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Everyone,
Several people have inquired about the stickers used on some the cars that I
posted pictures of last week. Here are four more cars plus the original pics
with updated descriptions...
"http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/BC_500924.JPG"
An old-time Austrian beer car lettered for the Stiegl brewery in
Salzburg. The artwork includes silver and black inks. The model
bears the royal crest in the lower left for the Royal Williamsburg
State Railway Co.. The acronym in German for the railroad can be seen
just below the crest as "K.W.St.E.". The car number is just below this.
Each car on my model railroad is individually numbered (I just couldn't
away from set numbers on the old 12v trains). The grey lines on the
wheels are stickers to simulate older spoked wheels. These add a lot
movement to the models when they are moving slowly, especially a long
string of cars.
http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/BC_557966.JPG
An old-time German reefer lettered for the Kaiser Freidrich-Quelle company.
This car was popular in the Maerklin line a few years ago and a Lego
version seemed a natural. Note the white underprinting neccessary to make
the blue and red visible against the yellow car. The small cabin on the
left, if you haven't seen this before, is a brakeman's cab.
http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/FC_500902.JPG
An old-time German stake car loaded with a truck. Most of my two axel
cars are limited to four studs maximun between wheelsets to minimize
friction on curves. This model, however, needed 5 studs to achieve
good proportions.
http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/Tank_Mobile.JPG
A short American tank car lettered for the Mobilegas company. These
stickers are commonly available through hobby shops for lettering
R/C cars.
"http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/Lok_Kathryn.JPG"
Kathryn represents an 1975 German class BII locomotive that pulls the
Royal Train on my fictitous provincial (German) railway. The decoration
on this engine was done before I purchased an Alps printer so all the green
panels were hand cut as well as the gold piping. The tender is full height
as it carries peat for fuel.
"http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/Lok_772.jpg"
This is the class 22 electric switcher also lettered for the fictitious
K.W.St.E - Acronym in German for the Royal Williamsburg State Railway
(no relation to Wurtemburg). The pantograph is a functioning Maerklin
HO scale pantograph mounted on the roof. A wire runs-down to the motor
and a switch was installed to select from track or overhead power.
"http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/Quartet.JPG"
Here is a quartet entertaining passengers at the Winterthur station.
Only a fanciful model railroad could include such a typically American
element in a European setting. Custom figures and signage (note the
second class coach in the background) really add to the layout's
ambiance.
"http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/William_Crooks.JPG"
For the American enthusist, here is a Lego version of the William
Crooks and two coaches of the St. Paul and Pacific Railway. This was
the first locomotive in Minnesota. The train premiered last summer
at the GMLTC display at the National Model Train Show in St. Paul.
The American flag on the pilot has the correct number of stars for the
year that Minnesota joined the union. The other flag is the Minnesota
state flag.
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In lugnet.trains, Brian Williams writes:
> Everyone,
>
> Several people have inquired about the stickers used on some the cars that I
> posted pictures of last week. Here are four more cars plus the original pics
> with updated descriptions...>
>
> "http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/Lok_Kathryn.JPG"
> Kathryn represents an 1975 German class BII locomotive that pulls the
> Royal Train on my fictitous provincial (German) railway. The decoration
> on this engine was done before I purchased an Alps printer so all the green
> panels were hand cut as well as the gold piping. The tender is full height
> as it carries peat for fuel.
Thats A wonderfull model for lego Brian .. wow im in love!
Im trying to model a 2 - 3 - 3 - 0 steamer in cad with the 12 v engine parts...
now I got some Ideas LOL
(locomotive museum anyone?)
-T Burger
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In lugnet.trains, Brian Williams writes:
> Everyone,
>
> Several people have inquired about the stickers used on some the cars that I
> posted pictures of last week. Here are four more cars plus the original pics
> with updated descriptions...
I bet some of us are also wondering how you got the pictures looking that
good! Digital or 35mm? What type of lighting? What film speed? The
pictures look incredible! I love Kathryn and the Mobile tank car.
-Doug G
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Douglas M Glasnapp http://students.db.erau.edu/~glasnapd/
ICQ: 5143696 Lego: http://students.db.erau.edu/~glasnapd/lego/
AOL IMer: lens314
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
Lego Code: MOC++ TR++ CA+ SP+ #+++++ S+ LS+ Hal M+ A+ LM VLrd
YB78m .
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Doug,
All the photographs were shot using an Olympus D300-L (one of the first
megapixel cameras) and a three point lighting set-up. This camera tends to
give pictures a bluish cast so much digital color-correction was neccesary.
Today most premium digicams let you lock the exposure and color temperature.
Not so on the early cameras. I could give you lots of advice for coping with
the auto-exposure algorithms (great for your son's birthday party but bad for
studio work) but the biggest part of the solution is spending time in
Photoshop.
A couple bits of advice specific to photographing Lego. First, get good
lights and don't use the flash (the birthday thing again). Second, remember
that what you are effectively trying to photograph is a set of tiny mirrors.
Most bricks have a glossy finish with a high-degree of reflection so consider
this as you light a model. Use bounce cards off-camera to pick-up the
reflective highlights on windows and such. Also, shoot models from angles so
that you don't catch glare off a brick head-on.
-BMW
> I bet some of us are also wondering how you got the pictures looking that
> good! Digital or 35mm? What type of lighting? What film speed? The
> pictures look incredible! I love Kathryn and the Mobile tank car.
>
> -Doug G
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You mentioned an Alps printer. Does it print in white (white ink)? We had an
earlier thread about custom logo printing and it seems to be a drag if you
have white in your logo, your kind of stuck.
BTW As I said in my direct mail. Your models are just great. Please disregard
any future purest babble about stickers... This work is clearly the new bench
mark in LEGO model railroading!
SteveB
PNLTC
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Steve,
Thanks for your comments. Lego is such a creative medium for making toy
trains. There are only so many elements and I am continually amazed how
people find new ways to combine them and capture the essence of real-life
prototypes (great articulation on the MAX train). Custom stickers can really
extend the creative possibilities of the bricks.
The Alps printers ("http://www.alpsusa.com/new/") are dye sublimation printers
that print CMYK along with opaque white and metallic inks. The inks can be
layered so that portions of the artwork (a logo for instance) can be
underprinted with white (see
"http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/BC_557966.JPG"). Also, colors
can be enhanced with metalic silver and gold (see the gold signage on the
coaches in
"http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/William_Crooks.JPG"). The
opaque inks are unique to Alps for low-cost printers and the company has found
a real niche with model makers.
-BMW
In lugnet.trains, Steven Barile writes:
> You mentioned an Alps printer. Does it print in white (white ink)? We had an
> earlier thread about custom logo printing and it seems to be a drag if you
> have white in your logo, your kind of stuck.
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Hi Steve,
The model railroader magazine had an article on making your own stickers
in the (I believe) June 1999 issue. The author used the Alp printer because it
could print in white as well as brass and silver! If you want more details let
me know privately, and I can dig out the article.
Michel
> You mentioned an Alps printer. Does it print in white (white ink)? We had an
> earlier thread about custom logo printing and it seems to be a drag if you
> have white in your logo, your kind of stuck.
>
> BTW As I said in my direct mail. Your models are just great. Please disregard
> any future purest babble about stickers... This work is clearly the new bench
> mark in LEGO model railroading!
>
> SteveB
> PNLTC
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In lugnet.trains, Michel Magnan writes:
> Hi Steve,
> The model railroader magazine had an article on making your own stickers
> in the (I believe) June 1999 issue.
Ah, they are behind the times, I believe the issue came up at least before may
in MRJ (thats Model Railway Journal, by Wild Swan)
The comment that was in the MRJ was that only _some_ of the ALPS printers can
print white, and it does not print well onto decal film...and that it is a
series of dots (probably not important in Lego Scale), rather than lines.
James P
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oops, it was the April 1999 issue, pages 82-83, he uses the ALPS MD-1300.
You may want to refer to www.alpsusa.com for more details
Michel
> Hi Steve,
> The model railroader magazine had an article on making your own stickers
> in the (I believe) June 1999 issue. The author used the Alp printer because • it
> could print in white as well as brass and silver! If you want more details • let
> me know privately, and I can dig out the article.
> Michel
>
> > You mentioned an Alps printer. Does it print in white (white ink)? We had an
> > earlier thread about custom logo printing and it seems to be a drag if you
> > have white in your logo, your kind of stuck.
> >
> > BTW As I said in my direct mail. Your models are just great. Please disregard
> > any future purest babble about stickers... This work is clearly the new bench
> > mark in LEGO model railroading!
> >
> > SteveB
> > PNLTC
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Simply spectacular modeling. My hat is off to you. Your models have clean
lines, elegant in proportion and pleasing to the eye.
Thanks for sharing.
Ben Fleskes
PNLTC
In lugnet.trains, Brian Williams writes:
> Everyone,
>
> Several people have inquired about the stickers used on some the cars that I
> posted pictures of last week. Here are four more cars plus the original pics
> with updated descriptions...
>
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|
Fantastic work.
Great attention to detail.
It is amazing how a little strip of silver really highlights certain parts of
the trains. The white "spokes" for the small wheels was a stroke of genius!
With respect to the large red spoked wheels on the last locomotive, what is
the white/light grey colored material on the rims?
Thanks for sharing your great ideas.
Michel Magnan
> Several people have inquired about the stickers used on some the cars that I
> posted pictures of last week. Here are four more cars plus the original pics
> with updated descriptions...
>
> "http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/BC_500924.JPG"
> An old-time Austrian beer car lettered for the Stiegl brewery in
> Salzburg. The artwork includes silver and black inks. The model
> bears the royal crest in the lower left for the Royal Williamsburg
> State Railway Co.. The acronym in German for the railroad can be seen
> just below the crest as "K.W.St.E.". The car number is just below this.
> Each car on my model railroad is individually numbered (I just couldn't
> away from set numbers on the old 12v trains). The grey lines on the
> wheels are stickers to simulate older spoked wheels. These add a lot
> movement to the models when they are moving slowly, especially a long
> string of cars.
>
> http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/BC_557966.JPG
> An old-time German reefer lettered for the Kaiser Freidrich-Quelle company.
> This car was popular in the Maerklin line a few years ago and a Lego
> version seemed a natural. Note the white underprinting neccessary to make
> the blue and red visible against the yellow car. The small cabin on the
> left, if you haven't seen this before, is a brakeman's cab.
>
> http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/FC_500902.JPG
> An old-time German stake car loaded with a truck. Most of my two axel
> cars are limited to four studs maximun between wheelsets to minimize
> friction on curves. This model, however, needed 5 studs to achieve
> good proportions.
>
> http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/Tank_Mobile.JPG
> A short American tank car lettered for the Mobilegas company. These
> stickers are commonly available through hobby shops for lettering
> R/C cars.
>
> "http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/Lok_Kathryn.JPG"
> Kathryn represents an 1975 German class BII locomotive that pulls the
> Royal Train on my fictitous provincial (German) railway. The decoration
> on this engine was done before I purchased an Alps printer so all the green
> panels were hand cut as well as the gold piping. The tender is full height
> as it carries peat for fuel.
>
> "http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/Lok_772.jpg"
> This is the class 22 electric switcher also lettered for the fictitious
> K.W.St.E - Acronym in German for the Royal Williamsburg State Railway
> (no relation to Wurtemburg). The pantograph is a functioning Maerklin
> HO scale pantograph mounted on the roof. A wire runs-down to the motor
> and a switch was installed to select from track or overhead power.
>
> "http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/Quartet.JPG"
> Here is a quartet entertaining passengers at the Winterthur station.
> Only a fanciful model railroad could include such a typically American
> element in a European setting. Custom figures and signage (note the
> second class coach in the background) really add to the layout's
> ambiance.
>
> "http://www.ameritech.net/users/brian_williams/William_Crooks.JPG"
> For the American enthusist, here is a Lego version of the William
> Crooks and two coaches of the St. Paul and Pacific Railway. This was
> the first locomotive in Minnesota. The train premiered last summer
> at the GMLTC display at the National Model Train Show in St. Paul.
> The American flag on the pilot has the correct number of stars for the
> year that Minnesota joined the union. The other flag is the Minnesota
> state flag.
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Michel,
Thanks! The large red wheels have "tires" made from grey electrical tape.
Incidentally, you may wonder how the William Crooks negociates Lego curves
without the pilot wheels hitting the cylinders or side rods. The pilot axels
are connected to the pilot beam and cow catcher as a seperate assembly. The
cylinders attach to a couple small turntables underneath the smokebox by means
of two 1x6 Technic plates (the cylinders attach to the boiler). This
arrangement allows the cylinders to rotate slightly about the smokebox while
keeping parallel with the drivers. A small brick attached to the underside of
the forward Technic plate rides in a groove on the pilot assembly between the
wheels. The locomotive pushes (or pulls in reverse) the pilot assembly with
this brick. When the pilot encounters a curve, the brick is forced to rotate
which, in turn, alters the cylinder geometry. Viewed from the side, the
cylinders move forwards or backwards to clear the pilot wheels while remaining
parallel so that the siderods can continue to slide. Some day I'll get around
to covering the yellow siderods with grey tape.
-BMW
> With respect to the large red spoked wheels on the last locomotive, what is
> the white/light grey colored material on the rims?
> Thanks for sharing your great ideas.
> Michel Magnan
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In lugnet.trains, Brian Williams writes:
> Michel,
>
> Thanks! The large red wheels have "tires" made from grey electrical tape.
Speaking about these large red side wheels, did you machine off the outer
flanges?
> Incidentally, you may wonder how the William Crooks negociates Lego curves
> without the pilot wheels hitting the cylinders or side rods. The pilot axels
> are connected to the pilot beam and cow catcher as a seperate assembly. The
> cylinders attach to a couple small turntables underneath the smokebox by means
> of two 1x6 Technic plates (the cylinders attach to the boiler). This
> arrangement allows the cylinders to rotate slightly about the smokebox while
> keeping parallel with the drivers. A small brick attached to the underside of
> the forward Technic plate rides in a groove on the pilot assembly between the
> wheels. The locomotive pushes (or pulls in reverse) the pilot assembly with
> this brick. When the pilot encounters a curve, the brick is forced to rotate
> which, in turn, alters the cylinder geometry. Viewed from the side, the
> cylinders move forwards or backwards to clear the pilot wheels while remaining
> parallel so that the siderods can continue to slide. Some day I'll get around
> to covering the yellow siderods with grey tape.
>
> -BMW
>
>
> > With respect to the large red spoked wheels on the last locomotive, what is
> > the white/light grey colored material on the rims?
> > Thanks for sharing your great ideas.
> > Michel Magnan
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In lugnet.trains, Brian Williams writes:
> Michel,
>
> Thanks! The large red wheels have "tires" made from grey electrical tape.
Speaking about these large red side wheels, did you machine off the outer
flanges?
> Incidentally, you may wonder how the William Crooks negociates Lego curves
> without the pilot wheels hitting the cylinders or side rods. The pilot axels
> are connected to the pilot beam and cow catcher as a seperate assembly. The
> cylinders attach to a couple small turntables underneath the smokebox by means
> of two 1x6 Technic plates (the cylinders attach to the boiler). This
> arrangement allows the cylinders to rotate slightly about the smokebox while
> keeping parallel with the drivers. A small brick attached to the underside of
> the forward Technic plate rides in a groove on the pilot assembly between the
> wheels. The locomotive pushes (or pulls in reverse) the pilot assembly with
> this brick. When the pilot encounters a curve, the brick is forced to rotate
> which, in turn, alters the cylinder geometry. Viewed from the side, the
> cylinders move forwards or backwards to clear the pilot wheels while remaining
> parallel so that the siderods can continue to slide. Some day I'll get around
> to covering the yellow siderods with grey tape.
>
> -BMW
>
>
> > With respect to the large red spoked wheels on the last locomotive, what is
> > the white/light grey colored material on the rims?
> > Thanks for sharing your great ideas.
> > Michel Magnan
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John,
No . . . thought about that, but no. The shadows in the photograph make them
more difficult to see. See what you can do with good lighting :-). Actually,
I chose not to tape the flanges for just this reason: they stand-out like a
sore thumb.
-BMW
> Speaking about these large red side wheels, did you machine off the outer
> flanges?
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