Best Of Polar Express build

[tom mann]

Looks really nice John (are you played by Tom Hanks too?).

[Lemosteam]

Thank you Max and Tom!  I will write an article, and hopefully they will like it.

Josh, there is color under the railing, and you have PRR on the brain.  After all this IS a fictitious consist! Double heading, sheesh. 

Speaking of Tom hanks, I have one last car that could use some special treatment as well. The lit passenger car could use a conductor hanging on the vestibule steps (that I am about to add).  I don't think I could pull off a lit lantern, a la Lionel...

[chicken45]

Josh, there is color under the railing, and you have PRR on the brain.  After all this IS a fictitious consist! Double heading, sheesh. 

I cut myself today. Blood was Tuscan Red. I have a DGLE heart, though.
You should think about putting on those steps. You've come this far... Amazing work!

[Jim Starbuck]

Hey John....

Here's a photo from the Ngineering website showing what can be done with nano LEDs.
It even looks like Tom Hanks.

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[Lemosteam]

Installment eighteen....  A traction solution for Engine 1225 and a fixture to drill GMM step holes:

On another thread I asked if anyone had a simple solution to fixing the LifeLike Berkshire's pulling ability, you see the loco would only pull the four lighted cars and no more around the Lavis Junction's 2.9% grade. Enter jdcolumbo with a solution for double sided tape.  Well it worked and 1225 is now happily on point of the entire PE Consist. Here is the tape after running for an hour:



I did decide to fold up the GMM steps. They are drying. While that is happening I made a little drill center fixture because I have twelve steps to add. And did not want to drill each one by eye. Here it is on a test shell:





Next up to add the steps and a conductor to the passenger car...

[chicken45]

Great idea with the jig!

[Lemosteam]

Installment nineteen...  A conductor and his lantern:

As much as I am impressed with the nano LED above I thought I'd try some fiber optics, as I hoped it wold have a more subtle glow.  Below is a shot of Tom Hanks, sans mustache with a lantern a hangin'.  The lantern is made from 0.010 diameter FO with a low angle cut across the strand.  The. Angle produces a long ova shape when lit. Next I took a piece of scrap 32 gage wire insulation, folded it in half and snipped half of the bend off to leave a small oval hole in the insulation. I cut off excess insulation barely above the hole. The strand fits perfectly inside so I slipped it down and rotated it till the chamfered end of the strand was even with the hole in the insulation.  There I put a drop if Aileen's clear tacky glue and wrapped a thin filler at the top of the "lantern" and let it dry overnight. The next day I snipped off the bottom, close to the hole and filled in the open bottom with some liquid electrical tape.  For this pic and for the final location of Mr. Hanks, the strand will have ore insulation added above his hand and bent into the roof of the car. The nearest led has a 0.010 hole for the other end of the strand to fit into after it is cut to its final length. 

I still have to cut out the door of the car and an opening in the roof casting, so I can stand him on the steps. He will be permanently mounted to the roof and drop onto the steps when the roof is lowered.  I will likely add a pin to his foot to go into a hole in the step.



Next the steps will be added painted blue on the outer sides of the steps, and a draft box painted blue so Josh doesn't cry. 

[chicken45]

Installment nineteen...  A conductor and his lantern:

As much as I am impressed with the nano LED above I thought I'd try some fiber optics, as I hoped it wold have a more subtle glow.  Below is a shot of Tom Hanks, sans mustache with a lantern a hangin'. 

Next the steps will be added painted blue on the outer sides of the steps, and a draft box painted blue so Josh doesn't cry. 

1. What are you going to do about the mustache?
2. I'll only complain of you don't paint the tops of the steps rubberized black.

[Lemosteam]

1. What are you going to do about the mustache?
2. I'll only complain of you don't paint the tops of the steps rubberized black.

e

1. I am thinking of shaving a hairy spider.
2. The entire step is matte black already, and th PE blue will be on the sides and edges.

[chicken45]

e

1. I am thinking of shaving a hairy spider.
2. The entire step is matte black already, and th PE blue will be on the sides and edges.

This Armchair Polar Express Modeler approves.

[Bobster]

Greetings,

I really like the details and effort here.   I just have to ask if there has been any putty shrinkage on the Observation roof?  I'm really hoping there's not but my experience with Squadron putty makes me nervous for you.   Keep up the  good work!

Happy modelling,
Bob

[Lemosteam]

Hello Bobster,

Yes there was quite a bit, but all of the more recent pics shown have been well after the product completely hardened.  I had to patch and add a little and repaint a little some weeks ago.

[Lemosteam]

First, another shout out to Peteski for assisting with the nano LED and its circuit.  It is very nerve wracking working that small!

Installment twenty...  A conductor, steps, an open vestibule and some fresh snow on the roof:

So I convinced myself that I had no easy way to route a fiber optic line in the roof and be able to mount the conductor to the car shell.

So the nano LED became the prime design.  A little 32 gage magnet wire, a rectifier, and a 56k resistor tapped into the existing underfloor wiring, and we have a conductor, moustache and all!



Making room for him on the steps was another challenge.  After I added the steps and painted them, I had to cut out the door, and add an open door from another donor. I also had to cut an opening in the "glass" in the roof casting for the vestibule. Unfortunately the open door is hard to photograph.



In the grand scale, the lantern would be a speck of light alongside the car, so I wanted a very subtle glow.  It is very visible in the dark, but very difficult to photograph:



I made a mold and resin casting of the Lima roof so that I could heat shrink the white 1" tubing over the roof to simulate the snow.  I also had to re-shrink over the Rivarossi roof castings, so to prevent them from distorting, I filled them with a snug fitting strip of wood before applying heat.  This was very nerve racking as I am nearly done with the train.  Here are all the cars with their snow:













So I think I finally made Joshua happy...



A few touch ups here and there, Neolube on the couplers, trucks, and undercarriage, and a foam filled custom storage box will complete the set. 

Will. Write. Article. Lol.  That is after I can figure out a better photography setup.

[chicken45]

My only disappointment is there's nothing to complain about!

That's stellar. How'd you do the lip rivets?

[mmagliaro]

Very pretty paint job.  The figures, the snow... just... wow.  If this doesn't make a great article...