It's been a busy summer for me in many ways other than T-scale modeling. I must apologize for the sparse posts, but rest assured, my enthusiasm for tiny trains has not waned. I volunteered myself for an N-scale project involving the design and production of PRR signal bridges and CPL signals which grew to be a very large time consumer; I also designed a custom 1:72 scale A-20 "Havoc" decal set for my other modeling favorite, aircraft kits; And on top of that I relocated my primary residence. The dust has settled a bit and now getting back to some fun with T-scale!
Following is a brief update on a couple projects that will be materializing in the next month or two, and some recently completed models.
Powered Mechanism: Slowly progressing on this. The main mechanism is pretty well done, fits easily into the GP40 shell, however getting the powered trucks attached with decent electrical contact is the present challenge. Since some of the parts needed are etched, and etching lead time is at least a month, this tends to slow things down. Given that the first design is nearly always a test and requires revision and a new test, you can see how this takes a lot of time.
89' Autorack: Using my ever improving etching skills, I decided to give a try at an autorack using etched metal for the body panels. I designed it to wrap around a 3D printed car body. In fact, the 3D printed body looks pretty good all by itself and could, in my estimation, with paint and decals, make a pretty good representation of an autorack without the etch.
None the less, the etched corrugated panels are in transit (along with the aforementioned contact strips for the mechanism) so we shall see how it turns out.
More Plugs: Since the double plug door for the 86' hi-cube boxcar turned out so well, I decided to make a 12' plug door to fit the Plate F boxcar.
Graffiti Decals: To give model representation to some of the amazing art that adorns modern freight cars, I gave a shot at some decals in T (and N) scale. Of course Itchy and Scratchy -- the classic Simpson's cartoon characters-- had to be represented!
Here's the prototype:
And the T-gauge model:
Another recently finished model, the Canadian Grain Board cylindrical hopper. This utilizes etched brass for the ends, and turned out very nicely in my opinion. These are available at the CCE Models website:
Ok, that's all for now. Look for more frequent updates in the upcoming weeks and months. - Jesse
