CMR offset Russell Plow

[sd45elect2000]

I think the Atlas one has a funky front truck. Take a look.

The real ones have a funky front truck, really short wheel base, no brakes etc…I might actually take a look at some panamint models fox trucks or something. These trucks were very unique.

Randy

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I think the Atlas one has a funky front truck. Take a look.

Nope, just a normal truck with the couplers cut off. In fact I'm using the Atlas trucks on the kit to see if they would fit.

I believe the real Russell plows had a very short truck in front because the journal box access points are so close together.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I was trying to figure a way to make the sides flat and true. I was just going to glue everything together with clamps but I think the force would pull it apart over time.

Looking at the model, the thickest areas are near the wing blades. The area is thick enough to counter-sink a screw and still have enough material to keep from breaking. So I roughed the idea out with some 00-90 screws and a think styrene strip.

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It's not perfect, but I think it's 90% there. I plan on adding brass sheet along the interior wall to strengthen the sides. The pan head screws will be replaced with counter sunk Phillips and puttied over when I'm happy with the result.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

Strengthening the body was successful.
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A thick slab of styrene was inserted at the desired width. This was then screwed and glued in place. The slab side needed additional reinforcing which was done with brass square channel, glued and clamped in place. Under frame is screwed in place as well.

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The 00-90 Philips screws were counter sunk into the wing blades. Tamiya putty was used over the screws and sanded.

Next up is an under slung Bettendorf rear truck and a fabricated front truck with the correct wheelbase. Then grabs. I'm pretty happy with the progress so far. CMR made some useful upgrades since my N* caboose purchase a few years ago. These are now viable models IMO.

[nickelplate759]

That's looking pretty good!   I got one of these prints, with the same issues as yours, and just put it aside.  You're giving me hope!

[Ed Kapuscinski]

That looks great!

Sometimes there's no substitute for a good mechanical solution.

[muktown128]

Daniel,

Nice job on fixing the issues with the Russell plow.  You did an excellent job covering the screws with putty and paint on the wings.  I had to scroll back to see where they were. 

[CNR5529]

Next up is an under slung Bettendorf rear truck and a fabricated front truck with the correct wheelbase.

Beautiful work so far on the plow! I don't know all the details for this particular model, but many plows in Canada had front trucks with 28" wheels instead of 33". In some instances they even had a single 28" wheelset on the lead position of the front truck and a 33" wheelset on the back end of the front truck. Smaller wheels would give you a bit of extra clearance and lower the ride height at the front end. Just some food for thought...

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I posted my most recent update on the Weekend Photos thread here:
https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=55236.msg758259#msg758259

I had thought there might be some front truck variations when I saw this photo:
https://live.staticflickr.com/7017/6567220701_af15e7070c_k.jpg

But this appears to be a shop built clone and not a true Russell. It is too short and the wings don't fold into the body like the Russell plows do. As Pete pointed out, this uses a fabricated front truck with no cushions to keep the blade as close to the tracks as possible. This truck also appears to use 28" wheels.

https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=55225.0

Jason also found some great photos of the official front Russell truck. It is indeed specially designed to keep the blade as close to the rail as possible (no springs). These must have been awful to ride in!

I am just using a standard truck in the front for now. I may change that later if it really bothers me. My next step is to fab the flange blades as the kit comes with one that looks more at home on a sand truck. It is also too large for the lower clearance of the model. I may just end up getting an old Walthers plow for the flange blade. Roof paint and decals are also next.

[bbussey]

I’m just seeing this entire thread. Excellent work.

Some additional tweaks to support structure I’ve started doing is adding removable cross bars inside car bodies to reduce warping. Dowels with ends tapering to cones. I’ve also increased the density on the program-generated supports to 80% and reduced the mounting point diameter to the model from .4mm to .3mm, so that it isn’t a monstrous chore to remove the support structure from the model. The spacing of the supports on the CMR plow body is way too much to maintain straight edges.

[peteski]

I’m just seeing this entire thread. Excellent work.

Some additional tweaks to support structure I’ve started doing is adding removable cross bars inside car bodies to reduce warping. Dowels with ends tapering to cones. I’ve also increased the density on the program-generated supports to 80% and reduced the mounting point diameter to the model from .4mm to .3mm, so that it isn’t a monstrous chore to remove the support structure from the model. The spacing of the supports on the CMR plow body is way too much to maintain straight edges.

Seems like CMR designers could use a tutorial on how  to properly support their printouts.  Too bad that they haven't figured that out.  Even if the extra supports would use up a bit more resin, that would produce a much better  model. So just charge an extra dollar for the resin. I'm sure buyers would be glad to pay that in exchange for a model that is not warped.