IHC Cheyenne coal bunker build

[robwill84]

Hey everybody, I'm working on an IHC Cheyenne 650 ton coal bunker for a client, and was wondering if anyone had some insight into building the thing. Right away I noticed that the bottom girder support piece, part no. 5 is shown upside down in diagram 1. Anybody know of any other errors in the instructions? I had to remove the handrails from this piece and re-install them on the other side. For future reference, the flat, un-detailed side should face UP.

I'm just going to use this thread to document the build up, in case I ever need to build another one. Maybe it will help anyone else who is interested in building one, or having one built : )

Pics of the build to follow shortly

[robwill84]

Ok, tip no. 2- don't tear your hair out looking for 8 of part no. 92. The diagrams must have just been copied from the HO kit. The N scale version only has 4 part no. 92's, and they are staple shaped pieces. Silly me, spending 10 minutes looking for them, thinking I must be missing a sprue!

[Baronjutter]

I've had that happen to me a couple times where a kit has instructions that don't quite line up with what I have and it turns out they just used the HO instructions.

[CoalPorter]

I've been working on an n scale mi-jack crane from walthers. Turns out, the photo on
the box has some errors and I was going off that before I noticed that instructions show
some parts installed a different way !!!

[nkalanaga]

I have one of those bunker kits - as far as I know the box has never been opened. 

[robwill84]

Yeah, I think this is one of those kits that many folks have stashed away, to build some day for that dream layout.

[Pennsy]

I was doing around of open houses yesterday for the Regional NMRA show here in Austin and saw one of these built on a layout. But when I asked. The owner couldn't remember what kit it was, he'd built it so long ago. Great thread and looking forward to more as built pictures

Jim

[robwill84]

Tip no. 3- this drawing-



shows the incorrect position of the upper chute hinge piece (the smaller one, in the center of the picture). If it is put together as shown, the chute can't be lowered. If it is rotated 180 degrees, it allows the chute to be raised and lowered. The fit is good enough that friction holds them in place in the up position, and they can be lowered for photos. A pretty neat feature.

Tip 4- instead of assembling the upper corrugated structure as shown in diagram 8, attach end parts 23 and 24 to the lower structure, and build the upper structure around that. I built the upper structure separate, and its going to take some serious cutting and sanding to get it to sit properly, because it is not long enough to fit properly, as I assembled it. 

Everything is primed and ready for some grimy black tomorrow. I spared everyone's eyes the vision of this thing in day glow orange and yellow.

[robwill84]

Except for the issues noted, I didn't have any further difficulty with this kit. I got out the airbrush and sprayed the whole thing with grimy black, thinned about %10 with alcohol. When painting, I was careful NOT to cover the primer fully, but leave areas where it showed through. This gives the overall black some interesting highlights without having to go back over everything with powders. For the corrugated roof, I painted it with grey primer and added some streaks of rust, then painted with the grimy black. Then I scraped off some areas to reveal the grey underneath. Total time to build was around ten hours.

[peteski]

Nice job Rob!  While this has nothing to do with your modeling abilities, this structure would look a lot better with more in-scale handrails. The plastic ones are just too chunky for me.

[basementcalling]

Nice job Rob!  While this has nothing to do with your modeling abilities, this structure would look a lot better with more in-scale handrails. The plastic ones are just too chunky for me.

Shouldn't be too hard to trim them off and add an etched brass version in place, I would think. Not even sure etching was even being used to produce N scale detail items when this kit first came out. The massive size does make an impression.  Based on some photos in UP books I have, a model with lighting installed could produce some spectacular night fueling photos.

[robwill84]

I agree that the steps and railings are oversized, however this was a commissioned build, and to get it in budget it was built box stock, with most of the attention paid to the finish. I did replace the ladder and railing on the ash bin end (second pic) the size of these parts was so bad, I felt it had to be done. It has 2 LED lights installed for lighting-

[hegstad1]

I like it.  Nice painting technique.

[basementcalling]

I agree that the steps and railings are oversized, however this was a commissioned build, and to get it in budget it was built box stock, with most of the attention paid to the finish. I did replace the ladder and railing on the ash bin end (second pic) the size of these parts was so bad, I felt it had to be done. It has 2 LED lights installed for lighting-

Sweet. Your customer will be very happy I am sure. That's a great model.

[Dave V]

Any other Pennsy fans look at this and think "Denholm coal wharf?"  Replace the enclosed structure with a track and a few H21 hoppers and done!

Well done, sir!