CN 70 Tonners (Kaslo kits)

[crmpei]

Hi everyone,

Long time lurker and this is one of my first times posting. I'm new to the hobby and have been planning a PEI layout for the past year or so... after doing some Proto 2000 boxcar kits and a Branchline kit I snagged two of these Kaslo 70 Tonner resin kits. Obviously in a little over my head, but hey, thats how you learn right?

I've been working on these for the past couple weeks and I feel confident enough that I'm going to follow through in finishing them now that I feel like I can post some photos of my progress so far.











(The sunshade isn't glued in yet... I just have it sitting there for now. I don't want to glue them on until I get the handrails on)



The most difficult thing I've encountered with this build so far is the pilot. It's not by any means complicated, just a little different, and this is my first crack at scratch building as well. I got a set of spare parts with the kits (I knew I'd break something important eventually) so I made a couple "prototype" pilots using a cracked pilot from the kit (Please ignore how crude they are... I was not aiming for accuracy in the measurments as much as I was just looking to get the "feel" of it. I've been sitting on it for a week now... I think I have it more or less correct, i just need to use thinner styrene. The Tichy NBW's I ordered have arrived so I'll likely finalize the pilot this weekend and get cracking on it. 

This was my first attack, and honestly I think it's my favourite. (The brass is part of a MBE SW1200 pilot that I sawed off)



Attack #2 next to the pilot as it comes with the kit:



VS





Thanks for looking... go easy, I'm new LOL. 


OH, and these will be #38 and #41. #38 will be in CNRs simplified green and gold livery and #41 will have it's noodles.


Calvin

[EMDX6043]

Looks good, there's nothing wrong with eyeballing it!

Nice work.

[crmpei]

Jan 31, 2018 8:20:35 GMT -5 EMDX6043 said:

Looks good, there's nothing wrong with eyeballing it!

Nice work.

Thank you!

[coaldog]

Looking great following with interest.

[crmpei]

Alright- more progress was made tonight on the pilot. I think I have it finalized.

Please note, nothing in these photos is actually glued down except the NBWs so things are a little crooked. The coupler pockets will need work as well.







The real world prototype:

[crmpei]

I think I've finally settled... I've masked it onto the model so I can sleep on it. Tomorrow I'll bang 4 of these out- just need to figure out a way to assemble a little cleaner. Getting pretty excited about this.. I've been at a standstill for the past couple weeks as I can't really do much else until I get the pilots on. Onward!

[crmpei]

Not as much progress lately as I would like. I've been getting called into work at all sorts of odd hours that I'm not used to anymore. Working for an airline in Canada means lots of 737s that need babysitting overnight while it storms.

All work no play hasn't stopped me from plotting though.. after getting the pilot sorted out the next biggest thing on the list to sort out is the air and fuel tanks.

Now, the Bachmann fuel tanks aren't really correct to begin with. The air tanks are spaced to closely, and the fuel tank is too tall. Thats fine though, the frame is in the way so there's not much I can do there without getting the hack-saw out which I don't really feel like doing. I figured at the very least I could try and spruce them up a bit by removing the "hatch" detail (that isn't even actually there on any of the prototypes, it being a fuel tank and all) and creating the prototypical lip that the fuel tanks had using styrene. When I cut the hatch out, I also took that time to file down the fuel tank in an attempt to make it appear less tall and more wide. I added some Titchy NBWs to the air tanks, styrene support beams as well as added some wire to represent the ties that held the air tanks to the undercarriage of the locomotive. This is a mockup I made with a fuel tank I absolutely annihilated in a CA spill... I took the photo at an angle so you cant see the worst of it lol. I'll make the final assembly once I feel like I've had enough sleep to properly co-ordenate my hands and eyes LOL. I think the wire ties look great, but there's nothing to affix them to on the locomotive side- I've already knocked them out of place twice, so I'm not sure if I'll include them or not. Might be one of those things that are better in theory than practice.

Can you tell I like mock-ups yet?

[EMDX6043]

Mock-ups are a great idea...working on a project bit by bit is a lot of fun. When they're done, it's actually kind of disappointing. I guess that means it's time for a new one!

[coaldog]

Coming along nicely.

[crmpei]

Progress is slow but steady. Waiting on a special order of styrene from my LHS has been a slow process. In the mean time I decided to get #41 (R) to the same stage as #38 (L) so when I proceed I can work assembly-line style.

#41 just needs her marker lights and rear grabs to be caught up to #38.



PS- a little foreshadowing of the next project in the background.