F40PH Rebuild

[FEC Railway]

Something I think shapeways would be good for, but I am nowhere near able to do any of my own CAD.  Does anyone know of anyone or have the ability to sketch this up and upload it to shapeways?

These engines got hood extensions after rebuild to hold a HEP motor.



Similar to the VIA rebuilds:


here's kinda where this has been stopped for years:


scratching it out of styrene is out of the question unless someone knows a cheap source of kato  F40PH shells and the doors on the sides...

thoughts?

Will

[mr_mike_m]

I would also be interested for my NJ Transit rebuilds!

[Scottl]

I'm not fully clear from the pictures, could you do this by splicing together parts from two shells? Also, is the frame longer?  That would be my challenge, to modify the mechanism.

edit. clicked on the pictures...  I would think a spare Kato shell might be a cost effective route compared to Shapeways. 

[FEC Railway]

you would need two, to get the correct number of doors.

[Scottl]

I figured that, but the doors and fan grills would match perfectly, so it might be worth it.  Maybe some  has a scrap shell to part with.

[FEC Railway]

been fishing around for one for years, no luck.  project has been sitting on the back burner with having to move 3 times in 3 years.

[Scottl]

Thinking about it from a 3D design perspective (with my 8 hours of experience, LOL), I think it is a challenging project because you have to match the angles of the original shell precisely.  With proper drawings, it might be possible, but that is assuming the model is accurate. 

An alternative, is to make a mold of the end of your existing shell, cast some parts in resin  and modify what you need.  Just a thought.

[mr_mike_m]

Well.. I've _just_ started messing around with SketchUp 2013 a few days ago. I've been going along with the video tutorials, and I'm amazed how much I can do in a such a short time. When I get better at it, making the HEP addition will be on my list of things to do.

[FEC Railway]

well, keep me posted!

[mr_mike_m]

Anyone know where I can get a dimensional diagram of the loco?
Found a bit of info, such as width, and overall  height from the rail, but the REAL dimensions would help immensely. Otherwise, I'll need to bust out the scale ruler and measure one of my Katos.

[mr_mike_m]

Well.... At least it's a start!



https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/VK_baJy66KD5AuJGj00xqHYQMmcXs-_TFExjh69iWo0?feat=directlink

[FEC Railway]

are you going for the VIA or the US prototype?

[mr_mike_m]

I was going for the NJT F-40PH's, which, to me, look similar to the VIA's except the port-hole windows. If I can nail down the initial geometry, it shouldn't be too hard to add those details.

Might just have to cut my Kato shell and scan it on a flat-bed scanner, as much as I _really_ don't want to just yet!

I do have a spare life-like shell, but think the dimensions don't quite match up with the Kato.

Was hoping to have at least a few days off around the holidays to work this project, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen.

[FEC Railway]

sent you a PM concerning that issue.