Did you know?

I accidentally discovered that the floors on a number of Athearn boxcar kits can be installed upside-down. That puts the shiny metal weight inside and allows the wood-scribed side to face down. Of course you would have to glue the weight to the floor.
 
Err! - isn't that the way they're supposed to go? with the weight inside? I've never seen them assembled any other way!
Shortliner(Jack)away up here in the Highlands
 

shaygetz

Active Member
Ah, you've stumbled onto an oldtimer's secret:thumb: Most forego the novelty of opening doors in favor of a better looking under carriage. Many clubs actually require it.
 

webmaster

Member
shaygetz said:
Most forego the novelty of opening doors in favor of a better looking under carriage. Many clubs actually require it.

Why??

How many layouts have you seen lately with mirrored glass as a roadbed? :confused:
 

cidchase

Active Member
This is kinda funny, really, and just points out the many differing approaches to mrr'ing.
I can completely understand one's wanting to detail his underbody. I don't think I
understand the apparent elitism in requiring it on a club layout! Does that really happen?
Yeah, wemaster, mirror roadbed?:D :D :D To each his own!

There's an interesting letterin March RMC suggesting that more "well-rounded"
participation in the hobby is a real benefit to the modeler!:thumb:

Pesonally, I think "rivet counting" is no insult, just a euphemism for accurate modeling!
The real problem is counting someones "rivets" other than your own!!:rolleyes:
 

doctorwayne

Active Member
cidchase said:
Pesonally, I think "rivet counting" is no insult, just a euphemism for accurate modeling!
The real problem is counting someones "rivets" other than your own!!:rolleyes:

You hit the nail (or rivet) right on the head. If you count your own rivets, it'll make you a more accomplished modeller. If you count someone else's rivets, it just makes you a smaller person.

Wayne
 

shaygetz

Active Member
webmaster said:
Why??

How many layouts have you seen lately with mirrored glass as a roadbed? :confused:

Always wondered that myself...'till I did a complete brake setup on one of my cabeese.. Now most all my cabin cars get it:thumb: Don't do it to the other cars though, like you figured, who's lookin' under there anyway... But, hey, once I pick up one of my 'booses, they figger the whole lot's done that way:D

You got it, Doc...you're only a rivet counter if you pickin' on someone elses work:thumb:
 

eightyeightfan1

Now I'm AMP'd
Thats what I do...Paint the bottoms black.
Except the Traveling Gauge Car. I hadn't noticed it wasn't painted til I got I back.
Ooops.......
I think they did it that way to hold the weight. Don't forget. Super Glue wasn't discovered by model railroaders til a couple of years after it was invented.And these kit were being offered a couple of years before.
 

MilesWestern

Active Member
You hit the nail (or rivet) right on the head. If you count your own rivets, it'll make you a more accomplished modeller. If you count someone else's rivets, it just makes you a smaller person.


Truly words to live by! :thumb:

...but...what do you mean by "smaller person"? Physcially? :eek:


88fan...why don't we send the Gauge car around the world again! I'm up for both HO and N scale cars please! :)
 

zedob

Member
Who are the real rivet counters? Are they all really great modelers, or are most of them just accuracy nuts who just like to point out some minor discrepency that will never be seen or noticed except by the original model builder... and some dope with nothing else better to do? :rolleyes:

I appreciate accurate modeling and strive to improve my own, but I have draw the limits on almost all of my models and can't see wasting too much time in getting things absolutely perfect. I'd never get anything done on the rest of the layout.:)
 

MilesWestern

Active Member
That's completely true, evveryone has to draw the line somewhere, why I said that was that's what I'd call an "English Channel" phrase: Many people travel over the same body of water, but only a few dive in, and swim across.
(Like one would buy a the same model, and a select few would actually try to get the most from it )
 

Russ Bellinis

Active Member
webmaster said:
Why??

How many layouts have you seen lately with mirrored glass as a roadbed? :confused:

I haven't seen layouts with mirrored roadbed, but at the San Diego Model Railroad Museum, the San Diego Model Railroad Club's model of Carriso Gorge in ho has a number of wooden trestles that are over 8 feet above floor level and are viewed only from underneath. A train running over one of these trestles is viewed from underneath whether it is detailed underneath or not.
 

Tap

New Member
to add more detail you could also pass you x-acto knife on each board "separation" to make the planks stick out more. Then paint/weather or whatever. Ill get a pic soon...
 

doctorwayne

Active Member
Rather than spending time on the board detail, it would give you a bigger return in accuracy to correct the layout of the underbody brake components, which is a mirror image of what it should be. For casual layout viewing, the most easily seen details are the brake valve, cylinder, and air reservoir. Adding the rods which connect the various components will make the car appear even more detailed, although the slack adjuster can be a bit of a pain. As far as brake piping goes, add it if you wish, but on the layout it is almost unnoticeable. Anyone wishing to learn more about underbody detailing should check out Ted Culotta's articles in the August and September 2003 issues of Railroad Model Craftsman, where you'll find not only information on both AB and K brakes, but also some superb modelling.

Wayne
 
Top