New brass Milwaukee Bipolar EP-2 clinic- part 2

[chessie system fan]

After airbrushing red and removing the masking, it turned out pretty well.

Maybe it's the camera angle, but the right side maroon body and sand boxes don't quite line up.  Will you leave it as-is or correct it?

[u18b]

Leave as-is.
There is no way I could correct that without starting over.
And words cannot describe how hard it was to get to this point. 
It would be MUCH easier if those steps were not soldered to the nose, but I would be too afraid they would come off too easily if only superglued after painting.
And space is VERY tight behind there-- that's where the decoder goes.

Remember, macro photography is brutal.

It's not as noticeable from one or two feet and even then only when looking directly at it.
From a 1/4 view, you can't tell.

My son is my toughest critic.   

Just teasing.  He's a great modeler.   

[peteski]

My son is my toughest critic.   
Just teasing.  He's a great modeler.   

I noticed the same surname in the past but I didn't suspect that you were related. I also almost had you both confused as Aaron and Ron sound similar. Good to know, and it is also nice to have a father and son team of modelers on TRW.   

[chessie system fan]

Yep.  There's a picture somewhere of me in a baby chair with a loop of N scale track around me.  Been in N scale ever since (~28 years or so).   

[peteski]

Yep.  There's a picture somewhere of me in a baby chair with a loop of N scale track around me.  Been in N scale ever since (~28 years or so).   

Good to know that Ron's brainwashing scheme worked!   

[u18b]

Only a couple of photos tonight.
But it represents a couple of night's work.

One night, I reassembled all the parts for the chassis.
Of course, it was not just a matter of assembly, but also tuning the mechanism.

Still to do:  air erase and blacken the wheels.
Install decoders.
Then chassis will be done.




It took two more evenings to finish all the pinstripping.

Still to do: (lots)
Air erase and paint and install the handrails at the cab door.
Wind deflectors.
Heralds.
Replace red jumper wire on inside.
Install windows.




Not much to look at close up, but I added some safety decals.  There were a couple of high voltage warnings.  Red background with white letters.
These came from set 60-527  GE  &  EMD late builder's plates.




Another warning label is over the cab on the old upper sandbox.
This shot also shows that I decided to scrape off the paint on the bells and go with a natural brass color.




Next. I need to turn my attention to the boiler room.

[u18b]

Worked on the boiler room last two days.

First had to make adjustments to the height to make it more even by adjusting the drawbars.




Then I painted the red.  And then added the pnstripes.

[central.vermont]

Ron you do some wonderful work my friend!!! You say you made some adjustments to the drawbars to the boiler room but in the shot you have the black doesn't seem to line up. Was the shot taken before the adjustment?

Keep up the museum quality work my friend!!!
Jon

[u18b]

Ron you do some wonderful work my friend!!! You say you made some adjustments to the drawbars to the boiler room but in the shot you have the black doesn't seem to line up. Was the shot taken before the adjustment?

Keep up the museum quality work my friend!!!
Jon

Thanks for your feedback, but rest assured, that is the before photo.

More photos coming as work progresses.

Next hurdle is to repair the jumper wire on the inside of the cab.

[mmagliaro]

Tiny bits of detail, which take HUGE amounts of time.  And of course, except for a few esoteric nuts here on Railwire and elsewhere, very very few people will appreciate the painstaking work and attention to detail you are showing.

Rest assured.  We do see it.

Excellent work, man.  Excellent work.

[u18b]

Work progresses.

I formed the weight that goes in the boiler room.   This is a master.
Since my casting alloy is less dense than lead, I added material on the sides to give it more volume.




Then poured a mold.  Waiting for it to cure.




Ready for heralds on the sides.




Prototype photos showed me that the herald is not centered in the red.  Instead, the cab herald is centered with that "box" formed by those six bigger rivets.




Added heralds, cleat coat, and windows to the boiler room.  Peteski's decals are OUTSTANDING.  All the work it took to draw and design them was worth it.




And my logo underneath.  Except for adding the weight, the boiler room is finished.




And installed the decoders and the headlights.




The end is so close, I can't stand it.

And even though it is almost finished, there is still a lot to do.

Here is my list still to do:

Add wind deflectors
sand and paint the handrails for the cabs, install.
give the cabs the final clear coat.
Install the windows in the cabs
Install the weights in the cabs
Install the headlight glass.
Cast the boiler room weight.  Install.
air erase the wheels.
blacken wheels and install.
speed match the decoders and any last fine tuning.
edit the repair video (how to- disassembly, assembly)
Burn the mini DVD.
print the literature
assemble the extra parts bag/tools.

I think I will also install some styrene blocks around the plug sockets in the vestibules.  I want them to stand up to years of use.

AND PRAY that I don't drop anything in the final handling. 

Hopefully I can get all this done before Kato comes out with the passenger cars!   

[sd45elect2000]

My list of things to do:

1) Paint it black

[peteski]

Looking really good Ron!

I seem to recall that you mentioned it way back in the tread, but I am being lazy:  Were the foam inserts cut for you or did you cut them yourself?  If you did it yourself, how did you cut the foam?

I also thought of another way to place the drawing of the loco on the box-top:  Wouldn't it be neat if you could have the lid laser-engraved?  That would look really cool and be very durable.

[u18b]

Looking really good Ron!

I seem to recall that you mentioned it way back in the tread, but I am being lazy:  Were the foam inserts cut for you or did you cut them yourself?  If you did it yourself, how did you cut the foam?

I also thought of another way to place the drawing of the loco on the box-top:  Wouldn't it be neat if you could have the lid laser-engraved?  That would look really cool and be very durable.

Pete,
I found the info.  It is here: (corrected)

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=36215.msg484308#msg484308

The company uses high power water jets to cut the foam.  Very nice people to deal with.  And reasonably priced.


As to the wood engraving...  I thought of that an researched it a bit.
The aluminium plate was easier and cheaper.

[peteski]

Pete,
I found the info.  It is here:
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=36215.msg517245#msg517245

The company uses high power water jets to cut the foam.  Very nice people to deal with.  And reasonably priced.


As to the wood engraving...  I thought of that an researched it a bit.
The aluminium plate was easier and cheaper.

The message you linked to is your recent one from March 15 (on page 18 of the thread) where you demonstrate your masking technique based on Avery labels. No mention of the foam inserts. That's alright. I'll look through the thread and find it. I should have taken down that info when I first read it. 

As for lasering the box top, I was thinking more of having one of the TRW colleagues do this for you. We have some members here with laser machines. They might be willing to give you a "TRW discount".  After all, you only need about half a dozen boxes, right?  And you can provide vector-based artwork.