Another "loco" project....Now Completed!

WoundedBear · November 30, 2016, 12:46:36 PM

Time to resurrect a thread again...............

How time flies when you ain't havin' fun.....lol. Was a brutal summer of racing for us.....and most of our friends. I blew a motor at 130 MPH and got the car safely stopped. Others weren't so lucky. It was a year of disasters all around....very expensive.

But....I digress..............back to the subject at hand. This here cab forward conversion. About all I managed to do over the summer was to get the thing wired with an MRC sound decoder in it and the cab structure is mostly finished now.

I had some difficulty in sorting out how to run/hide the wires between the tender and the loco and not restrict movement. Once the wires get a touch of paint they'll disappear completely. The cab roof is made up of individual strips of styrene to simulate boards. This should paint and weather up nicely. I still have to cut windows and build a backhead (or would that now be a Fronthead

). The head lamp is going to mount above the windshield on the front wall. The square hole in the roof is for an access panel for the wiring to enter the cab.

A friend gave me some incredibly tiny LEDS and resistors......I may just attempt to light the inside of the cab. It will help show off the interior and figures that I plan to fit in there. Here's some pics of where I stand at the moment.....updates to follow now that winter is here.

I also did some repairs for a few folks this summer. Here's a couple shots of a BLI light Mike that I'm still waiting on parts for. Bachmann ain't the only ones prone to split gears it seems.

Enjoy!

Sid

jonathan · November 30, 2016, 01:10:25 PM

That cab-forward is going to be the cat's meow. The cab roof work is astounding! Glad you survived the race season...

Interested to read how pressing on the new gear goes. Always wanted to try that. I have a press and quarterer, but haven't had a chance to put them to use.

Thanks for the update!

Regards,

Jonathan

Terry Toenges · November 30, 2016, 02:14:31 PM

Regarding the car engine - Is the box on the headers something you came up with? I've never seen anything like that.

WoundedBear · November 30, 2016, 02:43:50 PM

The header boxes were common on the old drag cars that used zoomie headers. They serve two purposes. First they keep dust and grit and bugs etc outta the pipes when the car is sitting. Second.....between rounds, they help hold some heat on the exhaust valves so they don't chill off too badly.

Thanks Jonathan. I can't wait to get back downstairs and get to some serious bench time again.

Sid

Terry Toenges · November 30, 2016, 05:32:15 PM

Thanks. I am that much the wiser now.

WoundedBear · December 04, 2016, 03:02:46 PM

Little update again........

Managed to get the rivet decals in place along the seams. This sure helps hide the styrene joints. I use the rivet decal sheet from Micro-Mark. In the third pic you can see that I got a first coat of primer on the cab, and also got the whole thing broke down again, and starting to get ready for final assembly and paint.

Sid

jonathan · December 05, 2016, 06:48:41 AM

Sid, brilliant of course.

Will the pilot get a cow catcher or pilot steps? Not that it's important, just trying to paint a picture in my mind.

Regards,

Jonathan

WoundedBear · December 05, 2016, 04:48:47 PM

Quote from: jonathan on December 05, 2016, 06:48:41 AM
Sid, brilliant of course.

Will the pilot get a cow catcher or pilot steps? Not that it's important, just trying to paint a picture in my mind.

Regards,

Jonathan

Thanks

Good Question

Me too

Regards

LMAO

jonathan · December 06, 2016, 06:43:14 AM

Well... I do have a couple of thoughts about the pilot. Please feel free to ignore them--it's your loco, and a great one at that.

One of the locos you borrowed parts from had a USRA standard pilot on it, and that would work fine. On the other hand, given the shape of the front of your cab, I was thinking about a pilot step, not two steps on either side of the coupler, but one continuous step that travels the width of the cab front.

This would suggest a locomotive that spends time doing switching. However, this is small as articulateds go. And I can't help thinking about the theme of your layout. A Road/Switcher 2-6-6-2 would be pretty cool on the Lye Djeet and Stihl (did I spell it right?). Plus, you would be taking advantage of those two mounting tabs that hang down in the front.

Then of course, the tender would need steps on the end.

Just a thought... for what it's worth. I'm sure whatever you do will be great.

Regards,

Jonathan

Woody Elmore · December 14, 2016, 12:06:18 PM

What a great conversion! Kudos on all your work. One question - isn't the race car a little out of scale?

WoundedBear · December 16, 2016, 02:45:43 PM

Woody.......thanks for the kind words. Sorry I didn't reply earlier, I didn't see your response until today. And as for the race car.....nope, it's exactly as big as it needs to be.....lol. And Jon.......a step worked and I was in no mood to invest a lot more time (or thought) in it....lol.

Well guys, I'm lookin at dates here, and this has turned into a 10 month project and not quite done yet. If nothin' else, I'm a stubborn ol' cuss.

I've been busy for the past week or 10 days. I got the beasty painted and decorated. I know right now she still looks pretty bright, but once I get the powders on it, that will tone down a lot. The base colors always look stark until they get muted. The only thing on it right now is an acrylic black wash over most painted surfaces and a gray wash over the boiler. Handrails were added......I'm still tempted to put a set of handrails on top of the tender by the plank way.

I was going to light the cab, but I'm out of space for wires in a few spots. Any more wires will inhibit it's articulation. As it stands I'm pretty happy with it. It took some self discipline to stay focused on one project for as long as this one took. And no blueprints or plans to follow.....lol. This one came outta my head. I was also pleased that I did very little backtracking in this build. Most hours spent at the bench were progress. It runs pretty well, but the lead truck is still prone to the odd derailment. I'll figure that out soon. I did get a crew inside and you'll notice a rather unique positioning of the two.

A few other thoughts about the build.......The Tichy windows I used have a laser cut glazing pack for them. The trouble is the glazing has a smoke stain on it from the laser and you can't get rid of it. I'm gonna drop Tichy a note about it. The Micro-Mark rivet decals are OK, but some of the rivets are not defined that well. Some are run into each other.....it's like the printer didn't get a true drop and smeared to the next one. No biggie unless under high magnification.

I have a BLI light Mike to repair now, and the guy wants it weathered also, so I will wait until that is ready, then make the powder mess one time instead of twice. I also have a couple buildings that need their noses powdered while I'm at it. More pics after the New Year. I'm gonna study these close shots now and see what and where the touch ups are needed.

In the mean time.........Happy Holidays ya fruitcakes

Stay Safe

Sid