Poor Man's MLW M420 Kitbash - Part 5

Another day of work on my poor man's M420. I was happy to find out this morning I still had a set of old Atlas C424 stanchions that fits the M420. I was contemplating making my own with brass, but honestly, I prefer to reuse unmodified delrin parts for the sake of durability.

While I thought I was ready for the paint shop, I decided to make some more modifications to the pilots, particularly the rear one. M420 had a notch under the coupler's box. C424 don't and have an angular pilot shaped like a wedge (or a diminutive snow plow). I'm aware this model is the most unprototypical M420 out there, but locomotives ends must be as close as possible because it's where our eyes are drawn during operation.

I also painted and glossed the shell. If everything goes as I wish, decalling could be done later this week. Reaching this step is a big incensitive to work hard to reach the goal. That and the wonderful model of a Kaslo shell built and painted by Sean Seale. Once again Efram did a terrific job on the weathering. The nice thing is that the level of weathering match my distant memories of a M420 stalled at Château-Richer's grade crossing back in 1986. As you may know, I'm trying to replicate that specific locomotive etched in my brain. You never forget when the train bug bites for the first time...

Back on the model! While the paint dried, I decided to install my custom wood fuel tanks on Atlas snap-on tank part. It was easy as 1-2-3. Using a Dremel cutoff wheel, I sanded down the wood ends until they matched the Atlas tank. For some reason, my tanks were very long and didn't clear the locomotive trucks. Put that on my less than stellar craftmanship back in high school.

Small Atlas air tanks were saved and glued back on the frame but with a different spacing according to the fuel tank. It must be noted M420 and C424 have different proportions. Back in the days, I used to think differences were mainly in grills locations and stylistic, but I was wrong. It means the fuel tanks of my model are quite short when compared to the real M420. However, one must know many M420 did have shortened fuel tanks. That specific M420 version ran over Murray Bay Subdivision because less fuel meant they were lighter than regular ones which were forbidden according to old timetables.

Finally, I started to prep Kaslo Shop resin ZWT trucks. They are finely molded and easy to clean up. I'm actually working on a prototype to see how to mount them on the locomotive. The easiest and most efficient way is described on Diesel Detailer forum by Éric. He's done a great job in engineering a clever solution to that problem. My first try isn't perfect, but I'm getting a grasp of it and think the next three trucks should be quite easier to make.
 

Poor Man's MLW M420 Kitbash - Part 4

Well, this project has sat on my shelves for a while and I'm convinced I can now complete it.

As previously said, bear in mind this project is a total fabrication about a M420. It share the general appearance, but if you start to be picky about details, you'll be greatly unimpressed.

The biggest problem I faced when I bashed my first version was modifying the frame and pilots. At that time, I only used CA glue and it looked like an unsolvable issue. Nowadays, things have changed and I was able to resolve it in less than a morning.

Sure I took shortcuts. I decided to keep the pilots as is and work with Atlas C424 front handrails. But I did venture as far as rebuilt the entire steps from scratch. It was much more easy than I thought. To be honest, the steps are a little bit wider than the real prototype, but don't forget I'm working with a C424 frame and shell. While similar, there's many discrepancies.

 
Finally, a few bits of styrene where used to make large triangular anticlimbers similar to the prototype. In this respect, I must admit working with prototype pictures was a big help since plans published in RMC back in 1974 we different that was I could see.

A Detail West snow plow complete the model which will soon be ready to be painted and lettered. The biggest challenge is now to make new brass handrails but that will be another day and I still can paint the model without them.

Fascia & Real Estate

I often discussed about the idea to enlarge the peninsula in such a way the track radius would be broader for better appearance. It was also hinted the river scenery would get also some more inches.

In the end, changing the radius was a no go as it involved a lot of efforts but very little reward. Worst, it was eating up precious space in the aisles. I don't consider cramping the place with the layout will make it more interesting in the end.

But it doesn't mean we were against improving the area. In fact, while determining the fascia location this week, we decided to bump the river width by 3 inches. It's not a lot, but just enough to make the river scene more realistic. It will also help to frame better pictures.

A good side effect of this decision is the track now looks as a part of a large scenic unit instead of dominating it.

Shaping Clermont - Part 1

A new project is now underway: shaping Clermont area. No deadline, but lots of experiment and mock up.

With some work, this could be a future signature scene.

The area was cleaned before starting to work on it. You can still see the ghost remnants of older trackage from when the benchwork was built back in 2010. The two parallel tracks were sidings for a coal industry when the area was still Bassin Louise. The curved roadbed at right was the dreaded reversing loop that took years to get rid of.

The first part started yesterday. I quickly assembled a photobackdrop from pictures I shoot near Wieland back in May 2014. I then printed the backdrop on regular sheet of paper and assembled the mosaic. Nothing fancy, just a mock up to get a feel of the place.


During the evening, I moved the backdrop a few times: left-right and up and down. I documented on picture every single version and while I sifted through my pictures, I found out one of the earliest version was the best. Once again, my late grandmother was right when she used to say the first choice is always right. Doing scenery isn't about precise planning but the harmonious combination of shape.

Helped by Louis-Marie, we found out a few factors were truly important: the location of mountains vs the house, the barn/shed height and the horizon level. When looking at my picture, I also added the terrain profile.

Here's a early version which works best. The interaction between the house, the mountains, the far away plains and the road make for a very open space that seems to stretch over a few miles of terrain.

As we move closer, the four factors start to work together. You can also see how the foam terrain seems to merge with the photo fields near the horizon. In real life, this effect is quite impressive as the scene extend about 3 feets on the barn's right (behind the blue foam ridge).

A part of the debate between me and Louis was to determine if the house was standing on a plateau with a steep border along the track or if it should be standing on a gentle slope running down from the horizon to the roadbed. We settled on a gentle slope thinking the road would look more natural if it wasn't in a deep cut. Here's the first try at shaping the land.

After a while, we thought the house was sitting a little bit too low. Also, the transition between the railway cut near the bridge proved to be challenging. Also, it hides the industries on the backdrop, which were an interesting feature to show we are near an industrial park.

Raising the house didn't help our cause and now the backdrop horizon was almost lost.

Sure, it helped a little bit, making the house appear taller than the far away mountains, but I feel it did more harm than good.

But, I must admit the slope towards the aisle ain't the best way to conceal the joint between the backdrop and the layout. It's why I'm starting to think the original plateau version was better looking.

I think the answer is somewhere between both version. At some point, the backdrop horizon will need to be raised over the foam terrain so we can clearly see the city lurking in the back and the fields at right. The terrain will have to form a somewhat steep rigde that blends naturally with the existing topography. Also, the house should be on a kind of plateau. Nobody would have built a house on such chaotic terrain. Anyway, the backdrop depicts a relatively smooth plain and we should feel it on the layout.

Conclusion?

Still a lot of work to be done and probably the recent mockup will need to be rebuilt almost from scratch. I also cut away the third mountain on the photo (at left) in the process and I feel it was a mistake. I'll probably keep it in the future, trying to blend it with the ridge near the bridge. The reason? Odd numbers always look more natural to the eye. But if it isn't possible, I'll find a way to actually extend the backdrop a little bit to better see the industrial park. Also, the third mountain looks nearer and force the perspective.

The backdrop when the 3rd mountain at left was still there.

There's also a lot of work about the nature of the barn/shed and its exact location. I'm starting to think it shouldn't be a railway-related structure, but comething unrelated. In Wieland, a similar small barn/shed (thought with a gambrel roof) exists near the grade crossing in a similar fashion. That should serve as a starting point in our reflexion.

In the end, while the scene developed in a way I didn't expect, I must admit the 3D effect is beyond my expectation, both on photo and real life. I think we've just built one of the cutest railfanning spot on the layout.

Feel free to share your impression... at this point, nothing is set in stone.

"El Cheapo" loads for Bulkhead Flatcars

We recently started to roster a set of bulkhead flatcars, but like any uncovered car, they look silly during operation.

Thus, while the woodchip loads were drying, I decided to make a crude load for fun. It's far to be great, but it will be enough to make us believe the cars are loaded.

I basically started with a piece of 2" x 3" lumber cut to size. Then, I drawn pencil line to represent lumber bundles. Finally, using a ruler and a hobby knife, I scribed horizontal lines to make individual plank.

The new team track really helps to frame the scene.

It will probably never win a modeling contest award, but at least we can move on while I'm still pondering how I'll make realistic loads later. I still can recall seeing unwrapped lumber bundles with huge Donohue's "D" logo back in the late 80s but no picture to work from. So that's another project for the future. I'm in the mood thing should go forward, even if it means going back later. Mockup are great for that.