Kentucky Northern Caboose

[EZnKY]

Here's a shot of the Ohio Falls journal covers.

[EZnKY]

Clicked too fast - sorry about that.

[EZnKY]

Trucks on cabeese built by the St. Charles Car Company in St. Louis, which shipped quite a bit of equipment to Kentucky, didn't have the side frame extensions supporting the brake beams like the Carter Brothers trucks.  That's the most obvious visual difference to me at least...

[EZnKY]

So back to the weathering.  I'm encouraged to hear an unpainted frame is not out of the question.  I've been thinking about the some wheel spray patterns at each truck.  Does this make any sense?  This would at least reduce the monochrome look that bothers me.

Here is a shot of the top side of the frame.  I've added a second layer of floor boards in the crew compartment, but left the first layer of decking exposed in the freight area.  (I don't know if this is accurate or not.)
I've also got a piece of sheet metal under the stove.

Weathering has been started with pigments and a dark brown acrylic wash.

And sorry about not mentioning the scale - it's 1:20.3.

[finescalerr]

Very effective coloring and texture. -- Russ

[Philip Smith]

Nice looking clean, crisp build Eric!  Is that railroad a topic in Ghost rails of KY?



Philip

[EZnKY]

Thanks Philip!
The Kentucky Northern does make a brief appearance in Sulzer's book.  I'm taking a little historical license with my modeling since the Kentucky Northern was originally built as standard gauge.  It applied for approval to switch to narrow gauge in 1909 or so.  I haven't been able to find any records of whether or not this occurred, but the logging railroads that fed timber to the line were all 36" gauge, so it's not a stretch.

Using a little historical license gives me a little more modeling freedom.

You can still see some of the railroad bed from the road between Irvine and Beattyville.  But only in the winter!

[EZnKY]

I hope everyone had a good Christmas!

I've had a little time to work on the interior pieces.  Everything is built from basswood, with a coat of reefer gray with just a bit of light green added.  (I don't like the really green color used for a lot of caboose interiors.)

I've been playing around with some pigments for wear and tear.  I've realized the painted finish was too glossy for the pigments to work effectively, so chuck that up to a lesson learned.

I really appreciate the kind comments from everyone, but I'll have to admit I'm a bit disappointed.  I was hoping for more critique...

[EZnKY]

I made the seats from black Fimo, with thread glued to the edges to simulate the piping.  I gave them a base coat of warm brown, and then sponge painted a thinned black over that, followed by some drybrushing.
I'm not entirely satisfied with them, but this was my first try at modeling leather.

[Chuck Doan]

Eric, thise seats look very good to me! I agree, the whole build is very nice.

[Ray Dunakin]

I really appreciate the kind comments from everyone, but I'll have to admit I'm a bit disappointed.  I was hoping for more critique...

I don't see anything that needs critiquing. This is a very nice build!

Your seat cushions turned out great, I like the idea of using thread to form the seams, they look very realistic.

[EZnKY]

Chuck and Ray- I admire both of your work a great deal, so thanks for the feedback. 

I've temporarily clamped a couple of the interior walls together while the furniture bits and pieces have been drying.   Things are starting to get cramped working on the interior since I've glued some subassemblies together already.  (Probably too soon.)

[finescalerr]

This model just keeps getting better. I see nothing to criticize. -- Russ

[artizen]

I have a small question rather than a criticism because I know nothing of this rolling stock. Is the pot belly stove really going to sit directly in front of a window? In the reference photo on page one it appears more logically in front of a blank wall with a steel heat plate attached to the wall.

Well, I do have a small criticism really - every time I think I can show something I am building, something this good comes along and I feel completely underwhelmed by my efforts so I keep them to myself!!!

[EZnKY]

Ian,
Yes the stove will sit in front of the window, and I wondered about the same thing when I started looking at different caboose designs.  I found quite a few cases where the stove was obviously in front of a window, and a few cases where the smoke jack suggested the stove was centered on a window.  I placed the stove in the center of the crew compartment, but kept the window layout symmetrical.  Whether or not that was smart I'll leave up to the experts.

I have felt the same way about sharing my projects for a long time, but I encourage you to just jump in there.  For me, sometimes my eye sees flaws others don't, and vice versa.  I expected to get pounced on for my nail heads made with a needle, but I guess everyone is taking it easy on me since I haven't posted much before.  I suspect you'd receive the same courtesy!  (As long as there aren't antlers on any of your models.)