General 4-4-0 by gene1 - FINISHED

[gene1]

My name is gene1 on the site & my name is Gene. This is my first log on this site although I have done a lot on another forum. I told Popeye, denis that I thought his log on this engine was the best I had ever seen & I think that more than ever now. I used his very well done log & read many parts a lot. He did a beautiful job on his General.

  I will be 89 in a couple days & enjoy building models as much ,or more, than I did back before World War 2. I have built most everything except flying models. I hated to see them crash. My log will not be complete like denis's is, but I will try to remark on some things that might be of interest.

              I have built at least 6 pretty complete train layouts too & my first engine was an HO General, so I have always loved the General & have seen the original several times. Here are a few of my first pictures & I will show more because mine is finished ,nearly. I started it on Nov. 2 & stayed with it until a week ago when I finished it.

 The first thing I do on ships or other models is glue a dowel or 1x2 into the hull to screw into if needed.

   The first thing I did was to glue the tender together backwards, so much for building for nearly 80 years, you still screw up. It didn't fit together quite as well the second time, but filler helped. When I glued my walkways onto the engine I had to take about 1/16" out of the rear of the part that goes into the glue slot to get it to fit to the rear. With the walkway I brushed 2 coats of Tamiya Wood Deck Tan onto them & then masked them to paint the black engine. When it was dry I brushed several coats of Raw Umber very thin oil wash on them. You will have to clean the oil off to get the Cab to stick. 

 I brush painted the inside of the Cab with a green mix & then masked it off all over to paint the red. I was careful to scrape any green off the window frames because red does not cover good. I use 95% Tamiya Acrylic because it does not peel like MM does & Tamiya most often does not need a primer. I always let my paint dry for at least a day before i mask & often times I will put a thin coat of MM glosscoat on the edge of the mask to prevent runs. I will be back & add more things to the build or answer any questions.

 

     I am sure you can see I am not Popeye, denis, because I am not great with a computer. Old people ,I think, are computer dumb.  I will add a few of my latest sailing ship pictures because CDW asked me to

 

Here are some of my sailing ships. I did do a lot of wood kits, but at my age I stick with plastic now. I figure I have time to finish them. At least you can see you can build models until 90 or so. I will try to make a 100.

This is a1/100 wood Constitution I built 35 or 40 years ago & it is still in my living room.

Revell 1/95 Spanish Galleon

My 1/100 Victory under const.

Flagstaff 1/200 Cairo ironclad

1/600 Academy Big E   Beautiful kit easy.

  I have a million more if you want to see more let me know.

[popeye the sailor]

I think you did a superb job on the General      your collect is very large...........when I was a younger lad,  I could give a better 'go' to best you   .........my gallery now is only a fraction.   perhaps you can start a log,  showing us some of the techniques you like to use.  

[gene1]

denis, it is so good to have you as the first one on my first log. You are a great guy & a great modeler, & better yet the best logger ever. I want to find some of my model train layout pictures & put them on for you. I have built about 30 sailing ships in the last 3 years & a bunch of subs & carriers.

            I just don't know how to work a computer very well.I can screw up a one car funeral with a computer.               Gene

[popeye the sailor]

thanks for the stellar review........but there are many who are much better than I am.  ....and as I mentioned,  I've seen many configurations pertaining to stacking the logs in the tender.....I went my own way with it.  one looked very much like yours.....so you see,  there is no wrong way to stack wood {unless the engineer got ticked at you for wasting space  }.   

[mtaylor]

With regard to the wood stacking... the Engineer is the boss, right?

[Canute]

Of the 2 guys in the cab yes. There's a guy in the caboose, called a Conductor, who's the real boss, but many an engineer will argue that.

 

Gene, nice work all around. The General looks very good.

[yvesvidal]

You may not be good with computer, but you build superb models.

 

Yves

[gene1]

I want to thank all you guys for all the nice things you said about my General. I want to thank Popeye again for all the help he was on the build. His log was beyond super.All I prove with one of my models is that you can keep building way into the future & still have fun doing it.

          I have all kinds of problems, but they don't seem to matter, just slows me down. My right hand shakes bad, but I just hold it on the desk & do fine painting. I fell backwards down the hill when a rock slipped under my foot & broke my left wrist 6 weeks ago.I finished the General with a wrist brace  & a shaky right hand. Still lots of fun & always has been.

     denis, I want to do another log on one of my favorite plastic ship kits. It is a 1/100 Imai/ Ertl Spanish Galleon.  Merry Christmas to all you guys & Happy New Year too.

                                                                 Gene

[popeye the sailor]

ERTL played a part in a couple of model companies..........as well as Matchbox and Mattel.   there is a large scale Revell Spanish Galleon that I'd like to get.   you really did a great job on this one......looks super cool!  I did some experimenting on embossing emblems on sail cloth,  using a printer.  there is a log of it somewhere here...........

Edited December 25, 2019 by popeye the sailor

[gene1]

denis, This is the big Revell Spanish Galleon & it is big, as big as the big Constitution. It makes a pretty  model

d

 

 

Merry Christmas    Gene

[nino]

Gene,

 

     This is a  FANTASTIC presentation of your models.  Superb work.  Love your General, especially the "wood" floor in the Cab and the really nice stack of wood in the Tender.   Thank you for the nice high quality photos, direct from the Camera. ( Great work on the rails too; nice painting for realism.)

      This is a great site for Model Ships. Niels (FSM member), posts here too.   You will also find a few other folks that you know.

 

          Jim. 

Edited February 14, 2020 by nino
spelling

[gene1]

 Thanks Jim & you & denis have been a great help & both of you are fun to read. denis, is this the big Revell kit you were asking about. I had the sails all painted, weathered & decaled & they looked good, but seemed to hide too much, so I sixxed them. It is getting harder for me to rig, so I do make it easy as possible. I even used Imai's plastic shrouds on their Spanish Galleon. They are so good that the ones I make did not seem worth doing. Imai's are the only ones I will use sometimes. I do use the rigging tool a lot & I have mastered it. I might be one of the few that have. I even used it on my big 1/100 Victory.

[popeye the sailor]

it is.........neat!  it was part of Revell's 1:96 series......I was always under the impression that there were only several models,  but I'm finding out that there were more.  a few were 'cloned' to create others in the series.....the Galleon was {I think}..the only one that was a slightly smaller scale {1:89...I believe}.