I was able to temporally install the R/C system which I'm using a gscale graphics unit, took it to a friends house who has a standup railroad and ran it, wow was I pleased it ran perfectly and the articulation worked better than I hoped, even negotiated 1100 S curves and switches, only down side was 1 turn I showed a little wheel slippage but think it was because of un even track and tight curve but I've added additional weight any ways, also looking for another traction tire wheel for the other side. Have managed to cram all the electronics into the tender area and left now is just cleaning up the wiring, after Old Joe is finished, Just headlight wiring to do, I think I will paint up a combine car for the Mason and that will give me a 3 car train and with the engine being 2' long that's going to be enough, More to come, Bill
Still working on numbering, got the smokebox plate numbered along with the sand dome, added some Jax pewter black to the bell rope and have made a plate for the center of the cab where I can run my wiring, sort of like a tunnel and is removable using magnetic tape so removal is easy. Have gotten the R/C board along with battery and charging board fitted in the tender section and might have room to place a sound board in there also, pretty small space. If I can do it I will place the speaker in the roof of the cab as I have used this location before with good results, more to come, Bill
Not a lot done but it's something I have been working on for a while now, numbering the engine. Time spent trying to select a number and how to do it, I settled on year built, which I have done before, and but still having problems on how. I usually use a silhouette machine to do lettering but the vinyl does like irregularities especially rivets. The vinyl is flexible but not to the size of the head if a pin, so I thought about spray painting but need a template that would adhere to the surface including rivets. After some research I settled on stencil paper for my machine. First try was great, not only does the stencil paper stay in place, doesn't fold over it's self, but is pretty sticky and weeds well. Still didn't sit down the best on the rivets but was acceptable to the point that over sprays could be dealt with after the fact with a small brush and back ground paint. But then with a brain storm I thought if the stencil was more flexible maybe it would contour better. 15 minutes in the sun seemed about right and firm pressure with my thumb on the stencil was all it took, only a couple of spots that paint crept under the stencil but not bad. Now it's not the engine anymore now it's #"19" Again pleased with the results and now working on hiding the wiring for the engine from front to rear. More to come, Bill
Well since last post, I wasn't to happy with the bell rope as I selected too small a wire to twist and didn't hang right, so I made another using a larger diameter wire and liking the results. Well since last post, I have been researching batteries and types and with the help of several on LSC have selected Lipo, reason being as hobby shops are far and few between in Daytona Beach, Fl. but one that has been around for several years and even thru the down town street redo is High Fly Hobbies. Primarily an R/C plane and car dealer but they have been more than helpful with my small purchases of styrene, brass wire, and paints and I valued their knowledge and that they are local dealer that I can return to if I have questions or problems. Was able to find a battery that along with the Gscalegraphics control board, fits nicely into the tender section of the engine with room left over for their, GSG's, sound board. Have hooked up the speed control and tested and all I can say is there isn't any thing much easer, worked great. The only thing left is to complete the wiring of the R/C system, front headlight, smoke unit and want to put a flickering led's in the fire box, thanks to all with the help and suggestions, more to come, Bill
Placing the builders plate on decale paper worked out well, They could have been a little bigger but not something I can't do later Put the printed decal in a hot laminate machine for water proofing and thickness and applied with a dab of glue. While up there I made my bell rope out of twisted strands of wire and colored it with Jax pewter black. Being as the bell didn't have the long spread out activation arms that the original did I put so eyelets on the side of the sand and steam dome for the rope to go thru.
Got the sand dome pull rod blackened and the builders plate transfered to decal paper and now on brass/gold foil paper tomorrow will try and laminate it for strength and weather proofing
Put a coat of matt on the bell so it would match the brass domes on the steam and sand dome, also installed a leaver at the base of the sand dome along with an activation rod, think I'm pretty much done with the boiler detail except for the builders plates which I have been experimenting with and so far nothing has worked. Had some brass paper that I tried printing on from an image of a real mason bogie plate which looked good on regular white paper but wasn't dark enough to show up well on the brass, might use the stricker end of a 38 caliber shell cartridge, just have to see, till then, Bill
Thanks to a new friend in NJ the Mason Bogie has a bell, really adds to the looks of the top of the boiler, left to do on top is add a shift leaver and shift rod for the sand dome, more to come
Still working on the mason bogie, got the port side piping done and the reverse linkage secure, and on the starboard side I got the reach rod installed to the shifting linkage it is secured to the side of the engine in the black part of the firebox and does not enter into the cab, all the piping and grab rails move forward to remove themselves from the cab this way I can remove the boiler, cab or chassis for repair. Everything is built with styrene except for the bolts which are 2/56 black hex bolts. Next on the list is the sand dome activation bar and pull rod, still waiting on a replacement bell to arrive. More to follow, Bill
Update to the Mason Bogie bash, tested the operation of the reversing bar in relation ship to the reversing shaft at the bell housing and found very little up/down movement and very little front to rear, most of the movement comes when the engine is in a turn and that seems to more or less just flex with the turn. Not having the patience or tools necessary to machine parts for the vertical lifting bar I settled on elastic black cord and small crimp on fittings from Hobby Lobby to simulate the steel lifting rod and it seems to preform very well. The cord is stretched just enough to make it look straight and it puts up well with both side rod and turning applications. Both ends are secured with 2/56 Allen head screws which allow the grips to move freely and still looking for the bell, train show in a week might find one there. Being as the reversing shaft is free to move the shifting bar that runs from the cab interior to the long bar from the shifting shaft will be secured to the rear section of the boiler just before the cab in order to keep tension on the cord. Pleased with the out come so far and as with everything on this project it comes apart with 2/56 screws, just a lot of screws. At the moment I'm gathering parts to build a flickering fire box which I have built several and look really neat at night. So next step is getting into the wiring of headlight, smoke unit along with R/C and battery, more to come, Bill
While still looking for the misplaced bell I have gotten most of the shifter mechanism done still in styrene white but as soon as it dries up around here it will get some paint. Left to do on it is designing the vertical lift bar that runs between the shift leaver at the top and the side drive bar on the chassis. Am considering using round cord elastic that would give with the turning and side rod movements, got to get it on the rollers and see how much everything moves, More to follow, Bill
Slowly moving along, got the rear firebox bulhead detailed out and have the bell/reversing lever bracket made, not if i could just find the darn bell, more to come, Bill
Got a little more done this weekend but we also had a tropical wave come thru wich meant cleaning up and shoreing things but I did get the firebox finished, just need to add the spool to the starbord side and hightlight the rivets so they show up better, more to come and on to the bell
More progress on the Mason Bogie, got the boiler handrails done and piping for the sand dome and was done with 1/16" brass wire, reused the stanchions from the original Lionel 0-6-0 and was going to purchase 2 more to put 3 on each side but after reviewing the shipping cost I decided on 2 on each side. Received my G scale graphics R?C system and am looking forward to getting it install but first will have to make some more detail parts like the bell and the firebox but at least it is starting to look like something, more to follow.
and thank you for the vulcan video reminds me of my kit bashed "Rosy"
Your kitbash is turning out great! Thanks for sharing the build so far.
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Moving along at a snails pace the Mason Bogie is taking shape. Finally got everything fitted, what a pain, being as I'm not a master builder I adjust as I go along. Funny after fitting 1 piece and going to another when rechecking now the first piece is off a little more readjustments and so it went, on and on but finally everything is now fitting. Next is fitting the headlight and making the bell bracket and mounting, always touch up paint and the motor chassis has to be re assembled but the tunnel is getting shorter, more as it progresses
Further progress on the mason bogie, boiler painted using cab light green and missed with silver over spray and the fire box I added rivets and colored both it and the smoke box with a dark gray metallic graphite. Pretty much most of the detailed fitting is done allowing a better look at the articulation suspension. which will be next along with the coloring of the running boards. Domes are done and screwed to the boiler with single 8/32 screw and leaving only the bell to be built and fitted to the top of the boiler. More to come, Bill
Moving right along, got the bases for the domes done out of PVC pipe and also fitted the boiler running boards + sizing the boiler to the chassis and installing the upper section of the fire box
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