I noticed a new detail in the EP2 bipolars that Milwaukee Rd owned. And it only applies to 2 out of the five units.
Here is a shot of the headlight in brass. This is a good representation of what the prototype looks like. They all looked like this as-delivered. You can see that the back edge is mounted on the edge of the nose and it projects outward.
But by the time you get to the renumbering days when they were renumbered to the E series, on two units, one headlight was moved backward away from the edge. And it lost that steam loco look. And it was not uniform. On E-1, the A headlight was moved back (but not the B). On E-2, the B headlight was moved back (but not the A).
You can see that clearly in this shot of E-1 A Cab.
So for weeks, I've been thinking about moving the headlight on my brass model. I thought I could probably do it- though there was a risk I might trash the shell. So last night I went for it. And yes, I almost ruined the shell.
First, I used my American Beauty resistance soldering tweezers to remove the light. It came right off. This is a pretty cool casting- I almost wish I could get lost wax brass copies made.
And this is where I almost ruined the shell. My first thought was to simply back up the light- as is. So I used the motor tool to open up the hole in the shell roof (no photos). But before I got very far, I began thinking--- DANG! This is going to make a huge hole by the time I move all of this backwards. So I stopped and re-evaluated. I decided rather than mount the casting as-is with the light tube running back through the shell, I would cut it off and start over- essentially redesigning it.
So I then used a cut off disc to remove the tube so the part could sit on the roof (instead of going THROUGH the roof).
I then figured it would be best to plug the hole and make a new tube at a better angle.
So I found some brass rod on hand that fit like a glove. I soldered it in place. Hole now plugged.
I then cut off the rod and was back where I was in the previous step. It should lay flat now.
New tubes. I found the tube on the right was the same as the brass rod and would fit into the light casting once a hole was drilled. But that tube is WAYYYYY too small for the huge hole in the roof. So I would solder the next size tube on the outside.
I carefully drilled a new hole the size of the small tube.
And soldered it in place.
I then cut a small piece of outer tube and soldered it in place. I made sure there was plenty of solder all up to the top.
Trimmed it.
And test fit it. The hole is still a bit large. Also the casting is canting forward a bit because my new tube is hitting the back side of the nose door. So I would motor tool a flat edge that touches the door and that allowed it to straighten up.
I then used resistance soldering to get it stuck in place. I had to hold it all up side down because I did not want my tube-in-tube to fall out.
Once stuck in place, I then added some blobs of solder on the inside. Then one last resistance melt to get it all firm. Had to do it a couple of times to get the light as perfectly straight as I could.
I confess, I was still nervous at this point. I feared I could not make this look good.
I still needed to fill that hole. First, I needed to partially fill the hole because that hole as-is is too big to fill with solder. So I cut and shaped a small edge of the larger tubing.
I then cut a little piece off and filled the hole partially. I felt this might be sufficiently filled to flow solder over it.
So I fluxed and placed a blob of solder with a traditional iron. I tried to get enough- but now flow it all over the place.
I then spent a lot of time with high magnification and micro files shaping the solder to try to match the contour of the nose. Working with solder is not as easy as working with body putty, but with careful work it is possible.
Not perfect, but it turned out pretty well.
And I still have a hole for running the magnet wire for the LED headlight.
The only rough spot was the back side. I had to retain the rear projection to cover the hole in the shell. It looks a little rough under close macro shot....
...but better from far away. And it will all be painted black when done.
So in the end I succeeded in backing up the headlight to match the prototype. This is the look I was after. But I confess I have not had this much fear in modelling since I attempted my first kitbash about 30 years ago (and yes.... it was a U18B
).
At first, I did not think I would attempt this again. But the real dangerous step was opening up the hole in the roof. I think if I try this again, I will NOT open up the hole at all. And by doing this, I may possibly be able to remove that rearward projection altogether.
