Best Of SP&S 4-4-2 Atlantic project

[mmagliaro]

Well Max, shake me and call me an idiot!!     I can guarantee my fat A$$ would bend that sucker in half if I stepped on it!    I figured you had more pics. but those must have been shadows on your original proto photo.  It really is looking great.

You make me smile, John.  And don't worry, ever, about criticism when it is good-natured and constructive.
Chris and Peteski, and I hope I didn't forget any others... if the words are polite and kind, they are nothing but
helpful.  Now, back to forming and applying pipes!

[mmagliaro]

I am getting close now, I think!    All the piping and handrails are done.  I made some folded-back cab curtains which I
think succeeded pretty well at hiding the backside of the motor.   They are made from the cloth of a tea bag (found an article at
fiferhobby's website on this... very cool) 

The motor can still be seen through the cab windows, but there again,
after painting, I will put some shaded glass or an engineer and fireman in there to mask it.

I may get to paint it over the next week.    Then marker jewels in those marker lights up front...

[superturbine]

Lookin great Max!!  Only thing I can pick out.... Because I know you want to know......is that the smoke stack needs to be taller and slightly expanded at the top.   What do you think?

[peteski]

Very nice Max!

[Lemosteam]

Lookin great Max!!  Only thing I can pick out.... Because I know you want to know is that the smoke stack needs to be taller.   What do you think?

 .  I'll say nothing...


Max that loco is spectacular!

[mmagliaro]

Lookin great Max!!  Only thing I can pick out.... Because I know you want to know......is that the smoke stack needs to be taller and slightly expanded at the top.   What do you think?

LOL!  John (Lemosteam) has already mentioned this to me, and believe me, I'm aware that the prototype had a bigger, flared stack.
I have wrestled with this on and off.  The reason I haven't changed it out is that the whole engine, truth be told, is a little
smaller than the proper prototype size.  Overall, I have managed to preserve the overall proportions of everything
so that it looks right.  I didn't want a larger stack to overpower it and make the rest of the engine look smaller.

Hmmmm.... I don't know.  I'll see what I have lying around.

[Lemosteam]

Max, It only needs to be a bit taller than the headlight casting and have the inverted taper to appear more proportional.  Ok I've said enough!

 

[superturbine]

Great minds think alike...


It does look great tho max.

[victor miranda]

Hi Max,
the problem with smoke stacks is how visible they are... what with being on the top and all

the photo of the prototype has hold downs (I am guessing for the name)
If you cut off the stack at the bottom and add the hold down your stack may end up close to
the height you want.

victor

[superturbine]

Craig B.  mentioned the curtains and they really do get the look we have all tried for... Good job!

[packers#1]

LOL!  John (Lemosteam) has already mentioned this to me, and believe me, I'm aware that the prototype had a bigger, flared stack.
I have wrestled with this on and off.  The reason I haven't changed it out is that the whole engine, truth be told, is a little
smaller than the proper prototype size.  Overall, I have managed to preserve the overall proportions of everything
so that it looks right.  I didn't want a larger stack to overpower it and make the rest of the engine look smaller.

Hmmmm.... I don't know.  I'll see what I have lying around.

To my completely untrained eye, it actually looks proportionately too small/short really. If you go back and look at the proto, the stack is  taller than the domes and bell, while on the model it's shorter than the domes (also, it looks like overall it needs to be just a bit larger in diameter). I would almost say the engine overpowers the stack. My comments are made in the most humblest of manners, because I couldn't even attempt this build, it's just my observations

[SkipGear]

Max,
 It should be a fairly easy fix. Find a piece of brass or copper tubing that will just slip over the existing stack. That should get you the needed girth. To get the flare, heat it and aneal the piece first, then make a mandrel to drive down inside. Taper a piece of Piano wire by chucking it up in a drill press or lathe and sanding or turning a matching taper in it. Drive or compress the mandrel down the tube to flare the stack. Then slip the whole thing over the existing stack.

[mmagliaro]

Ha ha ha!   okay okay, you guys.  You win. 

First, THANK YOU for the nice remarks.  I am really happy with how this came out, and it will be exciting to paint it and letter it.
I have had it on some shake-down running to make sure I didn't mess up the mechanism.  At first, I had to do some re-tweaking
on one crosshead slider, and one of my rivet links was tight, which introduced a "klunk" in the mechanism every once in a while.
But after I corrected those things and a short in the pilot wheels, it has been running great.

So, I turned down a piece of brass rod for a new stack.  It doesn't quite have the right taper, but it is taller and wider around,
and I do like it a lot better.  It's tricky getting that nice lip around the top.  I suppose I could have found a washer or something the right size, but I wanted to try to make it all in one piece.

BTW... I have test-painted a few things (as you can tell) as I've gone along, just to check for surface flaws, which are hard to see on
shiny silver metal.   That stack is painted with Floquil Weathered Black.   I really like it, and I think I'm going to paint the engine
in it.   I might mix 3/4 Weathered + 1/4 Engine Black to pull it a little more toward "black".

(Oh, the engine curtain is off in this photo.  It won't go in for keeps until I have it all painted)

[mmagliaro]

Max,
 It should be a fairly easy fix. Find a piece of brass or copper tubing that will just slip over the existing stack. That should get you the needed girth. To get the flare, heat it and aneal the piece first, then make a mandrel to drive down inside. Taper a piece of Piano wire by chucking it up in a drill press or lathe and sanding or turning a matching taper in it. Drive or compress the mandrel down the tube to flare the stack. Then slip the whole thing over the existing stack.

This is a great suggestion Tony.  I tried making something out of a tube to sleeve it over the existing stack,
but it was just too huge by the time the inside diameter was big enough to make it.   

[Lemosteam]

Max, the looks great (sorry i egged you on!)

When I did my B8a, I chucked some styrene tubing in a drill and used the shank end of a smaller drill to madnrel the styrene into a flange at the top.  Then I filed the OD of the tube to the shape and diameter I wanted.  You can get very thin as long as you don't thin the tube inside the chuck too much (otherwise it will break off as you machine).  If you do it a little long you can cut it to lenght with a razor saw while it spins.  Then file the base to the curve of the boiler.  I just think the styrene is much easier to machine.