Here are a few of my steamers in progress. The first is a IHC 2-8-0 that had major cosmetic reconstruction surgery. At the time I started this one Athearn did not have it's 2-8-2 USRA light mike out, so I used an IHC mike to build my own. As the old story goes, about the time I finished it Athearn announced that they were going to release theirs. The modifications to the IHC 2-8-2 was raising the boiler shell 12 scale inches and removing every detail on the shell except the domes. I then used brass detail parts to redetail it to match a USRA locomotive. I repositiond the walkways and boiler bands to match the USRA locomotives. I stole the tender from this one to put behind my Maunta mike. I am waiting to get some time to build a new tender for it. Lastly, I have started to scratch build some steam locomotives from styrene. Both of these are Western Maryland locomotives. The one on the left is an I2 2-10-0 and the one on the right is an H9 2-8-0, one of the big ones that the WM had. Both locomotives boilers started as PVC pipe with wraps of styrene. The tenders are also styrene. The frame for the 2-10-0 is a Bowser and the 2-8-0 is scratch built from brass. I have not worked on these in a while because I am trying to get all of the base scenery done on my layout.
Jeff, I'm currently working on a Bowser/Penn Line 2-10-0 Pennsy I-1, I got a question, what did you use to make the domes for the WM I-2 ? I'll be in need of one when I begin my WM I-2! As I'm customizing this Bowser I-1 Pennsy to a I-2 WM! Also, where did you get the plastic PVC pipe, an what size is it? I'd be interested in messing with this idea some of scratch built boilers. VERY interesting (even tho, I like my steamers all metal!) I'd be interested in doing my B&O 0-10-0 boiler like this! Also what type of glue did you use for the PVC pipe? VERY nice work again! Impressive! The cylinders of the 2 scratchbuilds look GREAT, just how did you do those? I'm interested in hearing this as well!
Thanks John, I will have to explaine it later today or may tomorrow, I have a few things to do and I don't have the time right now. I will also have to go measure the PVC because I can' remember the size.
Jeff, that looks absolutly incredible... i maybe a newbie and all, but sill.... wow, just wow. keep up the good work, and if you have any tips for a new guy on weathering, im all ears!...or eyes, as the case may be! -Rob
Jeff, Thats ok, whenever you have time! But I sure am interested in the things I asked about, as I'd be interested in giving this a try in different applications of my own, possibly, make my own boilers an all for other drives I have! So, its not a "cookie cutter" design an all the boilers look the same! This will change that....
Sorry I'm at work and I forgot to measure the PVC pipe, I think it was 1". The OD is almost the exact size of the OD of the smoke box, if I remember the smoke box of the one that I am building is lagged. I marked off where the first course begins and I filed a grove that was .020 deep in the PVC pipe. I then wrapped the PVC with styrene rings at every diameter change, minus .020. I made the course shapes on AutoCAD and cut them from .020 styrene. I formed a curve in the .020 styrene by placing the boiler piece I cut from the .020 styrene in a small glass measuring cup from my works lab. I filled the cup with water and heated it in the microwave for a minute. They styrene will get very soft and will evenly form to the inside curve of the cup. To get the shape to stay, as soon as the microwave timer goes off I rush the cup the sink and I flood it with cold water. When you pull the styrene out the cup it will hold its shape. The curve might not be exactly what you want and it probably won't be tapered, but it will be close enough to glue it to the boiler form with out it wanting to pop off, and the curve will be very smooth. I have a collection of a few different cup sizes that I use to get different size curves. I think that the weight of the boilers won't be that much of a problem. I fill the boilers with powered lead that I got form a golf product supplier. The sand dome is made from a block of styrene. The block of styrene is made form stacking up .100 pieces of styrene. I then started carving and filing to shape. I use a Dremal to shape the bottom of the dome to the curve of the boiler. Any gaps are filled with putty. The steam domes are also made from a block of styrene that I mount on a threaded rod and turned it to shape in my electric drill. I fill the hole in the top after I'm done. I do not own any fancy tools so everything is done with hand tools. The PVC pipe is from Home Depot. I used ACC to bond the styrene to the PVC and Tenex to bond styrene to styrene.
NICE! Jeff, if you would have had a second sand dome from that WM 2-10-0, I could have made a vulcanized rubber mold to make that same dome from liquid epoxy! Which would dry hard an all, an be the same shape of that dome you made! Be nice to be able to do this again as I have a Bowser 2-10-0 I-1 in Pennsy, that I'm converting into a WM I-2, which I'll probably number 1111, for the first of that class, which was called the "Four Aces". As for the powered lead, where exactly do you get it? I could use some of this myself! As I have some older AHM/Rivarossi articulateds, I want to add a bunch more weight to them an the power lead would get where lead pebbles, or lead shot (for reloading shotgun shells) won't get, Which will add more weight in tighter areas. I'd be interested in finding some of this! As for the PVC pipe, I ight have a look around to see if I can find any "thick wall" PVC pipe, then be able to turn it in my lathe, to what I need. With it being "thick wall" PVC pipe, that gives me more "meat" to turn without it getting really thin when I turn it....
lead powder http://www.leaderboardgolf.com/shopleadpowder.htm I did check the ID and OD of heavy PVC pipe and it will work for an I2. The problem is getting a piece that is not 10' long. I'm not sure what city your in, but here in the Twin Cities were have many piping distributors that stock that kind of stuff. I didn't buy any because I don't have a lathe. I might be able to pop the dome off. I also have some RTV. I should have make a mold of it but I never planned on making more than one I2. I'll see if it looks possible.
If you want a all metal boiler, you might look around for metal pipe...though it isn't used as much anymore, I am sure you can still find it...and you know how much those metal pipes weight...
Jeff, I wouldn't go out of your way to pop that dome off! I mean if you can ok an if you can't ok again, Its not worth ruining your loco over it! But I plan to make at least one WM I-2 for now, possibly more in the future being I'm using the Bowser PRR I-1 as the base, an modifying it to be a WM.. I took off the belpre firebox, an removed all the "cast on" detail, anlong with the removal of the both domes.... And even the boiler walkway is gone as well. I will need to get domes to replace those I milled off, an then the walkway will be made from .020 of an inch brass strips, an all the cast on detail will be replaced with Cal-Scale or Precision Scale brass detail parts. The only thing that I'm stumped on is the tender for the WM I-2, I'm not sure what the length of it, really is. So, I'm not sure if the Pennsy long haul tender will work on this. IF (big IF here) that tender works, I'll go an buy a few from Bowser to put on my 2 WM M-2's "Challengers", an possibly another one to have on hand for when I get my hands on a 4-8-4 to make a WM J-1 "Potomac" That way, all my tenders are the same to that respect an close to what the WM used.....
Benny, altho, thats a good idea, its difficult to work with, on the metal pipe! If I go to want a metal boiler, I'll turn some brass stock to what I need for the fact that it can be soldered too, which makes detailing it easy with brass detail parts And then I'd core out the under side of thise so that the boiler sets over the motor an drive shaft work an worm gear....So in all reality if you want a "metal" boiler, the best way is to find something close to the size you need, in brass...... Otherwise its difficult to work with.....
How does the Pennsy cab compaire to the WM I2 cab? Sounds like a lot of work to get all of that detail off the Bowser boiler. I have scale drawings of the WM I2 tender. I have been scratch building my tenders from styrene, I just started another one for that Mantua mike. I gave the IHC mike its tender back so I needed a tender for the Mantua mike. I am building a modified L&N berk tender for it. I had to make it a few feet shorter so I could turn the engine on my turn table. I did start building the I2 tender, but I have stopped all work on that locomotive until I get more layout work done. Are you going to paint your I2 as a WM locomotive or as something else?
Coaltrain These things are just....well cool! Most impressed. I have been looking at Bowsers site and the kits they have. When I eventually go HO scale (in the year "dot") I might just grab a couple of them to try myself.... Cheers Bruce
Jeff, your skills are impressive and awesome. If I didn't know those models are HO scale I might have thought they were 0 gauge or even gauge 1 - not so much because of the level of detail, impressive as it is, but more because they "look" real; more like larger scale models which tend to have a realism all of their own as opposed to HO and N which, fantastic as they are nowadays both from the proprietary manufacturers and from individual modellers, can never be anything but models; generally speaking they are too small to start to be able to take on a realism and a life of their own - but your finished or near-finished examples are an exception - you can readily imagine steam hissing, the motion clanking and the rails and roadbed creaking, popping and yielding as the loco slowly grinds over those yard tracks! Ben
Wow, thanks Ben. I have never had a compliment like yours before. And thanks to everyone else for letting me share my stuff. Sorry I forgot to answer some more questions from above. First. "Theskunk", Thanks to you also. I will be weathering another steam locomotive very soon. I would be happy to take pictures along the way and post them if you would like. Second. John I forgot to tell you how I did the cylinders. I used .060 styrene for the front and back ends. I used ACC to spot glue two pieces together. I then used white glue to glue a photocopy of the HO scale drawing to one side of the stacked styrene. I then used a jewelers saw to cut most of the shape of the cylinders, leaving the little bit that is glued together. I then drill the holes for the piston, keeping the drill as vertical as possible. Again, I use only hand tools, a drill press for this would be best. Once the holes are drilled I cut off the edge that was left glued together and clean up that spot with a file. I use some fine sand paper to sand off the photocopy of the drawing and I mark the pieces so that the insides are together as they were when they were still glued together. I use .060 styrene to space the cylinder ends apart and I wrap the outside edge with a continuous piece of .015 styrene. To keep the tight curves while I am gluing it I bend the styrene around a screwdriver shaft. I use ACC to glue the wrapper in place but I do not use any kind of accelerator, which will cause the styrene to crack at the sharp bends. I just work very slow, gluing around one curve and holding it until the glue set and then I add enough glue to go around the next curve, holding each one until it sets. It is a good thing to do while your watching TV. Also John, I was going to try to remove the dome anyways because I built another boiler for this I2 that I like better. The boiler in the photo is actually the second boiler I've built for this locomotive, now I have a third. The I2 is the first of the two locomotives I built and each time I built the boiler I found a way to do it better. the H9 boiler was going to be fit over a Spectrum 2-8-0 drive, but the more I got into it the more I decided to built it's own drive and keep the Spectrum drive under it's own boiler. Which is another story that I explained in the "Got Steam" post I did earlier. Talking about all of this steam locomotive building has got me fired up to return to these projects. I would like to see one finished. I might start work on the H9 again because it is the closest to being finished and I could use another consolidation. I will take another look at the I2 and see if I can talk myself into taking off the domes. If I do maybe we can make a casting of it. Any idea on how we could cast it so it would saddle the boiler?
Jeff, GREAT work none the less, the way you done the cylinders is interesting! As for the dome for your I-2. It can be done with RTV Rubber molding materials! RTV meaning "Room Temperature Vulcanizing" In other words the rubber mold doesn't need put in a bakew oven to cure. It does it by the room Temperature! The dome you have made, would be set into a small wooden box, BUT before it had ANY RTV rubber poured onto it, you would need a release agent on the dome itself so the RTV rubber wouldn't stick to the dome itself, then you would pour the RTV rubber into the box first, while still wet an all you would press the dome (with talcum powder on it) into the un-cured rubber, and leave it in their, and pour more RTV rubber into the mold box, over top of the dome itself. Before the RTV rubber cures drive 2 dowl pins (with talcum powder on them) in opposite corners, for alignment, an then leave it set to cure, once it cures, take the dowl pins out, an take an extremely sharp knife an cut the mold in half, not front to back or top to bottom, but side to side. Then pull on the ribber mold till an edge of the dome come to where you can get a good grip on it, without maring it all up an pull it out of the mold. ONCE you get the dome out of the mold, you would them have a mold to make these same dome over an over. The material you would use to make "copies" of that dome would be liquid epoxy, thats really runny, OR some low-temp casting metal (like pot metal, or "Zamak" that melts at a really low temperature. (I get my stuff from a catalog that melts at 180 degrees) Which isn't hot enough to harm the rubber mold when poured into the mold itself, it cools quickly, an then in a half hour you got another dome, of the same thing you made by hand that took hours! I myself, use alot of liquid plastic, thats basically epoxy.. It takes awhile to dry an harden but is gluable to any gluable surface, or can be drilled an taped to bolt mount, with a short 1/4th inch machine screw. Or if you use the molding metal, it can be drilled to use a course thread small sheet metal screw, that doesn't require tapping. And it will hold the item. OR you could use ACC glue to gule the metal part. Which ever works. But this is how I would make the mold for that dome! I'd actually do this the long way, as in make a mold just to make one dome at a time, an then make 3 domes, an then pour myself another mold that would make 3 domes at a time... And then have domes to sell or use for my own uses (on making more WM I-2's)....That way, I have them on hand when I want them, OR when I need them for my own use in my shop. I build this type stuff for my shop.... I do alot of custom work.... And tons (litterally tons) of modifying existing loco's for myself an customers....
Bad news John, that dome is on there to stay. So the question is, could I make a mold of the dome on the boiler. I could make a styrene box to fit around the boiler and use modeling clay to seal the gaps where the box meets the boiler. the mold would have the curve of the boiler and all I would have to do is put the top half of the mold in another box and pour a bottom half of the mold with something put in between the already cured bottom so the new RTV would not stick to it. The part that comes out might need a little clean up, but it could be used as a master to make an mold the way that you said. I have made molds in RTV before but I am out at the moment. The stuff I was using had a shelf life that expired. Is there some RTV that doesn't have a shelf life, or a longer shelf life. What kind of shop do you have and what do you do. I rebuild locomotives on the side also, mostly painting, new motors, and gear boxes. I get into some custom rebuilding but not much.
Jeff, I kinda figured that that dome was on to stay! I didn't second guess that thought! Anyway you COULD make the little box bigger, an just submerge the dome an part of the boiler into the mold box, once it has had a coat of talcum powder on it (to release it from the RTV rubber), then pour in more RTV rubber, to gi up the side of the boiler, (which is actually down the side of the boiler, being it was inserted into the RTV rubber upside down). BUT do not cover the entire boiler! Just cover the entire dome, an about 1/8th inch of the boiler. See? This will give a small section of the boikler itself with the dome, then once the RTC rubber cures pull out the boiler an dome. put in some talcum powder into the mold, and THEN pour in whatever you use for material to make an new casting. Let it set up, and then go an pull it out of the mold, cut off the boiler sections close to the dome, NOT flush, an then file out the section of the casting thats actually the boiler, following the lines the boiler left in the dome casting on the bottom of the dome. THEN make another mold box, an do it all over again with your "new" mold "master copy". As for longer shelf life RTV rubber, I get mine from Micro-Mark, out of the catalog..... I also get the lo-temp metal as well to use in the molds. And if you want plastic, I use watery type epoxy, that hardens like a hard plastic (something like ABS plastic), drill a hole diameter of .70 of an inch, in the center of the dome on the bottom an tap it for a 2-56 thread machine screw 1/4th inch long. I can do this or even glue a dome to a plastic boiler or even a cast boiler, an brass, if possible, (depending on the material you made the dome from, you can "spot" solder, like a tack weld. Drill a hole in the boiler where you want the dome, an then if you used, say, Antimony Alloy, (which is a pewter/tin material) this stuff is solderable, an then clean with alittle sand paper on the boiler add alittle flux, an then with the boiler upside down, put alittle solder in the hole you drilled with the flux on it an that should suck the solder right into the bottom of the sold dome to mount it, but make sure not to add to much heat as the Antimony Alloy will melt really fast, (its also lo- temp melting point). But I don't think theirs a longer shelf life RTV rubber out there. At least I never found it anyway.... As for my shop, I do, repairs, anything an everything, (Some of the hardest/worst repairs seen), custom detail, custom paint/decal, scratchbuild, custom assembly, basic assembly, re-motor, re-gear, electricals, lighting, directional, and getting into constant lighting.... Currently, I got a Rivarossi Cab Forwards (Backwards Yellowstone) to turn around to maske into a conventional type simple articulated, to make my beloved EM-1 even closer to prototype to the B&O, I got 2 Mantua Pacifics to make into prototypical B&O P-7's, an 4 Mantua Mikado's to make into B&O Q-3's to Q-4's. A MDC 3 truck Shay, to make into a 4 truck Shay to me a Western Maryland number 5, 2 home built scratchbuilds that are from TYCO 0-8-0's or 2-8-0's (basically the same type loco, only one has a pilot truck), to make one of them into a B&O U-1, 0-10-0, an 2 others to scratchbash into the B&O's DD-1, "Ole Maude" 0-6-6-0. Plus I just got a Rivarossi Challenger, to turn it into a Western Maryland M-2.. To go with the one I've already customized.....
