Pennsy K4s?

[superturbine]

Those are incredible castings!

Looking at the latest photos from Jason (the casting in the raw) I thing that now I see how he casts all those fine details.  He uses a 2-piece mold with the parting line around all the free-standing details.  But I'm still not sure why those castings have to be solid.  That creates a lot of extra work to make the casting usable (not to mention lots of wasted resin). I'm wondering why couldn't the mold be made with a plug to make the casting hollow.  I'm not trying to put down Jason's excellent handywork - I'm simply curious.

Interesting thought! 

As far as the casting cost and availability- I think they will be about $85.00 which includes shipping. 
-They should be ready in a week.  I will keep track of those of you who have replied on this tread and PM you when ready.  I will be test fitting to my C55 first so I have a little more work to go.

[kelticsylk]

I was thinking of selling my boat and throwing the proceeds towards this hobby. Now I'm REALLY thinking of selling my boat!

Off to place an ad on Craigslist.

Frank

[robert3985]

Jason, you've done all the SPF's a great service.  If they're correct in their assertions, you should make a goodly profit from this.  As has been said before, your castings are incredible! They simply scream PENNSY!! 

[victor miranda]

Hi superturbine.

I believe you will need to do the kw-trailing truck and it would not hurt to do the tender trucks.

then you have a servicable k4 kit.

victor

[kelticsylk]

Hey guys...I was looking through some old threads and found this...
http://www.e-katomodels2.com/shop/c/c100802/

My Google Chrome translates the page automatically, I don't know about other browsers.

Although the C55 "power unit" is not listed, it would make more sense to buy the part instead of the entire locomotive, especially since we are going to toss most of it in the trash.

It's definitely cheaper. The C51 power unit, for example, cost about $45. A tender only cost about $9.

I guess in a pinch you could use the C57 part and fill in the holes to represent disc drivers like these...

Frank

[eric220]

Eric,

Bachmann never did the 2-10-0.  I wonder if you could lop off the tail end of their 2-10-2, though...

Ah yes, you are correct. What I stumbled on was a page on BLW advertising them, but I failed to take notice of the "cancelled" status.

What about Trix's current European stuff? It's not cheap, but they do make a decapod or two. Granted they come with red wheels, but that can be remedied.

[mmagliaro]

That's really good, Jason!
I see tremendous potential in this for a lot more than just whole loco shells.
Smokebox fronts, cabs, truck sideframes, all sorts of things that are impossible to make buy hand.

[peteski]

Fleischmann made several locos (with 2-10-0 among them) with black colored drivers.

[Lemosteam]

What do you mean "inside of the shell" ?

Hi Jason, kind of along Peteski's comment, I mean are you going to make an inner form to represent the C55 mech and THEN cast the shell around it for less interior milling?

[mike_lawyer]

That is simply amazing work!

The sad thing for me is that I am almost finished with my K4 conversion using a Minitrix shell!  I would be interested in your tender casting, though.  What would the price for that be?

Mike

[mike_lawyer]

One note about the Kato C55 - there is a lot of milling that you have to do to fit the Minitrix shell over the mechanism.  Just keep that in mind.

[nscaleSPF2]

Thanks for the information, Victor.  You are too kind.

Gentlemen, we may be witnessing a new phase in N scale modeling.  If talented people like Jason are willing to take the time to help others, then the whole hobby will benefit.

[superturbine]

Thanks for all of the overly kind comments guys.  I have the boiler mounted on the c55 mech with no cutting to the frame required.  The only problem is that the motor has to be moved back in the frame to properly fit in the cab and the motor sticks out of the back of the cab ( the motor is short and fat)  It's not too bad although a little disappointing to loose detail at the back of the cab.   The linkage has been made with the rubber plastic coupling material.  I talked to max this afternoon in regards other motors available to save details at the back of the cab.  The good news it that the boiler will fit with no frame milling.  Don't get me wrong the casting still looks good installed.  I will post pics tonight. 

[mike_lawyer]

Jason -

For my C55 conversion, I worked with Eldon (the Motorman) to come up with a good solution to the motor problem.  As-is, the motor runs very fast.  I would estimate the top speed to be about 200 mph with the stock motor.

I purchased a Faulhaber 1016 coreless with an 8mm gearhead, then mounted the worm to the motor shaft.  The motor does not stick out of the back of the Minitrix shell, and with a good decoder, the loco will creep along and have a top speed of about 80-100 mph.

I highly recommend this upgrade.  There is some frame milling that is required around the area where the rubber motor linkage is located stock.

[superturbine]

Ok, Cool!  That is what I will do on my engine, but I will also make the casting able to accept the stock mech with stock motor for those who do not want to take-on milling the frame and buying a new motor.

Thanks for the info Mike, I was not sure which motor I would use.