Announcing Z Central Weathering Challenge

You know, Ztrack would be willing to provide a prize such as a AZL single car or MTL DT&I or P&LE set to the winner of the challenge. Thoughts?

Alex, great photos you found! Wow, that Du Pont car needs a paint job, but at least there is no graffiti. LOL!

Rob

And maybe StoneBridgeDesigns could chip in to the prize pile unless you want to go solo Rob?

Loren

P.S. Does that mean you and I couldn't enter since we might be donating a prize?

Thank you to Rob, Loren and Karen for your generosity. You do so much for Z scale community.
But for me, personally; I’m not weathering to win prizes or even the admiration from my peers. I do it for the fun.
I’d like to participate in this Weathering Challenge to help teach others Z scalers how to have more fun in this hobby and to challenge myself to better my skills.
So the gift of your prize is appreciated. But I’d rather lift a nice glass of red wine in toast to you in April.
Bill Mock

BillMock wrote:

Thank you to Rob, Loren and Karen for your generosity. You do so much for Z scale community.
But for me, personally; I’m not weathering to win prizes or even the admiration from my peers. I do it for the fun.
I’d like to participate in this Weathering Challenge to help teach others Z scalers how to have more fun in this hobby and to challenge myself to better my skills.
So the gift of your prize is appreciated. But I’d rather lift a nice glass of red wine in toast to you in April.
Bill Mock

Very well put, Bill! I concur completely (except that I prefer rosé).

Ok guys, no prize for you, just a nice glass of your favorite. Me?.....I'll have a Pepsi please;)

Just having the fun of being a part of a neat exercise is prize enough. Was just offering.

So.........better get the car situation figured out and away we go !!!!!!

Loren

Jerry and I are discussing on which car to do, and the front runner is the MTL Railbox. Most of us bough the runner pack, but some of you missed out on it. I talk to Loren, and he still has three of them. Anthony has them, but they are transition cars.

On the steam era/transition period car, we need help. We like the car that really bridge those two eras so we can get as many entries as possible. Maybe David or Jim can offer some suggestions. By the way, we want a boxcar.

Oh good. I'm done with the first challenge. I've got all four weathered up already. No worries, I'll do another one. Would anybody be willing to split a four car runner pack for us?
How about a stock car for the next one? They get really beat up and are a transition era car. A few left in stock at some dealers.
Bill Mock

shamoo737 wrote:

On the steam era/transition period car, we need help. We like the car that really bridge those two eras so we can get as many entries as possible. Maybe David or Jim can offer some suggestions. By the way, we want a boxcar.

The Micro-Trains 40-foot single-door steel boxcar is perfect. This car was one of the most popular freight cars of the day, appearing around WWII and surviving into the 70s (although those that continued to serve after the 70s had their roofwalks removed).

people.msoe.edu/~westr/Pictures/Northwest%20Short%20Lines%20and%20Museums/CBQ%2018288.JPG

As an alternative suggestion, if you'll go with something other than a boxcar, would be any of the open hopper cars from Full Throttle. These were ubiquitous during the steam era and many soldiered on well past the transition period.

www.greenbayroute.com/1972418.jpg

BillMock wrote:

Oh good. I'm done with the first challenge. I've got all four weathered up already. No worries, I'll do another one. Would anybody be willing to split a four car runner pack for us?
How about a stock car for the next one? They get really beat up and are a transition era car. A few left in stock at some dealers.
Bill Mock

Bill, Loren has three singles.

Excellent! I'll order up some AZL Hi Cubes from Loren as well when I get the RailBox.
This is going to be FUN!!!
Bill Mock

CRAZ13 wrote:

....
The second challenge will begin March 1st. The first person to post a picture on Z Central Station of a currently produced model or prototype car that has a Z scale replica will be the car all participants will weather....

Question here:
Will this be like sniping an Ebay Auction? By this I mean, during February 28, peoples will be waiting at midnight at 11h59:58sec to post the pictures that they'll want as the main contest subject? Or I don't understand correctly the process.

Ben

Ben,
That was the original idea......may need some refining.

Jerry

shamoo737 wrote:

Loren has three singles.

John... Loren has two singles.

THE SHORT LIST IDEA, I LIKE. BUT LETS ADD A MARKLIN UNIT IN THE LIST. PERSONALLY IT SOUNDS LIKE FUN,, BUT LIKE SOME SAY,, IM NOT GOING OUT N BUYING A CAR JUST FOR THIS, IF I HAVE IT, THEN IM IN I GUESS. PLUS IF I HAVE TO BUY THE CAR, I LL GET IT 3 WEEKS LATER THAN YOU GUYS, BLOODY CUSTOMS,,GOD I HATE BUSH!!!!!

CRAZ13 wrote:

Ben,
That was the original idea......may need some refining.

I'd recommend running the second round just like the first. It could otherwise get a little hairy. Maybe run some polls for car choices instead.

animek wrote:

CRAZ13 wrote:

....
The second challenge will begin March 1st. The first person to post a picture on Z Central Station of a currently produced model or prototype car that has a Z scale replica will be the car all participants will weather....

Question here:
Will this be like sniping an Ebay Auction? By this I mean, during February 28, peoples will be waiting at midnight at 11h59:58sec to post the pictures that they'll want as the main contest subject? Or I don't understand correctly the process.

Ben

I could see someone posting something like this--



--and how many of us have one of these?

David K. Smith wrote:

I could see someone posting something like this--

--and how many of us have one of these?

I saw these the other day. It seems to be a new release from Crown Model PRMLOCO. While I am not so much a rivit-counter ... some how these do not look completely correct. To me, the details such as the railings and steps look and feel to be a bit large for Z. They remind me of the ladders being used on AZL's 3-bay, 4-bay, and PS-2cd hoppers.

TechRep wrote:

... some how these do not look completely correct. To me, the details such as the railings and steps look and feel to be a bit large for Z. They remind me of the ladders being used on AZL's 3-bay, 4-bay, and PS-2cd hoppers.

I would speculate that the weight of such details is a consequence of what's practical to manufacture. Closer-to-scale details are certainly possible, but then the price would start to rise. And you'll never see truly scale ladders or railings on commercial Z scale rolling stock, since these would not only be virtually impossible to manufacture, but they'd make the model virtually impossible to handle.

Consider: the typical grab iron is about .75 inches in diameter. That's .003 inches in Z scale, or roughly three times the thickness of human hair.

I came across this photo today on Railpictures.net. I immediately thought of ths thread. Sure, this is a photo of hoppers, but notice how the aluminum cars interiors show far less weathering than the older steel cars. I find this an interesting detail that would stand out in a yard scenario.



I know you guys are doing hoppers, but I thought this image was cool and wanted to share.

Rob

Hi Rob,
That's why I weather the inside of my hoppers as well.
[zcentralstation.com/components/com_joomgallery/img_originals/general_z_scale_1/truckee_river_layout_15/inside_the_hoppers_20091218_1974158705.jpg]
Bill Mock