Best Of SP&S 4-6-2 #626 Project

[garethashenden]

Wonderful thread. You've inspired me to have another look at my B&M P2 project.

[superturbine]

Looking great Max.

[robert3985]

Love this thread Max.  Well done!  I check this every day to see what's new.

I've got a suggestion for your next project however.  The tender walkway mounting brackets could have been made out of brass flat stock.  I cut my flat stock for brackets with pair of sharp scissors, then using a polished jeweler's hammer on my anvil, I carefully shape them straight again (by gently tapping them) because they curl a bit when cut.  I used to emboss rivet details in the ends where they're mounted, but nowadays I add rivet decals later since that's a lot easier and looks just as good.

I need to state that there's a plastic-model, brass-import switch that needs to be turned off in our brains for this next part of my suggestion.  When building a brass model, mounting grabs and brackets doesn't require a hole.  Nope...no holes to precisely locate and drill.  But a new piece of equipment is essential...a precision resistance soldering station, such as the American Beauty 250 Watt unit with probe and tweezer handpiece.

After you precisely form the brackets (as you did) except without any "tails" that would insert into mounting holes, you tin the ends of the brackets with solder and align them to reference lines you've lightly scratched in your brass tender body.  With your resistance solderer's graphite probe accessory (and with the grounding clamp attached to the tender brass body somewhere) you put a teeny drop of flux on the tinned portion of your bracket, hold it in place with your graphite probe, step on your soldering station's pedal for just a second...the flux smokes, the solder turns shiny...get off the pedal, hold for just a couple of seconds, go to the other side and do the same thing...check your alignment and proceed on to the next brackets.  No holes, no grinding to make your brackets flat, and they are securely attached.

You'll also do almost identical fabricating and soldering for any grabs or ladders (with associated brackets) that attach to the brass body on your model.  Prototypically, all grabs have flattened ends, through which one or two holes are drilled and they're attached with either bolts or rivets.  It's very easy to flatten the ends of your grabs, bend them out, shape the grab and solder them directly to the brass body of your model without drilling any holes, then add rivets using rivet decals to the soldered-on flattened ends.  Or, just leave 'em plain...they still look excellent.

I've done this on several brass models I've superdetailed and I've never had one come detached.

However, I could not have done this without my American Beauty resistance soldering station.  It is absolutely INVALUABLE for detailing brass models, or brass portions of composite models.

On my superdetailed old Hallmark "welded UP caboose" (actually a badly done UP CA-8/9/10), I removed the grossly out-of-scale grabs and other details by desoldering them, then filling the holes with brass rod, soldering them, then filing them off flush with the outside surface.  I then applied surface-soldered grabs and brackets with my resistance solderer which both solders and holds the miniscule parts in position while the solder cools.

I also did the same thing on a brass UP Big Boy, removing old details, filling the mounting holes and adding new, finer details by soldering to the model's brass surface.

I use these surface attachment protocols on nearly all of my brass projects nowadays, and drilling holes in my plastic projects then gluing on details seems cumbersome.  I am finding myself wishing my Athearn Big Boys and Challengers were made out of brass so I could solder rather than drilling and gluing!

I believe investing in a resistance solderer will open up new methods and techniques for your excellent modeling, both adding to the quality and speeding things up.

[peteski]

Detail Associates sells several sizes of flat brass wire which coule be useful in this application.  It is currently out of stock at Walthers but might be available at retail locations. I have a stash of the smaller sizes and they do come in handy.

This is probably also a good time to mention http://www.specialshapes.com . They carry a wide range of small brass shapes, thin-wall brass tubing, and more.

[mmagliaro]

Truth be told, I did not originally think of making the brackets appear flat until I started making them.
I already knew how to hammer round wire flat, like I did for the pipe hangers on this project.

After I made some of the brackets, it occurred to me that it would be better if the ends appeared
flat, and a Dremel wheel buzzed them down pretty quick, so I just went with that, rather than make the
rest out of flat wire or hammered wire.

Thanks for the tip on that Detail Associates flat wire.  That looks like very handy stuff.

Resistance soldering iron:  Yes, this is a tool that I think I will eventually buy.  It has so much potential
for making solder joints that would be impossible any other way.  Give me time.   I discovered flux and did a lot more
small joints with solder than I used to.  I'm getting there. 

In many ways, I build models like Geppetto the toy maker.  I'm old fashioned.  (although I doubt Geppetto had a vertical mill)

[robert3985]

In many ways, I build models like Geppetto the toy maker.  I'm old fashioned.  (although I doubt Geppetto had a vertical mill)

Max, however you do it, you do a beautiful job. 

[Chris333]

Pretty sure that DA strip brass hasn't been made in some time. I recall many people looking for it and this was years ago.

[garethashenden]

The flat wire seems to be in stock at N Scale Supply...

[peteski]

Pretty sure that DA strip brass hasn't been made in some time. I recall many people looking for it and this was years ago.

While it is flat, is is not a strip. Strips have sharp edges. I think the reason it is called flat wire is because it if flattened wire: the edges are rounded. That is why I thought it was ideal for simulating fire hose on this fire engine. 

[up1950s]

Max , as usual all your cuts , and filed surfaces are so crispy clean , just like mutilated cattle . Your not from around here are you ?

[mmagliaro]

Max , as usual all your cuts , and filed surfaces are so crispy clean , just like mutilated cattle . Your not from around here are you ?

Thanks, Richie!  I very much appreciate that.   
I will say one thing about this.   This is something that I continually refine all through the project,
even though I don't mention it.   I continually go over joints, surfaces, and edges
and keep scraping, filing, and cleaning them up, migrating toward the day when the thing is really ready for
painting.  I find it easier to just go after something and clean it up when I notice it rather than wait
until the end and try to find everything.

I'm on to the riveting now, by the way.  Golly, I don't know what I would do without those Archer decals.
There are a LOT of rivets on this particular engine.

[robert3985]

I'm on to the riveting now, by the way.  Golly, I don't know what I would do without those Archer decals.

+1 

[mmagliaro]

Greetings!

In this installment, I do all the rivet detail (with Archer rivet decals), all the boiler appliances, and start on
the piping detail.








































































At this point, I want to show you my "task list".   It is hard to even remember all the separate details that need to
go on the engine, let alone make them.  So I compiled this list so I can systematically work them off and not forget any.

This is a summary of all the details applied to the boiler to date:








There will be a second post coming up right away, just showing some larger-resolution format photos of the engine overall, so you can get an idea of how it actually looks now with all this stuff applied.  I wanted to separate it into two posts, because the forum display can be a pain with the photo scrollbars when you have photos of mixed sizes.

[mmagliaro]

... and here are some overall "glam" shots, just to show the actual appearance of the engine at this stage.
Remember... you can click on these to view them larger.

[superturbine]

The genius is in the details,

Looks great Max!