# Making Bachmann log loads not look like plastic crap...



## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

Bachmann log cars and flat car log loads come with something on them that look like shiny turds or massive Slim Jims that are supposed to be...logs. 
I believe the idea was to resemble heavy barked pine logs possibly...who knows? They're beyond pathetic as they come from the factory. 
Buy a bottle of Polly S or other acrylic paint in Burnt Umber and a bottle in Sand Yellow or something similar. Thin the Umber just a teensy bit [not much], with water and lightly wash the outside bark of the log. Then take a dry tissue or maybe a paper towel and wipe off the 'log'. this dulls down and emphasizes the bark nicely. When dry, paint the ends of the log up to the last outside ring of the log with sand yellow or some other paint that says 'wood' to your mind's eye. This should be a big improvement. Spraying the finished dry 'log' with clear FLAT finish after the paint dries looks better still. 
I prefer cutting real log loads from trees/bushes in my yard but one advantage the Bmann logs have over that is if you are pulling a really LONG log train then "real" branch logs can add up to some serious weight for your Loco to pull.

jus' sayin'

Scott


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

Some over grown weeds are woody, but not dense like wood and make good replacements. I use sage. Great bark, no bite. 

John


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## Great Western (Jan 2, 2008)

I used cherry tree branches in place of the Bachmann items, which I left to naturally weather as lineside features. After a few years they have lost their shiny appearance and a little bit of weathering look presentable as large logs from felled trees.


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## chuckger (Jan 2, 2008)

Scott 

Years ago Chris Wallis made logs out of Styrofoam that really looked good. If you could get your hands on a copy of how he made them from someone on the site or maybe one of the Mods could find it for you. The logs where hand carved and painted and looked super plus the where light weight. 

Chuck


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## Nutz-n-Bolts (Aug 12, 2010)

Posted By chuckger on 12 Nov 2013 06:02 AM 
Scott 

Years ago Chris Wallis made logs out of Styrofoam that really looked good. If you could get your hands on a copy of how he made them from someone on the site or maybe one of the Mods could find it for you. The logs where hand carved and painted and looked super plus the where light weight. 

Chuck 

Perhaps this: Chris Wallis Logs


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

I favor the lowly bottle brush bush. The bark is very redwood like although silver in color. A bit of redwood deck stain and they look pretty good. 











Best,
TJ


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## Curmudgeon (Jan 11, 2008)

Probably 20 years ago there was an article in GR on those phony Bachmann logs. 
What they guy did was pour dark brown paint in a flat pan, dump a log in, roll it around to get it fully coated, using rubber gloves, picked it up, and squeezed at one end, thumb and finger around the log, and pulled down, wiping the paint off the high spots. Did the end he initially held, set it aside to dry, did the next one. 
He had a whole laundry basket of them done in ten minutes. Looked FAR better than the Chinese rendition. 
TOC


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## cape cod Todd (Jan 3, 2008)

I like the Bachmann logs since they are light whne you have a few cars in tow and don't look too bad after a bit of painting. I'm actually looking for a few more. I paint mine by putting 4-5 of them in a gift box then roll them back and forth by tipping the box in one hand and spray painting 2 tones of brown from the other. I have also tried textured paint.


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## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

Posted By Curmudgeon on 12 Nov 2013 04:48 PM 
Probably 20 years ago there was an article in GR on those phony Bachmann logs. 
What they guy did was pour dark brown paint in a flat pan, dump a log in, roll it around to get it fully coated, using rubber gloves, picked it up, and squeezed at one end, thumb and finger around the log, and pulled down, wiping the paint off the high spots. Did the end he initially held, set it aside to dry, did the next one. 
He had a whole laundry basket of them done in ten minutes. Looked FAR better than the Chinese rendition. 
TOC 

I was certain I was not the first with this idea, jus'sayin', with minimal effort you can make these cheap-ass Bachmann logs that look more like a dog's chew toy look so much less offensive. To the point of actually looking pretty realistic. I still prefer 'timber' from my yard and friend's yards but as I noted my brother now has a log train of over ten really fine quality logging cars and we've used real branches from my yard and thank goodness he's usually using the 3 truck shay 'cause 'real' logs can add up to some serious weight on even the slightest grade. I mentioned to my brother that he may want to set the entire log train's timber load outside this winter to dry out since many of the branches used were still pretty green. Might just lighten the load a bit.

S


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Had a friend who used dogwood cuttings for his logs. The bark detail was great, but dogwood is so dense that his Bachmann Shay (two-truck) could only handle about three log cars on a relatively flat indoor layout. Each log buggy had three dogwood "logs" on it. Ironically, the Hartland Big John could easily handle five or more of the same loads. Sometimes the least detailed locomotives turn out to be the best pullers.

So I can appreciate why folks would prefer lightweight logs. I don't know whether Chris Walas' technique would work with balsa, but I don't see why it shouldn't. That way the logs would have some actual "grain" to them.

Just a thought,
David Meashey


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## Curmudgeon (Jan 11, 2008)

I retired my Botch-stic logs 15 years ago. Have two big paper shopping bags with them inside....short and long. 
I use cut off limbs from yard trimming work. 
You would not believe the difference in tare weight from a dry ops day to a wet one. 
Geez those things suck up the aightch too oh.


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## Dean Whipple (Jan 2, 2008)

Ryanne and I made 35 of these "foam" logs.. using Chris Walas's idea...fast and easy to make, very light weight....
They are rugged, they look just as good today as they did 10 years ago when we made them.








more pix's http://4largescale.com/trains/P34.htm


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## Dick413 (Jan 7, 2008)

Dean 
boy those look good 
Dick


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## Pete Chimney (Jan 12, 2008)

TJ

Another tree to try harvesting is the California Pepper Tree. When we lived in northern CA we had a running battle with one of those trees and had a good supply of "logs" from trimming. 

I swear CA Pepper Trees grow like bamboo so I had a goodly supply. 

Now we live in Texas and no longer have access to a CA Pepper Trees, maybe mesquite branches would work. Mesquite are the "bamboo of Texas".


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