Actually, Peter, it looks pretty good. Two observations: first, those loops under the side sills are towing shackles, so cars already set out on a siding can be moved by a cable operated by a windlass or spool without the need for a locomotive; second, when using dry transfer, do you follow the instructions, where they say to set the lettering, once it is in place, by rubbing it smooth through one of the tissue paper overlays in the package? I've found it makes a considerable difference. Lastly, since you model PRR, do you own a copy of Teichmoeller's standard work on PRR hoppers? It is not expensive and well-worth having. If you know any O scalers in your area, check to see whether they have one (or more) of the joint project between Middle Division and Atlas for the H21's (they also developed X29's together). They are excellent and will give you a three-dimensional idea of what the finished product looks like. I'm sure Brady Maguire up in Dennison has plenty, as he models PRR, but that is quite a drive from Houston.
Jace Kahn General Manager Ceres & Canisteo RR Co./Champlain County Traction Co. > I am happy to report the completion of the construction of my very first > scratchbuilt freight car (regardless of scale). It is a PRR H21a Quad > Hopper. Some far more experienced modelers may laugh at my effort, but > we all have to start somewhere. I made lots of mistakes, but all-in-all, > the final item does somewhat resemble a PRR H21a... if you squint... > hard... :-) > > I took me three months of free modeling time to build this car. I had a > lot of fun. I was hoping I was going to enjoy the process, and I did. I > have ordered several engineering drawings from the Pennsylvania Railroad > Technical & Historical Society for this car. When they arrive, I plan to > build more of them, hopefully with more accuracy and with the experience > of building this first one under my belt. > > I still need to weather the car, and I also need to build a coal load > for it. > > The from-start-to-finish article starts on this page: > > http://pmrr.org/Equipment/H21a/Scratchbuild.htm > > If you just want to see the final car, see the last photo on this page: > > http://pmrr.org/Equipment/H21a/ScratchbuildFinalizing.htm > > My next major project is to scratchbuild an accurate copy of the > Canonsburg, Pennsylvania passenger station. Preliminary rough guesses > lead me to believe I can build the model full-width to scale. It is > going to be up against my backdrop, so it will only be a few inches deep. > > Enjoy, > - Peter. > > -- > Peter Vanvliet ([email protected], or [email protected]) > Houston, Texas > > "It is easy to give up; anyone can do that..." > > http://pmrr.org/ (my model railroad - RSS feed <http://pmrr.org/rss.xml>) > http://fourthray.com/ (my company) > http://houstonsgaugers.org/ (model railroad club) > -- > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > > ------------------------------------ > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
