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 Posted - May 25 2010 : 12:31:47 AM
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Well, being in the mountains of Italy must have connected with Colorado and my memories of narrow gauge trains somewhere deep in my mind, because one of the first projects I've done since being home for the summer is bash my N-scale Bachmann GP-50 into a HOn30 narrow gauge diesel. I got inspiration from looking at other HOn30 kitbashes around the internet, and decided to have a go at it.
Here's what I started with:
The cab is basswood and cardstock, with details pulled from my dead Tyco SD-24:
Painted, with a flatcar built on a boxcar chassis in tow (the exhaust stack is a Battleship game peg):
I had the boys down at the shops line up a comparison shot with standard gauge 2-8-0 #2523 as the sun set on a good day's work:
I left the Norfolk Southern logo on the front, intending to eventually letter it for my fictitious Mustang Mining Corp.
I think it turned out pretty well for my first major locomotive bash!
--Rio Grande--Thru the Rockies
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 Posted - May 25 2010 : 06:35:15 AM
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Creative and different - Definitely unique
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Posted - May 25 2010 : 09:43:02 AM
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That is creative. Excellent kitbash.
Unspoken expectations are premeditated failures.
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 Posted - May 27 2010 : 4:27:52 PM
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A Life-Like N-scale 0-6-0 switcher I found at the hobby store this weekend for $25 just finished it's transformation into a smooth-running steam loco. I followed the procedure shaygetz used on a similar loco on his website (http://www.freewebs.com/shaygetz/060.htm) with my own Rio Grande aesthetics thrown in. I also don't have his secret-weapon-grade styrene signboard, but I do have boxes and bags full of architectural model scrapwood!
Here's the start of the process, with the unmodified loco and a heavyweight truck (the future tender) sitting next to a concept sketch:
/tyco/forum/uploaded/architrains/20100527154035_IMG_8119a.jpg
In progress, with the N-scale details removed and replaced with larger ones, largely a glue applicator tip for the stack and the eraser cap off a mechanical pencil for the dome:
/tyco/forum/uploaded/architrains/20100527154114_IMG_8121a.jpg
Finished and awaiting the paint shop:
/tyco/forum/uploaded/architrains/20100527154145_IMG_8122a.jpg
Painted and numbered, with the engineer tipping his hat to the designer:
/tyco/forum/uploaded/architrains/20100527154230_IMG_8127a.jpg
The fireman shovels on a little more coal:
/tyco/forum/uploaded/architrains/20100527154252_IMG_8128a.jpg
A comparison with the original #42:
/tyco/forum/uploaded/architrains/20100527154316_IMG_8126a.jpg
This engine is definitely tiny. The tender makes it almost as long as the diesel, though. I love the way it looks in Rio Grande black and silver. From certain angles it almost looks like one of their narrow gauge 2-8-0s.
I might run back to the train store soon to grab another...$25 (plus some change for the junk bin parts) and 6 hours of work isn't bad for an HO scale steam engine...plus it's just good cheap fun! Maybe if I'm feeling really ambitious I'll grab two, wire them together, and build a Garratt (!!!)  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_AhsAqO09k
--Rio Grande--Thru the Rockies
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Posted - May 27 2010 : 5:58:44 PM
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"...secret-weapon-grade styrene signboard..."
Alas...my mojo has been revealed...sigh...
Nice work on both of them...
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Posted - May 28 2010 : 12:48:56 AM
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Really nice job on both of them.  I particularly like the steamer. Do you know what make it was?
Very good sketch as well, btw. 
The Tyco Depot
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Posted - May 28 2010 : 12:15:28 PM
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The steamer is a Life-Like 0-6-0 saddle tank. For being so cheap ($25 at my favorite hobby shop, and generally around that on sale from Walthers) it runs like a dream. It's a favorite mechanism to use amongst the HOn30 modeling crowd.
I think the steamer is my quick favorite, too...if only because watching Thomas the Tank Engine brainwashed me about evil "diseasels" at a young and impressionable age! Unfortunately it can only pull about three cars up a slight grade...so the big diesel will have to handle most of the coal and ore traffic from the mines.
I'm running out to Hobby Lobby today (only "hobby" store where I live) and grabbing a few more N-scale cars to cut up...I'll post some more pics of the rolling stock after I get a caboose built.
I've got an old unfinished piece of N-scale layout that's the end of a mine branchline I'm digging out and rehabbing into a HOn30 line...I'll post pics of that in the Layouts section after I get the cobwebs off.
--Rio Grande--Thru the Rockies
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Posted - June 20 2010 : 01:01:12 AM
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I've had a chance this weekend to spend some time working on the N-scale Bachmann Prairie I got at Hobby Lobby's train deletion sale.
I forgot to get a "before" pic, so the story starts with the new headlight and stack in place, and the cab removed:
I'm particularly proud of the headlight. For being a dowel with a cardstock visor, it's pretty convincing, even unpainted.
The next step was adding the cab sides, and figuring out clearances with the tender. The tender needed to be cut back to allow the cab to swing and provide a place for the fireman to stand.
I'm taking my time to make this engine "superdetailed" so I went to the trouble of making frames for the front cab windows:
While those dried, I built up the tender and hunted up a bit to use as a steam dome. Then I glued them on and got started on the supports for the cab roof. This is where it stands tonight:
Tomorrow I'll finish off the cab and paint and letter it, and it'll be ready for service!
--Rio Grande--Thru the Rockies
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Posted - June 25 2010 : 6:50:32 PM
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Did you make the concept sketch? That sketch has a lot of character! Interesting stuff, very creative.
Alco Fan
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Posted - June 25 2010 : 11:58:43 PM
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Yes, I drew the concept sketch...I do a lot of that as an architecture student.  I usually draw one before I start a major kitbash or scratchbuild so that I know where I'm headed or at least the overall look I'm going for. I even do it sometimes for a complicated detailing project. I have an old Bachmann 4-4-0 that I repainted with my own navy blue paint scheme that I sketched out first to see how it would look.
--Rio Grande--Thru the Rockies
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Posted - June 26 2010 : 12:33:20 AM
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Okay, I finally finished the 2-6-2, which became #10.
Here it is with the just-completed "Crazy Crystals" boxcar I scratchbuilt using Micro-Trains trucks:
The sides of the boxcar came from a recent article in Railroad Model Craftsman about the paper car sides from the 1950s that I scanned.
Here's a more frontal view:
Here the head end brakeman fills the tender at Plasticville:
#7 is coupled as a helper at the end of the train for an assault on the pass:
You can see why the Mustang RR ordered diesels, as represented by #42. A ratio of two cars to an engine in order to reach the highest mining camps is not a money making operational pattern. No matter how much the miners are willing to pay for Crazy Crystals brand bottled water.
Yet to come: passenger service! (And some youtube videos.)
And eventually, some work on the actual Mustang Mining Corp. micro-layout over in the layouts section.
--Rio Grande--Thru the Rockies
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Posted - June 26 2010 : 01:17:19 AM
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| Too cool...
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