What non-auto model did you get today?

[Ace-Garageguy]

Picked up a few HO OO scale Hornby English style freight cars in a bunch of other unloved and cheap HO stuff...

EDIT: I've been reliably informed these are in fact OO scale, which is slightly larger at 1/76 than HO at 1/87. The wheels are gauged to run on HO track, they're not appreciably wider than most HO scale equipment, so I'll probably fudge running them as background pieces on an HO scale layout, considering the majority of American model railroaders probably won't be all that familiar with old British equipment.

EDIT 2: Two-axle freight cars were not uncommon on American narrow-gauge short lines, and though the British cars shown above don't match any American prototypes I've found so far, they're similar in concept...and it's my railroad and I can do what I want.  

Examples of American 2-axle narrow-gauge cars, below:

   

I also dragged home an unpowered plastic HO (OO?) scale English Rosebud Kitmaster Diesel-Electric "shunter" (a switcher to us), to pull 'em with. It can be powered by one of the small drives I already have.

It's a model of a real British locomotive class, quite well detailed for its age. Apparently some of these are still in operation...remarkably long service for locomotives built in the early 1950s through the early '60s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_preserved_British_Rail_Class_08_locomotives

All I need now is a plausible backstory as to how British equipment ended up on an American mining/logging short line in the late 1950s.  

Edited October 6, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy

[Brudda]

 A F-35b lightning and a 59mm cannon. 

[Brudda]

Just now, Brudda said:

 A F-35b lightning and a 59mm cannon. 

155MM cannon

[Ace-Garageguy]

Among a buncha oddball stuff nobody else really wanted...the cool thing here is the diecast plate girder with tapered end sections.

If you look close, you'll see there are what appear to be rollers on the underside of the small ends. 

So this thing was either intended to be a very heavy overhead traveling crane, like you'd see in an engine erecting building, or more likely, a locomotive turntable.

Turntables in HO scale long enough to accommodate something like a UP Big Boy, or the experimental Pennsy steam turbine are kinda rare and spendy, but I can cast copies of the straight center sections and make up turntable girders of any length I need, and building the pit, rail, and a drive isn't all that difficult.

I'll be needing a heavy overhead traveling crane too, so more copies will furnish that as well.

Other stuff included are several diecast "wooden" boxcar doors, helpful to restore some pf the parts-missing rolling stock I've acquired, various small detail parts, and a very nice pair of vintage rubber passenger car diaphragms (that I'll be trying to figure out how to copy). 

While I have info on making them from folded paper in a few vintage model RR mags, the molded "rubber" ones are much better appearing.

Working diaphragms between cars really add a lot to the realistic appearance of a passenger train. These days they're not too expendy in HO scale, but if I can make 'em for a few cents in material per car instead of several dollars, I can have more.  

 

Edited October 15, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy

[FoMoCo66]

On 10/15/2024 at 5:24 PM, Ace-Garageguy said:

While I have info on making them from folded paper in a few vintage model RR mags, the molded "rubber" ones are much better appearing

I have done that exact thing! I didn't want to spend a lot of money and frankly I was board. So I sat down and an hour latter and some black construction paper plus some snipping got me this.

I think for the time it came out pretty well.

Elliot.

[ranma]

Once a Month Flea Market (Decatur Indiana) All 1/87 Model railroad items... box full of goodies: Life like Hampton Fire department building, Life like town church, Life Like train station, Life like Oil company, Life like Transfer crane, IHC sand Tower, Walthers Bulk Transfer conveyor. Then the Freight cars: Bachman silver series Chesapeake  & Ohio flat car (pre made) (2) Proto 2000 50'6" Drop end Gondola, 50 one door freight car, 50' ton war emergency hopper, Con Cor Green Bay and Western Box car, Walthers (3) U.S.steel coke cars.. Other than the Bachman pre made flat car everything else is factory new unbuilt products! The Jaw dropping part of this ?? I paid $30.00 For all of it!!!!!!!!!!! Considering I was going to only buy $24 dollars worth of the items I chose, But the seller thought a second and the said How about $30 For all of what He had. I said Deal! Items were priced a $3.00 each except for the Baghman flat car at $17.00

[Ace-Garageguy]

Went by the "train lady's" stall at the closest antique mall Thursday to see if she'd restocked since last time I cleaned her out of all the cool stuff, and yup, new additions.

20 unboxed, assembled HO scale boxcars from the period I'll be modeling from makers like Athearn, Roundhouse, Walthers and others, excellent condition, most already converted to Kadee couplers and riding on high-end sprung trucks with metal wheels: $3 each.

All of 'em in era-appropriate fallen-flag liveries that will really add interest to a freight yard full of mineral-brown or red-oxide or black rolling stock. Unfortunately, the sticky price tags were applied over many of the car markings, and getting them off with minimal damage took some doing, but as they'll get weathered anyway, no biggie.

Also snagged 4 boxed kits from Roundhouse, Branchline, and Athearn, including a rotary snowplow. $5 each.

EDIT: New versions of these boxcars and kits, if you can even find the classic liveries, sell for around $40 each in the hobby shop or online, so $3 a pop is quite a deal.

Finally, an early AHM powered GE "U-boat" locomotive and a nice boxed Athearn dummy Fairbanks Morse "Train Master" loco, $15 each.

The GE U25C sold for $16.95 new when it was introduced in 1965, and was up to about $40 by the late 1970s. Asking prices these days run around $40 online, including shipping. It still runs (both trucks powered) but needs the standard old locomotive servicing like cleaning and lubrication. Only downside to the old AHM locos is the one-piece stamped steel handrails that are a little toylike, but not hard to upgrade. The deep wheel flanges (limiting operation to code-100 rail or taller) common to European-built HO locos back then are also an issue, but my lathe will make quick work of that when she's torn down for servicing.

Asking prices for the Train Master dummy are in the $50 range on feePay, including shipping.

Not a bad haul, very cost-effective.  

                                        

Edited November 23, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy

[Ace-Garageguy]

Nice lot of vintage HO scale railroad kits and stuff. Some of the "stuff" I really didn't want, but dividing the total price by the number of items I did want, I ended up paying about $5.50 per. And I can use the rest of it somewhere, anyway.

For instance: that old brass sectional track isn't really what you want for consistent running, but it's OK for infrequently used sidings and display yards, and if you keep it clean and provide sufficient electrical feeders, it works just fine anyway. It was, after all, all we had until nickel-silver rail and flex-track hit the market.

And: I've taken in so many of those cheap Chinese non-running "2 Classic Streetcars" sets in other lots that I can justify an interesting small industry that specializes in rebuilding and restoring trolleys and cable cars. 

Edited December 6, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy

[Earl Marischal]

11 minutes ago, Ace-Garageguy said:

Nice lot of vintage HO scale railroad kits and stuff. Some of the "stuff" I really didn't want, but dividing the total price by the number of items I did want, I ended up paying about $5.50 per. And I can use the rest of it somewhere, anyway.

For instance: that old brass sectional track isn't really what you want for consistent running, but it's OK for infrequently used sidings and display yards, and if you keep it clean and provide sufficient electrical feeders, it works just fine anyway. It was, after all, all we had until nickel-silver rail ang flex-track hit the market.

And: I've taken in so many of those cheap Chinese non-running "2 Classic Streetcars" sets in other lots that I can justify an interesting small industry that specializes in rebuilding and restoring trolleys and cable cars. 

That’s a nice haul! Especially getting those Bowser kits for that price.

steve

[Ace-Garageguy]

5 HO scale ore cars nicely built up from Tichy kits, for less than $5 each including shipping. It was kindof a roll of the dice, but they turned out to look much better than the photo. One truck is loose, and there's a little damage to one truss rod post that has been glooed in a ham-handed "repair" attempt, but a little quick work will fix both of 'em nicely.

And a pretty decent deal on a vintage HO scale Campbell Norm's Landing pier "craftsman" kit, for about 1/2 the usual asking price.

 

[Ace-Garageguy]

Another smokin' hot deal...15 HO scale Proto 2000 freight car kits for less than $6 each. These normally go for between about $25, delivered, to over $50...each.

I needed several "drop end mill gondolas" for the steel mill, and the eight in this lot ought to do it. The covered hoppers are perfect for limestone delivery to the mill, and there's always a need for boxcars everywhere.

These kits are very very nice, definitely "foreground" material, and would be skill level 5 if they were car models because of the intricate detail and fragile parts.

Today's other score was a vintage NOS Walthers HO scale Santa Fe work train #2 multi-kit, sealed inside, consisting of 6 cars including a 25-ton crane. These go for about $100 to over $200 (delivered) if you can find one, though I paid a small fraction of that. I'd recently acquired a NOS silver SF MOW bunk car too, so I have a pretty complete work train to sit on a siding, along with a couple of snow plows, bigger cranes, and fire cars waiting for trouble.

Other items in the lot are a sadly incomplete AHM 1/38 model of the Trevithick 1804 steam loco, and a nice little NOS Berkshire Valley HO white metal track speeder/tool trailer kit, complete.

                            

 

Edited December 11, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy
CLARITY and ACCURACY

[LDO]

A “Luftwaffe ‘46” plane. Never left the drawing board. It would have had a BMW engine that was never completed. Looks like an enlarged FW-190 with gull wings, somewhat like the F4U Corsair. 1/48 3D printed kit. FDM print so I’ll be filling in lots of lines. 

Edited December 12, 2024 by LDO

[Ace-Garageguy]

3 hours ago, LDO said:

A “Luftwaffe ‘46” plane. Never left the drawing board. It would have had a BMW engine that was never completed...

Really cool. One I've never seen before, and one of the reasons I love modeling so much...there's so much to learn.   

[Ace-Garageguy]

More vintage out-of-production NOS HO scale "craftsman" kits.

This latest lot of 12 includes 2 Campbell wood kits, 3 Stewart cast metal kits, and 7 Suydam kits, all complete or very close to it.

Just the Campbell coaling station and water tower kits together usually sell for over twice what I paid for the whole lot, and build up beautifully (shown below together on the box art, though they're separate kits). IIRC, both kits are based on real structures in Chama, New Mexico on the Cumbres & Toltec Railroad.

The Stewart cast metal kits are the definition of basic, but I've already got plans to up-detail them into as nice as you can buy today.

The Suydam kits are interesting, as they're made with real corrugated steel siding that can be force-rusted to provide a strikingly realistic finish, though they lack detail. They were originally intended to be soldered together, but today's CA works just dandy, and aftermarket (or scratchbuilt) windows, doors, and other fine details bring them beautifully up to today's standards.

Here's an example of how good the ancient Suydam kits can look (not my model).

 

 

Edited December 13, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy

[Ace-Garageguy]

3 more built-up HO scale Varney (steel) ore cars.

Buying built RR models is always a roll of the dice, as the build quality isn't really apparent on web photos. Even when I snag this stuff locally at flea markets, I rarely do close examinations pre-purchase. If they look pretty decent, I buy 'em.

The last group of built-up Tichy (wood) ore cars I bought were done very well...except for one ham-handed glooey "repair" attempt done by somebody after the fact.

This group of vintage Varney cars is not so nice, with unfortunate misalignment of panels and mold seams and flash not addressed at all.

Still, they're well worth what I paid (about $6 each, when online asking averages around $15 plus shipping), and will be rebuilt to my standards.

Two of the cars, the ones with the early cast metal underframes, have the same car number, but that's not hard to correct.

All of these have very nice sprung metal trucks, actually worth more than the cars themselves.

The tooling of these models dates back to the 1950s, and is the basis of similar ore cars in production to this day. They're that good.

Edited December 14, 2024 by Ace-Garageguy
CLARITY and ACCURACY

[Earl Marischal]

Only the top one is mine. A friend and I shared the postage.

steve

 

[stavanzer]

Revell 1/72 F-15E kit  40% off at Hooby Looby.

 

[stavanzer]

On 12/12/2024 at 1:43 PM, LDO said:

A “Luftwaffe ‘46” plane. Never left the drawing board. It would have had a BMW engine that was never completed. Looks like an enlarged FW-190 with gull wings, somewhat like the F4U Corsair. 1/48 3D printed kit. FDM print so I’ll be filling in lots of lines. 

What Plane is that , Lee?

I'm very familiar with most Luft '46 stuff, and I've never seen that one.

Thanks, Alan

[LDO]

20 hours ago, stavanzer said:

What Plane is that , Lee?

I'm very familiar with most Luft '46 stuff, and I've never seen that one.

Thanks, Alan

I couldn’t remember, so I did a search. I only saw it called FW Fighter Project with BMW 8011 engine. I know it is in a magazine special issue Called Luftwaffe 1946 or something like that. I have it at home. I’ll check later tonight. Now I’m wondering if it was invented on the internet. 

[stavanzer]

On 12/31/2024 at 1:10 PM, LDO said:

I couldn’t remember, so I did a search. I only saw it called FW Fighter Project with BMW 8011 engine. I know it is in a magazine special issue Called Luftwaffe 1946 or something like that. I have it at home. I’ll check later tonight. Now I’m wondering if it was invented on the internet. 

Thanks, Lee. Some very recent Luft '46 videos, I've stumbled into on YouTube look to be Totally AI Generated and not very realistic.

[LDO]

2 hours ago, stavanzer said:

Thanks, Lee. Some very recent Luft '46 videos, I've stumbled into on YouTube look to be Totally AI Generated and not very realistic.

I looked in the book I got. There is a project called Entwurf mit BMW 802 and Einsitzer mit BMW 802. No mention of one with BMW P.8011, which would have been a BMW 802 with boost. So the proposed variant with 8011 and contra props may be an imaginary version of another plane that never left the drawing board. 

[stavanzer]

Thanks again, Lee. That looks like a great book.

Have you seen this Website?

http://www.luft46.com/

[Earl Marischal]

These today. They were ordered “off plan” so to speak, in February last year. These wagons represent one of the first British Railways in-house designs from 1950s.

steve

 

[LDO]

A couple more German WWII planes. Both made by Trimaster in the late ‘80s. A Ta-152H-1; a high altitude version of the V-12 engine FW-190D. It had a longer fuselage and longer wings, among other changes. Also an FW-190A with radial engine. The box art is really good, but the Wine Red nose is incorrect. It was a misinterpretation of a black & white photo, so interesting in that way, but also these kits were really detailed. Sort of ahead of their time. Photoetched parts were included. Some had cast metal parts like landing gear. The company went out of business and some kits were reissued by DML/Dragon. The Ta-152 was also reissued by Italeri. All reissues eliminated the metal parts. I have heard that the Revell TA-154 “Moskito” was from Trimaster molds. Not 100% sure on that. Internet photos. 

Edited January 6 by LDO

[89AKurt]

I should join a model rocket forum, because I'm possessed/obsessed about them now.  The only unbuilt kit I had, started on the fins then put away 45 years ago.  You would think I would rest on my laurels for finishing it, but no........  I'm getting kits I missed out on last century, the last one is the Mars Lander by Semroc not in the picture.  I did get a car model when I went to Phoenix to get motors.

Last one completed, intended for twilight launches.  Someone gave me a rocket of the Battlestar Galactia fighter built really bad and water damaged, but the nose cone was repurposed.   See any automotive influence?