Hello all,

After looking at some of the great MTH water towers you guys weathered, I decided to give it a try with weathering powder and paint. Although it is not as beatiful as some of the others, it really improves the overall look.

It is an improvement, looks much better then what the original looks like. Just on tip watch those chains hanging down. If they catch on a passing train it will pul it over pretty quickly and could damage the train also.

quote:

Originally posted by VaGolfer1950:
It is an improvement, looks much better then what the original looks like. Just on tip watch those chains hanging down. If they catch on a passing train it will pul it over pretty quickly and could damage the train also.

I would recomend removing that one that sticks out far like that. I had mine hook on a passenger train luckly the train was moving slow and i saw it hook.

thanks for the tip guys, Ill do that. Do any of you have an idea how to make the rings and chain on the tower look rusty? I don't have an airbrush so that would be out of the question.

Alex

Or, at least shorten it, it's way too long.

Nice weathering job!.
I repainted and will weather a Lionel water tower and add a scale ladder. The MTH is more detailed but I like the proportions of the Lionel tower better. I'm not a "rivet counter" but the ladder on the MTH tower is too far out of scale for my taste.

quote:

Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua:
the ladder on the MTH tower is too far out of scale for my taste.

I agree, but I don't think their is really anything that can be done easily.

Alex

I had the same problem with the water tower, I removed the original because the rungs were just way too far apart, I think 1 rung would be mid-thigh if a man was standing on it, so I scratch built one. Here by where I live we have stores called Hobby Lobby, anyway I have found in some cases they have items for doll houses that in some cases come out to being pretty close in terms of scale. They had bags of some little bricks that were just about dead on when I measured them up so I bought them and used them to make a brick road on my layout...It came out pretty nice.....and it was very economical to. But your weathering looks really good, it brought some life to that water tower...great job....Chris

quote:

Originally posted by Alex weihmann:

quote:

Originally posted by Dennis LaGrua:
the ladder on the MTH tower is too far out of scale for my taste.

I agree, but I don't think their is really anything that can be done easily.

Alex

You can buy an O scale ladder from Plastruct, paint it and put it in place-problem solved.

Nice! Does go to show that will a little attention these dirty up nicely,

Regarding the other stuff:

You could paint the chain with some Roof Brown and dry brush it with some Rust and Grimy Black..........or just replace it with some black chain and do the same painting.

The ladder could be replaced with the really, really nice wooden ones from BTS - very nice laser-cut ladder that you assemble. Stain, paints & install.

Not sure what to sugest about the oversize barrel/hoop fasteners though....

Eventually you get to a point of diminshing returns or to where you'll want to sit down and scratch build another one............

Nice job. Looks a lot better than the out of the box color and shine. The spout and chains can be removed and spray painted with flat black and then light over spray with red oxide primer and earth brown. The chains have to be turned obviously and I had to move them to a wax paper surface. As for the hoops around the tank, when I reassembled mine I just located the hoops so the nuts were on the back side of the tank so you cannot see them easily. I agree that the ladder is over sized but I have not yet found a plastruct ladder at my LHS to replace. Thanks for the photos.

very nice work! especially effective weathering job on the roof ... shorten those chains and she's good to go!

It looks like you have wood

Seriously, nice job! You might want to tone down the new looking stone a bit. Woodland Scenics makes a Blended Turf - Earth Blend that I like to sprinkle over ballast and rocks.

From the background I am interested in seeing more images of your layout.

Thank you,
Rand

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.....Looks nice Alex ! Much better than outa the box.

......Hey, just a note on the low hangin chains. On the DLRR we have them hanging just low enough so we can reach up to them FROM THE TOP OF THE TENDER. With this in mind, maybe you could shorten them up quite a bit.

...Heres Gordon,taking on water.


..Hey guys, heres another shot showing the over sized ladder. Maybe MTH has sumthin here

jeff: can you get some more shots of that water tower on the line at disneyland? i like the look of it!

Thanks for the great suggestions guys! I think I will buy some black chains and weather them to replace the silver ones and also "rust up" the rungs on the towers body. I think I will replace the ladder, but how do I fill in the holes that held the old one in? maybe wood filler would work.

Alex

Rand- Here are some more photos-

Alex: On the replacement of the ladder as I recall the nuts on the ladder just pull off revealing the screws. You might just remove the screws and use white glue to attach the plastic nuts over the holes. With some weathering it might be virtually unnoticed. Let us know how you do on the new ladder.

quote:

Originally posted by Alex weihmann:
thanks for the tip guys, Ill do that. Do any of you have an idea how to make the rings and chain on the tower look rusty? I don't have an airbrush so that would be out of the question.

Alex

There is a product called rust-all, it actually has small specs of real rust in it, you just dip your brush and paint it on the chain. I thibnk youll be happy with the results.