What's new for March 2017

Just some updates on some outstanding projects that I've been working on ...

I've starting painting my three CSL cars, using all Tru-Color paints:

First is the cream

Then red underneath the windows

Red for the letterboards

Brown for the doors

The colors used were (all Tru-Color paints):

• Passenger Car Interior Cream
• Caboose Red
• Sante Fe Brown
• Pullman Green (for underbody and trucks in bottom photo)

I still need to find an appropriate dark grey for the roof, paint the window sashes and do final touch-ups. But progress has been made!

I've also finally added ground cover to the Sheridan curve along with some background trees:

I still need to "tidy" things up, but a little ground cover is better than bare plywood.

I've also added a magazine stand next to my Southport station house. This was a quick build that was made out of pieces from the scrap box. I can't seem to locate the "in progress" photos so the "semi-finished" photos will do. I've added 50 or so O scale magazines for sale. I just need to add some newspapers now:

I may add some additional magazine racks and some other details. But for now, there is a pretty good selection of periodicals for my O scale citizens. 

I've also begun collecting the necessary equipment for pressure casting. Previously. my mold making and casting was done without vacuuming either the silicon or pressurizing the castings. In order to make better castings of cars, I recently acquired a pressurized paint pot:

I will use this for both vacuuming silicone (vacuum pump has been ordered, just not yet received) and for pressure casting. While used for painting, the pot can be easily adapted to pressure casting.

All the attachments for painting have been removed from the lid. I just need to plug some holes and add my valves and gauges.

Most folks use the 2 1/2 gallon Harbor Freight pressure pot, but this one is larger (approx. 14" wide by 12" deep, necessary to fit an O scale car side) and is much more sturdy in construction. The wing nuts for securing the lid are much more substantial than the Harbor Freight model.

I've also started working on a small brick store front that will go next to my Southport station house.

This was another quick "scrap box" build made of of parts that I had laying around in various scrap boxes. The front of the building is N Scale Architect brick sheeting while the sides and back are JTT Scenery brick sheets. I still need to add stone lintels and other embellishments and clean up some of the mortar, But I did it this way (painting and mortaring before adding stone lintels) as it is much easier to paint. The store front (the white portion) was made separate from the brick and is a press fit. Much easier to paint separately.  

I've also finally attached the trucks to my other Q-Car 4000 series Plushie:

Next up is sending the car to the paint shop.

And finally, some random photos from the layout:

And as always, thanks for visiting!