Author Topic: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)  (Read 327491 times)

Offline Ye-Ole Steam Dude

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #390 on: July 15, 2019, 09:18:37 PM »
Hello Kim,

OK I am also in line to see the ship photos ;D

Have a great day,
Thomas
Thomas

Offline Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #391 on: July 17, 2019, 04:27:05 PM »
Well, since you asked, I'll post a few pics… My efforts in the model ship world are nothing compared to Chris, and Mike’s, and I’m sure many others.  I played around for a few years, completed one model and made it a good way into another.  Very modest work by comparison.

The first one was a Mississippi sternwheeler.  Not overly prototypical, but it was a fun, engaging project and got me into the hobby.


The next one I did was the HMS Surprise. It started as a kit but evolved significantly from there.  It’s plank-on-bulkhead construction and I learned a lot in the process. I painted and covered below the waterline with copper plates.  This is what I did the clear coat on.


Here’s the lower deck with completed chain pumps.


I was making the cannons for the main gun deck.  I didn’t like the ones that came with the kit, so I made my own.  Made 22 brass cannons and blackened them.  These were going to go on the lower deck before I put the upper deck in place.


But I had so much fun making the cannons it diverted me into building a little steam engine. Then that became another, and on we went.  I haven’t gotten back to completing the ship yet.  Likely will someday.  When the mood strikes.

Oh, and there’s one more model ship I built.  This one is a pirate ship I built with my daughter. She was about 5 at the time. It’s her paint scheme.  But this one, at least, has been completed!


So, that’s my foray into model ships.
Kim


Offline b.lindsey

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #392 on: July 17, 2019, 04:37:17 PM »
Thanks for showing those Kim. Funny how one hobby can lead into others isn't it?

Bill

Online crueby

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #393 on: July 17, 2019, 06:06:44 PM »
Nice! Thanks for sharing those!

Offline cnr6400

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #394 on: July 17, 2019, 09:00:29 PM »
Great looking ships Kim! Your cannon in particular look superb. as does the "Surprise" hull. Have you read the Patrick O'Brien books? 'HMS Surprise' is one of his best.

Got some projects like the pirate ship on the go with my 5 and 10 yr old nieces. Great to do some shop work with kids, whatever form it takes! The 5 yr old loves to do "carpentry" with rigid styrene foam (cutting, shaping, nailing, gluing it). When she progresses to working wood there will be no stopping her! Her older sister is doing some simple metal work in steel and aluminum and does very well. 

"I've cut that stock three times, and it's still too short!"

Offline Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #395 on: July 18, 2019, 05:13:28 AM »
Yes, I've read many of the Patric O'Brien books.  That was, of course, part of the inspiration for me tackling that model.  I was already committed and partway into it when I learned that the Surprise in the books isn't exactly the Surprise from real life. There were some similarities, but not the same.  I chose to model the HMS Surprise from the books, which, interestingly enough, gave me a lot of source material :)

But it's been long enough now I'd have to re-do my research.  I used to know exactly how many of what guns were on each deck and all that sort of nonsense.  It's surprising (no pun intended) how much you can forget when you stop thinking about something for 7 years!  :embarassed:

And it's great to do projects with the kids.  It's fun to just see where their imaginations take them.

But it was all fun!
Kim

Offline Flyboy Jim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #396 on: July 18, 2019, 02:55:43 PM »
Nice ship models Kim.  :ThumbsUp: You are certainly not alone in the "unfinished model" arena.  :facepalm:

As far as: "It's surprising (no pun intended) how much you can forget when you stop thinking about something for 7 years!" That's no big deal. What worries me is how much I forget when I stop thinking about something for 7 MINUTES.  :facepalm:

Jim
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Offline mike mott

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #397 on: July 18, 2019, 03:25:25 PM »
Quote
What worries me is how much I forget when I stop thinking about something for 7 MINUTES.

Almost spilled my tea laughing.

Mike
If you can imagine it you can build it

Offline Ye-Ole Steam Dude

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #398 on: July 18, 2019, 04:17:44 PM »
Hello Kim,

Thanks for showing the ship photos. You must finish that Pirate Ship and I love the paddle wheeler.

Have a great day,
Thomas
Thomas

Offline Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #399 on: July 21, 2019, 04:28:59 PM »
Thanks for the kind words for my attempts at ship modeling.  I do plan to complete them.  I've got several years into the Surprise, and I'd love to see it completed too.  And I think I will. Someday.

But for now, I'm back to powder coating my steam engine parts!

I had a short shop time this weekend, but I got another batch of parts powder coated.  Black this time (as everything going forward will be…)

I set up the powder coating station for black parts, cleaned everything, hung them up for spraying.  To make things go quicker, I used a piece of light gauge wire to connect all my hanging parts.  This meant I could actually coat multiple pieces at a time without having to move the grounding clip for each one.  Seemed to work pretty well.


While that batch was baking, I worked on masking off all the other parts.


Turns out masking takes WAY longer than baking.  Who knew?

Here’s the morning’s batch out of the oven and after they’ve cooled down.  Look pretty good!


And you can still see the numbers I stamped on them even after the powder coat.  I was worried that it might obscure the numbers, but not so!


Turns out I found a couple of edges that I must have brushed or bumped while putting things in the oven. I’ll have to re-coat those. But for the most part, everything looks good to go!  I’m going to have to learn to be more careful in my parts handling before the powder is baked.

Thanks for taking a look,
Kim

Offline Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #400 on: July 28, 2019, 04:49:29 PM »
I really want to get past this powder coating step – I’m feeling a little like I regressed since I had it all painted before.  I just wasn’t pleased with the paint. I’m QUITE pleased with how the powder coating is working out.  It seems much more durable.  I think I’m really going to love it!

However, even though I’d hoped to make big strides this week, I actually ended up spending most of my shop time on infrastructure projects.  I wanted to add another airline so that I didn’t have to keep switching between my blowgun and the powder coating gun. The worst of that was having to adjust the air pressure every time – for powder coating you only want 7-8 psi.  For the blowgun, while it’s not that specific, I need a lot more pressure than that for it to have the effect I’m looking for (i.e. blow the chips away!)  Not so convenient.

Anyway, sounded easy. I picked up an air hose and a manifold and was just going to plug them in.  But I got it all plugged in and could hear I had a leak. I could feel it leaking from around the manifold, so I thought it was with the connection (I’ve had bad luck with my pile of Harbor Freight quick connects – they tend to leak.  So, I got some from Home Depot. I got some fancy aluminum connectors that feel nice and solid, and are very light!)

Anyway, I spent a couple of hours trying to find the leak.  In the end, I found it was one of the outputs on the new manifold – not the connector!  Go figure!  Anyway, I put some Teflon tape on the connector and tightened it up – no more leak!  Just wish it didn’t take so long for me to figure it out.

Anyway, back to the main project.  With my remaining time, I powder coated another batch of parts. This time it went very well.  The masking, of course, took the most time.

There was one issue – I decided to powder coat the axle black just to keep it from rusting.  But there’s no hole to put a wire through for hanging. So I used tape on the end and hung the wire with that.  However, while in the oven, I heard a loud bang and looked around the shop to see what had fallen over!  Turns out one of the axles slipped out of the tape.  So, it finished up the baking process laying on the floor of the oven.  It didn’t turn out too bad, but it did leave a little flat spot on the axle.  Not sure if I will do anything about it or not.

Anyway, here’s the fruit of my labors today:


And now, looking at this picture, I see a weird raised lump around the edge of those square blocks in the upper left.  I don’t remember seeing those before, so it may be more subtle than it looks.  I’ll have to check on that.  Maybe I got the powder on those parts just a little too thick?

Ah well. Still learning the more subtle side of this powder coating gig.

I am learning though.  I can REALY recognize the difference now if I’m not getting a good ground.  One time I forgot to hook it up and I could tell immediately!  Which is better than a few weeks ago for sure :)

Thanks for taking a look,
Kim

Offline Ye-Ole Steam Dude

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #401 on: July 28, 2019, 04:56:23 PM »
Hello Kim,

The extra added work you are doing will surely pay dividends in the long haul. However sometimes in life the shortest distance between two points is not ALWAYS the shortest.... :cussing:

Have a great day,
Thomas
Thomas

Online crueby

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #402 on: July 28, 2019, 06:11:17 PM »
For the axles, could they have been suspended from two hooks rather than taping? I think I have seen parts done like that on car shows on TV. The Powder coating looks great, on my tool list!

Offline Kim

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #403 on: July 28, 2019, 06:26:38 PM »
Thanks Thomas!

Chris, I considered that, and it may have been better.  But the reason I went with the single hook is that it makes the part easier to turn it while powder coating.  Having two hooks makes it a big process to rotate.  But I'm going to have to figure that out for some of the bigger upcoming parts!
Kim
Kim

Offline Dave Otto

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Re: Pennsylvania A3 Switcher (Kozo)
« Reply #404 on: July 28, 2019, 06:30:38 PM »
Another option for round parts like that would be to turn up a shaft collar that could be attached to the end of the shaft ( either set screw or clamp type) and have a provision to attach the ground wire; then mask it off.
Parts look great Kim!


Dave

 

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