Friend of mine asked me to build one of those kits for his layout. He provided the kit - all I had to supply was paints and labor. I started building it last December and I finally finished it this weekend.
It is a photoetched kit which is made from brass, stainless steel, brass tubing and some phosphor-bronze wire. The kit is pretty well designed, except few things I'll cover later.
Since I prefer soldering instead of CA glue (for strength and clean assembly) I soldered most of the parts. The only exceptions were the stainless steel decks to the siderails (CA glue), and some detail parts and wheels (5-minute epoxy).
As far as the solder goes, I used 3 different types (with different melting temperatures), depending on how many separate soldering steps each assembly required. I used silver-bearing solder (highest melting point), 60/40 electronic solder (medium melting point) and TIX soft solder (lowest melting point).
The weakest point of this kit are the assembly instructions. I initially glanced over the instructions, then started to build the kit. Part of the problem is that these instructions are for both N and H0 version (and H0 version is slightly different). However the biggest problem was the fact that the construction photos show the kit assembled 2 different ways! All but two photos in at the end of the instructions show the A-frames and the control stand assembled one way, while the last 2 photos show them arranged differently. Now I had to figure out which way was the correct war (or whether there are 2 versions of this vehicle). However by this time I have already assembled the frame according to the early set of photos (the written instructions weren't very descriptive as to the location of the items in question).
So I started looking for photos online. I only found few photos of this oddball vehicle - most on the manufacturer's website. Not much reference material. I also found a thread
here on TRW which showed an assembled prototype model (built by Bob from TrainCat himself). Of course all those photos all showed that the assembly photos in the instructions I followed were wrong!
I had to unsolder the A-frames and the control stand and install them in the proper location. I was not happy.
Here is the (correctly) soldered frame assembly (with some other parts in the background).
Frame with wheels temporarily installed. As recommended in the instructions, I used wheels/axles from a Classic Metal Works truck.
Here are some detail parts.The jack-pads looked a bit plain so I used some 30 gauge wire to add the ribs (which Bob etched in the H0 version). He should have half-etched those ribs in the N-scale version too. The 2 rods (0.016" brass) at the bottom of the photo will represent hydraulic pistons for the two top edge ramps. I flattened the rod ends and drilled them and the brackets (next to them) with a #85 drill so I can connect them together. I also made an exhaust pipe/muffler from some brass rod and a piece of brass tubing. This detail was not included in the kit (but visible in the photos).
Here are the parts which make up the ramps. The sideframes are already soldered (each is 2 pieces). I wanted to also solder the stainless steel railings (for strength) and I did manage to do that (although it was a pain to tin them to get a good joint). But I used CA glue to attach the deck to the sideframes.
Next, I cleaned all the parts and mounted them for painting.
I airbrushed the parts with a SEM-brand self-etching gray primer (decanted from a spray can), then for yellow I used Accu-Paint Light Imitation Gold. I didn't have any good photos showing the deck so I decided to paint it the same color as the rest of the vehicle.
To simulate paint wear on the deck (from the cars driving over it) I created a "soft mask" from paper. It is a mask which sits above the area being painted. That creates a soft paint edge. Here is the mask (upside down) next to the painted deck.
Here is the mask installed and the rest of the deck taped and attached to a piece of board (to be able to hold it vertical while spraying it. I sprayed the wear areas with Alclad II Jet Exhaust (dark metallic color).
Since I already did bunch of research and had several photos of the vehicle I decided that I might as well create decals for it. I even found the manufacturer's logo and used that on one of the decals. Printed them on my Alps printer.
Here is the painted and assembled model.
. . . and the obligatory dime photo.
Assuming that the deck is supposed to be yellow, I'm happy with the way it came out.
Overall, this was an enjoyable build. But the tolerances were so close that there was no allowance for the primer/pain thickness. I had to really jam the bottom end of the ramp into the frame at the pivot point. The paint scraped off (fortunately it is not visible). It would have been nice if there was something like 0.005" clearance between the width of the frame and the ramp.
