Jumaat, 31 Julai 2015
My AC-9 Kitbash
The AC-9, SP 3805 above is the end product of a Kitbash Project from a Rivarossi Cab Forward.
It is the second of three AC-9 Yellowstones that I rebuilt from AC-10 Cab Forwards. I am a devout 1950s era Southern Pacific HO Model Railroader. I have a fleet of 39 steam locomotives of which 18 are articulated and 34 diesels.
My layout is set in the mid 1950s in the Southern New Mexico/West Texas area. I grew up in El Paso Texas during the end of the Steam Era and lived in Alamogordo, NM during the 1960s & 70s. My wife and I are both retired and now reside in Bakersfield California. We have lived on both ends of the Southern Pacific Cab Forward Southern Route.
This Blog is about my HO Model Railroad Hobby and how I model the Southern Pacific from my memories of the mid 1950s era as a teenager. I wrote a short synopsis of my back ground that can be found by going to my About Me page.
Mel Perry, PMFE (Professor of Miniature Ferroequinology Engineering)
1. ferroequinology Literally "the study of the iron horse." (ferros = iron, equine = horse, -ology = study of)
2. The study of the history of railroads and railroad trains, especially for the purpose of model railroading.
3. What a railfan practices.
You can click on the colored text to follow the links.
I moved the About Me & My Layout articles to their own page because they seldom change.
Updated December 5, 2014
To go to my current Locomotive Inventory click here.
Updated August 20, 2015
To go to my additional pages scroll down to the bottom of my Blog to My Pages Menu and click on the links.
Read More..
It is the second of three AC-9 Yellowstones that I rebuilt from AC-10 Cab Forwards. I am a devout 1950s era Southern Pacific HO Model Railroader. I have a fleet of 39 steam locomotives of which 18 are articulated and 34 diesels.
My layout is set in the mid 1950s in the Southern New Mexico/West Texas area. I grew up in El Paso Texas during the end of the Steam Era and lived in Alamogordo, NM during the 1960s & 70s. My wife and I are both retired and now reside in Bakersfield California. We have lived on both ends of the Southern Pacific Cab Forward Southern Route.
This Blog is about my HO Model Railroad Hobby and how I model the Southern Pacific from my memories of the mid 1950s era as a teenager. I wrote a short synopsis of my back ground that can be found by going to my About Me page.
Mel Perry, PMFE (Professor of Miniature Ferroequinology Engineering)
1. ferroequinology Literally "the study of the iron horse." (ferros = iron, equine = horse, -ology = study of)
2. The study of the history of railroads and railroad trains, especially for the purpose of model railroading.
3. What a railfan practices.
You can click on the colored text to follow the links.
I moved the About Me & My Layout articles to their own page because they seldom change.
Updated December 5, 2014
To go to my current Locomotive Inventory click here.
Updated August 20, 2015
To go to my additional pages scroll down to the bottom of my Blog to My Pages Menu and click on the links.
Rabu, 22 Julai 2015
July 22, 2015 Birthday Present To Myself
My birthday is just around the corner so I bought myself a present, a pair of clunker Hobbytown of Boston E7s to restore.
These are probably the worst looking things I've ever purchased. Taking them out of the mailer they were packed better than anything I've bought off eBay. The "B" unit is a dummy and the frame, trucks, motor and drive line on the "A" look worse than the shells. Now I rarely toss anything related to model railroad equipment but both frames intact are on the way to the County Dump. I bought them for the cast metal shells. The metal shells weigh a bit over a pound each and with a little work will fit nicely on an Athearn SD40-2 frame. Adding a pound to the powerful Athearn frame makes a super powerful locomotive.
Thanks to a tip I found on the Model Railroad Forum I now use Denatured Alcohol to strip the paint off my locomotives. I set both shells in a plastic Sheetrock mud pan full of the Alcohol for three hours and the paint came off easily using a wire brush.
I found out that by pouring the Denatured Alcohol through a filter to remove the paint debris it can be reused. The paint comes off in flakes and is easily captured in a paint filter.
Both shells look very good after the paint is removed, no dings at all.
Because this is an early E7 shell there is only the large headlight at the top of the hood. I will drill a 3/16" hole below the existing headlight to reposition it so that I can install a Mars Light where the headlight is now.
The picture above shows the new headlight housing installed in the 3/16" hole. I made the housing from Evergreen 3/16" tubing. I drilled out the old Headlight with a #2 drill bit then slightly reduced a small piece of Plastruct �" tubing and fit it into the .221" hole. I bored both light holders out to .1285" with a #30 drill bit so that the 3mm bulbs will loosely slide in.
Here I have painted the metal shell using Self Etching Primer, I filled the coupler hole leaving a small dimple in case I decide to install a coupler later.
Next I super glued a short piece of .080" x .160" Styrene to fill the gap between the shell and the Athearn fuel tank and sanded it to fit then applied a second coat of primer.
The shell is setting on the Athearn SD40-2 frame.
The "A" shell is ready for the Southern Pacific Daylight Color Scheme. After the primer sits over night I'll start the airbrushing task using Tru-Color Paints.
The primer is fully cured and ready for TCP-108 SP Daylight Red.
The SP Daylight Red went on great, I'll give it three hours to cure then mask it for the deep "V" SP Orange.
I made a CAD drawing of the SP Deep "V" to make a template for cutting the masking tape.
The blue in the picture above is the Scotch-Blue 1.41" wide 2080-EL tape.
After masking off the Southern Pacific Deep "V" with Scotch-Blue Delicate Surface Painter's Tape 2080-EL I airbrushed it with TCP-107 SP Daylight Orange. At this point the hardest part of this project is now complete.
After the SP Orange deep "V" has dried I'll mask off the sides and complete the Orange side stripe.
With the Daylight Orange stripes done next is the black roof and trim.
I'm out of TCP-010 Black so it's off to Doug's Hobby Shop.
I haven't taken any pictures of the "B" unit but it's coming along very nicely too.
I'm going to airbrush both the A & B shells with a black roof, ends and lower side trim next.
The masking tape really does a good job.
It looks like I didn't get full paint coverage on the roof vents, it was created by the camera flash.
Next is the thin trim striping.
Well I didn't finish it by my birthday but I tried. I ran into a problem with the Rust-Oleum Self Etching Primer. The primer won't stick to the white metal and the Tru-Color Paint won't stick to Primer.
I spent two days doing one top white stripe and touch up after removing the masking tape. The hobby shop was out of aluminum paint so now I'm on hold till it gets here.
I haven't had this problem before.
I've used the Self Etching Primer on brass before and it worked very good but it sure won't stick to white metal.
These Athearn SD40-2 frames will power two Hobbytown E7 shells. I cut off the power "L" bracket off each truck and remove the Athearn spring power strip, I solder a red #24 gauge wire from the trucks to the top brush holder. After removing the motor I squish the bottom brush holder contacts so that they can't touch the frame. I solder a black #24 gauge wire between the bottom brush holder and the headlight mounting bracket for a firm connection to the frame. This also makes it easier to install a DCC decoder later on. Both of these locomotive frames will receive decoders in the future if I decide to put them into passenger service. I do not use DCC for diesel powered freight service.
Touchup complete and decals applied. A couple coats of Testors Dullcote then on to the Headlights and window glass.
After the shell set for several days the primer hasn't chipped and the touchup looked good enough to apply the decals.
The decals are custom made printed on my Alps MD1000 printer.
They look much better than they did when they were received. Almost ready to be put in service.
Read More..
These are probably the worst looking things I've ever purchased. Taking them out of the mailer they were packed better than anything I've bought off eBay. The "B" unit is a dummy and the frame, trucks, motor and drive line on the "A" look worse than the shells. Now I rarely toss anything related to model railroad equipment but both frames intact are on the way to the County Dump. I bought them for the cast metal shells. The metal shells weigh a bit over a pound each and with a little work will fit nicely on an Athearn SD40-2 frame. Adding a pound to the powerful Athearn frame makes a super powerful locomotive.
Thanks to a tip I found on the Model Railroad Forum I now use Denatured Alcohol to strip the paint off my locomotives. I set both shells in a plastic Sheetrock mud pan full of the Alcohol for three hours and the paint came off easily using a wire brush.
I found out that by pouring the Denatured Alcohol through a filter to remove the paint debris it can be reused. The paint comes off in flakes and is easily captured in a paint filter.
Because this is an early E7 shell there is only the large headlight at the top of the hood. I will drill a 3/16" hole below the existing headlight to reposition it so that I can install a Mars Light where the headlight is now.
Here I have painted the metal shell using Self Etching Primer, I filled the coupler hole leaving a small dimple in case I decide to install a coupler later.
The shell is setting on the Athearn SD40-2 frame.
The "A" shell is ready for the Southern Pacific Daylight Color Scheme. After the primer sits over night I'll start the airbrushing task using Tru-Color Paints.
The primer is fully cured and ready for TCP-108 SP Daylight Red.
I made a CAD drawing of the SP Deep "V" to make a template for cutting the masking tape.
The blue in the picture above is the Scotch-Blue 1.41" wide 2080-EL tape.
After masking off the Southern Pacific Deep "V" with Scotch-Blue Delicate Surface Painter's Tape 2080-EL I airbrushed it with TCP-107 SP Daylight Orange. At this point the hardest part of this project is now complete.
After the SP Orange deep "V" has dried I'll mask off the sides and complete the Orange side stripe.
With the Daylight Orange stripes done next is the black roof and trim.
I'm out of TCP-010 Black so it's off to Doug's Hobby Shop.
I haven't taken any pictures of the "B" unit but it's coming along very nicely too.
I'm going to airbrush both the A & B shells with a black roof, ends and lower side trim next.
The masking tape really does a good job.
It looks like I didn't get full paint coverage on the roof vents, it was created by the camera flash.
Next is the thin trim striping.
Well I didn't finish it by my birthday but I tried. I ran into a problem with the Rust-Oleum Self Etching Primer. The primer won't stick to the white metal and the Tru-Color Paint won't stick to Primer.
I spent two days doing one top white stripe and touch up after removing the masking tape. The hobby shop was out of aluminum paint so now I'm on hold till it gets here.
I haven't had this problem before.
I've used the Self Etching Primer on brass before and it worked very good but it sure won't stick to white metal.
These Athearn SD40-2 frames will power two Hobbytown E7 shells. I cut off the power "L" bracket off each truck and remove the Athearn spring power strip, I solder a red #24 gauge wire from the trucks to the top brush holder. After removing the motor I squish the bottom brush holder contacts so that they can't touch the frame. I solder a black #24 gauge wire between the bottom brush holder and the headlight mounting bracket for a firm connection to the frame. This also makes it easier to install a DCC decoder later on. Both of these locomotive frames will receive decoders in the future if I decide to put them into passenger service. I do not use DCC for diesel powered freight service.
Touchup complete and decals applied. A couple coats of Testors Dullcote then on to the Headlights and window glass.
After the shell set for several days the primer hasn't chipped and the touchup looked good enough to apply the decals.
The decals are custom made printed on my Alps MD1000 printer.
They look much better than they did when they were received. Almost ready to be put in service.
Selasa, 7 Julai 2015
July 7, 2015 Fourth SP � Dome Lounge Project
I've Kitbashed three 85' Bachmann Full Dome passenger cars into Southern Pacific Daylight � Dome Lounge passenger cars. They all turned out very good and very close to prototype. I have a problem with the length of Bachmann cars, they look out of place along side my 72' Athearn cars.
I'm going to attempt to Kitbash a 72' Athearn Diner into a 72' SP � Dome Lounge car. This post will follow the construction of my Kitbash project.
The first picture is my third Bachmann Kitbash, finished and ready to be replaced by a 72' Athearn Kitbash.
The next two pictures are of a 72' Athearn Diner that is going to become my � Dome Lounge car.
I scratch built the interior and added 4 oz. of #8 bird shot for extra weight.
I glued .020" sheet styrene over the unwanted windows.
I used Testors Liquid Cement to glue the Styrene in place.
Next I filled the windows with JB Kwik Weld Epoxy.
This picture shows the epoxy sanded flush with the Athearn shell.
These two pictures show the shell primed with Rust-Oleum Automotive Primer and sanded.
I bought two used Bachmann Full Dome cars off eBay to cut up for making the dome windows for this car, when they arrive I will continue the project. I only needed one full dome car but I got two used cars for $26.
After I attach the modified Bachmann dome roof I will continue sanding to remove any sign of the filled in side windows then prime the entire car with Tru-Color Primer TCP-07.
This is the Bachmann Full Dome that will be cut up for dome/roof parts.
Cutting off the dome took two #11 blades, one for each side. I clamped a steel ruler to the side of the shell for a straight edge.
In the picture above I have removed three windows from the dome and cut the Acrylic window glass to fit the shortened dome.
I have glued the Acrylic and it fits the shortened dome perfectly.
Here I have set the dome on top of the Athearn Diner to mark the roof cuts.
Again cutting out the roof section took two #11 blades. The Athearn shell is much thicker than Bachmann but easier to cut. I have glued in some Styrene brackets to support the dome.
The dome fits very good. It will require some Styrene filler strips to fill the .020" gap between the Athearn sides and the Bachmann dome for a perfect fit.
The dome is glued in place and the shell is ready for finishing.
My Athearn � Dome Lounge car is ready for painting.
The sanding went very good, everything fitting together perfectly really helped. I used a dozen or so thin coats of Rust-Oleum Automotive Primer between each sanding.
I shot the complete shell with TCP-07 Primer using my airbrush.
I added some detail to the roof over the kitchen.
The large open tube is the vent for the short order cook stove and the square hatch is for maintaining the air system for the small kitchen.
I'll knock the fuzzys off with a paint rag.
I'm going to let it dry over night and do my thing with my airbrush tomorrow. I'm going to paint it SP Daylight colors.
The Daylight colors went on very good.
With the paint glossy it looks toy like, Testors Dull Coat will take care of that after I apply my decals.
The Squadron White Putty works great with the Rust-Oleum Automotive Primer. I rough sanded the putty/Styrene with 80 grit wet and dry sand paper and finished up with 150 grit.
Because the window glass is clear I'm going to build up a new interior complete with passengers and install full lighting.
I'm going to kitbash the Bachmann interior to be as close to the SP Dome cars as I can, this is what I have to work with.
I cut it up the top section to use as much as I can then did a real cut and paste using Testors Liquid Cement. I used .020" & .040" thick Evergreen Styrene sheet stock for fillers and walls.
I cut out some chairs for walkways and moved some to conform to the SP interiors.
I dropped the walkway and added Tichy stairs on both ends of the walkway, very close the SP prototype.
The top dome area is ready for paint.
I finished the lounge area interior and it's ready for paint. The seats in the lounge area have enough depth to the floor for passengers without cutting off their feet.
The picture above shows the interior before assembly. The top deck slips into the shell first then the bottom frame slides into the shell. It is held together with a lip on the right end of the shell and a single screw on the left end. The two weight assemblies consist of 2� ounces of #8 bird shot for added weight.
The following pictures show the finished interior.
The figures sitting on the upper deck are 1:100 scale to fit the Bachmann chairs. The figures in the lounge are 1:87 scale, I hand painted the 1:87 figures and did some touch up to the 1:100 figures.
Next is adding the lighting.
I finished the lighting module, it has three 1.5 volt 20ma. bulbs and two 1.5 volt 100ma. bulbs. The brighter bulbs are over the lounge area, the dim bulbs are over the dome seating. I installed the Southern Pacific decals so after a final check out it's ready for service.
It's finally finished! I applied the decals, gave the shell two coats of Testors Dull Coat and installed all the window glass.
The picture above is without the interior lightning on. The next two pictures are with minimum ambient lighting and the interior lighting on.
This was a rather easy project, it was a first for me . . . . Murphy didn't show up and nothing went wrong. I completed this project by working a few hours each day over a 10 day period.
I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. I now have a 72' SP � Dome/Lounge car that fits in nicely with my other Athearn Streamlined 72' passenger cars.
Read More..
I'm going to attempt to Kitbash a 72' Athearn Diner into a 72' SP � Dome Lounge car. This post will follow the construction of my Kitbash project.
The first picture is my third Bachmann Kitbash, finished and ready to be replaced by a 72' Athearn Kitbash.
The next two pictures are of a 72' Athearn Diner that is going to become my � Dome Lounge car.
I scratch built the interior and added 4 oz. of #8 bird shot for extra weight.
I glued .020" sheet styrene over the unwanted windows.
I used Testors Liquid Cement to glue the Styrene in place.
Next I filled the windows with JB Kwik Weld Epoxy.
This picture shows the epoxy sanded flush with the Athearn shell.
These two pictures show the shell primed with Rust-Oleum Automotive Primer and sanded.
I bought two used Bachmann Full Dome cars off eBay to cut up for making the dome windows for this car, when they arrive I will continue the project. I only needed one full dome car but I got two used cars for $26.
After I attach the modified Bachmann dome roof I will continue sanding to remove any sign of the filled in side windows then prime the entire car with Tru-Color Primer TCP-07.
This is the Bachmann Full Dome that will be cut up for dome/roof parts.
I have glued the Acrylic and it fits the shortened dome perfectly.
Here I have set the dome on top of the Athearn Diner to mark the roof cuts.
Again cutting out the roof section took two #11 blades. The Athearn shell is much thicker than Bachmann but easier to cut. I have glued in some Styrene brackets to support the dome.
The dome fits very good. It will require some Styrene filler strips to fill the .020" gap between the Athearn sides and the Bachmann dome for a perfect fit.
The dome is glued in place and the shell is ready for finishing.
My Athearn � Dome Lounge car is ready for painting.
The sanding went very good, everything fitting together perfectly really helped. I used a dozen or so thin coats of Rust-Oleum Automotive Primer between each sanding.
I shot the complete shell with TCP-07 Primer using my airbrush.
I added some detail to the roof over the kitchen.
The large open tube is the vent for the short order cook stove and the square hatch is for maintaining the air system for the small kitchen.
I'll knock the fuzzys off with a paint rag.
I'm going to let it dry over night and do my thing with my airbrush tomorrow. I'm going to paint it SP Daylight colors.
The Daylight colors went on very good.
With the paint glossy it looks toy like, Testors Dull Coat will take care of that after I apply my decals.
The Squadron White Putty works great with the Rust-Oleum Automotive Primer. I rough sanded the putty/Styrene with 80 grit wet and dry sand paper and finished up with 150 grit.
Because the window glass is clear I'm going to build up a new interior complete with passengers and install full lighting.
I'm going to kitbash the Bachmann interior to be as close to the SP Dome cars as I can, this is what I have to work with.
I cut it up the top section to use as much as I can then did a real cut and paste using Testors Liquid Cement. I used .020" & .040" thick Evergreen Styrene sheet stock for fillers and walls.
I cut out some chairs for walkways and moved some to conform to the SP interiors.
I dropped the walkway and added Tichy stairs on both ends of the walkway, very close the SP prototype.
The top dome area is ready for paint.
I finished the lounge area interior and it's ready for paint. The seats in the lounge area have enough depth to the floor for passengers without cutting off their feet.
The picture above shows the interior before assembly. The top deck slips into the shell first then the bottom frame slides into the shell. It is held together with a lip on the right end of the shell and a single screw on the left end. The two weight assemblies consist of 2� ounces of #8 bird shot for added weight.
The following pictures show the finished interior.
The figures sitting on the upper deck are 1:100 scale to fit the Bachmann chairs. The figures in the lounge are 1:87 scale, I hand painted the 1:87 figures and did some touch up to the 1:100 figures.
Next is adding the lighting.
I finished the lighting module, it has three 1.5 volt 20ma. bulbs and two 1.5 volt 100ma. bulbs. The brighter bulbs are over the lounge area, the dim bulbs are over the dome seating. I installed the Southern Pacific decals so after a final check out it's ready for service.
It's finally finished! I applied the decals, gave the shell two coats of Testors Dull Coat and installed all the window glass.
The picture above is without the interior lightning on. The next two pictures are with minimum ambient lighting and the interior lighting on.
This was a rather easy project, it was a first for me . . . . Murphy didn't show up and nothing went wrong. I completed this project by working a few hours each day over a 10 day period.
I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. I now have a 72' SP � Dome/Lounge car that fits in nicely with my other Athearn Streamlined 72' passenger cars.
Langgan:
Ulasan (Atom)