3D printing SP prototypes

[ATSF_Ron]

@nickelplate759, that's a great paint job and close enough to what I'm looking for.  Did the paint look really dark to you out of the bottle?  I was just concerned it wouldn't have enough contrast, but yours looks really good to me.

[vermonter_railfan]

Here is the P10 from Folsom I have been working on for a buddy, I used Trucolor Gaphite and silver for the front of the boiler. From the photos I was finding for the P10's the front was a lighter color than the sides.

[ATSF_Ron]

@vermonter_railfan, thanks for those photos as well.  Yep, he does nice work.  That's a sharp looking shell and great painting.  It's interesting how the finish color looks so different to me than what I'm looking at when I take the top off the bottle.  I think I'll go ahead and use this from what both of you guys have shared in pics.  Thanks!

[vermonter_railfan]

@vermonter_railfan, thanks for those photos as well.  Yep, he does nice work.  That's a sharp looking shell and great painting.  It's interesting how the finish color looks so different to me than what I'm looking at when I take the top off the bottle.  I think I'll go ahead and use this from what both of you guys have shared in pics.  Thanks!

I would really shake that bottle and make sure you stir up everything in the bottom of the bottle. But at the same time I have had small inconstancy in my TCP paint before and also wrong labels. Got a bottle of BN green once and it was actually BNSF green.

Otherwise, yes they are great shells. I have a P8 and P10 I'm painting for a friend of mine and I broke down and got a MK5 Sport cab mike for the SPNG. Closet to the SP 3203 that frequented the SPNG, unfortunately the MK4 to my understanding isn't correct since the 3203 was a MK2 and had smaller drivers than what's available in N for mikes. I do also have one of his SP commuter coaches for eventual Grand Canyon Service, that car printed out well as well.

[ATSF_Ron]

@nickelplate759, I shot my TruColor paint and it looked no different than the loco black I used on the rest of the shell.  I shook it and stirred it plenty, so perhaps my bottle was mislabeled.  I happened to have some Vallejo gunmetal so I used that.  Came out great!  Next up is decaling and touching up the bell that I completely squished off while masking for the paint.    Hopefully this will be posted by the weekend.  Then again, taking all the electronics and trucks off the BLI tender and putting them in the new one could be interesting for me and my shaky hands! 

[nickelplate759]

@nickelplate759, I shot my TruColor paint and it looked no different than the loco black I used on the rest of the shell.  I shook it and stirred it plenty, so perhaps my bottle was mislabeled.  I happened to have some Vallejo gunmetal so I used that.  Came out great!  Next up is decaling and touching up the bell that I completely squished off while masking for the paint.    Hopefully this will be posted by the weekend.  Then again, taking all the electronics and trucks off the BLI tender and putting them in the new one could be interesting for me and my shaky hands! 

That's weird.  Your conjecture about mislabeled paint may be correct - my bottle is certainly very different from black, starting with being obviously metallic.

[robert3985]

For those of you who are interested in getting your paint well-stirred, here's the tool I use to do the job...no shaking, no stirring, just insert and turn it on.  Does the trick much better in a much shorter time than doing it manually with a popsicle stick.

Photo (1) - Battery Powered Paint Mixer - Badger


These are available from several different sources and also in rechargeable USB versions.  The cost is practically nothing compared to their usefulness, from a little over $7.00 to a little over $22.00

Highly recommended!

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[ATSF_Ron]

The saga continues...Painting has gone fine.  Now I'm trying to get the tender taken down so I can transfer all the electronics to the new one.  See my two pic attachments.  The loco and tender shells are going onto an existing BLI 2-8-2 heavy mikado mechanism.  I gave up trying to release the rear connector on the tender as it just wouldn't go. Instead, I popped out the smaller one that went to the speaker.  (pic one) Which leaves me with another issue.  How to release the front connector, (pic two) as it's a similar design as the rear one, and I can't get that one to budge either.  Does anyone have a trick for getting that thing out without damage?  I know some folks here on RW have replaced their Paragon decoders with others, so hopefully someone has advice on how to remove the connectors.  Also, after taking out the two screws that hold the DCC stuff down, I see there are tender truck pickup wires under it that I'll need to unsolder. Any suggestions on the best place to do that?  I'm 65, and it's been a while since I've taken down an N scale steamer to this level.  An optivisor helps, but my right hand has an essential tremor, which makes this part difficult, Lol!  Thanks again,

ATSF_Ron

[ATSF_Ron]

Bob, thanks for that paint stirring tool pic.  Maybe it's time I get one!

[peteski]

If you have a very sharp dental pick you could actually stab into the side of the plug and then using the housing of the other part as a fulcrum leverage the connector out. Do this a little at a time alternating between the sides (so it comes almost straight out).

It also looks like there is a small notch on the side of the connector.  Using a small jeweler's screwdriver wedge into that notch and again using the housing of the other part as fulcrum, pry toe connector out alternating sides.

Do not try pulling it out using by the wires.

[ATSF_Ron]

@peteski good idea.  I swore I bought one a few years ago, but couldn't find it.  Just went to Harbor Freight and got a cheap little 4 pack that had what I needed.  That plug slid right out with the pic tool.  Getting that tender off was a puzzler, but I finally figured it out.  This little guy...


...was a PITA!  Until I realized after getting the drawbar a bit looser that is simply slides out through a small channel not visible in all the innards.  Loco and tender separated.  Finally!  The last piece is desoldering the pickup wires from the tender trucks.  Yikes!  That's a damned small spot to heat up quickly and not melt the truck side frames!



I'm thinking the solder pad area is maybe 2mm wide?  The other option is to unscrew the trucks and try from above, but that leaves an even tinier spot to try and solder.  I've done a few hardwire decoder installs in my older Atlas/Lifelike diesels, but not with this tight of a clearance issue.  Another option is to cut the wires between the trucks and the  bottom of the decoder board, then put heat shrink wrap on them and resolder/splice them back together after moving things to the new whaleback tender.  Has anyone done something similar with this tender?  Any way I slice this, it's going to be tricky soldering.  My main concern is melting the truck side frames and having to replace them, so I'm leaning in the direction of the cut and splice option.

[peteski]

Those wires are soldered to the metal pieces before they are installed in the plastic truck.  You should remove the wheelsets then pull out the metal pieces along with the wires. Now you can unsolder the wires without melting the plastic truck.

Once you finish soldering, reassemble the trucks.

[ATSF_Ron]

Ahh, that's great info.  Thanks, Peteski!

[PiperguyUMD]

Nice work! Did the BLI Mike come with backup light on the tender? Any idea on how to add one using the BLI decoder? I used their Pacific for my WM K2, and couldn’t find hook ups for a tender light.

[ATSF_Ron]

Piper guy, thanks! No, none of mine came with backup lights, and I have several. Spookshow Mark mentions the lack of a backup light, but I thought I read somewhere that it can be done.  Not sure if the stock Paragon 4 decoder has extra spaces available to wire one in though.

My progress on this project is going in fits and starts, but that’s how life goes sometimes.  I still need to finish taking apart the trucks and getting them and the electronics moved to the whaleback tender. Then the tender needs reassembly and weighting, which I’m told is a bit tricky due to the different shape of the rounded tender top. The original weight is flat and fits under the old coal bunker.  I’m not a fan of starting soldering or resoldering projects unless I can do it all in one sitting.  My best bet for that is tomorrow or Sunday. With any luck I’ll have this finished up with photos by Sunday evening!

ATSF_Ron