Mad Gerald's Project Snippets

[mad gerald]

G'evening all,

I created a category "modellers blog" to report occasionally little progress on current projects, because it takes usually such a long time until a project is finished and the corresponding building report is written.

This is my second attempt to build a new "old shed", as my first attempt "chicken shack" did not meet my requirements already while building it.



Again I started with gray card board (2mm) as a base und glued the framework, consisting of pinewood strips (3x5mm), as well as the amounts of individual bricks onto the card board. The joints between the bricks are going to be filled with modelling plaster with low viscosity, mixed with a shot of mixing colour (anthracite) from the local DIY shop. I used my fingertips and a so called japanese spatula to nearly press the modelling plaster into the joints. When dry, I used a brass wire brush/a discharged toothbrush and a sponge to remove the surplus of plaster, followed by a treatment of highly watered down watercolour to give the bricks a realistic look. After that I cut matching wood strips out of basswodd/lime-wood (2mm), treated with to kinds of instant wood stain, followed by a coat of watered down white watercolour and, when dry, followed by a second coat of highly watered down water colour (gray,brown, green and black), using a wet-in-wet technique and then, when totally dry, glued on the skeletal pinewood framework.

The wooden top beam ("Raehm") and especially the lower wooden beam ("Schwelle") have to be overworked/recoloured as their colour does not look realistic enough yet. And I'm not satisfied with the colouring of the bricks, which has to be redone partially too.

[mad gerald]

G'evening all,

as this is not finescale modelling yet, the icons of finescale modelling may eventually look away ...  

... but this is another project keeping me busy for a long time: The construction of an IR-controlled scale 1/22,5 Diesel critter. The motor, gearbox, circuit board(s) and all electronic equipment origins from a scale 1/32 SIKU® Lanz Bulldog. One feature of that Lanz Bulldog tractor is, that is has a sound module onboard (not shown on picture) with load-dependent sound of a working hot bulb semi-diesel. The ends of the axle are cut off to make the motor (with gearbox) fit into the frame. I'm not quite sure yet, if it will be better mounted with the axle in cross direction (as shown) or in longitudinal direction. I recently managed to solder the frame and drill some holes for the axle boxes. I intend to use this manufactured brass axles as well as this brass Feldbahn wheels and some gear wheels for transmission. What kind of loco it will going to be (freelance or prototype) is still up in the air - and depends a little on the possible coachwork, when all electronical equipment is fixed ...

[Gordon Ferguson]

Gerald,

I would think like a number of other people we will be watching your progress on this very closely.

Could give us an idea of the width of the unit i.e. from the end of the electric motor to the end of the gearbox/transmission - thanks

Visions of rusty overgrown twisted uneven industrial track and no power pick up problems mmmmmmmmmmmmm!!   

[marc_reusser]

Yes do tell.

[mad gerald]

Could give us an idea of the width of the unit i.e. from the end of the electric motor to the end of the gearbox/transmission - thanks

Yes do tell.

... awright, awright ...  

The approx. dimensions of that unit are (axle excluded) width 30mm x height 12mm x length 30 mm (gearbox side) ...

BTW: In case of a successful conversion I've got another SIKU® tractor with remote control (2,4 Ghz radio control) in my cupboard, waiting to be bashed ...  

[Design-HSB]

Hi Gerald,

Fine Scale models feature I find very interesting.
Finally, I strive to yes even with my models, good looks at prototypical function.

[Ray Dunakin]

Interesting product, too bad they aren't sold in the USA.

[mad gerald]

G'evening all,

after starting to build a new chicken shack or shed respectively, because the intermediary result did not meet my requirements, I thought it could be a good idea to build a new door too. The old door I treated only with wood instant stain and water colour from a children's box of watercolours. Now I was ready to accept a dare to give techniques used i. e. by Marc or Marcel Ackle a try ...

Again I used strips of limewood (1 mm) and treated them as follows:

- softly treated with a wire brush
- coloured with instant stain (first darkgray, then "my special blend": 2 parts "oak dark", 1 part "dark gray" and 3 parts water
- coated with highly watered down water colour (mainly white, with a little black/gray), followed (wet in wet) by another coat of green and/or brown watercolour, dabbing the woodstrip gently with a tissue in case of using too much water
- coated with white spirit (Terpentinersatz), left nearly half a day in the sun for drying
- coloured with acrylic paint (wet in wet): Lukas acrylics darkgreen, brightened up with a little white
- using masking tape to remove little areas of the acrylic paint again
- finishing with some coat of highly watered down water colour again (shades of gray, white, brown and green)

To place the "nails" I first drilled tiny holes (0,5mm) in the wood strips, cut 8 mm long parts of styrene (rod, .020" diameter), squeezed them a few millimeters into the hole, gave the front ends some rusty look (Humbrol), squeezed them in completely when dry and cut the remaining part (backside) of. A technique I adopted from Marc as seen in one of his building reports.

Now I'm wondering, if I have eventually overdone the weathering on the door ...   ... feedback/suggestions are welcome ...

[artizen]

Door looks good. Angled wall brace needs work!!!! 

[mad gerald]

G'evening all,

even I did not want to build any Gn15 stuff anymore, I could not resist the temptation after having build these little "modern Feldbahnwagen" *klick* and *klick*, because it was really fun ...  

Putting these modern Feldbahnwagen on HO tracks (16,5 mm) - from the scrapbox too - the tracks seemed to be to tiny. Having matching rails in stock regarding gauge IIf (26,7 mm representing 600 mm tracks in 1/22,5 scale) I wanted some track setting jigs. First thought was: online ordering. second thought was: making some.

Therefore I used U-shaped brass (6 x 3 mm), which I use building the frames of my gauge IIf track flatcars. Making track setting jigs was something completely new to me. So I tried every step first on identical wood strips, adjusting the parallel arrestor of my Boehler circular saw when necessary. For making the notches I almost turned down the saw blade completely (only approx 1,5 mm left) and moved the track setting jigs over it. Fortunately the  saw blade has the same width as the head of the rails (1,6 mm): *click*.

Making track setting jigs on one's own this way is for sure neither new nor my invention, and mine are not so beautiful and professional as the one made by Helmut (HSB-Design) on the right and borrowed from Frithjof (fspg2), but it was a little challenge for me ... and fun and successful at last ...  
So now I'm enabled to lay straight tracks (or curves) by hand. May be, I'll be successful too building a switch next, which I did not manage to build in gauge IIf yet ...

[finescalerr]

They look pretty beautiful to me. Nice work. -- Russ

[mad gerald]

G'evening all,

due to the fact, that some solvent/component of the liquid styrene glue is to blame for the deformation in the lower areas of my Struppe Akkulok, I was thinking about possibilities to rescue it ... or at least parts of it.

As the Struppe Akkuloks at the Geriatriezentrum in Lainz/Vienna were built in the ninteeneighties as kinda "modernized copies" of the Akkuloks built by AEG in 1925 both types are - more or less - identical in dimensions and construction, apart from the cab, the storage battery case and "the intestines". This can be well spotted on one AEG Akkulok, which got modernized:


kind contribution/by permission of Mr. Kurt Stanek

So it suggested itself to have a closer look, if not the bodyshell work of my Struppe Akkulok could be transferred into this modernized AEG Akkulok. At first I cut off a few millimeters to match the dimensions (height) of the storage battery case, followed by a "chop off" of the damaged lower part of the bodyshell work with a circular saw. The frame made of brass channels is not true to original, just a part of the fast mockup. I'm still undecided wether to build the frame with styrene or brass ... and still in doubt wether it should run on 26,7mm gauge (IIf) or 16,5mm gauge (Gn15) ...



Cheers

[Malachi Constant]

Little bit of everything in this thread!  Fun stuff ... especially like the looks of that little critter ... great prototype!  -- Dallas

[marc_reusser]

Lovely prototype. Look forward to your build of this.

Marc

[mad gerald]

G'evening all,

made a piece of test drive track in IIf gauge (26,7 mm) to figure out, if my rolling stock would be able to solve a tighter radius, as I will not have the required space for my layout due to family issues. At the same time I tried to improve creating my sleepers to come closer or even match the appearance of this prototype (second pic) at the Feldbahn TUEV Norderstedt, blackened the rails, which worked quite well but still is improvable and finally tried to applicate some colour at one side of one rail to imitate rust ...    





Cheers