson's former INRAIL layout or the old CPR station in Richford, VT.

Second pass

My experiments were initially done by painting the station a dark grey, then drybrushing a faded wine red over the entire walls. Using dark brown for trims. The dark grays and browns are there to simulate rotten wood under the paint layers. After that initial coat of paint, I drybrushed several coats of light grey, tan and white, coming back later with red again to modulate the effect. It was not a real technique, but just applying colors following pictures found on Internet.

Third pass with new coats of red and crayon

Sure, I ended up with an exaggerated look, but I was still able to learn to play with paint to create peeling effects without using acrylic mediums or hairspray. Did I succeed, maybe... And after a while, I took color crayons and started to add new layers on the building. Hunther Hughson had done that and I felt it was a great idea to replicate the gritty aspect of failing paint and distressed wood. It certainly improved the appearance.

For additional detailing, I installed a few Tichy oil barrels around the platform as if the area was still used by maintenance of way teams. Wooden ties made from wood matches also added some story to the scene. I must admit I'm generally no oriented toward these cute rendition of railway structures, but it was dumb fun.

Fourth pass with more crayon

If I could critic my work, I would say that the red I used was completely wrong. Using a wine color and fading it with white and tan gave it an unrealistic pinkish look. Also, I should have weathered the concrete platform with more oil washes. Some vegetation and weeds growing along the walls and cracks would also bring everything together.

Results in situ

Will it be the final structure that will grace the layout? I don't know. To be honest, I would rather have a permanent concrete platform on which I could swap scratchbuilt buildings according to my fancy. That said, I'm glad I pushed forward with this idea to exploit the potential of the Atlas station. I still believe it's a fantastic model if you dare to embrace its ubiquities.