BNSF 4710 C44-9W Detailed and Weathered in N Scale

[chicken45]

Tell us more about the gouaches!

[coosvalley]

I am digging this!...Love the before/after shots!

[GaryHinshaw]

Thanks for the notes Ed.  I love the idea for laser-cut window insets.

[svedblen]

A really nice job!
I 'm amazed at how "big" it looks in this picture. I really feel dwarfed looking up at it 

[peteski]

A really nice job!
I 'm amazed at how "big" it looks in this picture. I really feel dwarfed looking up at it 

No kidding!  The natural lighting and the natural-looking background (and the well-done scale scenery) help to make this model look like 1:1 loco.  Take a stack of photos from this angle, combine them in a focus-stacking software and the illusion would be complete!

[basementcalling]

This and the related build thread need to be tagged as a best of trw.

[unittrain]

That is one excellent locomotive! Totally jaw dropping  . I sure wish I could have hand rails like that on my locomotives!

[Cajonpassfan]

Speechless...that is just amazing modeling 
Otto K.

[ednadolski]

Nice model Ed!

As far as windows go, I don't think that the 0.020" thickness will be distracting, as long as the windows is installed flush with the window gasket.  What really distracts in factory-installed windows is that:
1. They are usually inset into the window opening.
2. They are not as clear as should be, and don't have smooth and even surface (due to the injection-molding process).

A piece of 0.020" acrylic sheet will have mirror-smooth finish on both sides (like a pane of glass).  As long as it is installed flush the thickness should not stand out.

Thanks!   My real motivation to replace the windshields was the molded-on wipers.  They can be removed but it takes a lot of very careful work, and they are easy to break.  Then still there are the fit issues as you mentioned.  The FVM ones are better in that regard (I wish Kato would get the message about molded-on parts, but it is what it is...).

It will probably take me several tries to come up with parts that fit well enough.   I don't have a good way to measure them accurately, and I will have to guess at the inside corner radius.   My other concern is that the windshields might need to be cut at some kind of taper/angle in order to match the cab opening (another reason to prefer a thinner acrylic).

(shame it wasn't an SF unit :p )

That's precisely what I need the wide-style end handrails and earlier fuel tanks for .   The older Kato production units did come in an ATSF, but that do have some additional problems, such as the very beefy underframes and the couplers that sit too low.  But it should be fun to weather one with all that pitted and peeling paint! 

Now if I could just get thinner handrails for a Z scale loco I've got... (don't have to be scale though... They'd be as thin as a hair...)

In Z scale you could probably etch the handrails from 0.005" SS (or even smaller) and would not be able to tell that they were not round.  The SS is surprisingly strong for its size.

Tell us more about the gouaches!

http://www.dickblick.com/categories/gouache/

It's kind of like watercolor paint, but with more pigments & higher opacity.  I combine it with the water-mix oil paints so that it dries faster, but also can still be re-flowed and moved around with a wetted brush.   That does make it easy to remove after it dries, so a clear coat is needed between layers to seal it into place.

I 'm amazed at how "big" it looks in this picture.

I'm always struck by the subtle differences that the eye can pick up on.  For example, there is only a 0.003" difference in the wire diameters of the grabirons and the handrails, which sounds like hardly anything, but when they are next to each other the difference still is noticeable.  Sometimes it's the subtle clues that make a big impact.

These closeup pics also make me appreciate the fine quality of the tooling that Kato puts into their models.

Ed

[Santa Fe N Scale]

Killer work Ed! Very innovative as always.  Bending the cut levers would push me over the edge.


Craig

[tankcar]

Very nicely done! A lot of work with great results!

Regards, Bobby

[robert3985]

Very impressive Ed as usual!  You are converting me (kicking and screaming) to the diameter handrails you use vs thicker versions I've done.

One thing that jumps out at me are the injection molded truck sideframes.  In the three-quarters photos, it's pretty obvious the springs aren't round and that the brake cylinders and associated hardware attached to them just go straight back so's they will release from the mold.

Maybe someone will get the bug to print 3D truck sideframes for N-scale motive power to get fully formed details...maybe. ? 

When looking at your photos, I have to keep telling myself that this is 1:160th scale.  Photos don't lie and are the harshest critic, and when you have the gonads to take clear, hi-res photos this close up...and the model holds up...that's a helluva kudo for the quality of your work!

However (ahem!)... ...the grabs you've applied would possibly benefit from a rivet applied appropriately at the entry points of the wire into the body...to represent the bolts which hold the prototype grabs on.  OR...maybe omitting them is better than "representing" them not completely appropriately.  We're delving into art and perception here...kinda like applying/not applying tie plates and spikehead details to hand-laid code 40 track...

Also, looking at your supplied prototype photos, in some of them (in overcast lighting) the long handrails on the sides appear to be noticeably larger in diameter than the grabs and railings on the pilots.  Maybe it's just the quality of the lighting as in some photos they appear to be the same diameter.

Anyways, your work is always an inspiration and incentive to improve my efforts, and this engine is excellently done!

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[ednadolski]

Killer work Ed! Very innovative as always.  Bending the cut levers would push me over the edge.

Thanks Craig!  Yep the cut levers were a challenge for sure: the one thing the SS wire does not like is to be bent into a curve (there are a good number of those parts in my carpet that I will never find!   )  Let me reiterate too how much I liked your IFRX 4750, that's some killer N scale weathering yourself

Very nicely done! A lot of work with great results!

Mucho appreciado for the kind words there Bobby. And I want to add that I am always floored with the amount of detail that you put into your tank car builds.   Always a treat to see what you've done.

Very impressive Ed as usual!  You are converting me (kicking and screaming) to the diameter handrails you use vs thicker versions I've done.

Thanks Bob!   You're right, it's always a concern to try making the parts as close to scale as possible, esp. when it comes to durability.  I've been pleased so far with the phosphor bronze wire, since it is relatively sturdy for its size.   "Relatively" being the operative word here, since I still can bend them if I get careless or ham-fisted when handling the models, but usually they are not too hard to bend back, if done gently.

One thing that jumps out at me are the injection molded truck sideframes.  In the three-quarters photos, it's pretty obvious the springs aren't round and that the brake cylinders and associated hardware attached to them just go straight back so's they will release from the mold.

Maybe someone will get the bug to print 3D truck sideframes for N-scale motive power to get fully formed details...maybe. ? 

Ah, that would be nice!   I do miss the old SRE parts, since they used to make cast-metal air brake cylinders that could replace the molded-on parts.  My fear is that 3D printed parts would end up being too delicate or would have to be oversized to make them strong enough to handle.

The other thing that is apparent to me in these pics (and even more in-person) is that the truck sideframes are way wider than the prototype.  But to make that look right, the loco would first have to be converted to Proto:160 wheelsets (which regrettably share the same unfortunate tendency not to exist).

Finally there is my    fantasy wish list of rotating roller bearing caps, but AFAIK no one has ever been able to make those work on model diesel trucks, not even in HO scale...

However (ahem!)... ...the grabs you've applied would possibly benefit from a rivet applied appropriately at the entry points of the wire into the body...to represent the bolts which hold the prototype grabs on.  OR...maybe omitting them is better than "representing" them not completely appropriately.  We're delving into art and perception here...kinda like applying/not applying tie plates and spikehead details to hand-laid code 40 track...

I would love to find a way to include that, but a scale part would be less than 0.010" square and probably around 0.003" thick.  That would be substantially harder just to pick up even than the 0.005" wire (which is tricky enough even using magnifiers and precision tweezers).  But the real challenge would be to place (and glue!) such a small part on the model accurately enough so that they don't come out looking like a hillbilly's grin.  Alternately I suppose one could drill a very small hole (say #94 or less) and leave just a tiny bit of wire sticking up to represent the nut/bolt, but again it becomes a matter of consistency and accuracy (esp. remembering that it's a matter of drilling *two* such holes immediately next to each other in a perfect line).  The best bet would be if a manufacturer would make molded-on bolts, right below dimples for drilling the holes for the wire.  At least FVM thankfully makes the dimples, but with Katos we are still in a world where the whole grabiron is molded on and has to be very carefully shaved off.  (To be honest tho, grabiron bolts are the kind of detail that in N-scale are only evident under extreme close-up photography, so I can understand why mfrs might not bother, esp. considering that their stanchions and handrails are already 2x or more the prototype thickness)    

One thing I had considered with this model was to replace the single X-panels on the side hood with correct double-X panels as per the prototype:



The panel in the pic is simply a piece of 0.003" phosphor bronze sheet, carefully cut to size and scored on the back side with an X-acto blade to make the two X lines.  But it is very hard to make these accurately by hand, and I would have needed a milling machine to take off the original panel and create a 0.003" recess that would accept the new part so that the edges would sit properly flush.  And even after all that, the grille next to it would also have to be moved and re-sized in order to match the prototype... (thanks a lot, GE! )


Ed

[ednadolski]

<bump>

Here is this model, updated with a Loksound 73100 sound decoder:



I didn't have to do too much filing which made this easier, as did hard-soldering to the motor leads.   I think tho that I will re-do the speaker, because even tho I filed down the enclosure box and removes some of the shell under the radiator, the shell still does not settle down fully onto the frame.   Otherwise, I'm pretty pleased with the installation.

Here she is leading a consist of sister units around the 'Foamachapi Loop', with a "old friend" (https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=21548.msg202687#msg202687) lending a helping hand at the tail end:

(Sorry, it's still just a lame cell-phone video, but at least the lighting now is a little better....)


Cheers,
Ed