I'm just about finished except for a headlight lens from MV products. I've started with a Bachmann 4-4-0 Old Timer engine and a Rivarossi tender and replaced most details with brass castings and rebuilt the cab , pilot and valve/side rod guides. The brass details include the bell, sand and steam domes, headlight, marker lights and coonskin smokebox plate. The Rivarossi tender was used because its larger size is more accurate for the prototype I'm modeling(Rivarossi 4-4-0 Old Timers are OO scale and too big to use in HO scale but tender size is just right for my purposes and the electric motor is way better and quieter than Bachmanns offering).You can see the copper pickup shoe I made in the photo at right. It's riding the rail just in front of the tender wheel. Please enjoy the photos.
Jim, thanks for sharing - an inspiring example for me as to what can be done through kitbashing. Hope you're staying relatively dry in Cape. My folks live on the soggier end of Chaffee by the Nursing Center and Ditch #1...they were stranded in their house and my mom spent her day timing how often the sump pump in the basement was running!
Howdy Jim, Thanks for sharing your handy work. The 4-4-0 looks very nice. If the MV lense is holding you up, we've had quite a bit of success using 560 Canopy glue for lenses. I use it to make the windows in my structures and am venturing into the locomotive realm. An N gauge modeler friend says he has been using the headlamp lense technique for years. Do you have DCC packed in there somewhere? Best Regards, mike
My part of Cape stayed above water Chris but I know people in Chaffee are hatin' it. Hey Mike, tell more about the canopy glue. Is this something available at hobby shops and do you just dip a toothpick in it and fill the headlight cavity?
Howdy, I first heard about it on the Scotty Mason Show, podcast. It was designed for model airplane canopies and is available in many hobby shops, rail and air. It has an applicator tip, so you don't have to use a toothpick. A similar product is Microclear. I like 560 because it doesn't turn white and resists alcohol. I use many alcohol washes on everything I build, so that was important to me. When I saw the lenses on an HOn3 loco, I was convinced. Here is a link to a bottle I saw on Amazon, but if you google it, you'll see many hobby shops with it: http://www.amazon.com/Pacer-Glue-Formula-560-Canopy/dp/B0006O8EVM I glue wood structures with it and make window glass since I model in the first half of the 20th century. Best Regards, mike
