S.A.&A.P. Wrecking Crane No. X2...THE BIG HOOK!

So far...

 

Tea anyone?

Made the first canvas curtain, thanks to the article in November 2011's Model Railroad Hobbyist, where author Chad Zentz describes how to use a tea bag to make canvas cover tarps for steam locomotive cabs. Well, I thought this might work the same for the hoist, so this morning, I took three tea bags, one in each cup, and I boiled enough water to fill the coffee cups ups half way, and then let the tea go to work. I left the tea bags soak in the cup until the water was cold. This gave the staining application enough time to do its stuff.

All you need to do is once you pull the tea bag out is strain the bag against a large spoon. The carefully remove the staple so you don't tear the material (ask me how I know). Then you open up the tea bag, and dump the contents in the garbage. Rinse quickly the excess tea out of the bag, but don't take too long. You don't want to wash the tea stains out. Then get a dish and put it in the microwave on high for 40 seconds. This should dry the tea bag perfectly. You may need to do it twice depending on your microwave settings. Do short bursts in the micro-wave. The micro-wave will kill any bacteria in the bag. You can CA glue for a permanent adhesion, or use rubber cement for ability to remove.

Next, simply take the tea bag and tightly roll it. You know where your tie points need to be, so choose one. I used Sunset's Amnesia Black Monofilament 6 lb test fishing line for the tie material. One you get your pattern, trim to fit, and you are done.

Here are some shots, and a test fit.

You can find the article on the technique here: Model Railroad Hobbyist Nov 2011

You can sign up and get the monthly issues. They are free. Download them to your computer and you have them forever.

 

Made the fireman's side canvas curtain. They'll be the last things installed as a detail part. These come out real good. Great trick.



In the interim, I had to email Tichy for another part. I sheared one of the pins that holds the boom onto the A-Frame. It is not repairable. So, hopefully I'll get a replacement by Wed/Thursday. Going downstairs now to paint the remaining black parts and soon this project will be a rap.

 

Main pulley assembly for the boom and the roof shield needed another squirt of paint. So they'll be drying overnight. Updates in the morning.

 

You big silly boy.
I'm going to give you one attaboy on your 'canvas' curtains.
Those do look rather good.

Per your previous: "Going downstairs now to paint the remaining black parts and soon this project will be a rap" ...

Are you making a UTUBE rap; or is it a "wrap"?

NOW - Stop breaking and pinging pieces!

 

LOL...Frustrating breaking pieces. First time building this kit so I know how to do some things on the next one. For example. On the boom there are two areas that pressure pins go in. When you paint, paint undoubtedly will get in there which creates extra friction. Find the proper drill bit size or even a round needle file and bore the hole ever so slightly so that the pin will go in, but still have a bite on the sides as there are wedges on the pin that holds it in place.

No, I'm doing a rap. It should be "wrap". My bad.

What fun would modeling be without an occasional ping?

 

The crane's base is completed. She got weathering powder rust, dirt, grime, and grease. The ring track got a dry brush of grimy black with oily black on top of it. Afterwards, a coating of Polly S Dust was applied. The weathering is very subtle but it is there. I didn't want to go nuts because this piece of equipment would be kept rather clean and neat. They were expensive you know. Now I can focus on the upper section and should have this baby completed in about a week.

I have a Scotia Models Boom Car to go with her. It's a 36' board on board construction. Too neat!

Here are the pics of the completed base.

 

I just got the replacement pins for the crane from Tichy. Back to work on the crane, in-between the Houston Artificial Ice car.

 

Well,

The hoist is almost complete. I installed the new pin, and then I rigged the wire. A very tedious job indeed. You have to be very careful to follow the instructions and make sure that your line does not get crossed up. I still have to gloss and dull cote the cab. I have to install the ladder on the back of the cab. Then I can do a little weathering and add the cab curtains and she's done.

Here is tonight's progress...

 

That's a kit with karacture !

Good work on the rigging.

 

LOL...I can't wait to weather the cab and add the cab curtains. I held the curtains up in place and they soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo make the model. This has been a wonderful surprise of a kit to build.

 

That is just a great lookin' build. Glad your doing the weathering, at this point I'd have to quit for fear of screwing it up! Gotta get some of my old junk cars out and practice weathering. Thanks for doing these build threads on your various projects, keeps me working on getting some of my done, or at least started!

 

I didn't do the gloss/dull. I got lazy. See next post.

 

She's received her ladder. Now to Gloss and Dull Cote.

 

When MW 229 is fully painted and dry, I have to gloss cote her in spots for decals. When I do that, I'll do the cab of the crane. In the interim, I secured a Scotia Models 36' truss rod boom car, which I am going to start building for the wrecking crane. Scotia kits are a huge step above LaBelle's. Nothing wrong with LaBelle however, Scotia takes it further in many different ways. The entire floor of the car has to be built, board on board. There is no one piece floor. This is what I am going to start to do to up the ante on my other cars. I'll start posting pics of the boom car up shortly.

 

Mr. Napper asked if there was a Frisco Prototype for the Tichy Brown Hoist. Take a look at Mike Condren's website, particularly photos FR707, FR708, FR709, FR710 and FR711. I started one of these kits based on a slide of FR708 years ago myself. It is still in the box because of a loss of interest in the hobby.

 

Well,

The big hook is finished. She looks like the original prototype with a few exceptions being that the center plates on the frame are now installed, and the upgraded boom pulley system is present rather than the top boom single pulley in the prototype photograph. All in all, I'm happy with her, but I feel I could have done a lot better. This is not a kit for the faint of heart. Take your time with it and all will go well. Understand the instructions and you will do fine. Rush, or try and do the steps your own way and you will fail. I'm not happy with the looseness of the lines. I couldn't find the string group that came with the kit, so I used 6 lb. fishing mono-filament and this has its drawbacks. It can't get super tight like thread would. Otherwise, I think she's okay for a first attempt. I really like how the tea bag canvas' turned out. Gives a nice touch.

Here are the pics.