Staying up longer and doing some Zombie modeling lately? Your locomotive is not turning out as planned and is looking more like Frankenloco? After repainting your gondola it is looking more like Dracula’s coffin?

Well say no more! Turn your oopsies, your mistakes, and your maniacal experiments into prize winning entries!

Z Central Station presents The World’s Ugliest Z Loco/Rollingstock Contest!

There are two contest categories; 1) World’s Ugliest Locomotive and 2) World’s Ugliest Rollingstock. All entries must be Z scale. Your loco entry can be functioning or non-functioning. You may create and design your entry if you wish.

The ZCS World’s Ugliest Z Loco/Rollingstock Contest ends on Midnight PST, Friday November 2nd, 2012.

I did not have to dig deep into the prize dungeon to create two awesome prize packages. For the donated prizes, I wish to thank Chuck Dietrich for laser Bleacher Kits, StoneBridge Models for MPP laser Barn kits, Ed Turner for grass tufts, and Stony Smith Designs for truck/bus/construction models. Each prize package will also include a 50-pack of Architrees from Z Central Station.

Good Luck!

John

Prize photos:

Mmmm, I think I have one more SOO left.

John,
I am shocked that you would even suggest that Z scalers ever make oopsies and mistakes.

It simply isn't true. However, I will freely admit that we often times make 'errors in judement' which I suppose could be mistakenly thought to resemble the oopisies and mistakes of other scale modelers. We simply know better and don't allow ourselves to stoop to such base behaviours.

I suppose some of us do error on the side of justice more than others, but we never make those calous mistakes that the larger scale guys do.

Isn't it a good thing that eye sight ain't what it used to be for us oldies. :o)

I guess since I didn't model this and it is REAL it won't win me anything but.....

Sorry, J.M. :-

)

I dont know Karin, it look like a beautiful diorama to me.

Spoken by a man who is in love with CSX. I admire John's devotion, but i think it is at least going to need a repaint. :o)

Does the loco or rolling-stock have to be made by the individual? Can it be RTR?

I'm just wondering, because I could buy any piece of MTL's Micro-Mouse, Tree Trimming Express Christmas Train, Route to Bethlehem, Santa's Work Train, Sugarland Peppermint Co., the 12-days of Christmas, etc., as entries.

My Stucco tank car.



I might as well be the first to show my horror car , I really had search what I could put in this contest. Ok it’s not badly looking as a Frankenstein car, but it is not easy to show and tell to everyone their horror story in scratchbuilding.
So I may or may not qualify in this contest, but what I know is that compare to the AZL tanks cars available today, this horror of a car had become a piece of crap hidden away in a drawer.
I’ve “Tried” to build this car when yet no other tank car existed. So that’s why it has no longer any purpose than to remind me of what not to do.

The mistakes of this “car”

Structure.
Using soft wood like "Pine" as the main tank, and turned on a lathe.

Results:
The wood grain had started to show on both ends as soon as paint had touched the surface. Even if I had vanish the piece directly on the lathe and sanded it (5 coats), the sides could not be coated well enough because it was being hold in place on the lathe from both ends.

The railings had big blob of glue to hold the wires together
Because I’m not that good at doing micro welding.

The gratings had so big curves and bumps that if any figures would step on it, they would automatically break their ankles.
I was new with lasers, so the material used was not quite good for the grating purpose.

Paint
Mixing Tamiya color X-20A thinner with basic Folk Art acrylic gray paint, and being sprayed with and airbrush.
Results:
A mixture of tiny blob everywhere because the paint was drying way before it had touch the car. Making it look like it had received stucco paste on it.
Lesson learn: Tamiya Thinner goes with Tamiya paint only.

Later on, I’ve started to sand by hand with tiny special sanding tools between the rails and ladders, but had put this thing aside since the last 5 years, too much work had to be done on it.
On the bright side, now I know how to simulate Stucco in Zscale.

So in the end, pretty much everything had become quite a disaster on this tank car.

Ben

animek wrote:


Ben... I like it! Seriously!

Sorry Ben, that car doesn't qualify. That looks good as Alex says, the flaws you show are on all of my creations too so that would mean all my created stuff should be here too? And don't wary about the the surface, if people are happy with Shapeways they would be 100 times happier with that.

This is what I came up with before I decided to make it my F-.75. It's a cab from a Marklin steamer, the body of a MTL F-7 and the front end of a MTL GP-35.

Yup- that sure got wooped-Big Time-by an ugly stick!

Just whooped? It looks more like it got shot, stabbed, run over and set on fire and finally thrown out with the trash. What a night mare. That's definitely an original, but an original what I'm not sure. :o)

Just figured it out........it's the government's attempt to build a new and improved locomotive. The gov boys do it again.

I am not quite done yet, but I want to enter my ugliest loco & rollingstock. Late last year I was experimenting with single sided resin casting, then earlier this year I got brave to try 2-piece molds. As you can see I need to refine my work with 2-piece resin molding. John

These cannot be in the ugliest loco contest....In my eyes these two looks just like a derelict loco and a magnificent old boxcar.

Uh-oh. In a contest to determine the "ugliest" of something, what happens when beauty is in the eye of the beholder?

hokenstrom wrote:

[quote="GNFan" post=14514]Uh-oh. In a contest to determine the "ugliest" of something, what happens when beauty is in the eye of the beholder?

In this case Mike, it's the "Ugly" that's in the eye of the beholder.

Ugly car for a ugly line.

shamoo737 wrote:


Now, you are just being mean, John.