# Weathered Ditcher



## Richard Schmitt (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Gang,
I received my Model Works 1:20.3 brass ditcher from Jon Kline ( Thanks Jon, great installation) about a month ago with all the R/C equipment installed. It operated on our modular layout, *Sundance Central*, at our last show of 2007 which was in Tampa, FL. I also wanted to add sound to the ditcher so I ordered a sound board from ITT and a battery from Battery Space. I installed the battery and sound board in the water tank and mounted a 2" speaker under the roof.
I also wanted to weather the ditcher to bring out all the wonderful detail of this model, so I disassembled it into the various pieces.
The thread that represents the wire rope from the various drums appeared to be to small. So, I changed all the thread to a heavier brownish colored thread  (representing rusted wire on the rope). I added decal lettering for the sign boards on the roof that I had Stan Cedarleaf do for me. (Thanks Stan, great decals as always!)
The entire model was air-brushed with engine black, except for the wheels and couplers which received roof brown. All the detail work for the entire model was then brought to life by dry brushing with various paint colors. After all the weathering was completed, I air-brushed all the pieces with dull cote before re-assembling. I added rolled roofing material to roof in 30" (1-1/2") wide strips.
Once the model was back together I checked to make sure everything still operated and we have sound. I added some other details to model, like rolled-up tarps on each side of the cab, water hose from the water tank, coal in bin, coal shovel, roof hatch cover, operator Frank and his side kick, Ditcher the dog (of course)/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/laugh.gif. 
I 've attached a few photos for you viewing pleasure.  Enjoy!
Richard
Sundance Central Modular Railroad


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## Tom Bowdler (Jan 3, 2008)

Richard, 
Beautifully done as always! 
Tom


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## cephius (Jan 10, 2008)

Richard, 

Very Nice ! 

Dave


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## Gary Armitstead (Jan 2, 2008)

Absolutely beautiful!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/wow.gif


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## dawgnabbit (Jan 2, 2008)

Lovely, Richard! Great stuff! /DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/wow.gif Wow!


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## chuckger (Jan 2, 2008)

Beautiful weathering job.

  chuckger


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## Ted_Roy (Jan 2, 2008)

Agree, beautiful work. Well thought out and executed. 

Ted.


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## Jerry Barnes (Jan 2, 2008)

WOW! Jerry


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## trainbuffjr (Jan 11, 2008)

Awesome job Richard, You do great work!  Can you explain how you made the rolled up tarps?


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## Richard Schmitt (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks to all for the great feedback. 
The tarps are made using single ply plain white paper towels cut to the size needed. Just paint both sides with acrylic paint (your color choice) and let dry. After they are dry, just wad them up in a ball and then unravel. I then do a light mist overspray of flat black and/or drak gray. Next roll them up using a small dowel. Remove the dowel and you have a rolled-up tarp. The tarps on the ditcher were glued to the roof edge with white glue. I added the straps by cutting some thin vinyl into strips and painting it brown. Glue them in place and added a brass wire bent into a buckle shape and then added the other part of the strap. 
Richard


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## Stan Cedarleaf (Jan 2, 2008)

Fabulous, Richard.  What an amazing job.......


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## Bryan Smith (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nice... 
Bryan


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## jimtyp (Jan 2, 2008)

WOW! Great work! I really like the peeled back metal exposing the wood underneath.


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## Guest (Jan 14, 2008)

WOW, We look forward to seeing this unit in operation in a few weeks in Perry!

cale and clan


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## Big65Dude (Jan 2, 2008)

Richard,

You've done it again!

Wow!


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## Madstang (Jan 4, 2008)

Super job Richard!!

Where do you get one of those?

Bubba


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## traindude109 (Jan 2, 2008)

That model is absolutely incredible! Wonderful job! As always.....


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## Richard Schmitt (Jan 2, 2008)

Bubba, 
The ditcher was manufactured by Car Works Model Co. and I bought it from Electric Model Works, who is one of MLS's forum sponsor. 
Richard


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## Terl (Jan 2, 2008)

Looks great. Any chance of seeing this baby run on You tube? 

Terl


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## Madstang (Jan 4, 2008)

Thanks Richard.

Bubba


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## smcgill (Jan 2, 2008)

Man!!! 
Nothing bad to say!!


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## DieCastoms (Jan 9, 2008)

To you, the honour (or misfortune) of my first post!!

FABULOUS work!  I would expect to see something so nice in a display case, not in use!  Wonderful eye for details!!

Few questions I would have are:

Can you tell us anything about the RC of the ditcher?  what is and is not controlable?  Is it simply a forward and reverse or do the winches and booms opperate as well?  If so, is it capable of lifting anything at all?

I have ideas to build a battery powered RC crane of some sort that I can run on my railroad (which barely even has a name so far).  I require that my crane have forward and reverse travel, rotate, and at the very least hook up and hook down, but would love for it to also have boom up and boom down, and a clutch or adjustable gear mesh of some sort to release the rotate gear when the boom is lowered onto the boom rest on another car, so that when the consist navigates a curve, the boom can swing appropriately..  I will probably go with a model airplane style radio since I want it to have so many functions.

Would love to see it in action.  Keep us posted if you are able to upload videos!

Mike, from DieCastoms and the "ChannelWood Railroad"


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## Richard Schmitt (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Mike, 
First of all, thanks for the kind words. In regards to your questions, the R/C controls operate the forward and reverse of the ditcher, lowering and raising the boom with the bucket and turning the whole cab on the large ring gear below. The boom and bucket can be lowered onto a flat car so long as the bucket is chained to the flat car it will swivel with the flat car when pulled by the consist. 
The original model has all the three motors to control the functions I mentioned above, but it worked off of track power and you had to flip each switch to make it operate. With the R/C and the batteries everything is now controlled from a model airplane transmitter. It also has separate batteries to contol the sound board. 
Richard


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## Richard Schmitt (Jan 2, 2008)

I forgot to mentioned that I'm sure some videos will be done when it will be operating on our modular layout during the SELSTS in Perry, GA next month. 
Richard


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## Bill23a (Jan 7, 2008)

Great what else can be said about every thing you peopel at SunDance central do great insperation all of us


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## hap (Jan 3, 2008)

Richard I thought you would like this pic of crane at Heston Steam Museum and Ireally like your ditcher.


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## Henson (Jan 2, 2008)

Outstanding.


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## CJGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

WOW!!!!!!/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/shocked.gif


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Superb job, as always. I have a question, though: what did you display the ditcher on? Is it a hunk of plywood, a hollow door, or what? And what size is the rail (looks like 215 to me). Sorry if I asked this before, but I have a short attention span./DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/tongue.gif


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## Richard Schmitt (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi Joe, 
I made several display boards with track and scenery on 12" x 36" x 2" thick extruded foam board. Several years ago the local library asked me to display some of my trains in their glass display cases. Rather then just sitting the trains on the glass shelves, I want some track and surrounding scenery. I now use the display boards for photos. I sit the display board on a plywood turn table I made for air brushing. With the turn table I can keep the camera in one place and just turn the display for the next photo. The track is code 215 stainless steel rail by Gar-Graves. 
Our modular group will be in your part-of-the-woods in June of this year at The Big Train Show. Hope to see you there! 
Thanks 
Richard


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## joe rusz (Jan 3, 2008)

Richard, thanks. I am truly looking forward to seeing you and the Sundance group at the BTS!


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## gcsteam (Mar 13, 2012)

Riochard 
Your model is amazing. I would like some hints on the type of servos you used to control it.


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## Richard Schmitt (Jan 2, 2008)

Hi gcsteam,
There are no servos used in the ditcher. Motor controllers are used to control the ditchers three motors. I can send you a schematic if you contact me off the list at [email protected]

Richard


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## Rail Planet (Jan 22, 2012)

Really nice... you should come back to Tampa!







I would be there in a [email protected] url(http://www.mylargescale.com/Provide...ad.ashx?type=style&file=SyntaxHighlighter.css);@import url(data:text/css,);@import url(/providers/htmleditorproviders/cehtmleditorprovider/dnngeneral.css);


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## Bob Pero (Jan 13, 2008)

Very nice Rich. Should look great on the Sundance layout.


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