D51-200 Tender Locomotive 2-8-2

[J.L.]

 

I'll have to open this pack 'to get my bearings'.

[Kim]

Gordon Lightfoot... Always appropriate!  He's quite a poet, isn't he?  And the Railway Trilogy is wonderful.

Enjoying your build, as always.   

Kim

[J.L.]

Yes Kim, a Canadian icon. Personally attended one of his concerts here in Peterborough, Ontario.

Thanks for keeping an eye on the build.

Things keep 'rolling along' here. (got to stop doing that...)

[J.L.]

I am nearing the end of the  construction phase of this project. I have been priming every part as I go along. I must say I like the look of what I have now. But it's jut a primer.

The auto industry makes some very nice etch primers available in spray cans. These professional products can not be bought in box stores.

I've reached the point where I am hesitating whether to mask eveything up (an onerous task) or simply go with what I have. 

I may demonstrate a few moving parts from time to time but otherwise the model will not be handled.  It will be in situ in a disipay case.

Someone suggested just a clear topcoat be applied, but I'm not sure that would keep the matte look I like now. I'm not sure it would stick either.

Thoughts?

John

[J.L.]

The front deck is complete.

[b.lindsey]

John, if you are happy with the look now I would keep it as is. It looks very nice in the pictures. Being in a covered case, dust shouldn't be a real problem either. I would worry some that more coats would tend to hide some of the nice detail as well. Ultimately though its your choice as to what is pleasing to you.

Bill

[J.L.]

Hi Bill,
Your response came in just as I was posting the final pictures of the front deck above.
I appreciate your advice. I think you are right. I really like what I have now. Paint may muddy the waters as it were. An industrial coat of paint may very well fill such things as the fine diamond pattern of the safety treading on the running boards.

If I go this route, I can proceed with all the fun stuff - the signage, the whistle, the figures, the boiler door brass locking system, etc.

I've just talked myself into leaving it alone. 

Thanks Bill.

More input is welcome.

[J.L.]

Hi Rich,

You are experimenting with signage and doing a great job.

I thought you might be interested in how a number plate is fastened to this Japanese model. Four holes are drilled and filled with 5mm brass rod. The plate then slides into four pre-drilled holes in the surface of the metal. It is kept out about 1mm from the surface.

Other number plates on this model do not have the pin extensions. Rod is used in the holes, but it is nipped off flush with the back of the plate. In this case, the plate fastens directly to the surface of the engine's cab  wall.

[crueby]

John, how do they hold the pins to the wall - glue, solder, ?

[J.L.]

Hi Chris,

A very good question. Any attempt to fasten the plate from the front would just make a mess. Also, access to the backside of the pins is not possible.

The pins are glued in place on the plate as you see in the second picture. They are not all standing all vertically when glued. Inevitablly one or two are going to fasten at a bit of an angle.

This is a good thing. In other words, tension will be created when you attempt to wrestle them into the holes. With long nosed pliers each pin is coaxed into position. Care has to be taken to not mar the surface of the paintwork while doing this, but when accomplished, you feel the plate slide back into place with a good resisrtance.

I like the idea of four holes in each corner of the plate regardless of whether it will be pressed into place as described above or just mounted flush. The pins can be very small, but still give a nice effect.

Thanks for asking

Cheers...John

[J.L.]

I've been putting off adding the smoke deflectors because I thought they would get in the way of spray painting and cause blowback. But now, since I am going with the primer only, they can be added. I added a horizontal strip of metal along their tops so that the struts could land on them. The original struts had a 90 degree bend in them and were problematic to glue in place.

Note in the last photo the handrail is showing a few spots of brass that missedd the primer. Again, the camera catches such things. A shot of spray primer into a cup will provie enough paint for a small brush to coat the inner portion of that railing.

During WW2,  these deflectors were replaced with wood.

[mklotz]

I've seen those so-called smoke deflectors in many pictures of European, especially German, locomotives.  I've often wondered what they were called.

Now that you've provided their name, can you explain how they work?  They seem fairly far removed from the source of smoke - the smokestack.  Plus, every engine I've seen that doesn't have them, primarily American, seems to puff smoke easily from the stack despite the lack of deflectors.

[J.L.]

Hi Marv,

I'm with you. Perhaps someone could tell us both whether they were effective or not. Like you have said, smoke, unless deflected by strong winds, goes straight up high above the 'elephant ears'. To me, they seem to be nothing more than a distinctive cosmetic feature.

Marv, do you realize that the driver is sitting back 38' from the front deck of the engine and his little window allows him to see only straight ahead? He would never see the centre of the track.(on the model, that's 19"). I'd want a buddy  up there on the deck with eyes wide open. 

[mklotz]

Hi Marv,

I'm with you. Perhaps someone could tell us both whether they were effective or not. Like you have said, smoke, unless deflected by strong winds, goes straight up high above the 'elephant ears'. To me, they seem to be nothing more than a distinctive cosmetic feature.

Marv, do you realize that the driver is sitting back 38' from the front deck of the engine and his little window allows him to see only straight ahead? He would never see the centre of the track.(on the model, that's 19"). I'd want a buddy  up there on the deck with eyes wide open. 

It was even worse with monster locomotives.  The UP Big Boy was about 85 feet long.  In today's world we would solve the visibility problem with a camera and a monitor in the cab.

I suppose one can make the case that a locomotive engineer doesn't really need to see straight ahead much.  He doesn't have to steer and trackside signals will tell him when to slow down or stop.  But he can't see unplanned obstructions ahead such as a lawyer tied to the tracks :-).  Of course, even if he saw it, he probably couldn't stop in time, especially so if pulling a large load.  (Nor, in my example, would he want to.)

[crueby]

Found a good discussion of the smoke deflectors over here:
http://cs.trains.com/ctr/f/3/t/183559.aspx