I managed to put in another evening at the workbench and the Rock Island geep project is another step closer to being completed.
I weathered the shell and chassis, using drybrushing techniques to give it a suitably grungy style for that true Rock Island feel.
The effect turned out pretty well, although I probably went a bit heavier than I was intending to - although that is pretty much true to the protorype for a Rock unit!
Next step will be the final detailing, mu hoses etc, and then final assembly. Should be done this week.
The Rock Island geep project continued today as I finished applying the decals and tidied up a few loose ends on the main shell.
I always find the numberboards tricky to decal as each of them needs four individual numbers and the decals are so small it can be a real challenge to get them straight and even.
For this model I decided to try printing my own numberboard decals, I had already fitted a set of Microscale EMD blank decals so all I needed were the numbers.
I found a windows compatible truetype font on the B&O historical society website and downloaded & installed it. The numbers themselves were typeset in Photoshop and printed on laser printer compatible waterslide paper.
They went on really easily and were certiainly a breeze compared to lining up tiny individual numbers.
I'd forgotten the chassis and sideframes were in primer so I needed to break out the airbrush to shoot them with Revell 'Tar Black' as I don't have any grimy black in stock.
As I had the airbrush out, I gave the roof a quick blast of black to get the weathering started. I will do the rest of the weathering with a regular brush.
Next stage will be the detail weathering and reassembly of the model.
With only a couple of weeks before the NMRA convention in Derby I have finally got back to the workbench to continue work on the Rock Island GP project. This has been on the shelf for almost two years but I finally got around to digging out all the bits and bobs for it.
The shell was already airbrushed in Polly Scale Rock Island maroon and the next step was the yellow warning panel for each end. I opted to brush paint the ends rather than set up the airbrush for such a small job.
I masked off the ends with Tamiya masking tape and used light coats (almost drybrushing) to add several thin coats of custom mixed yellow to the model. I used Revell yellow with a few drops of red to create a suitably orange tint to the paint.
The Microscale decals went on fairly easily, the stripes are a bit of a job to straighten and I realised too late that the nose heralds needed to be cut to fit around the grab irons.
I also realised too late that the nose shouldn't have upper grab-irons on the right side. Not sure how I missed that one! I must have been having one of those days when I applied them.
Still plenty of work to do on the model, but I feel pretty confident about getting it done before the deadline. Next step will be the rest of the decals and then comes the weathering.
I picked up this neat little 1950's Ford F100 truck on ebay fairly cheap. Manufactured by Athearn, it comes factory decorated for Rock Island and fits in nicely on Godinez as part of the rural station detailing.
These vehicles are very nicely detailed and feature crisp panel lines and fine printing, the moulded plastic parts aren't as fine as the etched details on my Neo resin models but for the price you cant complain!
Here it is parked on the layout, a little on the fresh side for a Rock Island truck, I think I will need to give it a heavy weathering to make it more authentic.
