O Scale Motor Vehicle Chronicle Dec 11

Nice work. I especially like the repair with junkyard parts, as it is very much something you would see on the street. I don't personally do weathering, as I've chosen to do my layout in "shiny new" on tubular track, but I admire the skills of those who make their layouts more realistic with weathering.

I haven't yet weathered vehicles, but have certainly repainted several of the lower cost ones, to get variety, and "difference".  Another "well used vehicle" modification might be something along the line of the left fender on my grandfather's '37 Chevy pickup, which was held on by conspicuous perforated metal strap.

Good points.

I've found that using a similar but lighter color than what's one the vehicle works well for faded paints.

Even a new vehicle, still in the showroom, won't be as shiny as a diecast model out of the box. Dullcoat for even a new vehicle is important.

You must have some light tan and brown, to drybrush as dust and mud. These colors are essential for almost any part of the country where the layout takes place. Make sure you make the wheels look good and weathered.

License plates, too. Research what kind would be correct for the year and state. Lots of people know the right plates when they see them. I created my own database of numbers for 1942 TN plates (with the 1943 tab to extend the plates through that year, a common thing in many states for 1943) to make my own different plate #s, even using correct county codes for where my layout takes place. No two vehicles have the same plate #.

Think of the era-specific details that will make you vehicles pop.  What use would your model have had in real life? For example, regularly washing a car is a relatively new thing, something that wasn't often done much back in the day and very rarely in rural areas, even to this day. Working vehicles, of course, would be more likely to get dirty and stay that way. I model the WW2 era, so I have very few civilian vehicles on the layout. I'm currently trying to figure out how to make legible O scale gas ration stickers for the windshields.

Just dulling things down and putting some basic weathering will totally change a toy to a model. Case in point, with two photos of the same model truck. All I used were a custom decal I made for the bed, rust colored chalk dust and various model paints for dry-brushing:

Here are a few other examples:

P51 raises some excellent points:

1) License plates . All my vehicles have a 1956 New Jeresy Licence Plate.  And there are no duplicates

2)  Paint sheen (as oppose to cleanliness or aged) . Even brand new cars are not totally shiny. I use Semi Gloss for newer cars,  mixed 50:50 with Dull Coat for older.  For older, but well maintained cars, I use a white wash to simulate fading paint, applied just to the top surfaces on less older cars, all over on the much older cars.  All my tires are painted grimy black, independent of year.  Older cars get the white wash on the tires as well.   

3) Cleanliness: newer luxury cars are cleaner than older, run of the mill models.  Trucks are ususally dirtier than cars.  To simulate dirt, I spray a light mist of grime (90 thinner, 10 paint, where the paint is some combination of grimy black, tan and brown). It is predominatly on the lower parts (rocker panels, undercarriage, wheels and tires).  Sometimes I apply a very light coat on the upper surfaces. But I mask the windows, and I don't over do any of this.  A lot of vehicles are not noticeably dirty from 60 feet away.  Look at old photos. Thats 15 inches in our world.

3) Age:  the older the car the more faded the paint.   Older cars get dents, and really old cars get rust.  But be careful where you apply that rust. Rocker panels and wheel arches and other areas water accumulates rust first.   The lower edge of doors rust next.   The vehicle has to be pretty beat up for rust to get on the hood and roof. Of course any dent can have rust.  And old exhaust pipes and some suspension parts rust pretty quickly

4) Windows: are cleaner than you think, simply because rain washes grime off the glass, and people clean the glass regularly to see out.  Unless you are after that just came through a slushy or dusty road look

5) Driver. All of my vehicles get a driver, unless they are parked.  A lot get passengers as well

Here is a random selection of some of my weathered vehicles:

John,

Great work, I love the trucks especially! Too many people put massive signs on the sides of trucks (and structures) on a layout so they can easily be read, but are much larger than you'd ever find in real life.

The company names on your trucks are exactly proportioned to real-life, in m opinion.

Great weathering, too. I'm very impressed.

I'm not nitpicking but I am curious on the use of modern phone numbers on your vehicles, as your layout takes place in 1956. Currently-used 7-digit phone numbers didn't come into use in the US until the mid 1960s at the earliest and didn't fully catch on in some exchanges until near the end of the decade.

Hmmm....good catch on the phone numbers, and something I hope I remember (after checking what I have), for future vehicles and other signs.  Also means not putting zip codes, credit card ads, and other non period info on them.  I have seen old signs with 3, 4, and 5 digit phone numbers.

colorado hirailer posted:

Hmmm....good catch on the phone numbers, and something I hope I remember (after checking what I have), for future vehicles and other signs.  Also means not putting zip codes, credit card ads, and other non period info on them.  I have seen old signs with 3, 4, and 5 digit phone numbers.

Here in Rochester NY, telephone exchanges were named until the mid 1960s. The first two digits of the phone number were with the first two letters of the exchange name.
In the early 1950s when the telephone company was converting from operator assessed to dial phones they added a number to the exchanges. For example a phone number for the Genesee exchange would be GE-1234. After the start of dial conversions it would be GE8-1234 and after they went to all numeric numbers in the mid 1960s 438-1234

One thing I forgot to mention int the early '50s we had a party line and the phone number had a letter as the last digit. Example GE-1234H. That disappeared when they converted to a dial system.

p51 posted:

John,

 

I'm not nitpicking but I am curious on the use of modern phone numbers on your vehicles, as your layout takes place in 1956. Currently-used 7-digit phone numbers didn't come into use in the US until the mid 1960s at the earliest and didn't fully catch on in some exchanges until near the end of the decade.

P51

 Not a nitpick, nor a historical inaccuracy on my part. You simply caught me red handed!

All but one of my phone numbers have the two letter + one number, dash, plus four number format which was quite common in the mid 1950s as Richard E said.   So I do pay attention to having period correct phone numbers!  But I do want them to mean something to me.

For example, note the phone number of the Omaha Sand and Gravel Truck  (yes, that sand came from the Beach) is Ju6 1944.  I am sure you get that one

The SO7-2705 on Edifice Wrecks (A Rocky and Bullwinkle pun) is my old office phone number, in the two letter exchange format.

As another example, see the Thompson Honor Dairy Truck shown below:

JA 8-2943 was the phone number in the house I grew up in, which was served by Thomson Honor Dairy. (By the way, I custom made those decals)

As I have shown before on this forum, I have a used car lot that has a model of every car I ever owned:

For the phone number MA 8-1746:  the numbers are the date and year my college was founded.  The MA corresponds to one of its early famous alumae.

Now for the Charter Auto Body.  That is the name of the club I was in while attending college, and I graduated on May 30, 1972.  I could not figure out how to denote "May 30" with only three characters, so I opted for the all number format, hoping no one would notice. So one interpretation is you, P51, are sharp enough to have noticed!  Another, of course, is this crowd is above a certain age.

And thanks for the kind words

Richard, I really enjoyed this thread.  The scenery and detailing on your layout is superb and the vehicles are some of the very best I have seen.  The thread is full of very useful ideas and techniques.  Thanks!  Bo  

John Sethian posted:

For example, note the phone number of the Omaha Sand and Gravel Truck  (yes, that sand came from the Beach) is Ju6 1944.  I am sure you get that one 

Wow, I can't believe I didn't notice that. Yep, good one there.

My primary interest in life is to research historical subjects. I've written magazine articles, helped out with various book, magazine, TV and movie projects over the years. Mostly for military history subjects, I'm a historian first and a modeler as a distant second. My layout is a reflection of that in that I think long and hard about the nuts and bolts of the era I'm modeling before I built or place anything for the layout. Even the warbond and movie posters on my structures are correct for the timeframe. A flag stop structure has a Varga girl pinup on the wall of the interior, for the month before the layout takes place.

Still haven't figure out how to make readable scale gas ration stickers, but if you ever see my layout in person, you'll see that no civilian car has a spare tire anywhere. There's a reason for that, as tires were rationed by then and only a fool would leave one out where it could be swiped.

It comes from a lifetime as a historical re-enactor. I'm always thinking of what's most plausible for any display I put on. I've always been like that, so noticing little detail stuff, for me, comes as a second nature.

John, I'm glad you didn't take my post the wrong way. In no way did I want to poke holes in your concept or detract from what is in all regards some really good modeling work.

Great topic, Richard!  Hate to admit it but I forgot to look for your "regular piece" last Friday.  It's what you do when you get old, like me.  Some great weathering jobs, guys!  Great fodder for some new ideas for my own layout.  Heck of it is, my layout has no "dirty" cars nor rusted hulks.  Not very prototypical,  I don't even have a car wash on my layout.  This could be a nice project for some cold, snowy days here in Ohio, if it ever does turn cold.  I need to put weathering right behind wiring the Miller signs, the Atlas/Custom signals and a couple more switch motors.

I'll look for  more next "issue".

Paul Fischer

fisch330 posted:

Great topic, Richard!  Hate to admit it but I forgot to look for your "regular piece" last Friday.  It's what you do when you get old, like me.  Some great weathering jobs, guys!  Great fodder for some new ideas for my own layout.  Heck of it is, my layout has no "dirty" cars nor rusted hulks.  Not very prototypical,  I don't even have a car wash on my layout.  This could be a nice project for some cold, snowy days here in Ohio, if it ever does turn cold.  I need to put weathering right behind wiring the Miller signs, the Atlas/Custom signals and a couple more switch motors.

I'll look for  more next "issue".

Paul Fischer

When I was a young boy, the service station my father patronized had a wash bay. whenever my dad had his car serviced, they would wash it.

My layouts have no dirty or rusted cars. As a kid in the '50s I always had clean fingernails, thanks to all the car and whitewall tire washing I did. Now, the "Night Elves" wash and polish all the cars on my layouts every night. For my own car, I drive it through a $6. carwash every few weeks. My wife's car, a 16 year-old Acura, never gets washed.