Chris's Marion 91 Steam Shovel

[crueby]

Thanks all, getting very close now. Today I got the last few bits to connect up the throttle on the steering engine, a crank arm to turn the corner from up at the ceiling to down to the engine, plus a few more clevises and rods. Loctite is setting on some of that, so tomorrow should be good to go for final assembly. There are a bunch of little spots to touch up the paint around the model too. Getting ready for a big rc sub run next weekend too...


 

[crueby]

Last parts all assembled onto the model, steering engine all bolted in and linked up, so its time for final painting. Touched up the black areas on the frame/floor/boom that got dinged up during the build, and have gotten a coat of grey onto the pipework and linkages. Still need to spot some of the red nuts/bolts on the outside of the cab, and re-touch any thin spots from the first coats. Below are a few photos showing the current state:
Main engine space with one side wall removed...

Pipework in main engine spaces, and front of the boiler...

Main hoist and slew engine, lots of pipes, braces, valves....

Steering engine and backhead of boiler


Crowd engine on main boom

[mike mott]

What a stunning piece of modelwork Chris!!

Mike

[crueby]

What a stunning piece of modelwork Chris!!

Mike

Thanks very much Mike - I can't wait to get it out to the real machine later this month for some joint photos!

[RonGinger]

Chris, How about doing a photo book of this model. I did one using Google Photos that I was quite pleased with. It wasn't hard to put together and its setup so anyone can order one, they are printed to order and you  make a few dollars for everyone sold. Id be happy to pay $20-25 to have a bound book of photos.

Several in process photos plus several all around finished photos. Maybe throw in a couple of the big one after that photo shoot, but the model is the focus.

I know there are many places that do this- Google Photos is just the one I used but I have heard of BookBay, Lulu,Blurb.

[crueby]

Chris, How about doing a photo book of this model. I did one using Google Photos that I was quite pleased with. It wasn't hard to put together and its setup so anyone can order one, they are printed to order and you  make a few dollars for everyone sold. Id be happy to pay $20-25 to have a bound book of photos.

Several in process photos plus several all around finished photos. Maybe throw in a couple of the big one after that photo shoot, but the model is the focus.

I know there are many places that do this- Google Photos is just the one I used but I have heard of BookBay, Lulu,Blurb.

Hi Ron,  I'll look into it. Live Steam magazine will be starting a new series on this build, but not till next summer when the Lombard series is done, and that series will run a number of years. A photo book would be a great idea in the meantime, maybe one on the Lombard too, if not one combined. Will check those places out.


Current word on the photo day at the big shovel is August 21st, will also be doing a talk for a kids group visiting the shovel that day too. Hope the weather cooperates!

[Kim]

Truly inspirational, Chris!  We need a full body shot.  You may not be able to get far enough away from it in the shop to take a full picture, but when you get it outside, we wanna see one!

Looking forward to the video too!

Kim

[fumopuc]

Hi Chris, impressive

[crueby]

Truly inspirational, Chris!  We need a full body shot.  You may not be able to get far enough away from it in the shop to take a full picture, but when you get it outside, we wanna see one!

Looking forward to the video too!

Kim

Tough to get it all in, have to back into the corner, and the lighting is not the best (should get much better views outside). Here is how it looks now, the roof and one wall are still off for the paintwork for now...




A video with all the functions/engines is planned too, probably get to that next week.
 

[Kim]

Cool!  Thanks for the pictures - that guy's BIG!
Kim

[crueby]

Cool!  Thanks for the pictures - that guy's BIG!
Kim

About 54" long (137 cm) and just under 100 pounds (43 kg)

[Ye-Ole Steam Dude]

Hello Chris,

Incredible, just incredible.

Have a great day,
Thomas

[cnr6400]

The shovel looks superb Chris. Love the interior shots. Thanks for the photo's!  oh and here's some for you   

Looks like Bucket Bob's passed out at the front of the shovel again. Too many Elfensteiner stubbies maybe. Might be a pile of empties under the butane ash chute. You gotta get a fire going in that boiler soon so the elves can see it ain't a beer cooler! 

[Don1966]

Dog, dog, dog the awesomeness of your project is overwhelming! Superb in every sense of the word excellent. Your talents are amazing Chris and as I said you have my respect and envy.......


 
Don

[crueby]

Thanks very much guys! Its going to be wierd not working on this one all the time, been at it for so long. Lots of other projects to keep busy on though!
 

And CNR - Bucket Bob and the other elves were up partying pretty late last night, celebrating the completion of the model. Still haven't found Elfric, though there are odd noises coming from the back of the refridgerator...   

More photos/videos coming this next week, got a big submarine run this weekend that I need to get ready for though. Thanks very much for all those that stopped by, the help/tips/encouragement/ideas/questions were very helpful!!!