Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Rolling Stock - Part One

Of how many "Parts", I don't know.  But this is a good start.  

The eighteen unmodified Peter Pig rolling stock pieces are on display in the photos below: 6 passenger coaches, 8 box cars, 3 flat cars, one drover's caboose as mentioned a few times now.  So, for anyone out there doubting I really had all of what I said, here is photographic proof.
Above is what will be a typical freight train in my Old West games, a locomotive with tender, four box cars, and a caboose.  That is the Peter Pig modified locomotive at the front.  Below are a couple of other views.

Below, for that proof, are all 8 boxcars in one long train and a few additional views.



And below is the Glenco 4-4-0 pulling a typical passenger train of three cars - though the normal will be a combine and two coaches rather than the three coaches seen here.  Again, several views.



And a double header pulling all six coaches with the varied views.


How about a nice little mixed train with the Glenco 2-6-2 up front and the three flat cars and then a coach behind.


And going the other way is the same cut of cars but with the CP Huntington (see below) doing the pulling.


What about a little push-me-pull-you with the hard working little Porters?


And a shot or two with all 18 pieces of rolling stock awaiting more paint than the primer coat they currently are wearing.

And, when it absolutely, positively has to get there - a triple header of the three Peter Pig locomotives - just for Martin Goddard himself if he ever swings by to take another peak.



The next 21 pieces will take longer since they all involve modifications to the basic Peter Pig model.  But in due time.

And now it is time to admit to being embarrassed.  I made a statement in an earlier post about wondering if the CP Huntington is a real locomotive.  Duh!  I live near the actual, real, restored original and I've only stood right next two about a dozen times over the years!  Oh, well, life goes on.  And so does my Old West project - when I can find time to work on it.

Monday, May 2, 2016

Rolling Stock - Part A

No pictures today, just a quick note.

I've made much progress on rolling stock, all of the side frames are drilled for the axle pieces on all items.  Eighteen items await only filing down the metal pieces and then assembly prior to priming, already washed and filed the bodies as well as washed the metal parts.  These are the unmodified items - 8 box cars, 6 passenger cars, 3 flat cars, and the one drover's caboose.  That leaves the 21 items to be modified in various and sundry ways.

And I've made a good decision.  The one flat car I hadn't decided what to modify into will become a special horse car as opposed to all those stock cars for cattle.  For those in the know, it's for the likes of: "Who are those guys?"  And that same movie inspires the look of the car, to a degree, artistic license will apply.

Speaking of artistic endeavors, also realized I have a challenge to resolve - paint schemes!  I have a pretty good idea how I will paint all those steam locomotives.  But I really haven't decided which way to go with most of the rolling stock.  Sure, I will use real railroads as points of inspiration but I still need to finalize how I will apply it to my 15 mm Rail Baron Empire.  I will use a long cherished scheme for the passenger equipment; you'll just have to wait for the photos to know what it will be!

That's all for now.  Happy gaming - and happier building and painting.

Wednesday, April 27, 2016

Cedar Creek Overflows

Well, not quite a flood but a fulfillment.  Courtesy of an order that reached its fulfillment today, I now have all the structures I need to create the "out on the plains" western town of Cedar Creek - one of the three towns that will eventually populate my gaming world for the Old West.  Most of the buildings, but not all, are from Stone Mountain Miniatures and will make for a nice town.  Twenty structures including the railroad station and water tank for the thirsty locomotives will allow a pretty good place for peaceable activities.  And perhaps a few less tame activities.

Still to come is the finishing up of the needed buildings for the desert southwest town of Alkali Flats.  And the much larger - and almost entirely scratch built - town of Anachronism, a county seat and so much more.  If fully realized, there will be well more than one hundred structures in Anachronism.  I have a good start on it and just need the time to work on it.

Such is the great challenge, having time.  Enough for now.  Time for bed.

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Iron Horse Stables

Now that we are half way through spring, I think it is high time I get back to my winter project!  Of course, I did have a couple of good reasons for delay.  I ran a French and Indian War game at local a convention and had to finish painting over 100 figures.  I also textured the bases for about 800 figures.  And I put foliage on 120 deciduous trees.  That was for the game.

Oh, and I built a 4' by 12' dedicated gaming table that will have two 2' extensions that can take it up to 16' long, one on a hinge and one that will be able to be set at different levels for seaports and the like.  For those who prefer 28 mm scale, 4' in 15 mm comes close to the equivalent of 7', not quite but close (6.8 - and those who check the math I used 16.5 since I have a mix of 15 mm and 18 mm.).

 The winter project, of course, was to work on my Old West trains.  Well this weekend I assembled 15 of the 54 pieces - the iron horses:  9 locomotives and 6 tenders, 3 of the locos have their own tenders integral to the whole.

Below are two shots showing all of the pieces right after getting primed.  If you look close you'll see I was working at a pretty fast pace and will need to go back and do a bit of repair work.  But, and this matters, these are game pieces, not contest pieces - so good enough is, well, good enough.  There are some things I will fix, though.



These three are Peter Pig's basic locomotive and tender. (but modified as in an earlier post here)
Here is a close shot of one of them.
And an overhead shot of one.
All three.
Here are three Glencoe locomotives with Peter Pig tenders (I ordered them special from Peter Pig to provide tenders since these Glencoe models don't include tenders).  The front two are 4-4-0 locomotives like the Peter Pig items above, so I have five of these but in two different 'styles.'  The one on the farthest right is a 2-6-2 wheel arrangement.  (The Whyte system if you know your trains but don't know the system)

A close of the 4-4-0.
And of the 2-6-2.
 From above - and you can see a fix is needed on this one.
All three from overhead.


 And now the three tank locomotives, all Glencoe models.
 The Porter, or 0-4-2.  Not sure if these are appropriate to Old West but there aren't many options in 15 mm so I'll put these to good use, have two of them.
And this is the CP Huntingdon, a 4-2-4.  Not sure that is historically accurate but might be.
 An overhead of the 4-2-4,
 And a Porter with some distortion in the image - or maybe the model.  Did I say I was working fast?
 While I have 9 iron horse, this shot just shows one each of the five different versions of engines in my "stable".
The observant will have noticed the hill profiles behind the locomotives - those are a project in process inspired by an item on the Major General page but mine are in plywood.  And the shot below gives an end on view of the gaming table, tried to class up the 'public' end to keep the wife happy, storage under for terrain and a few other items.
One last shot showing those hill profiles again and behind them another hill making project in a rethinking phase, probably keep but make a couple of inches shorter.  Will see.
I guess I need to build the passenger station now!  Next up are the 11 passenger cars, the 8 box cars, and then the three unmodified flat cars.  And then all those other flat car projects.  Wondering what to do with one flat car - some will be stock cars, some will be water tank cars, and some will be gondolas. Undecided on that last one.  And the cabeese are not to be forgotten.

Friday, February 5, 2016

Projectus Interruptus

Okay, a minor challenge in pushing forward with the winter project - which will delay but not stop progress.  I will be running a game at a pending convention in early April and need to do some painting and foliating and texturing of some bases to get ready for that.  So, the hoped for postings might not show as much progress as fast as planned, but there will be more.

But, heck, aren't actual games the ultimate point!   Tally-joe, and away we go.  (Yeah, but which Joe?)

Monday, January 18, 2016

Putting Daylight Under the Locomotives

Today's project was using a Dremel tool to put some "daylight" under the three Peter Pig locomotives for my Old West game that's building.
 Safety first, especially the dust mask - don't want to breathe those tiny particles of resin.  The two pieces of wood are for use in the vice - to prevent crushing the resin.  I used one other tool, a reamer with a smaller point, in the Dremel.  The cone shape was most useful of the other three seen here but I used all three.
 Here is what the engine looks like, a block of resin with a locomotive on top.  My goal was to improve upon that without ruining anything.  Hopefully!
 Here is the first victim in the vice.  Ended up doing the other two in my hand because I had more control.
 Here you can see the dramatic difference between the unit on the right and the unit on the left.  To my eye at least, this is a considerable improvement.
 And here are all three after the work was 'done.'
 And a much closer shot showing there is now daylight under most of the engine.
 Here are those same three on a piece on HOn3 flex track - the rightmost isn't crooked, I just didn't notice how far off the track it was when I took the photo.
And a last closer view - a bit out of focus.

Not everything went perfect.  I will have to do a little repair on at least one each truck wheel and drive wheel but I'd rather that than put the blocky resin version on a game table.  Besides, if I'd ruined one of the engines I'd just order another one and then have an extra tender to use with one of my Glencoe locomotives and then re-purpose a flat car.  You might even say I was a little hopeful that might happen - but not tempted to force it.  I may go back and do a little more work on the under carriage but probably not.  Hopefully, once fully assembled and painted, they will look just fine.

Progress.