Have a Mackbashing idea where I’m going to need help with a part if I go that route. Is there someone here who could make a steel plate 1/16 thick x 4 inches x 7 and 5/16; *{Edit - 7, seven, seven, seven, sixteenths!!!} & {Now looks like 7&1/2 is easiets to deal with}*with 1/8 inch radiused corners & a half inch hole dead center?

What I want to do is replace factory stock weights in cab with the steel deck. Which happens to be how the real deal critters from GE were ballasted with decks in different thicknesses. Stock weights are too wide to fit inside hood for the endcab beastie the thing is becoming.

Thinking about using AC to glue it to frame & pondering 4 countersunk screw/bolt holes out toward the corners.

Don’t know what size bolt yet other than a fairly short flathead machine screw kind of thing. Mechanical attachment as a longevity factor compared to chemical attachment alone.

Shipping would be a bite out of the wallet but I don’t know anyone in our population 8,300 county seat farm burg who has a machine shop to do that. I’d imagine there would be one but haven’t found it yet. Found a carpentry shop a couple years ago.

What I want to do is replace factory stock weights in cab with the steel deck. Which happens to be how the real deal critters from GE were ballasted with decks in different thicknesses.

Took a while to to alter stock with hand tools, but, hey, it was an insomnia night so why not!

Loco itself is recent acquired green Mack. Orange cab is from a Mack purchased a few years back during the HLW random colors sale for bashing in to a 3-unit electric (which I need to buy the 2 pantographs for) with totally different body. Over time on the orange cab I shaved out the internal guides for the windows; removed all raised exterior details; rescribed one door; other side of cab will have center door, which involves reshaping center window & the window in what used to be the door.

Ya know, Mackbashing is kinda fun.

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Cab windows were filled in with 1/8 square styrene from Evergreen to reduce them to 30 inches square in 1/24 scale. Because of draft angle required to get part out of mold the window sill was 1/8 thick but top is maybe 1/64 to 1/32 thinner.

Hand tools were used because between the high functioning autism and several neurological and endocrine situations I have difficulty with noise and vibration from power tools. But I do have a Dremel and a VSR drill on a cord because battery ones get too heavy quickly.

Had to stop and rest several times, but, hey, I got 'er done!

Forrest,

Sorry I can’t help but I will enjoy following your progress on this.

Mike

Thanks Mike! I just got done cutting a test pattern from .060 styrene, which is more or less 1/16 thick, (1 divided by 16 = .0625) and discovered that it should be 7 and 7/16, not 5/16. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-yell.gif)

Somewhere I goofed. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-frown.gif)Could be that all them itty bitty lines on the ruler sometimes fuse together.

And, you can’t see it from here, but yesterday and today my coordination is off and I’m mistyping about every 5th to 11th word.

Well, hmm, now what? Wel, with styrnr being styrene (now I’m leavng an example of the mistyping) the plate could be sliced and spliced wiht 1/8 by .060 strip. If I have some. Probaly locate splice under cab.

(way back in high school in typing class I was slow but nearly perfect. 4 decades and a couple neurological diseases make a difference)

Anyway, a few photos to illustrate how I do things.

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Point is chopped off corner then edge is filed and sanded to satisfaction.

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Okay, that mis-measured deckplate is going to have a useful life after all. Rattling around in the back of my mind is a concept idea for a critter built on just a Hartland Mack motor block by itself with the plate cut out to slip over motor block so deck can be 1/4 to 3/8 inch lower than otherwise.

This just became the first part of that project. And the only part for it on hand at the moment; this is the motor block from the end cab.

(and the one part of me is gong to have to go back and line up the wheel holes - opened block to remove wires to cab light bulb and had to remove a wheel set to get in to reach the wires, Hartland builds these things with the parts interlocked to withstand a magnitude 37 earthquake or the second coming, whichever happens first)

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Just go to a local general sheet metal shop they can blank out the plate for you and drill the center hole if you don’t have the means. Just file the corners yourself. Sixteen gauge would probably be plenty heavy and they may have 14 gauge if you want it really heavy.

What is the maximum thickness you can handle Forrest? I may be able to do aluminum in 1/8 thickness, and water jet cut.

I can do it if you need, I work in a sheet metal shop? Message me if you are interested.

Back to the project which started this; an intersection of ideas has just happened and its end result is to eliminate the 5/16 to 7/16 confusion.

Plan for this project was to do those add-on steps over extended couple mount as on this, http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3292399

7 & 1/2 will be a greater overhang at ends of Mack frame, so, instead of gluing steps directly to Mack pilot plate, glue them to a sheet to laminate over Mack pilot thereby reducing deck overhang back to desired amount.

Another place with a fair number of inspirational critter pictures is http://www.northeast.railfan.net/industrial.html

This thing gives me some ideas. http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/bscx587.jpg It has built in end steps configured more like a full size road switcher, I want the add-on style for current project. But look at cab awning on rear.

And especially its couplers. I had been pondering whether to make that appearance by putting a knuckle coupler above the hook and loop coupler my freelance short line employs. I lloked in to Fn3 coupler height and this knuckle would need to be a hair higher to clear the hook and loop mount. Wouldn’t match anything else anywhere, but that’s okay, it is a scenic effect not needing to be functional.

There is plenty of room to one add one without crowding the height too much.

And all that molded on detail is scheduled to disappear.

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Have done far more On30 than G and am slowly moving more in to G: I could bash freelance industrial critters till the end of time, they “speaka my language”, to lift a lyric.

Oh my gosh look at those stripes! (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)Should I??? http://www.northeast.railfan.net/images/lerc2.jpg

Rick Marty said:

Just go to a local general sheet metal shop they can blank out the plate for you and drill the center hole if you don’t have the means. Just file the corners yourself. Sixteen gauge would probably be plenty heavy and they may have 14 gauge if you want it really heavy.

I don’t yet know where there is one. Yet, that is. And yes, it will have to be someone else to cut it - I have “kitchen table” type tools - and that is indeed the kitchen table I’m working on, haven’t eaten there in 6 months!

HLW’s stock weights are 1/8 thick each and stacked and fairly heavy but not overly heavy. Was thinking larger sheet somewhat thinner would be not enough more weight to cause wheel bearing wear issues.

Bob “IA3R#7” Cope said:

What is the maximum thickness you can handle Forrest? I may be able to do aluminum in 1/8 thickness, and water jet cut.

My experience to date has been that aluminum is a bit difficult to get good glue bonds to. Other than the deck plate this wee beastie is going to be all styrene. Now, things could have changed since the 80s and 90s, but my experiences then turned me off to aluminum. Except for the aluminum canoe by Grumman which Dad had, now that baby was great!

Nico Corbo said:
I can do it if you need, I work in a sheet metal shop? Message me if you are interested.

Stay tuned for further developments.

Satisfaction achieved, 4 x 7&1/2 works well. I needed to see it in 3D to be sure it looked okay. And even turned a mistake in to a bonus part for a project not yet finalized. Well actually, neither one is; still haven’t settled on a hood style for the orange one.

And it very much is time to give this body a rest from that much hand work. But, hey, I’m now happy with the outcome.

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Sept some then got up around 02:00 and did some more. Building a shallow box atop the small frame so it will slip over motor black and clear the wheels. Had some 1/8 x 1/4, .125 x .250, strip so used that for box sides. Will sheet top with probably .040 thick sheet.

Given the sections Hartland’s motor blocks disassemble in to, I may well glue this deck to the top cover of block - screws are accessed from bottom.

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Okay, yeah, they’re coming together. Green Sparky has been getting less and less unfinished almost every other year since 2010. (http://largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-laughing.gif)

Thinking the little one will get those huge Bachmann knuckle couplers so as to run with my “mainline” railroad stuff.

And because big couplers on a little body look amusing. Something about light makes Sparky’s pantograph look rusty, it is not at all.

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Alright, got the top made and on. Which is probably going to be all the progress made for a while on that little one. Only had the concept in mind with no details worked out other than it was going to be entirely styrene except for detail parts and that weight might be added somehow like little Plymouths had weight blocks bolted to the frame: build a styrene box, fill it with shot, add bolt details and call it done.

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