If you couldn't make to this year's RPM in Chicagoland...

A- You missed a great RPM! Thanks to Mike and the gang for making it happen.

B- The new kits from Yarmouth Model Works are now on the website

http://www.yarmouthmodelworks.com/index.php/ResinModelKits/Index

A sure sign of progress

Trains that move!

After a little crawling under the layout routing wires ,etc, we have actual working trains, with no electrical gremlins!
Feeling rather pleased.

And one more

Just under the wire for next weekend

I'm pretty certain that this particular car has not been offered before, particularly with this level of detail.
CNR 10'6" IH AAR 40' boxcar, with NSC-3 ends and PS-1 roof.
The kit features all the things you've come to expect from Yarmouth Model Works. One piece resin cast body, custom etchings, Black Cat decals, our own etched Apex running board, etc.
And as a first, we're now including Smoky Mountain HO resin cast draft gear boxes.
The kit will be for sale, first at the Chicagoland RPM and then online. The kits will go online right after the RPM.
$60.00 USD plus shipping

Well that's 3

Pilot models ready for Chicagoland!
Still waiting on delivery of resin castings and other pesky details, but confidence is high.

I'd like to change my tune a little

For years now I've said that while some swear by acrylics, I swear at them.
I'd like to say now that in some circumstances that is no longer the case.
In the last year or so, I've come to use certain acrylic paints more and more, with more and more success.
Take this fence for example;

With a base coat of woodish tan, a white top coat and a black wash for weathering, this fencing would have taken days to be ready to install.
Instead I used Tamiya Wooden Deck Tan as a base, and Flat White over top.
The acrylics dry so quickly that I could paint all the fence panels with the base and then come back immediately and overspray with the white, mind you I have 16 actual feet of this fencing. It's the Central Valley wooden board fencing, btw.
A quick wash with india ink in alcohol and the fences are ready to install.
I'll be using more acrylics as work on the layout progresses, but I'm still not ready to use them on resin.

Well that's one done!

Pilot model for the 25th anniversary freight car kit is finally done!

10 of this design were built by AC&F to replace cars that were wrecked.
The kits will be for sale at the Chicagoland RPM next month.
We're still working on
AC&F built boxcar for C&EI
AC&F built boxcar for M-K-T
D&H Oneonta kit boxcars
NP modified side sill AAR boxcar
CNR 8' door with PS-1 roof and NSC-3 end
So many models, so little time.

Playing in the dirt

As I've mentioned in a previous post, http://elgincarshops.blogspot.com/2018/05/2nd-times-charm.html, the ground cover in the area I'm modeling takes a little effort to get looking right.
The dirt in the area has a decidedly grey colour.

Not something you see alot in the scenery supplies, so I've taken to painting the initial dirt cover to get things closer to the tones I'm seeing.

Freshly applied Scenic Express Fine dirt.

First pass with Tamiya XF-78 wooden deck tan

2nd pass with Tamiya XF-57 buff

3rd pass with Tamiya XF-55 deck tan
the final result is a ground cover that has hints of browns through a decidedly grey colour.
Now I can come back and add weeds, etc.
That'll be for another day