Well I have shelved my Ford Explorer project yet again untill I can refine my non-existant etching skills. With that in mind, I decided to etch somthing a bit easier. As many of you know, I model Worcester to Boston. The Boston line features over 30 commuter trains a day. Unlike many other cities, the MBTA wasn't taken with the Bombardier bi-levels. This is unfortunate as it is the only modern commuter car in N scale. They relied mostly on Comet II (and clones), as well as single level cars from Messerschmitt-Bolkow-Blohm GmbH (MBB). Kawasaki built a few dozen bi-levels that resemble the KTT cars operating in Hong Kong. Those were made in N scale, but I can not find any. But the Messerschmitt cars are promising. The roofline roughly resembles the clasic streamlined roofline available in the American LTD core kit. Unfortunatly there are no car sides available for this car, and the ends are wrong, but that can be fixed. Here is a pic of the prototype straghtened by NscaleSteve: I shot three side shots like this of different cars. Two are cab cars (shown) and the third was a coach. The MBB cars happen to be on every train on the MBTA due to one slight oversight; no other car on the system features a toilet! That isn't very fun when on a 90 minute crowded train into Worcester. In any event, I used the adapted photo to make a template for etching: Its not 100% exact, but it should do for now. Now I have to horn my etching skills. I plan on using the Am LTD core kit with trucks and interior from the new Bachmann Amtube. The headlights and class lights will light up. Wish me luck...
Dan, Very Nice. Have fun with that. Maybe someday I'll make a few 35 foot versions for the GandG. Let's see...
Oh darn and here i thought he was going to finally make us some N scale WW2 fighters. But the passenger car looks nice though
Ok, had a lil more time to complete the templates on the coach. Like the cab car, the coaches car sides are mirror images of eachother, so one only needs to complete one template and rotate and flip it to make both car sides. The nice thing about these cars is a total lack of detail on the car sides. this makes them a perfect candidate for my first etching experiment. The windows are a tad bit small, but i suspect the etching process will eat away at the metal edges a bit. Anyone know how to get the tinted glass look?
One way to do tinted windows is to use plastic file folder tabs. I don't know if you could find different colors for the shades. For the slab sides, I wonder if you could use a thin sheet of styrene with the windows cut out?
Daniel: I used to take that car to Boston from the Canton (Malfunction) Jct. stop before Route 128. It brings back fond memories. Stay cool and run steam......
A couple ways, I use a black wash on the interior of the "glass". Possible washes would be from Taymia or Armoury. There is a company that makes airbrush aluminum colors. "Aluma-somethingorother" One that they have is for carbon staining and soot. While I haven't used this yet (I do own some though) I bet that the slight metalic tint to the paint would look wonderful.
Dan, I have used regular automotive tint on Viewliners with great results. See if you can get a window tint shop to give you a small sample. They are everywhere here in Florida. Bob.
Knowing Daniel's interest in N scale automobiles, I was expecting to see one of these: http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/bv/messerschmitt.htm :teeth: Carter
It is very frustrating to get so close to a project and never see it through. I have several core kits kitbashed with new ends. I have the steps from Kato RDCs for the end doors. I have the etch patterns done and sized. I have the blue transfer paper and I have the brass and sheet steel. I was never able to get a laminator that successfully transferred the pattern from the blue paper to the metal. I would always get partial transfers. It didn’t matter what type of metal I used. I didn’t matter what laminator or iron I used. I cleaned and scrubbed and de-greased everything. I used cotton gloves so I wouldn’t leave fingerprints. Still I failed. This project has been sitting in my basement for a year. I would love to have several of these cars, but I just can’t seem to get the etching template onto the metal. Until that happens, or I can pay for someone to do that. This project remains unfinished.
