Hulett Unloader Part - 9

I was able to get the rest of the hulett painted in basic Floquil "Grimmy Black". As with the lower portion of the hulett I used the 50/50 mixture of Floquil Rail-brown and Oxide-red to start the first application of weathering. If you notice in the pictures that at this point both half's of the hulett look pretty much the same over-all.

I will begin detail painting the top portion tonight to get the model to the same point as the bottom section. This will include painting the wheel treads silver to match the top of the rails. Also will need to apply my oily wash to match the bottom. My buddy Mark Gugliotta showed me the Polly S "Oily Black" that he commented on when we were at one of our favorite hobby shops last week. He swears it looks just like oil stains once it dries. He's got a good eye for that sorter thing, will see.

Just a quick note; when I completed building the model (not painted) the pieces went together a little tight. Obviously it got even tighter once it was painted (the parts don't slide very well once painted). I ended up popping one of my glue joints apart at the end of the lower housing at the very rear cross section. This was to allow the model to flex in order to line up the trolley, guide and upper crane. Just I thought I should mention the issue.

With a little luck I will hope to post again tomorrow with a new update.

Hulett unloader - Part 8

Well, I finely had some time to get to the next step. The detail painting that I did was primarely to the wheels and rails on the lower portion of the unloader. I painted the insides of the wheels Floquil "Old Silver", this is to simulate that the machine has been staying busy moving back and forth on the rails at the dock. The next thing a painted were the rails located on the top deck of the unloaders bottom section. These are the rails the unloading crane rides back and forth on during ship unloading. These too were painted with Floquil "Old silver".
I almost forgot, I also painted on each side of the drive shaft supports Testors "Gloss Black" to simulate grease coming out of the bearings.

Next, I used my "black wash" on the deck between the rails and on each side of the rails to blend the rails and the deck together to simulate grease and oil droppings from the unloading crane. First, I gave the area a complete wash, after this application had dryed, I used a smaller brush and dabbed in random areas with the same black wash to simulate puddles. I also brushed the "wash" around the drive shaft supports to blend the "Gloss black" grease paint. I think it looks pretty good.

Next, I added a few decals to just the one side of the hulette, this will be the side of the first unit in-line on the dock. (Your probably wondering why I started with number #2, well #1 was involved in an accident several years ago and was dismantled. That's my story and I'm sticking with.)

The remaining weathering will not be completed until I get the top portion to this point. It is important to apply the final weathering as a completed model. I have seen where some folks have whethered models in different phases of construction, and when placed together they did not look appropriate. As of this writing, the top portion had it's first application of Floquils "Grimmy Black" applied.

Hulett unloader - Part 7

Well the wash process that I was going to start with did not work out so well, I had to repaint the lower half again. A wash as you know takes time to dry and is hard to control the flow when applying it to a plastic surface. Never the less my results were horrible. This time I started with a 50/50 mix of both "Floquil" Rail Brown and Oxide Red. I sprayed large portions of the model with this color. Then I went back over the whole model lightly overspraying it with the same color to help blend it in. I have attached three (3) photos at this stage. Next, I plan on adding some decals and begin detail painting certain parts of the model. Then I will give it the next round of weathering.

Hulett Unloader - Part 6

Today I began painting one of my two hullett's. I painted the lower portion with Floquil "Weathered Black". I know the pictures that I posted are not that impressive to this point, but I wanted everyone to know that I really started. Tomorrow I plan beginning the second step of the process which will begin the weathering process. This will be a rust colored wash to start, this process takes time becuse I have to let the model dry while a rotate it around. After that point I will began with the airbrushing technique that I tried and liked on the tiple project I did a year ago. Then I will come back to do some detail painting on areas of the model such as the lights and safety colors on the railings.

P&LE U28B Project - 3

Well the locomotive has been completed. I spray painted the whole locomotive with "Testers" dulcote. Next I spray painted areas that would be most prevalent for paint to become faded using "Floquil" Weathered Black, and in other areas I painted small locations to simulate aged rusting using "Floquil" Roof Brown. The spring's in the trucks I detail painted using "Floquil" Red Oxide, this was to simulate fresh rust from the loco setting for a long period of time in the elements. I finished the model by dry brushing using "Floquil" Foundation. On the roof I used black chalk to simulate fresh soot. Over-all I would say the model turned out pretty well. I captured the look of a well used locomotive close to its retirement.

P&LE U28B Project - 2

Well the loco has been painted and decaled. So far so good.

Step(1): I painted the whole locomotive using "Testors" gloss black thinned down to be sprayed in an airbrush (right out of the bottle is too thick), a gloss surface is the best for applying decals.

Step(2): Was to hand paint the window frames, many of the P&LE units had aluminum sashes around the windows this unit was no exception. First using a bambu skewer with the point sharpened I painted the outside of each window frame with "Testors" silver paint. I know, how do you paint with a stick? Well you really don't, what your doing is dipping the end of the skewer in the paint and drawing it on. (Just think of a true fountain pin.), next I used a fine paint brush to paint the insides of each window casing. Once the paint has dried, I then placed the windows in.

Step(3): Keep in mind that the cab is not connected to the locomotive yet. Next I began placing the decals on he cab, I used the following decal sheets for this project; Accu-cal multipak 5813H and Microscale P&LE Hood diesels #87-1227. The Accu-cal decals were used for the numbers on the cab and number boards. The Microscale decals were used for the yellow doors, the P&LE on the nose and the rest of the detail decals on the rest of the unit. The yellow door decals are the challenge, when you put them on the model only worry about lining up the hinge side of the door. Also the decal is a little longer than needed don't worry about it. (When you look at the decal at this point it doesn't look right, don't worry.) Once the decals have dried for approx. 24 hrs I used "Walthers" Solvaset - Decal setting solution. This takes out the silvering behind the decals and allows the decals to wrap around details on the surface of the model (i.e. rivets, door knobs, seams, etc.). When you put this on the door decal it will shrink enough to fit into the door molding (or at least in most cases). You will have to come back and touch up a little around the top of the door, the decal has squared ends where as the door is rounded.

Step (4): Once the decaling was completed, I spray painted "Testors" gloss coat over the whole mold to insure the decals were protected. Once the model was dry I began putting it together. The only painting that was left was the top rail on the rails, which I hand painted using "Floquil" CSX yellow. It's a pretty close match to the door decals. Once everything has set for approx. 24 hours I will begin applying the weathering.

P&LE U28B Project - 1

Well, ...I have no excuse other than I'm a dead beat. I realize it's been a while since I made any new postings, well it's been a busy year and half with little to no time for modeling. However it looks like things are beginning to slow down for me.

No, I still haven't painted the huletts yet. That will be coming in the next few weeks or so hopefully. I liked the effect that I used in my last posting with the airbrushing, what you didn't see was that I used a "red oxide wash" after air brushing that really pulled the detail out. I regret that I don't have the pictures to show you. That was a friend of mines model that has since been returned.

I recently purchased a Stewart U25B w/Kato drive in the P&LE colors (2808). However I am going to repaint it for P&LE #2819. This was a unique unit because of the various oddities in it paint scheme. It appears to be the only U25b that had P&LE lettered on the nose, and the lettering on the cab is of "New Yor Central" font flavoring. Not to mention but this unit was still around in the time period I am modeling in (1987ish).

One of the first things i did was to remove the large steps on the pilots, in the pictures that I'm using there was none.



Next, I began adding the detailing to both ends, coupler lift bars and MU hoses. Then I began adding the grab irons around the nose of the unit and on top by the sand filler. Next was came adding the "A-line" sun shades, yes this unit did have sun shades.






At this point the loco is ready for paint, I will paint it with light grey for a primer, then repaint it black.