A little boredom side project.... 

Micro Engineering N scale Gas Station. This is the complete kit. I've had it for awhile, figured I'd build it for the fun of it. 

 

Been a while..

 Well, I've been a little busy, so here goes.... 

3D printing has turned out to be fun and some work. Learning how to do Cad again has been a challenge. Shown above is a flatcar and gondola I'm working on for resale. Expect to see them at some point. 

Also the obligatory messy bench photo. I've got about 12 things going there.. 

Whole new world!

 Amazing what you get yourself for a birthday/Christmas present... 

Probably the newest scratchbuilders dream, I got a 3D printer system. This is a 28 foot HOn30 gondola. Just test prints at this point, but they are getting there. I'm still tweaking the drawing. I like the lower look of the kitbashed one, so I'm playing with that. I'l also adding details to the model that will be printed on. The cost of materials is great, just getting everything working is the fun! 

More to come... 

More details.

 Added more details. 

It's about ready for paint. 

Coming together...

 Got it assembled and with a roof. More modern parts added, like a fan from an SD70 (CMO shops around for parts.). 

Still need to add details (handrails, grabs, NBW castings, etc) then it'll be ready for paint. 

I plan to start on its partner shortly. They will be drawbarred together so I can power both with 1 decoder. 

That thing needs more power!

 I'm off the modules for a few days. Last couple of weekends have been busy so no time. When I pulled everything out of my boxes, I realized I had zip for HOn30 power. So, time to rectify that oversite. 

Building out a pair of boxcab locos on Bachmann MDT chassis. I have a few of these chassis layout around, so I'll probably do a few other locos. Since I don't have a need for bigger power yet, I figured I'd get the yard oxen built first. (Oxen are always pair together. These guys are Frick and Frack.) 

Stryene is a main material. The grey parts are Cannon & Co details. I need some more of them for other parts of the build. The units will be drawbared and electrically tied together with DCC and lights. I don't think I'll do sound. That's still up in the air. 

More to come! 

Last one! For now...

 One more wye and I should be done for now. 

Next up is getting roadbed down, holes cut for Blu-Points and I should then be able to start laying track. 

I've found the process of making the turnouts much more relaxing than I thought. Rolling a truck thru the trackwork and not hopping is a great feeling. Of course, making the turnout for stupid cheap in this day and age is great as well. 

I also realized I didn't post up the link for the video I made making the modules.. 

Enjoy and I'll post more this week! 

Well..

 

So I got six modules built. They are the curves for a show layout. Basically they are 9x16 inch boxes, made from 1/4 pine boards and some 1/4 ply. Nothing fancy or expensive. They have leveling feet on them so I can adjust for bad table tops or what have you. 

Next step is roadbed and track. Started working on that last night. 

First turnout I've made in over 15 years. It's ugly but it'll do. I need two rights and a wye. After that we should be good. 

Update...

 Cleaning up more stuff for future use. Dug out power units to see what I had.. 

The tank in the background is an old Stewart kit I found at a local show. 

Also, I've started building modules for a portable HOn30 layout. The goal is to be under a 30" width, which is standard for show tables. This is a table top layout, kinda like TTrak. Main modules are 9" x 16", the middle, smaller ones are 9" x 13". I plan to connect them with magnets and use Tamiya small connectors for power and lighting. 

The next question is hand laying track and switches or using Peco HOn30 track. I'm on the fence but we'll see. 

More to come...

Dusting off the HOn30 stuff!

I've been away from HOn30 for awhile now. I still have the On3 boxcar I'm building as well as some HOn3 kits and parts that I've gathered as well. The On3 car will probably get finished and sold. The HOn3 stuff will go as well. Finding good power for them is hard and $$$. 

Which brings me back to HOn30. Besides being able to get N scale chassis that run good, I have a good supply of parts for more equipment. One thing I was thinking about when I set up the photo below is the length of equipment. 

That tank car is about 28 feet. The gons are around 25 feet, but that monster boxcar is 36 feet! On an 11 inch radius it looks like a whale! 

So, with this done, I've figured that 30 foot is really a good size for most cars. Since I plan to scratchbuild and cast my own cars based on steel prototypes, I can settle for what I want that will work. 

So here we go! Stay tuned for more! 

On3 Boxcar Pt3, The body

Boxcar body. 

Added grabs, interior boards and the roof walk. I didn't use the provided bending gauge, just measured and bent with needle nose pliers and a Sharpie to mark the bends. 

Next up is probably a primer and paint, then mount the floor inside. 

On3 Boxcar Pt2

 Finished the underframe.. 

First time doing truss rods. The warts are all mine. Next time, I may swap them for brass. 

Instructions are very simple. When I build another, I plan to take alot of notes. 

On3 Boxcar Pt1

It's always interesting to try different stuff. These are the trucks and underframe from a San Juan Car Company On3 DRGW boxcar. An interesting kit. Not for a first timer. 

The trucks are multiple pieces. Wheels roll freely. Regular MEK doesn't really work well with these, but Plastruct Bondene glues everything up wonderfully. 

 The underframe is going together. Need to bend the air lines and truss rods. 

This is a good view of all the parts for the kit. Upper left is a N scale Harriman baggage car for reference. 

Find them here at https://sanjuancarco.com/

New workspace.

Unit in and filled... lol. I wound up with casters under it and that was a great idea. I also installed locking hinges on the legs to hold it in place. It's worked great so far. 

 

New work area..

 

Gonna be grand! Stay tuned! 

The fuel dock

Stuff...

A few pics..

Switchers and minis...

While I've pretty much sold off most of my N scale fleet and still finding stuff, I'm thinking I'm gonna keep some of it and build a shelf switching layout. So, three diesels for the railroad. They need details and weathering, a little relettering and we should be good to go.

In other news, built a small photo booth for the minis. The look much better on a grey background!

'

Little of this, little of that...

Figures and N scale reefers..

Figures..

I've taken a side course here. I've been painting 25mm figures for the last week and a half.

This is something I've never tried before, and it's interesting. Coloring, painting of the details and whatnot. These are metal cast figures and really have alot of detail.

I blame this transgression on my daughter. It was her idea..