GHQ Hiawatha build on bachmann chassis

[Cad5]

With all this precision work on the side windows I wonder why the front cab window is blanked out?  Even with no "glass" it would look good it it was see-through.  With the 3D printing technology that should be doable.

working on drilling those out currently, this is a resin reproduction of a pewter kit from 1996 so not really on par with today's technology unfortunately.

[Cad5]

Conductors weren’t allowed in engine cabs.

Randy

Yeah no idea why I said conductor, total brain fart I probably shouldn't be up till 6am working on model trains so often lol

[peteski]

working on drilling those out currently, this is a resin reproduction of a pewter kit from 1996 so not really on par with today's technology unfortunately.

Ah, it is a resin casting. That explains it. For some reason I thought it was a 3D printed shell.  That is a pretty nice casting.

[chessie system fan]

I might have a spare copy of that magazine.  I'll have to check.  Do you have any plans yet for the rest of the train? 

[Cad5]

I might have a spare copy of that magazine.  I'll have to check.  Do you have any plans yet for the rest of the train?

It would be awesome if you could scan the pages in question
I don't have any plans for the rest of the cars yet but I'll probably get the GHQ kits for them as well

[Cad5]

I was getting frustrated with the rear trucks looking inaccurate so I ordered some 3d printed replacement trucks, they looked pretty great but we're pretty warped on arrival and snapped apart while installing the wheels. So the next plan was getting a rivet counter tender and stealing the wheels from that which worked out perfectly [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ]

Unfortunately now that they look correctly proportioned, it's made it all the more obvious that the drivers don't seem quite right either so now I'm debating how to tackle that. Any ideas would be appreciated

[Sokramiketes]

On my build (admittedly stalled) I was able to use the Kato UP Aux tenders, which provided a frame that fit the resin shell with some carving, and the right trucks with great pickup design.  Just need to change out the roller bearing caps. 

Another option if the Rivet Counter tenders arn't available. 

[PiperguyUMD]

Where did those 3d printed trucks come from? I could use several sets.

Thanks!

[wm3798]

Nice build. 

[Cad5]

Where did those 3d printed trucks come from? I could use several sets.

Thanks!

They're on shapeways listed as commonwealth trucks, but mine came warped and broke when trying to install the wheels. The black set are from a scale trains water tender and are amazing, if money isn't so much of a problem then I'd definitely recommend those.

[Cad5]

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So, I've changed my mind about the bachmann chassis. The drivers were just ever so slightly too small and it made the proportions slightly odd. There was another thread about one of these from a few years ago that mentioned that a cut down fef chassis would have the closest driver size, so that's what we're going with now! Still using the bachmann tender chassis and DCC for now.

[Cad5]

I haven't completely given up on this. I hit a roadblock when I decided that the plastic GHQ shell was too low of quality to be worth finishing the project and since then I've been waiting to get my hands on an original 90's pewter version. Well that day has come. [ Guests cannot view attachments ] [ Guests cannot view attachments ]
It should be clear how much straighter this is and it's just so much more stout and the details are richer and there's even some steps that were for some reason missing on the plastic reproduction.

Overall I'm very excited to eventually get back to this and finish it off!

[Cad5]

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Pewter is just so much nicer to work with, I've had to work it a bit to get it all straightened out and I'm still working to fix some subtle proportion stuff but I'm very happy with it.
I've decided I'll try to make all the handrails myself this time around but we'll see how that goes.

[Cad5]

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Got it on the chassis. I feel like the engine shell could sit slightly lower over the drive wheels, but then the roof would be too low in comparison to the tender I believe.

[kiwi_al]

That's looking really good, I think once you paint the shell then everything will look right. By the way it looks like you cut down an FEF-3 mechanism as it's different from the Bachmann one you posted earlier. Would you start another thread on how you cut up the Kato FEF-3? I've heard it can be tricky.