I have to fashion a wire keeper on the bottom of the drawbar to keep the wires above the trailing truck, otherwise the design works well in the test runs. Appreciate all the positive comments, it’s just as much (probably more) fun documenting the progress as it is building it. I also managed to find my first build of this one on TB via a search. It has come a long ways.
Removed the wires from going through the drawbar to just straight into the back of the engine, this fixed the interference with the trailing truck. There is a little contact between the tender railing and the cab on tighter curves, trying to decide if I want to extend the drawbar or just live with it. Ready for painting this weekend and final assembly.
Conducted a test run with some reefers this morning and the contact of the tender with the cab is a problem when cars are involved. The inside rear driver lifts in curves, the one with the TT causing a reduction in pulling power. I’ll have to extend the drawbar as part of this evening’s work.
I used Tamiya Fine surface primer and will follow up with Tamiya semi-gloss black. I find that rattle cans offer the best overall initial coverage and then I follow up with an airbrush. I heat the cans in front of a small electric heater for a few minutes before spraying and it makes for a nice smooth coat where the paint is well atomized.
Black paint applied. Now to mask the firebox and smoke box for the graphite color. I’ll mix some Tamiya aluminum in with gunmetal and some black to achieve the color. There was ghosting on the cab where I removed the old vent and installed a new one. Did some sanding and need to apply black with the airbrush to see if it disappears.
Masking…Ugg. Graphite applied. Cleaned the black piping with a micro brush in 91%. The acrylic comes off the base black relatively easily. Just have to go slow. There are a couple of pipes I’ll touch up with black and a toothpick later.
Getting close. Power reverse install, Letter, minor weathering, dull coat, reassembly to align the drivers to the rods, paint the smoke box door (dull coat messes up the silver), final assembly with pilot, booster line, blowdown spreaders and headlight.
Ghosting of the cab vent remained. I added some filler to sand tomorrow. Will see if I go forward or backwards on it. It was just glaring at me, have to fix it.
Stripped the cab this morning and started over. The original vent was so thin that the plastic bubbled above the rest of the cab, making it impossible to get a smooth roof. Removed it completely and will fill with JB weld and re-contour the roof, then place a new vent. The Tamiya fine surface primer is a bear to remove with 91%. I also decided to ditch the original LL tube pilot and will install an SP stamped pilot from a casting by Eric. I keep picking new battles with this one.
Placed styrene under the vent as a backer for the filler. The brass casting will take some chopping and filing to fit. I have to do a little more work to the nubbins that guard the air pumps on the pilot. yes, nubbins is a technical term.
Filled and sanded. Now for some primer to see where it’s at. I’ll prime and smooth, then install the vent on a nice surface. That’s the plan anyway.
Found the divot, I primed before your message. No issues, there are a couple other spots that need some attention after the primer coat.
