New brass Milwaukee Bipolar EP-2 clinic- part 2

[u18b]

Peteski:  Makes sense.  Otherwise the shop crews wouldn't know which end to work on, and that's the same regardless of country.

I don't know if they all did, but some MILW electrics had the axles numbered as well, with very small numbers on the lower edge of the body.

Nick,
yes I have seen those numbers on other locos.

But on the EP-2s, they placed the axle numbers in white painted on the truck frames.  The painted them on the bracket that held the leaf springs.

As in this shot;
http://www.american-rails.com/images/Bonner71758.jpg

[u18b]

Going through some old photos, I realized I missed a step I took a while back.

On page 7 of this thread-- dated almost exactly one year ago -- yikes!!!!

I did something VERY daring.
I want these models to honestly be as accurate as possible.

Well, I became convince that this dome shaped piece up on the hood needed to be removed (in the absence of confirming evidence, my guess is that this is the location of the steam whistle).  But there is no evidence of a steam whistle (or at least that dome thing) once we leave black paint around 1947.

So....... risking disastrous damage to the loco, I used a cut-off wheel and removed the dome thing.



I was then able to file the area pretty smooth and even and added a diesel horn.



It actually turned out MUCH better than I was expecting.

Well, this emboldened me to do more.

Even though I'm only painting one right now, I have been working on more than one.  In fact, I already have a second built- also waiting for paint.

The problem was- the shells I was working with had three levels of detail on the roof-- and it did not always match what I needed.
Milwaukee Road was constantly making changes to these 5 locomotives.  So good photos are a must.  VERY few are identical at any given moment.

Take a look at this photo.  This is the first model I built.   This shell was very accurate for number E-3.



Look at the left Cab- which is the busy end- or B end.  See that rectangular coil cover on the roof?
That cover is accurate--- but only for E-3.  That cover was in black, and then this Railroad Fair scheme and that cover even made it to the cigar scheme.

The problem is... I have too many shells with that cover!

So, after the earlier success in filling in brass hole and hiding actual changes to the brass.... I decided to remove that coil and its cover.

So I took this loco, a proceeded to remove that coil and cover.




And I also removed the coil on the other side-- but will put it back.  I just needed area to work so I could file cleanly.
In this shot, the coil and its cover have been removed and I am soldering in brass rods to plug the holes.




And here is the area all smoothed down.



I the soldered the good coil back in place on the far side (left side).
And installed a brass diesel horn where the whistle was.






The cool thing about this is that it allows me to save up a couple of great detail parts.
I'll add them to an old NJ Custom Brass EP-2 one day to make it even better!

[nkalanaga]

Ron:  Considering the thin sidesills, and that EVERYTHING below that is truck frame, I'm not surprised that's where they put the numbers.  About the only place there's room for them...

[u18b]

This is a research post.

Painting.--- what color is the walkway?

Like almost any locomotive, it is VERY hard to find shots from a high angle.

And models are all over the place.

Here is a HO brass by Precision Scale.  They painted the walkway black.

http://brasstrains.sirv.com/products/035669/DSC06886.jpg?&scale.option=fill&scale.width=585&scale.height=439&crop.x=center&crop.y=center&crop.width=585&crop.height=439

On the Streamstyle graphics page, the sample model has it painted red.
http://streamstylegraphics.com/shop/image/cache/data/IMG_Models/DSC04256Large-800x600.JPG

The MTH O scale model has it painted black.
http://s155.photobucket.com/user/Dave_Hikel/media/DSC_9442.jpg.html


Now this prototype photo is of the streamlined version-- but it should be the same paint scheme.
Walkway is dirty- as usual, and making it hard to be sure.
Appears walkway is NOT black.
Could be red.
Or could be orange with dirt on it.

http://vilagvasutai.hu/amerikai/amjarmu/bipolar/bipolarcimkep.jpg



This shot is black and white.  And the walkway is filthy.
But the steps up to the cab are dirty too, and you can see that they appear to be red like the surrounding color.

Which means this walkway could be orange.- though dirty.
http://www.american-rails.com/images/BiPolarE258.jpg


And I know the Little Joe platform is black- but that does not automatically mean the EP-2 walkway should be black.

Hmmmmm.

[u18b]

I guess I'm really leaning orange because of this video--- at the 6 minute mark.

/>

[Missaberoad]

http://www.american-rails.com/images/BiPolarE258.jpg

Looking at this image that you shared, there is very little difference in the light being reflected on the top and side of the walkway.
That tells me it is the same color.

...and looking at the video, I think you have confirmation that the walkways are the same as the surrounding body color.

[u18b]

Had some free time, so I worked on a box.
These EP-2 threads have covered a lot of territory-- and now is no exception.

Y'all will remember that I asked a good friend of mine to help with staining the box for the first EP-2.  But I didn't feel right about asking him to do more.  It was something I needed to learn to do (not that it was all that complicated).

So I bought some stains.  One dark and one light (I have several boxes).

These boxes are a challenge because the spruce/pine/cheap fir (whatever it is) is pretty white.   Today I'm going to stain one with the light stain.

These are the stains I bought.



Plus some cheap throw-away brushes.
And some fine sanding blocks.

First step was to remove all of the hardware from the box.




The second step was to sand the entire box- inside and outside.  I bought some fine grade sanding blocks.  Makes angles a lot easier to deal with.



I also beveled the edges just a little bit to reduce the chance that a little splinter would lift up and break off if bumped- exposing the white wood underneath.





I then worked outside and brushed on a little stain at a time, spreading smoothly.  This light raw wood really soaks it up.  I do the inside first so that it can dry.  If you try to do too much too fast, you risk leaving fingerprints in the stain since you have to handle the wood somehow.







The first coat dries pretty quickly-- about a half hour or so.  I then add a second coat for this light stain (if I was using the dark stain, one coat would be enough).





You can see in the corner that the excess glue does not get stained.  This is not such a problem on the inside, since it will be covered with the foam.




Now I let the box dry in the garage for a couple of days.  The second coat takes a lot longer to dry.

[u18b]

24 hours later, the box is mostly dry.  Still just a little tacky.  Needs to dry more.

The lid came out a bit lighter than the bottom.  I'm PRETTY sure that I gave 2 coats to the lid outer surface- but maybe not.   I think I'll add another coat to the lid to make it just a bit darker.



Actually, it's not quite as bad as this photo since the wood grain is oriented 90 degrees to each other in this shot.  But it is still a bit lighter.

[jereising]

Ron, you're using my wife's staining technique...I do it a bit differently, and I've stained a lot of wood over the years.

Apply the stain in the normal manner.  Using an absorbent clean rag or paper towel, wipe off the excess stain, rubbing with the grain (this is where the "hand rubbed" finish moniker comes from).

Now you can just wait for it to dry, or hit it with a couple coats of urethane varnish (water base is fine), sanding lightly between. 

The result is furniture quality and no stickyness.   

It does take a bit longer thanks to the urethane, but will last for years and stand up to handling.

FWIW...

[peteski]

Ron, you're using my wife's staining technique...I do it a bit differently, and I've stained a lot of wood over the years.

Apply the stain in the normal manner.  Using an absorbent clean rag or paper towel, wipe off the excess stain, rubbing with the grain (this is where the "hand rubbed" finish moniker comes from).

Now you can just wait for it to dry, or hit it with a couple coats of urethane varnish (water base is fine), sanding lightly between. 

The result is furniture quality and no stickyness.   

I'm pretty sure Ron coats the stained wood with at least couple coats of urethane clear.  I know that I've done it that way myself (stain, wait for the stain to dry, urethane, sand, urethane, sand, urethane).  I usually do 3 urethane coats.

[u18b]

Now that the stain is done, it has a flat look to it.  So the next step is to apply some polyurethane.  This will give it a nice clear, shiny, hard finish.  It also adds a kind of richness to the color.

Bought this product.




Here, I applied it to the piece near the camera.  The far piece awaits.




Here is the finished box with all hardware added back.




Foam looks like it was made for it.... wait, it was!   

[u18b]

Jim and Pete,

Thanks for your comments and suggestions.
I'm pretty amateurish.

But that's kind of the point.   Even I, who just started doing this, can get nice results.

[u18b]

Now, time to work on the name plate.

The custom plate is anodized/painted aluminum.
It is then laser etched (with my drawing).

Thus.... it is fragile and subject to being scratched easily.
So I need to protect it.

In fact, on a previous occasion, I airbrushed one with a good clear cote that we use for models.  Sadly, it wasn't tough enough.

So now I go with something that has proven better.
I use a hi gloss clear lacquer right out of a spray can.
This stuff is pretty tough.





I make sure to get a good glossy coat on the plate.
I let it dry, and then apply another coat.




This weird photo hopefully shows the glossy coat. 




I then use double sided tape to affix the plate.


Turns out very nice.



The plate really adds to the presentation of the box and the loco.

[peteski]

Exquisite!

Another (much more involved) way to protect that beautiful plate would be to mill out a recess in the top of the box to make the name plate sit flush or slightly below the wood surface.  That should be done before stainign and clear lacquer.

[jereising]

'Tis truly a thing a beauty!  (And the loco also!)