well, i found the searails material pretty durable overall. not like MakeMyModels RPs. i do handle the shell very carefully, so i'm not squeezing the steps, for example, but holding the body of the shell for support. i used a fine tooth razor saw for most of the cutting going slowly and keeping my wits about where the blade was. i was surprized by the durablity of the shells. i smoothed where i could and filled in with brushed layers of PollyS paint (on the RS shell) where i couldn't. after 3 or 4 coats, the ridges on the tops were minimized. hint: the searails shells respond very well to warm/hot water. if you pushed something out of wack (or it got too warm near the heat register, or something) you can reconform the material by doing it a little at a time with hot water running over the effected parts. a cool water bath quickly sets the rigidity again. not too much hot water, work carefully; hope you never need to, but accidents to happen. don't ask me how i know (i won't tell you). ;>) fyi. dave f.
SO it looks like you made this from 1 shell? The cab sides and back (the doors/windows) look like new flat undetailed styrene. Rob Ray and I are going to try it, if you only used 1 shell. I have chassis. .
David, My apologies for highjacking the thread for a sec. Harold, Make sure you have cleaned all of the gunk from the cab windows. I was surprised to find quite a lot of detail there. The walkway windows in the door are even smaller than the ones that don't have doors. There are frames around all of the windows as well. These were the most difficult areas to clean. See pics. These shells were produced sideways so that the sides of the loc are smooth, and the layers can be seen across the length of the hood and the roof (as well as the nose and tail of the hood). I plan on giving the smooth/non detailed areas of these surfaces a couple of light coats of clearcoat before doing the whole loc. I figure that might smooth it out a bit. Dan S.
nice preparation photos and details, dan. it's all on the topic of working these searail's shells. yes, jeff, one shell. i did fabricate a new cab. if you get robert to laser cut it you'll be in "high cotton" as they say. in looking at S2 pictures the sides of the cab hang out beyond the sides of the sill/walkways. so thin styrene cab sides, glued on top of the existing cab shell, work well. i also cut the windows section out of the sides of the cabs. with the new cab back side in place the roof is supported front and back. with the window area cut out, and new cab sides attached, the more "delicate" look of posts and windows is achieved. i initially cut the cab parts our of flat styrene sheet to their proper height/width and then added thin styrene "posts" to the flat cab section. when dried, i THEN cut along the "posts" to remove the windows. there was some delicate cutting to do, but it worked. a lazer would have zapped 'em in good order. you guys are so lucky to have robert ray nearby! he's so gracious, too, with his help and resources. thanks robert for all you do for the Z community. i used the clear thin styene (acetate like stuff) for the cab roof. on the prototype the cab roof looks like thin sheet steel. the cab roof is now done. i guess i should take some pictures. the other important details for the S2 are the louvered vent on top (where it is round on the RS shell) and the very different exhaust stack. i also fitted the trucks to the chassis and i'm thinking i might just leave the porch ends open so the truck mounted couplers can swing (in other words, no body mounting). for a working (Z scale) switcher this could be particularly helpful. i'll try to post a progress picture soon. i hope to make and drill for the grab irons tonight. we'll see how much i get done. from here on out the weekend and week is going to get very busy. i have two funerals to prepare for this coming week, one of them my own cousin's. and today is our 31st wedding anniversary (we both had multiple meetings tonight). it's also graduation week, and so on ... blah blah blah. (full week). until later, dave
Cutting could also work with hot wire, I even use it sometimes for styrene, just with accurate adjusted temperature.
Ok, here are some update photos of the S2 project. i have the details done, except for hand rails, which will go on only after the paint and decals. now i think i ready for paint. the picture below shows the radiator fan detail on the nose and the horizontal louvers. the new stack is on and the cab roof is on. you will have noticed the handrails: a nice coincidence, that. when Hobo Tim sent me trial etchings of the handrails for the SD70ACe the details on them were not all good. i pulled them out to see if any of them might work for this, and was pleasantly surprized to see that they could be made to fit. there are no end rails, which is going to be a real project, but half a loaf is better than none at all. in the picture below you see the wire along the right side of the hood which controls the radiator louvers from the cab. i thought of leaving it off, but hey, details are part of the fun. below shows the hand grab added up the side, in front of the cab. gotta have 'em. it's coming along. next i'll have to address the truck frames with the very unusual looking ARR trucks. keep your fingers crossed (except when you are working on Z ... or typing ... maybe you should just leave them uncrossed ...) dave f.
OK, people, here's a link to youtube video showing David K's BETTER conversion for shortening the mechanism that has both trucks powered. very strong. not everyone will be able to take a look, but maybe we'll get permission to post a pic here. it's worth the look. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LcEV4N7-BA"]YouTube - Z Scale MP-15 Switcher Mechanism Test[/ame] dave f.
I need to dig into David's site to see how he moved the worm gears. I assume he had to make them closer to the motor if he moved both trucks closer. Thanks for posting another mechanism shortening idea. .
David removed the flywheels. http://jamesriverbranch.net/project_28.htm http://jamesriverbranch.net/images/IMG_4070_F.jpg With the coreless motor you should never even notice the flywheels are gone.
I wonder how many motors will get broken taking off the worms, Where do you get replacement worms that size?
I don't know the MT diesels, but would these work: http://www.nigellawton009.com/Tenshodo_Gears_Single.jpg I have this small gear puller: http://cgi.ebay.com/GWS-MICRO-PINION-GEAR-PULLER-MINI-LST-MINI-LST2-NIB_W0QQitemZ220357442815QQcmdZViewItemQQptZRadio_Control_Parts_Accessories?hash=item334e53bcff&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A1%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50 But I haven't tried it on the MT motor.
