Large Scale Central

Ke Ka'a Piki (the Shortened Coach) -- Passing the Baton

Modeling
#1

Aloha All!

It was a railroading kind of day, with a million projects, and Oldest Daughter agreed to begin turning her shorty coach (I am translating this as “ka’a piki” for want of a better word), a gift to her from “Rooster” for helping getting me over the hump on the Little Thomas project. See below:

This was totally unexpected. I had mentioned only in passing she was eager to try her hand at painting a car and making it her own. This car came with some detail parts for Little Thomas and instructions this be her project and that we post the progress. In that spirit, I am going to serve as safety monitor, interface with the website, and proctor. Everything else will be here doing. Helpng her will also be my priority project for the spring.

Today was a thorough a inspection of the coach. She began by disassembling it and removing some flash from the seat backs:

Kid-zilla was VERY concerned we were taking apart the coach! With an eye to the future, she removed the stove and set it aside for some other, undefined project. Neither of us think a stove would’ve been in a coach in the tropics!

Next, she worked the whole thing over with a toothbrush and soapy water:

Again, Little Thomas taught us that clean surfaces lead to good paint jobs! She used the putty and X-acto knife to fill, file, and touch up the body. It’ll get a bath after she is satisfied with that part of the project. I’ll let her tinker with that before we move much further,

Next stop is the Hawaiian Railway Society, where they have a restored parlor car, a stabilized wreck, and a car under restoration. There is nothing like the original to help choose colors and get a sense of what goes where! I’ve told her it is up to her how far she wants to go with the details, such as the interior, roof type, you name it. We’ll see what she keys on next weekend!

Progress will not be rapid, as work and school will get in our way, but I wanted to get on the record and get us moving. Fingers crossed this will lead to a life-time avocation!

Have a great week!

Eric

Triple O Gloss -- Passenger Car & Parlor Car
#2

Pretty cool!

#3

look forward to watching her progress with this.

#4

Eric as I said before… I wish my one and only ( daughter )… was interested in this hobby with me… You are lucky… Will be watching as she progresses and has fun…

#5

Good to see you grabbing the bull by the horns O.D. (https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)I’m looking forward to the progress

#6

Eric Mueller said:
Next stop is the Hawaiian Railway Society, where they have a restored parlor car, a stabilized wreck, and a car under restoration. There is nothing like the original to help choose colors and get a sense of what goes where! I’ve told her it is up to her how far she wants to go with the details, such as the interior, roof type, you name it. We’ll see what she keys on next weekend!

Found this online …(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-wink.gif)

https://www.panaviz.com/scenic-oahu/hawaiian-railway-society/

Luna ʻokiʻoki ʻo Rooster(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

#7

Gonna be good

#8

Interesting, look forward to seeing the parlor car buildout(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)

#9

Luna ʻokiʻoki ʻo Rooster(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

Yes, I shall be the on site cutting shop foreman (luna - foreman 'oko’oki - to carve, cut, etc.; 'o - a directional word with multiple meanings). Nicely played!! Railroad history and Hawaiian language and all in one website!

  • Eric
#10

I was looking at the pictures when my wife looked over my shoulder and said “what beautiful hair she has, and she must never ever cut it!”

just be careful around any power tools with it. ! Looking forward to progress on this build!

#11

Fantastic project. Will be following with interest. Kudos to Rooster for such generosity!

#12

To All,

Thank you for all your kind comments and words of encouragement! I have passed them along to Oldest Daughter. Today, we completed our research run. A summary of our discussion of the day’s finding follows.

She took the initiative to take a bunch of pictures inside and outside the parlor car. I also nudged her to approach one of the volunteers with questions, as a case study in “one well placed question can spare many hours of work!” She and the volunteer then about an hour looking for paint chips to take home so she can match commercially available paint to the OR&L’s green. Instead, he gave her the label off the can and the formula, to boot! Other key finds:

  1. Confirmed no stoves! Even Dillingham’s parlor car apparently packed a cold lunch! She will have to shave off the port where the old stove pipe came through the roof.
  2. The roofs are canvas-over-wood. It will be up to her if she wants to emulate this. The current model has a textured roof that would likely suffice.
  3. The interior of the 3rd class coach under restoration had wooden benches running athwart the car (in WWII, pineapple can cars, themselves converted coaches, often had benches running the length of the car like a modern military transport aircraft). We got to examine the last remaining examples of the pre-WWII benches! Again, her call if she wants to emulate it or simply paint the existing ones to look like they were cushioned.
  4. Lots of little individual details, like colors to paint the wheels, the amount of appropriate weathering, suggested trim colors, etc.

The finery of the parlor car was overwhelming. In all of our trips to the railroad, we’d never been inside, reinforcing the lesson of “Ask the question!” At this point, she is leaning more towards a combine than a parlor car, but we shall see. If she catches the bug, that can always be a project down the line as her confidence rises. Hopefully, this weekend, she will be ready to put paint or saw to plastic.

We’ll review the photos tomorrow and see if any add to the topic.

Have a great week!

Eric

P.S. Pete, you may tell your wife I passed along the compliment and found that, no, other than the bangs and an inch or so off the back once in a blue moon, she never cuts here hair.

#13

The project has gone to the birds!

The ladies decided we needed a pet that does not have scales. “Kiwi” joined the family in late February. Learning to care for him and crafting a bird playground (with railroading tools, glues, and processes!) has, by admission of Oldest Daughter, taken priority over the ka’a piki.

Nonetheless, cleaning up the body of the car continued and is, in fact, finished:

Being erudite enough to provide her with a chisel type blade that was actually sharp greatly aided this final prep work!

We also went to the hardware store today, and she selected her paints. A “hunter green” was a close match to her sample for the exterior, and a brown was a close enough emulation of the woodwork she saw. This will be for the chairs and deck. She is still pondering whether or not to leave the interior walls grey, like Bill Barnwell’s “Coquina Express” coaches or paint them brown. She does plan to paint the seat covers, regardless.

The final thing we discussed over the week was whether or not she wanted to take a crack at recreating the parlor car. Not this time is her answer. Instead, I suggested she make an interior bulkhead and make this a combine, of sorts, though without any doors that open to the side. If memory serves, the B&O museum in Baltimore had examples of cars like that, so I think we are on the order of goodness with this plan. Also, Oldest Daughter has decided to go with a painted canvas roof like the real thing, which should look cool. I am sure I can dig up a post here somewhere that shows how to do that!

Progress reports to follow as they are merited!

Have a great week!

Eric & O.D.

#14

I would suggest a light color for the interior as it gets pretty dark in there when the roof is on, even a light cream or yellow, makes the people show up better

#15

Eric,

One way to do the canvas roof is shown on page 3 of my snow plow thread.

https://www.largescalecentral.com/forums/topic/29247/snow-plow-needed/view/post_id/393235

#16

That’s the way I did Old Joes roofroof

#17

I’m catching up late here Eric and Oldest Daughter. It makes me smile broadly that she is not only interested but tackling her own project. This is how hobbies should be; family affairs. My children never much cared for my trains. Mainly because I got back into them to late and they already had their interests. I think it is great that you guys share this as a family. and O.D. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

#18

Devon Sinsley said:

I’m catching up late here Eric and Oldest Daughter. It makes me smile broadly that she is not only interested but tackling her own project. This is how hobbies should be; family affairs. My children never much cared for my trains. Mainly because I got back into them to late and they already had their interests. I think it is great that you guys share this as a family. and O.D. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Well said Devon!

The OD …has put her hands on Rooster waste which is disturbing in itself but exciting to me anyway! Wanna see what the young lady does with the tailings I slapped together for her.

She will not fail me !

(https://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

FYI …She is reusing my waste which 1/2 came from our BD of LSC with his Jackson Sharpe cars that he DID own!

Carry on young lady !

This post has been edited by: Rooster ( time unknown as he only does daybreak)

#19

@Bill and Marty: Much thanks. I’ll pass that along!

@Devon: It is funny how the kids all take to the railroad differently. Oldest Daughter is, I think, trying to grow into the hobby, but she is involved in 5,000 other things at which she also wants to excel. Youngest Daughter enjoys “making it pretty,” be it with flowers or her painting, and she sees my participation - and my supply purchases - as a validation of her own commitment to crafting. Oldest Son sort of grew out of it when he discovered all his friends had game consoles, a discovery which followed quickly on the heels of his B’mann railtruck failing two weeks otu of the box, and, to some degree, seems to resent the fact he has bow to realism of cost, time, and practicality of his proposed projects. I’ve offered him all the bits, tools, and space I can safely offer, of course, and I have given him free reign to take a crack at some of schemes, but I am struggling, to hold him in the hobby or even any of the derivative hobbies that spin from the garden railway. I won’t force him to participate, and all I can do is enjoy it when he does get busy and dirty at our sides. Kid-zilla, with whom I am at home today as CINCHOUSE has some business, thinks this is the cat’s meow. He turned down a run to the beach, suggesting instead we run the railroad. He did warn me today that he was worried he might not like it when he “grows up” like his brother.

Pardon the philosophy session!

Eric

#20

Well first off its great that they all take varying interest in this fun( but expensive) hobby. Oldest daughter may need her own account here to post her work and her thoughts and ideas. Since we can use nicknames her identity as Oldest Daughter is all that needs to be used. Good luck with the other kids getting them more involved, my grandkids seem to have occasional interest, but it seems to be dissapearing as they hit teenage interests and thoughts on what is “cool”. Looking forward to what she does next. Good OD and Eric