In case anyone was following this thread and missed it, the finished photos and video were posted in a separate thread. You can see them here:
http://cs.trains.com/TRCCS/forums/t/185237.aspx
The project is finished but here's a construction pic that I hadn't gotten around to posting before. It shows the windshield wipers I made for the loco, out of bits of brass wire:
This evening I finished wiring up the Revolution receiver, Phoenix sound board, new lights, etc, tested it, and EVERYTHING WORKS!!! Whoohooo!
Of course, then I realized that I forgot to put the engineer in the cab, so now I have to open it all up again. :P
Right now I can only run it back and forth on a 5' section of track in the garage. I'll have to wait a couple days for our latest batch of rain to stop, before I can clean up the layout and get it running out there. I haven't been able to run anything on the layout since mid-October, due to the frequent rain this year.
Anyway, I still have a few things I need to do on the exterior of the loco before it's officially finished.
Ray,
Excellent work. Keep the updates coming, although I would consider it done already, once the handrails are on.
Mick
Chief Operating Officer
Northern Timber Company - Mt Beenak
I haven't had a lot of time to work on this project lately, due to getting ready for Christmas, etc. But I have made a little progress...
First off, I got everything painted. The deck and underframe is painted Rustoleum gloss black. The pilots and the sides of the deck are painted "school bus yellow", and the cab and hoods are burgandy. I added the herald, engine number and some "high voltage" signs, all of which were printed out on self-adhesive vinyl.
Then I started on the weathering. Here's a shot of how it looks so far. (The handrails along the sides have been left off at this time, and the cab/hoods are not yet weathered.)
I'm using flat Apple Barrel craft acrylics for the weathering except where noted. I applied a thin, blotchy wash of dark brown to the deck, with a few blotches of lighter, rustier brown, mostly down the middle of the walkways where there would be more wear.
I began weathering the pilot and steps by brushing on some dark brown "rust" areas to represent places where the paint has been scratched or worn off -- mostly along edges, and on the handrails. When this had dried, I dry-brushed some highlights to represent bare metal, using a mix of Model Master "gun metal" and "steel" non-buffing metalizer.
Then I went over the whole thing with a thin wash of dirty, rusty brown. This wash had some clear acrylic matte medium mixed in, and a tiny dab of liquid detergent to prevent beading on the glossy surface. When applying the wash to the front of the pilot, I held the model so that the front would be almost level, preventing the paint from running off. However, I did allow some of the paint to build up along the bottom edge. It still needs some more work, but here's how it looks now:
I did the same thing along the side of the deck, adding some extra rust color to certain areas and allowing it to run down in streaks. This too, still needs more work.
The trucks had been weathered already, but I decided they needed something more. I wanted to add some caked on dust and dirt, which would be typical on an engine that runs in the desert and works around mines and mills. To do this, I used some ashes from our barbecue. First I applied a mix of grimy colored paint and matte medium, with a dab of detergent. Then I sprinkled on the ashes, and blew off the excess. I went over it again with some more of the grimy paint mix to wet the ashes thoroughly.
I gave this same treatment to the back of the pilot as well as the fuel and air tanks, keeping in mind the way these features would most likely accumulate such dust and grime.
On the fuel tank, I added several successive layers of thin, dusty washes to represent build up of spilled fuel and dirt. Then I topped it off with a narrow "dribble" of muddy black paint mixed with gloss medium, to look like a recent spill:
The fuel cap was painted with Model Master "brass" metalizer, then given a wash of grimy black. I may give it another layer or two of grime.
That's all for now, more later. Merry Christmas!
I got the handrails done for the front pilot. I just need to make a couple of minor adjustments, then duplicate it for the rear pilot. The straight uprights were made same as the ones along the side, using carbon fiber rod with a thin styrene strip laminated to it. The angled uprights were a challenge. I couldn't get any brass strips in the correct size, so I ended up using 3/32" aluminum tube, and flattened it with a hammer:
I also need to adapt some couplers.
Here's another brief update...
On the real RS-3, there are chains connecting the brake wheel with the brake cylinders on the rear truck. The chains pass through a couple of guides that hang down from the underside of the deck. I added these details to my model. I had to make sure that the truck would still be able to turn enough to handle my 6.5' minimum diameter curves. Here's how it looks prior to painting:
I'm getting closer to the finish line!
You read my febel thoughts on my paint combiation, now I will have to go with a darker red.
Dave
The head is gray, hands don't work , back is weak, legs give out, eyes are gone, money go's and my wife still love's Me.
I got the superstructure (cab and hoods) painted. Still have to add lettering, then weather it. Once that's done, I can install the "glass" in the windows:
The main color is Rustoleum Gloss Enamel burgandy. The handrails and pilots will be "school bus yellow", using Rustoleum's "inverted marking paint".
The steps and deck are gloss black:
I used 1/24th scale diamond treadplate for the steps and deck. The only current source for this is Don Mills Models, which specializes in custom model trucks. Here's a link in case anyone's interested:
http://www.donmillsmodels.com/main/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=flypage_new.tpl&product_id=183&category_id=25&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=73
That's all for now.
Ray I was poking fun at you, I have been following this post since day one.
IRB Souther Engineer Isn't that in front of the cab?
Isn't that in front of the cab?
Depends on which way you're running it. When they first were put into use, most railroads ran them with the long hood forward. That's how my RR does it too.
dwbeckett OK how did you drill the square hole's for the hand rail's?
OK how did you drill the square hole's for the hand rail's?
Dave, I drilled round holes, then filled them with "Kwik Plastic", a type of epoxy putty available from Home Depot. While the putty was still soft, I used a homemade tool to press a short length of rectangular rod into the putty. The rod was smeared with a bit of vasoline so I could pull it out cleanly. I posted pics of this a little bit back in the thread.
Ray Dunakin In this photo you can see the "cabinets" that form the raised part of the deck, behind the cab:
In this photo you can see the "cabinets" that form the raised part of the deck, behind the cab:
PS have four ready the ship
Haven't had as much time as usual for modeling lately but I am making a little progress...
I finished the handrails along the sides of the engine. Here are a few shots with the handrails temporarily installed. (The fuel tank, air tanks and a few other items have been removed.):
I still have to make the handrails and other details for the ends of the pilots:
I used brass tubing to make "sockets" for the handrails to plug into where they connect to the pilot:
Here's a close up photo of the new, larger smokestack, and the bell with air ringer. The bell has already been painted but is not yet glued in place:
[img]http://www.raydunakin.com/Site/IRR_RS3_Conversion_files/Media/IMG_1893/IMG_1893.jpgv
Well, that's all for now. It's getting close to the finish line!
Finally, another update!
One of my biggest concerns when I started this project, was how to do the handrail supports. They need to be tough and rigid, slightly flexible but not brittle, and they need to be removable. I also wanted them to be as close to the prototype as possible. I considered using brass rod, but it's round, and the real thing is made of flat slabs. Brass bar stock might work but is not easy to find in such a small size. Brass would also be tough to work with, especially drilling the holes for the handrails to run through. And brass doesn't spring back if it gets bent over.
Then I hit on a solution: Rectangular carbon fiber rod! These are sold by Midwest Products and can be found in many hobby shops, in a variety of sizes. It's a high strength composite material used in aircraft. It's very rigid yet somewhat flexible, and extremely hard to break.
I used some carbon fiber rod that measures .019" thick by .118" wide. As tough as it is, it can be split lengthwise, so I laminated some strips of .010" thick styrene to it. I was then able to drill holes through the supports without splitting the carbon fiber. I also added brackets and simulated bolts/nuts made of styrene. Here are some pics:
The handrail supports are designed to fit into slots in the deck and frame of the engine. This presented another problem: How to create deep, narrow slots? I have no tools capable of doing that. So my solution is to drill round holes, fill them with epoxy putty, then use a homemade tool to press the slots into the putty. Here's a photo of the tool I made, and a chunk of scrap styrene used as a test subject:
This worked just fine. The top surface of the putty came out a little rough on this test piece but I think I can do better. Most of it will be hidden by the bracket anyway. Here are a couple shots showing how the support fits into the slot on the test piece:
Now I just have to drill holes in the deck, add the putty, and form the slots for the model itself.
Meanwhile I also did a few other small things... I decided that the smokestack needed to be taller, to look right with the new larger cab, so I built up a new stack around the old one. I also created a bracket and air ringer for the bell, and made the metal "cabinets" on the deck behind the cab. I don't have pics of these changes yet.
.
I have 4 ready to ship just give me quoat. the delta northern need's some matching road switcher's
very good work, wish i had my computer when i was in the hospital, eventhough i missed my birthday run, it would have been nice to follow your progess.
dave home finally
Very nice! I like the paint job.
I've finished the cab interior details. I didn't bother trying to include every single detail of the prototype. I just wanted to include enough of the major features, enough to give the impression that it's all there. As it is, much of what I did include will be difficult to see anyway. Here's a shot of the control stand under construction:
And here's the complete interior assembly. This assembly slides up into the cab from below. The floor was made to look like old wood with worn paint, as seen in some RS-3 pics I found:
On the fireman's side, I added a toolbox and grease bucket. These were cast from molds I made of originals I found on ebay. Everything else in the cab is scratch-built. The toolbox and bucket help support the end panels:
Oops! I made the seats a little bit too tall. Fortunately that's easy to fix. The seats are not glued down, they are secured with screws. I'll just remove them, cut the seats off the posts, shorten the posts, and glue the seats back together.
BTW, the seated figure is from SLM, and will be serving as the engineer until I get around to sculpting some custom figures for this loco.
Progress has been a little slow this week, but it's getting there. Here's the latest update...
I decided to mount the air tanks to the fuel/water tank assembly, rather than mounting them directly to the chassis. I used some small screws from an old camera:
Both the front and rear pilots are basically finished. The brake hoses are from Phil's Narrow Gauge -- I modified them slightly for this application. I still need to make some MU cables. The handrails and associated stuff will be added later:
I put the whole thing together temporarily just to see how it looks:
That's it for now. Currently I'm working on the cab interior... more updates to come.
Time for another update...
I ran into a little snag with those new air tanks. Although they're the same length as the originals, they're wider and are designed to mount more realistically. The originals are flat on one side and mount up under the edge of the frame:
Mine are intended to mount on the frame, like the real ones do. Trouble is, they foul the sand lines on the front truck:
So I had to order new, elliptical domes to replace the hemispheric domes. This reduces the total length of each tank by at least a quarter inch, more than enough to clear the sand lines. It also makes the tanks more accurate, as most of the RS-3's I've seen have tanks with elliptical ends:
While I was waiting for those new domes to arrive, I started work on the front pilot. I had hoped to be able to use most of the stock parts, but decided that too many changes were needed, so it was simpler to scratch-build. I did retain the rear portion of the pilot, since this has the tabs and such needed to mount it to the frame.
I began by cutting off the poling pockets. Then I glued on styrene extensions to widen the pilot. I also used a Dremel with a small carving bit to lengthen the slots that support the steps:
Then I decided to mount the steps differently, so I filled in the slots. This would have been easier to do if I had not already added some bolt details. I also sanded the poling pockets smaller and glued them back on, in their new positions:
I couldn't find anything better suited to represent the steel grill used on the steps, so I reused the original steps from the model. However, I sanded them to about half their original thickness:
I built up a completely new front section of the pilot. This was glued to the rear section, rather than being attached with screws as the original parts were. I changed the position of the steps, to fit the now-wider pilot:
Here's how it looks on the frame:
I had to take some liberties with it, particularly at the coupler pocket, but I think I captured the essence of the prototype pretty well. I still have to add some more details, such as the air hose, MU cables, grab irons, lift bar, etc.
Those look a lot better then the stock parts!
This is one of those projects where one thing leads to another...
Having made the deck wider, I decided that the fuel tank needed to be wider as well, so I built a completely new fuel tank. This actually works out well though because I now have room to fit the speaker in the tank, eliminating the risk of moisture damage posed by the factory speaker location. And of course I also got to detail it out nicely too.
Here's the original fuel tank:
And here's the new one:
The areas that have been patched with putty look pretty ugly now but it'll look much nicer when it's painted:
In this photo you can see where I'll be mounting the speaker. I still need to drill a bunch of little holes to form a speaker grill:
The original air tanks weren't worth reusing, so I'm replacing them too. The new tanks will be wider and more detailed. Here a shot of the new tank next to the old one:
A closer view of the new tank (I still need to build the second air tank for the other side):
Here's how the fuel and air tank will fit together. I still have to add the plumbing, too:
I already had some domes, but I didn't have any styrene tubes in the correct size for the air tanks. So rather than order them online and have to wait to have them delivered, I found a pair of plastic knitting needles at Michael's that were exactly the right size!
Hmm, one pic got messed up in the last post, and I don't see any way to edit the post so here's the pic...
I was concerned about the sand lines, which seem to be in a position where they are likely to get banged up a bit in use. So I inserted brass rods into the mold prior to casting:
Finally have another update on this project...
First, here's how I made the mold for the brake shoe assemblies:
I made the brake rods from brass:
I used short sections of rectangular brass tube to make the clevis on the brake rods. First I grind off one side of the tube, then cut off the short sections using a Dremel and cutoff wheel:
I also made castings for the brake lever and the sideframe extension that goes above it. Here's how the sideframes look with the brake cylinder, brake rod, lever and extension in place:
That's all for now, more later.
I got the parts out of the rubber but could not salvage the mold. The shapes were just too irregular. I'm currently in the midst of a second attempt at molding the parts.
Ray, maybe you should add that OOPS to my new post in General Dis, dumb things NOT to do Part 2
Dave ( sometimes you feel like a nut (Case) ).
Doh!
Rather than making the four remaining brake shoe assemblies individually, I wanted to try molding and casting them.
I spent a considerable amount of time figuring out a way to make a two-piece mold of the brake shoe assemblies. This was not an easy task, because they are a fairly complex shape. Got the first half of the mold cast. Added some stuff to form the fill channels, then poured the second half of the mold. All of this was done piecemeal, between numerous interruptions, which also meant a lot of it was done in a rush. (You can probably guess where this is heading...)
Pulled the mold out of the form this evening and discovered the Big Mistake. I had forgotten to apply any kind of mold release between the two halves of the mold. So now I have one big block of (expensive) silicone rubber with two master brake assemblies buried somewhere in the middle.
< sigh >
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