testing the 'look'

I've been trying to decide what to do with the various locos of my small fleet.. Originally my plan was to re-patch everything for the Yellow Pine, but the advent of the Midland Belt RR, and fear of cocking up, have delayed me.

So - I have decals for another Midland Belt loco and was trying to decide which one to pick for the new livery. (900 being almost ready).

My instinct was the recently purchased Bowser AS16 just wouldn't look right with the very modern style of the MBRR logo, and started to think about perhaps either applying something more vintage in style.. or stick to Yellow Pine.. but last night I thought it might be worth printing off some mocked up stripes to mimic the decals and see how they actually look.

The B&O AS-16 with mock up decal and stripes

As far as an exercise goes, it has been really useful.. I was surprised how actually the AS16 might look quite well.. it also confirmed for me that my little Baldwin switcher (which I love, especially with the Loksound noises) is probably not a contender..likewise the Bachmann S4. (Which does need a repaint  but I think will stay Yellow Pine)

Nope...

I am undecided about the SF C30-7. It would really need taking apart, stripping and repainting, and I'm not sure that I'm keen enough on the loco to do all that really.

New Premises for Wolowitz & Hofstadter

I quite enjoyed building and painting the brick building for 'Wolowitz & Hofstadter'.. the industry on my Freemo module 'Cooper'. However.. I've felt from the outset that it looks a little out of place. It's the kind of building I imagine to see in perhaps a more built-up area and the Freemo modules do have a rather more 'out of town' feel to them generally.

I decided to act on this nag and to modernise the premises for W&H.

The original building

New building starts to take shape

Despite initial worries about the ubiquitous Pikestuff kits all looking the same, Google Street view at least does seem to suggest that these buildings are indeed all over the place and quite often look exactly like the kits - colours and all!

I picked the 'Diamond Tool and Engineering' kit but knew that it would probably need some surgery in order to fit the space on the module.

In fact, I ended up halving the width of the building.. which lead to a slightly long and thin looking shed, but I think it looks plausible enough. I also cut a couple of extra doors, so that railside would have some loading facility.. I intend to relay the concrete/asphalt area around the industry so care will be needed to ensure the height is right.

Although it's unlikely to be seen, I've added a very basic interior to the building where the two story windows are to suggest an office above a reception area.

It would be quite nice to add a couple of security lights to the walls, I'll have to see if I can bodge something.

the front

Railside

Once the glue has dried thoroughly, I'll paint the concrete base and perhaps add some very light weathering before adding signage, then it's to the module to get it set in position.