Category: rolling stock

A Coffin Car | Gruesome Gulch | GGRR 24

 

Another project for the On30 Gruesome Gulch Railroad! Last week's creepy combine is now joined by a downright ghastly coffin car. Once again starting with an old HO kit, I build this "Cadaver Relocation Dept." gondola using wood, styrene, and photo-real printed paper textures. Then the real fun begins, adding coffins, skeletons, and other spooky details.

Thanks for watching, amigos!
Dave

A Creepy Combine! | Gruesome Gulch | GGRR 23

Time to get in the mood for Spooky Season with a new project for the On30 Gruesome Gulch Railroad! This time out I'm building a creepy combine (combination baggage and passenger car) - starting from an MDC Roundhouse HO scale Overton Coach kit. I used a couple of these same kits last year as a basis for my GGRR excursion cars and was very pleased with the results, so it's back to the workbench once to see how they might work for an On30 combine!

Thanks for watching, amigos!
Dave

Workbench Wednesday | The Art of Dry Brushing

 

Welcome to Workbench Wednesday at Thunder Mesa Studio! This week, it’s a model making tip on the subtle but indispensable art of dry brushing. I show you my preferred brushes, paints and techniques, then demonstrate them by dry brushing a weathered finish on a stock Bachmann On30 ore car.

Thanks for watching!
Dave

On18 Boxcar | Bandit Canyon Railway

 

BCRy Part VIII. Let's build an On18 boxcar! One of the fun things about On18 is the ability to use N scale parts, mechanisms and frames as a starting point for these fun O scale narrow gauge models. This time, I use a 50' N scale car as a starting point for a freelanced 12' On18 boxcar with loads of character. This a start-to-finish build with all steps of construction detailed. The finished car measures about 3" long x 1 1/8" wide x 2" high.

Thanks for watching, amigos!
Dave

Workbench Wednesday | Combine 101

 

Welcome to Workbench Wednesday at Thunder Mesa Studio - our new weekly show and tell with what's new, what's interesting, what's cool, and what's happening on the workbench and here at the studio. This week, it's a show and tell with Thunder Mesa's venerable Combine 101 - an On30 combination passenger and baggage car that was inspired by Walt Disney's favorite car on the Disneyland Railroad.

Thanks for watching!
Dave

Calico Mountain Ore Cars | Calico Mt Pt 13

 

It’s back to Calico Mountain this week to build a string of rustic On18 ore cars inspired by the Knott’s Berry Farm original! These cars take advantage of some commercially available 3-D printed HOn30 frames, and some laser cut parts of my own design, to model credible recreations of the classic Calico Mine Ride “ore cars.”

Thanks for watching, amigos!
Dave

3-D Printed Car Frames: https://www.shapeways.com/product/JQQCTK6Z2/hon30-mann-s-creek-frames-4?optionId=61798964&li=shops

Grandt Line Hardware: https://www.grandtline.com/products/miscellaneous-hardware/

Micro-Trains Wheels and Couplers: https://www.micro-trains.com/index.php?route=product/category&path=63

Customize a Bachmann Rail Truck with TWO Different Car Bodies

 

Here’s a build video that gives you two for the price of one! Follow along as I customize an On30 Bachmann RGS Rail Truck with not one, but two freight car bodies – One for use on the Thunder Mesa Layout, and the other for my spooky themed Gruesome Gulch project. I use two totally different techniques to create these two very different car bodies. Both are scratchbuilt, but one uses printed CG textures for high quality graphics, while the other relies on laser-cut precision to replicate Victorian era details. The Galumphing Goat lives!

Thanks for watching, amigos!
Dave

On30 Excursion Cars for Gruesome Gulch – GGRR Part 3

 

My Gruesome Gulch mini-layout will need a train of excursion cars for victims - er - guests to ride those haunted rails. In this episode, I build the first car for my ghost train: a 19' excursion coach that utilizes laser cut parts and bits and pieces from a classic HO Roundhouse kit. More to come!

Thanks for watching, amigos! Dave