Side Shot Saturday - starting 10 February

harborbelt70 , I've got nothing as cool as those to share, although I'm glad to see your examples of 3-D prints for O-gauge equipment. I have acquired many prints for an unrelated hobby obsession, and I find the quality varies widely. Striation can be a problem when the printer used is at the low-end and/or the print settings are chosen poorly, often resulting in a print that looks like wicker (here's an extreme example):



Generally, you get what you pay for. The other point worth mentioning, which you did, is printed details can be extremely fragile in this medium (resin). If you plan on handling your stuff a lot, it might be worth eschewing things like handrails, grabs, etc., and adding them afterwards using wire, staples, or other medium. Your prints look nice and sharp!

As far as side-shots go, here's a Lionel 804 that I reworked into a fantasy postwar scheme quite a few years ago. If your a purist, look away, lol:



The 804 was found at the local antique mall in horrendous condition, missing many of its detail parts and having had its handrails soldered to the sides of the tank. I've gotten pretty good at taking these things apart, repairing them, then reassembling. The worst part was removing the globular solder job, accomplished after a couple hours with a warm solder iron, an old screwdriver for a scraper, and a few mini-files. 

I bought replacement detail bits in brass from George Tebolt, then put it all back together. The stanchions/handrails are the fiddliest bit, but not too bad. You just need to be careful not to scratch the paint. I don't think Lionel ever made an 804 with all brass trim, but I could be wrong (af3020 might know for sure). I used Plasti-Kote spray paint for the tank (153S Hunter Green), a bit of Rustoleum satin black for the frame, and a set of postwar "Cities Service" self-stick decals also from George. Using self-adhesive decals was a mistake as they didn't adhere well where there were underlying rivet details...if I ever get around to it, I might try to remove these and replace them with water-slide versions. The couplers, axles, and wheels are the originals.

Anyway, we like to run a unit-train of four-wheel tank cars, and this made a good addition:



Hope everyone has a great weekend.

My printed tenders look much smoother-surfaced in the photos than they do with the naked eye. These were done about 9 years ago and the maker used the best plastic material ("FUD") that was then available - these are not made with resin. The result is that despite his cleaning and sanding prep and painting, the layers, although very small, are clearly visible. It makes no difference if not looked at up close. Once I discovered resin-printed parts I was amazed how realistic they can look. 

Here is a side shot of my MTH OCS F7's.  These are deadrail engines, so I made a fueling facility that is functional as my battery charging facility.  The charge ports are hidden in plain site as fuel receptacles.  The poles tell me RED charging and GREEN is fully charged.

Great photos, scenery, vehicles and railroad cars.

A couple repainted boxcars I finished today…






MTH and Weaver cars…

Tom