Micro-Trains 99301890 UP Tie Loader kit completed

WFOJeff Dec 23, 2019

  1. WFOJeff

    WFOJeff TrainBoard Member

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    Nice to have the tie loader finished.
    The tie loader was quite the little project.

    MTL-99301890 UP Gondola with Tie Loader.jpg
     
  2. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

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    Well worth it, so cool looking!!

    Nice job!(y)
     
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  3. Traindork

    Traindork TrainBoard Member

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    Good job! Mine is sitting somewhere in the queue behind the military flats.
    They did an incredible job weathering these cars. Truly a work of art.
     
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  4. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Boy, these have come a long way. Your kit turned out great. Many years ago someone offered a cast metal kit that I built. The knuckle boom loader slides on the rails and the cab turns, but the boom is fixed.

    2018-07-05 Allegrippus.jpg
     
  5. BNSF FAN

    BNSF FAN TrainBoard Supporter

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    Looks great Jeff. Was the loader difficult assemble or just time consuming?
     
  6. eposte12

    eposte12 TrainBoard Supporter

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    very nice work .im hoping they do a cp unit
     
  7. Run8Racing

    Run8Racing TrainBoard Member

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    Wish they would do one for their "MOW" sets.
     
  8. jpwisc

    jpwisc TrainBoard Member

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    I agree, nice work WFOJeff. I think I still like the Railway Express version a little more than MT. Being able to see into the cab makes a big difference.
    4AAF1E45-7F8C-4E20-BD82-941A0EA6CAFB.jpeg
     
  9. WFOJeff

    WFOJeff TrainBoard Member

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    Just cleaning up the sprue excess and such, painting was a little tricky. I was going to do something different with the windows but went with the decal application (very tiny sticker). The most trouble I had was glueing the claws - because of the flex metal it kept springing on me (you have to be exact to point glue that area-2pcs). I think my 4th attempt I succeeded with the claw.
    I had not yet glued the crane to the pedestal thinking I might want a non travel position.
    I used a caution yellow opposed to a UP yellow. I still plan to detail the weathering a bit more. (on the tie loader rails)
     
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  10. WFOJeff

    WFOJeff TrainBoard Member

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    Yes, I had thought about a hollowing but it is far too tiny of a cab hence sticking with the sticker windows.
     
  11. gbcaboose

    gbcaboose TrainBoard Member

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    I completed the Micro-Trains kit and think it looks pretty good. I did, however, make the mistake of gluing the boom to the base at the factory supplied angle. The result is that the boom is really high. It didn't seem so bad when I was building it, but once completed and placed on the gondola it's taller than an autorack. When I ran it on an N-track layout earlier this month I had to put it on a "modified" gondola due to tight height clearances. I'll probably fix it later but the parts are pretty fragile and I don't want to risk breaking so soon after building it.
    1116190959_resized.jpg
    This is a screen shot from a crappy cell phone video showing the modified gondola. It's completely impractical and unprototypical, but I wanted to run it and didn't want to risk any clearance issues
    Screenshot_20191227-182442_resized.png

    Mike
     
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  12. WFOJeff

    WFOJeff TrainBoard Member

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    I think the position Micro-Trains decided on was in an operational mode, these would typically be lowered/tucked during travel.

    As I noted in a reply post I just about did that same finish work but was also concerned about the height.
    Looking back I think the base of the boom at the frame of the operator booth could have been sanded a bit with a slight angle that could have had a translated slope to the end of the boom arm.

    I still need to decide if mine will travel in an MOW consist or stage at a piece of track that will be a diorama as a working loader.
    I may try to sand the front edge of the cab down some for a slight boom pitch before I glue...will update this thread later on.

    Does your assembly have no chance of coming apart after glue? I tried to use minimal amount of glue spots.
     
  13. gbcaboose

    gbcaboose TrainBoard Member

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    Yes, it definitely needs to be sanded to change the boom angle. I used CA to glue mine so it could get tricky trying to un-attach it.

    Mike
     
  14. MK

    MK TrainBoard Member

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    Plastic or metal? If metal, soak it in acetone. You will have to repaint it though.
     

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