Large Scale Central

Up-Scaling a Delton Classic to FN3

Modeling
#61

Thanks Guys -

Shawn, details have their good and bad points. Too many and the model becomes fragile and unpractical for the garden. Too few and realism is lost. It’s difficult to find the balance :slight_smile: I tend to get caught up in them because I spend so much time studying prototype photos. Then when it comes to implementing there must be compromises in order to use what is readily available and/or on-hand.

Bart and Bob coined the term “Operations Quality” which means just enough detail to be presentable, but not so much as to make handling and operation difficult. It usually means, among other things, no underside detail that can’t be seen. That’s kind of where I’d like to be at, but its hard deciding what to leave off. I really like the look of the cast detail items, but drilling all the holes to mount them is a lot of work.

#62

So… I got a couple of ladders built. When I went to install the rear one I realized that it needed to go on before the rod. Oh well, glad the first one I made was copper wire. I just clipped it, cut one of the NBW/Plate castings off and then replaced it with a brass rod after the rear ladder was glued on…

I also started adding other cast details like truss rod ends on the rear. When I went to put on poling pockets I discovered a design flaw…

I can’t have a left pocket because of the way I did the ladder. The steel frame version of this car has an end beam running the full width with the pole pockets mounted to the beam. I’m not really sure about the all wood 2nd generation cars. The drawing in my East Broad Top book isn’t clear on this detail and I can’t locate a picture. On Kevin’s model he cut the ladders short at the bottom which makes room for the pole pocket. I need to make a decision on this detail. I also added some cast details on one side like NBW castings for the bolster attachment…

#63

Jon You really need to get into casting your own pieses. Every thing you need to do it can come in a" kit " from MicroMark. I’m not going to get into casting, there are a lot of great “how to” already out there, But for little things like roof walk supports its really easy. Heres the one part mold I made to keep me from going boonkers cutting a hundred little supports and the bigger wedges are for the walks from the ladders to the walks.

(http://i1234.photobucket.com/albums/ff403/dave2-8-0/21.jpg)

I’d offer you a bunch of mine, But it looks like the EBT’s are different from those on the D&RG.

#64

Thanks Dave. Someday :slight_smile:

While I was working on the plow this weekend I saw how to fix the screw-up that killed my mojo. Now I just need to get to it :slight_smile:

#65

Progress Finally! It’s been nearly a month since I worked in this car. I was stuck on how to fix poor planning resulting in a conflict between a ladder and a poling pocket. I finally decided to do what they would have done in the EBT shops if presented with a similar problem: just make it work. So I corrected some crooked ladder rungs, hacked the ladder to allow for the polling pocket, then added the rest of the end detail to the brake end. Here are the pics… Completed Brake end…

Had to re-glue some car lines knocked off by rough handling…

The poling pocket hack…

I still need to work out the roof walks and fabricate something to represent the door hangers but it’s getting close to being ready for paint.

#66

Nice to see you got things worked out, Jon.
Putting it down and getting away from it for awhile usually works for me too :wink:
Ralph

#67

Very nice

#68

Jon,

I would really like to see that in person. I hope you can bring it to York? What is your coupler height?

#69

Thanks guys. A lot of the components and hardware are oversize. I’m making do with materials and castings I have in-stock. The ladder rails and brake platform are too thick, but they kind of work :slight_smile:

This project almost met with instant death last night. While cleaning up I set the car on its side a shelf, then backed into it. My shirt got snagged in one of the NBW’s and I pulled the car half way off the shelf before I realized what was happening. Had to call the wife to get me untangled. It was a 4 foot drop to the floor from there. Would not have been pretty.

Ric - I’m doing my best to have this done for York. I’ll bring it finished-or-not since its so close. My couplers are set to line up with AMS & Bachman F scale cars. I made my own height gauge. Probably not as accurate as a purchased one, but works for me so far.

The plan is that this will be the battery/sound trail car for my FN3 locos. At this point I only have one 45 ton diesel set up for trail-car battery. This car will replace the open gondola and drill battery I used at Bob’s. I need to wire up my Connie too, but that won’t happen before York.

#70

Jon,

Excellent build. It gives me a little courage to try my own at building some stuff. I have to admit that I am a little intimidated by the scope of doing all that detail work.

I think all the “make it work” stuff that you have installed on your car makes it unique and gives it character.

#71
Jake Smith said:
[i][/i]I am a little intimidated by the scope of doing all that detail work.
So am I :) I particularly hate drilling all the holes for the cast NBWs. I use a pin vise but it really kills my hands. I'd use my Dremel but it cuts too fast. My corded and cordless drills are too big and cumbersome. Guess I need to look at Harbor Freight for a mini power drill.

I’m also afraid that some of the details will prove to be too fragile. I already ripped off some grab irons once. If that happens again they will change from cast white metal to bent aluminum wire.

Except for the inner body shell and frame, this is pretty much a scratch build. I’ve only once ever built anything from scratch before, a wooden flat. Oh, and I started some skeleton log cars, but they don’t count 'cause the are way far from done yet. The problem with this build is that I have no plan, just ideas in my head and measured photos. There comes a point when looking at photos you need to say ‘my model doesn’t need that detail’. Unfortunately I haven’t learned how to do that yet :smiley:

#72

Looking good, Jon.

If you ever see the Microlux mini-drill anywhere, I’d sure consider getting it. It goes from 140 to 1,500 RPM and sure beats using a pin vise. I bought mine from Micro-Mark long ago, but they don’t seem to carry it anymore. It’s a great tool.

Another option might be a cordless screwdriver…

#73
Jon Radder said:
Thanks guys. A lot of the components and hardware are oversize. I'm making do with materials and castings I have in-stock. The ladder rails and brake platform are too thick, but they kind of work :)

This project almost met with instant death last night. While cleaning up I set the car on its side a shelf, then backed into it. My shirt got snagged in one of the NBW’s and I pulled the car half way off the shelf before I realized what was happening. Had to call the wife to get me untangled. It was a 4 foot drop to the floor from there. Would not have been pretty.

Ric - I’m doing my best to have this done for York. I’ll bring it finished-or-not since its so close. My couplers are set to line up with AMS & Bachman F scale cars. I made my own height gauge. Probably not as accurate as a purchased one, but works for me so far.

The plan is that this will be the battery/sound trail car for my FN3 locos. At this point I only have one 45 ton diesel set up for trail-car battery. This car will replace the open gondola and drill battery I used at Bob’s. I need to wire up my Connie too, but that won’t happen before York.


Jon,

Bring your 45 tonner, also and we’ll run it through the tracks of the Timesaver. I should have new wired Box Cab delivered at York that weekend. Nice big stuff to try on tight trackage.

#74

Sounds like a plan! AFAIK I won’t be there until after show time on Friday.

#75
Ric Golding said:
Bring your 45 tonner, also and we'll run it through the tracks of the Timesaver.
Perfect for switching out Superliners !
#76

Oh man, now the pressure is on. I hadn’t planned on it being finished both cosmetically and functionally :o Managed to build one more ladder last night before my hands and eyes gave up. One to go then the last major hurdle is roof walks. I am lovin’ that 3M Emblem cement. Thanks for the tip Dave!

Edit for grammar - still on my first cup.

#77

More progress. It was tough staying inside and working on this rather than enjoying the 50F sunny afternoon, but the pressure is on so I persevere :slight_smile: I needed another set of ladders, this time I took shots of the assembly steps. 3MM PVC is ripped to width on the table saw then cut to length and shaped with a knife. Wood grain is added with a razor saw blade…

The rail is then drilled for NBW castings and the edge slotted for the rungs with an exacto knife…

Rungs are cut from brass rod using a jig to measure…

The ladder is the assembled in a jig using 3M Emblem cement…

The door hangers used by the EBT are simple affairs. Rather than fool with brass to try and get the “T” shape I decided to cut them from thin styrene sheet. To make the job easier I printed outlines of the shape directly to the styrene on my ink-jet printer. The ink didn’t want to dry so I simply covered it with scotch tape while I cut out the shapes…

Here’s one glued to the door with some acrylic paint drops standing in as carriage bolt heads…

I also needed something for a door latch. EBT used a hasp, but I got lazy and came up with this hook design. The receiver is cut from an Ozark brake pipe hanger casting . The hook is copper wire with one end flattened and attached with an NBW casting…

The complete detailed door…

That just about completes the detailing of one end and one side. The second end and side should go faster with what I learned on the first two.

#78

Cool. Now you’ll have to enter it in the contest at York!

#79

Nice progress Jon. :slight_smile:

#80

Looking good Jon…btw…the 3m has yet to fail me!