TheRailwire
General Discussion => N and Z Scales => Topic started by: CNR5529 on November 13, 2017, 09:49:16 AM
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Over the weekend at a local train show, I came into possession of a resin CN steam generator car kit. This kit is a model of the welded GMD style SGU (the same one Rapido did in HO).
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/3/3976-131117094333.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=3161)
Does anyone know who made these, when they were made, and if they made kits of other types of rolling stock? Just curious. The original owner of this kit said he picked it up in a hobby shop in Ottawa.
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I want to say Briggs Models, but I'm sure our resident Cannuck's will tell me why I'm wrong.
If it is they have a fairly full line of stuff.
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Not a Briggs or Kaslo kit as far as I am aware; good find!
Tim
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I also suspect it is not a Briggs kit, but not 100% sure of that either. The resin seems like the same stuff GHQ used in the 8 hatch reefers, however that doesn't mean anything.
Bottom line is who knows what other wonderful gems are out there!
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Bottom line is who knows what other wonderful gems are out there!
That is true. For a while I was making LED-illuminated RR crossing signals and selling them at a local hobby shop under Precison Model Works name. I sold probably couple dozen sets. I had no idea who was buying them until years later when I saw one of the signals in a cover photo of the N-Scale Magazine. One of the buyers was no other than our own @daniel_leavitt2000 . It is a small world . . .
The moral of this is that yes, there might be many model-gems out there made in small numbers and sold to local modelers. Sometimes those gems do get discovered by others by accident.
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Fredrick, are you going to get Shapeways to make a copy of it so we can get some for our own passenger trains?
Rick
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I was planning on drawing it (or the NSC version) up at some point to be printed, but now that I have a kit in hand that project has dropped on my priority list. That said, I am not opposed to do it if enough people are interested. Just don't tell @craigolio1, he will be mad that I am diverting resources from the RH project... :trollface:
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Easiest way to find out who made it is to make a mold, cast them in resin, sell some, and see who sues you.
CDS makes dry transfers for the car in N- maybe they know
https://www.tmrdistributing.com/presta/index.php?id_product=6900&controller=product (https://www.tmrdistributing.com/presta/index.php?id_product=6900&controller=product)
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That is true. For a while I was making LED-illuminated RR crossing signals and selling them at a local hobby shop under Precison Model Works name. I sold probably couple dozen sets. I had no idea who was buying them until years later when I saw one of the signals in a cover photo of the N-Scale Magazine. One of the buyers was no other than our own @daniel_leavitt2000 . It is a small world . . .
The moral of this is that yes, there might be many model-gems out there made in small numbers and sold to local modelers. Sometimes those gems do get discovered by others by accident.
Fun fact: I own at least half a dozen sets. I bought out Ken's supply the moment I saw them.
I really my miss that place.
As for the kit... My guess is that it was cast from a scratch built master. I see slight irregularities with duplicate details such as the little vents along the roof line. I would also bet my life on the door being lifted off a production F model. The large vent along the bottom right looks like evergreen corrugated siding
BUT some of the irregularities could be from smoothing out FUD striation. I don't think the casting is up to Briggs, Kaslo or GHQs exacting standards. That under frame looks warped.
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It's an older kit. I have one but long ago lost the instructions and header card. I picked it up at either the Toronto Christmas Train Show or a Toronto hobby shop (George's perhaps?) sometime in the late 1990s or early 2000s. At the time also picked up a resin kit for a VIA LRC coach. Wish I had more info than that.
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I once ran across a post about someone who was asking about a cast N scale Borden's 'butter dish' car (not the Ken Ray car). They picked it up in an auction and didn't know who made it or where it came from either. Never did find out where it came from (and I'm still looking for one). Just another nice car that was made and vanished...
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(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/3/44-151117180237.jpeg)
Scratchbuilt --styrene wrapper over acrylic body
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I doubt this will be helpful but here goes anyway. Given the era and where you purchased the kit, perhaps it's from one of the iterations of Associated Model Makers?
That said, when I first saw it and the colour of the resin I remembered a kit I bought in the 1990's from a manufacturer in Quebec. It was a one-piece casting like you'd get from an open-face mould and could have built up into a really neat CN plow. Based on how it was cast, there was a lot of work to mill out the base to provide some sort of underframe...
The SGU is quite nice looking from your photos.
Chris
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Roger:
Hate you. What did you use for decals?
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@Roger Holmes Those look great!
@chrismears I know exactly what kits you are talking about. I picked up the plow from Hobby Jonction Express in Dorval a number of years ago. It was a whole lot of fun getting enough clearance for the front truck to swivel! I've always wanted to pick up the Jordan Spreader as well, but haven't seen it in a while.
As for the SGU, I have decided to remove most of the cast on details such as grab irons and such, as they are on the large/crude side. Then it will get the super-detailing treatment. I'll post pics here as it moves along...
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The red and silver cars are inkjet decals done by a friend. I recall the white car decals came from a set. I'll have to look it up. I wrote an article for RMC which appears in the March 2003 issue. The core is built up of layers of acrylic strip with a half round piece on top. I used a friend's band saw to cut to length with the proper end angles then wrapped with Evergreen .010 sheet styrene. The hardest part was drilling the handrail stanchions into the acrylic core. Otherwise a fairly easy project.
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Been working on the steam gennie kit. I started by chiseling off many of the the rough cast on details, drilled out the windows, lowered the ride height, then started installing detailing such as separate grab irons, vents and stacks, lifting rings, end walkways, and a brake wheel. There are still some details missing, but I'll be soon ready for a first coat of primer. Once thats done I'll be able to judge where more sanding and filling may be needed.
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/3/3976-191117170821.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=3300)
(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/3/3976-191117171029.jpeg) (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view&id=3301)
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Wow what an improvement!!
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That looks like a huge improvement. Are the scribed horizontal lines prototypical?
Geoff
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That looks like a huge improvement. Are the scribed horizontal lines prototypical?
Thanks! Unfortunately no, in the original casting the scribed lines are supposed to represent weld seams. Maybe gluing a long length of styrene or brass wire along the scribe would look better? Any other ideas?
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Thanks! Unfortunately no, in the original casting the scribed lines are supposed to represent weld seams. Maybe gluing a long length of styrene or brass wire along the scribe would look better? Any other ideas?
Wire would look great as a weld seam, IMHO. Then a quick filler putty to close any gaps or irregularities above and below the wire. Going to keep this idea in mind for FUD/FXD projects that have weld seams or beading, like on a passenger car roof.
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(https://www.therailwire.net/forum/gallery/3/44-151117180237.jpeg)
Scratchbuilt --styrene wrapper over acrylic body
@Roger Holmes , @JMaurer1 , this would be a great FUD/FXD kit. What is the era, general locale, and are there any drawings or good side-on photos out there?
PM me with info so as not to clog this thread.
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A well-made butter-dish milk car would definitely be most welcome in N scale. They were offered in brass (rare and expensive) and resin (ok, but could be better). A well-researched 3-D printed model would be awesome! I seem to recall that there was drawing of this car published in either Model railroader or maybe even in the N-Scale Magazine.
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I thought they were probably weld seams, and I was thinking that strips of .010 styrene rod seated in the grooves might be an improvement. Wire would also be good, especially if the .010 is too thick.
Geoff
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Apparently it's been a while since I posted any progress here!
I did try simulating the weld seam by gluing in thin wire, but didn't like how it turned out. Unfortunately, because the groove was not accurate in thickness and dept, the wire did not sit level.
[attachimg=1]
B end detail.
[attachimg=3]
I ended up removing the wire, filing in the groove a bit and tried to tidy it up as best I could, before painting and decaling. once painted, the inverted weld seams weren't as perceptible. In this picture the window glazing was just applied, so it had not yet cured clear.
[attachimg=2]
There were many variations in the paint scheme over the years, including black or blue sills, blue or silver window gaskets, varying safety and other lettering, etc. This car was the main inspiration for the finishing.
(http://rr-fallenflags.org/via/via15471u01.jpg)
Although I am a transition era CNR modeler, I ended up finishing this car in VIA Blue and Yellow rather than CNR Green and Gold in order to save another SGU from the scrappers torch. A while back, @craigolio1 kitbashed a fantastic rendition of an earlier model SGU built by CC&F, and painted it green and gold to run with the M3T. He had mentioned his intent to strip it down after that run to eventually repaint it in VIA colours. Seeing as his SGU was a slightly earlier model that would fit my era better, and mine was a slightly later model that would fit his era better, it made sense to swap. (Also it would have been criminal to ruin a perfectly good CNR green and gold car!) Here are the two together.
[attachimg=4]
Oddly enough, my current manager started his career at Spadina coach yard, and had some really interesting stories about these cars (and the various failure modes they were prone to). His only criticism with the model was that normally the lettering on these cars would be impossible to read due to grime and dirt. So make sure to weather the crap out of it Craig!
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Looks great! Thanks for the update.
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Pics don’t do this car justice. It will look smashing on the head of of my Canadian, which is in the final stages of completion now.
Thanks Fredrick! Good trade. Haha.