Work in progress: Westinghouse boxcab electric

[finescalerr]

How could anyone improve on that level of craftsmanship? -- Russ

[nk]

incredibly beautiful detail work.

[michael mott]

How could anyone improve on that level of craftsmanship? -- Russ

They do it all the time! and it is just that that keeps us all on our toes, and sets the bar for us all to raise. I could name names but what's the point.

Someone does something incredible, then someone else does something even more incredible.

In the Olympics they now split hundreds of seconds, soon they will be splitting thousands of seconds, the same applies in model-work the bar gets raised a millimeter or a thousandth. Then it gets raised another tenth of a millimeter or a tenth of thousandths.

Isn't it great!!

regards Michael

[marc_reusser]

How could anyone improve on that level of craftsmanship? -- Russ

They do it all the time! and it is just that that keeps us all on our toes, ...

.....in model-work the bar gets raised a millimeter or a thousandth. Then it gets raised another tenth of a millimeter or a tenth of thousandths.

Isn't it great!!

regards Michael

Bite Me!

M

[Hauk]

How could anyone improve on that level of craftsmanship? -- Russ

Thanks for all the praise!

But there is certainly room for improvement. Especially in the operating/ruggedness department.

A totally different matter is that I am planning to make a *less* detailed version of the pantograph. A couple of people have bought "kits" of this engine, and they are struggeling quite a bit with the pantograph. I will therefore look into if it is possible to make an version that is, say, 80 % the realism and 20 % the work. A different challenge all together, but it might be interesting!

Regards, Hauk

[Hauk]

Not much progress to report, have done some painting experiments that I will share in the near future.

Until then, I have a concept for headlight lenses I want to share.

I have some rather tiny headlights in brass that I want to install lightbulbs in and cover with glass.
My first plan was to cut disks from microscope cover glass slips. But after trying this I fell I will go insane before finishing the eight disks I need. Rhey have a diameter of around 0,16" (4 mm).

So my idea is to get some Alumilite Clear and fill the lens with it. The idea is to get it totally filled so I can polish it after it have set. The glass on the prototype was flat glass.

My first thought was to cast the lightbulb in place, but it might be an better idea to drill carefully into the cured resin from the back and make the bulb replaceble.

Any toughts on this? Good idea, or just plain stupid? I have included a picture of one of the headlights.



By the way, this is a marker lamp that should be red, so does anyone know if it is possible to tint Alumilite Clear?

Regards, Hauk

[David King]

Why not punch the lenses out of acetate?  You can even get acetate that's already tinted.

[finescalerr]

Did you turn that headlight? If so, WOW! -- Russ

[Hauk]

Did you turn that headlight? If so, WOW! -- Russ

Yes, on my little Proxxon 230. Great little lathe for cosmetic projects like this.
Parts like this are in fact fun and simple to do. The rounded back was formed free-hand with a file.
And for the flat parts,  a really sharp cutting tool helps a lot. And if the part is a few thou over/undersized does not really matter, at least until you try to fit a lens...

Regards, Haavard H

[lab-dad]

I'm not sure what Alumilite is but I have used epoxy for lenses (may be same thing).
I just fill the void and done.
Most lenses I have done had a curve so the surface tension of the epoxy was good.
I never worried about replacing bulbs, I figured by then my skills would improve and I could make another one!

Beautiful housing by the way!

-Marty

[Hauk]

Painting & finishing has begun, and I am trying out different approches.
For the trucks I have used Birchwood Casey blackening. I like the fact that it does not obscure details, but I m struggeling to get consistent results.  So far, what seems to work best is dunking the parts in a solution of 1 part blackening to 200 parts of water for a couple of days.







As the wheelsets were permanently assembled with ball bearings before applying paint or blackening, I decided to paint them. It would be very hard to rinse of any blackening. Its a bit unfortunate that the color do not match the blackening better. But after final weathering it should be ok.

And I have to do something with those very out of scale screwheads. Maybe a coverplate of brass soldered directly to the screws.

Coming up: Painting headlight reflectors with Alclad 2.

[artizen]

Extraordinary!

[marc_reusser]

I think it looks great. I don't see a problem with the difference between the wheels and sideframes. Likely in real life these would be slightly different to begin with, due to material, wear, and exposure to light and elements, and would age weather differently. the darker color of the wheels also ads some "depth" to the overall piece.

M

[michael mott]

I think they look really sharp.

Michael

[finescalerr]

You're too critical of your own work, Havaard. The trucks are most satisfactory. -- Russ