I'm kinda like Bilbo Baggins as I'm off on another journey.
John Mancuso has asked me to repaint if necessary, redecal and weather his new Mintrain loco and four passenger cars..
I'll remove the old decals on the loco, renumber it and change the tender decal to read C&DR RY. The Carrabasset & Dead River Ry. Obviously the tender will only hold the diamond with C&DR in the center.
We don't have enough decals to redo the passenger cars. Here is the loco and cars.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-170118190816.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-170118190816.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-170118190835.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-170118190835.jpeg)
Tom,
Never heard of these trains before. Very cool. I'll be tuning in. Thanx Thom...
This is going to be interesting. I will be following along.
Like Sauron, I'll be keeping an eye on this. ;D
Cool. At least it looks like is has an upgraded motor from the old units. I had several of the diesels and a couple of the "docksiders" and they didn't know what slow operation meant. Looks like it's going to be a fun rebuild.
Quote from: tct855 on January 17, 2018, 07:56:49 PM
Tom,
Never heard of these trains before. Very cool. I'll be tuning in. Thanx Thom...
Thom,
Minitrains is, I think made in Germany. I don't even know what gauge this little thing is. Oh, wait, it is Tiny Gauge. ;D ;D
Tom ;D
Quote from: S&S RR on January 17, 2018, 09:19:17 PM
This is going to be interesting. I will be following along.
John,
I agree, I hope I'm up to the task.
Tom ;D
Quote from: ReadingBob on January 18, 2018, 08:09:25 AM
Like Sauron, I'll be keeping an eye on this. ;D
Bob,
Thank you; however, you may need to keep two eyes on this one. It's Tiny Gauge.
Tom ;D
Quote from: Oldguy on January 18, 2018, 10:52:07 AM
Cool. At least it looks like is has an upgraded motor from the old units. I had several of the diesels and a couple of the "docksiders" and they didn't know what slow operation meant. Looks like it's going to be a fun rebuild.
Bob,
Thanks for checking in. The motor is a can motor and apparently it runs very well or Mancuso wouldn't be happy with it.
I'm not going to rebuild it but I will be repainting it and adding a few new details to bring it to life.
Tom ;D
Well, this afternoon I tried to take it apart. This thing is small and I used my Opti-Visor to look it over. I tried to get the cab and boiler off the running gear and frame work.
I took the bottom plate off and found 10 very tiny tiny gears.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-190118142947.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-190118142947.jpeg)
I though oh "H--l No", I ain't touching the gears. I'd probably loose a few or forget where I put them. There are no instructions on how to get the cab and boiler off. It appears to be snapped on with tabs but I don't know where they are or how they work. I certainly don't want to break anything either.
I plan to tape off the running gears and paint it as is.
Getting the tender apart was no problem.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-190118142920.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-190118142920.jpeg)
The photo above was enlarged 100 fold so ya'll can see it. ;D ;D
More in a few.
The first thing I did was remove the decals. I used a Q-tip dipped in Goo Gone and applied the mixture to the decals. After about 40 to 50 minutes the decals softened and were removed.
The number on the cab had to be scratched off where it was between the cab vertical boards. It appears as a 1 in the photo below. It is actually the gray under the current paint.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-190118143007.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-190118143007.jpeg)
The number on Rudolph's nose was removed with no problem.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-190118143019.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-190118143019.jpeg)
The tiny projects are the biggest projects. Good luck - I think your going to have a story to tell.
Tom- Great project, and I hope you get good at it as I have the same set that I bought at the NNGC in Maine a couple of years back. Maybe I can talk you into doing mine unless this thread is so good I think I'll be able to do it myself.
This company completely re-designed the mechanism for these little gems. They run incredibly well. Dave Frary wrote that he test-ran one of these and let it run for a couple of days and it was still going strong.
The scale for these would be HOn30. The Whistle Stop in California (great mail-order service) is a distributor-dealer for all of the MinitrainS products, and PECO track and turnouts- they run on N gauge track. They are ideal for anyone modeling the 2 ft. gauge railroads. Google says that you can even order through Walmart and pick up at their stores.
Tom,
I attempted to disassemble a newer Bachmann engine and, even with an exploded drawing in hand, could not figure out how to release all the hidden tabs holding it together. I swear disassembling some of these newer engines is akin to trying to solve a Chinese puzzle box in the dark while wearing mittens.
I will be following along to see what I can learn. Never thought to try Goo Gone for decal removal so I've learned something new already!
Quote from: S&S RR on January 19, 2018, 05:18:56 PM
The tiny projects are the biggest projects. Good luck - I think your going to have a story to tell.
John,
I'll be taking my time as I don't want to mess this one up for John. I'll tell the story as I go along on the thread.
Tom ;D
Quote from: Mike Engler on January 19, 2018, 06:36:54 PM
Tom- Great project, and I hope you get good at it as I have the same set that I bought at the NNGC in Maine a couple of years back. Maybe I can talk you into doing mine unless this thread is so good I think I'll be able to do it myself.
This company completely re-designed the mechanism for these little gems. They run incredibly well. Dave Frary wrote that he test-ran one of these and let it run for a couple of days and it was still going strong.
The scale for these would be HOn30. The Whistle Stop in California (great mail-order service) is a distributor-dealer for all of the MinitrainS products, and PECO track and turnouts- they run on N gauge track. They are ideal for anyone modeling the 2 ft. gauge railroads. Google says that you can even order through Walmart and pick up at their stores.
Mike,
I'll go slow and try to list in detail all I do. With what I'll be doing you should be able to do it as well. However, if you need help I'll be more than happy to assist.
I wish we had decals for the passenger cars but what I have planned for the loco should help keep viewers eyes on the loco.
Thanks for following along.
Tom ;D
I"m on board watching your progress on this cool project.
Quote from: MAP on January 20, 2018, 06:37:23 PM
I"m on board watching your progress on this cool project.
Mark,
Sorry, I didn't catch your post. Thanks for watching the thread.
Tom ;D
I cleaned the little loco with some alcohol since I couldn't wet it. I twisted the end of a Q-tip and used it to "wash" the loco after dipping the tip in the alcohol.
I did used warm soapy water for the tender truck and tender.
No pictures for this.
Today I painted the loco, tender and tender truck with Langford Dark Gray paint. I used Scalecoat paint and will wait a few days and let it cure prior to touching it and adding the extras.
I'll have photos of the added details later.
Tom ;D
John Mancuso probably thinks I forgot about the little loco. You just can't rush a Master Procrastinator. ;D ;D ;D
Finally, after four days the paint was dry and cured. I used Floquil Signal Red and started to paint the cab window frames. The frames are so small I could only do two at a time as my eyes were starting to loose focus. ::) ::)
I used a #000 brush to hand paint the window frames. Only 8 more to go!
I also used Scalecoat Aluminum to paint the steam chest cylinder heads.
That's all for now. I'll get on the other cab window frames tomorrow.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-030218182110.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-030218182110.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-030218182121.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-030218182121.jpeg)
Very nice work!
Wow...coming along nicely. I knew it was in the best of hands.
To be honest, I've been so busy at work that I completely forgot about this. Imagine my smile when I came upon this thread. ;D
Great. I'll be tuning in.
John
Quote from: S&S RR on February 03, 2018, 07:29:55 PM
Very nice work!
John,
Thank you, much appreciated.
Tom ;D
Quote from: Cuse on February 03, 2018, 09:25:26 PM
Wow...coming along nicely. I knew it was in the best of hands.
To be honest, I've been so busy at work that I completely forgot about this. Imagine my smile when I came upon this thread. ;D
Great. I'll be tuning in.
John
John,
Thanks for checking in. I've been busy also. However, this is coming along nicely.
Tom ;D
Working on the little engine that could. I should have an update tomorrow or Thursday.
Tom
Man.....that engine is small.....good work Tom. 8)
Quote from: GPdemayo on February 14, 2018, 08:30:35 AM
Man.....that engine is small.....good work Tom. 8)
Greg,
Thank you. It is smaller than small, tinier than tiny and that means littler than little. 8) 8)
Tom ;D
The detail painting is finally done.
I painted the side cab windows or both sides and the rear of the cab windows in the Floquil Signal Red. I wanted to paint the front windows also but couldn't figure out how to get the cab off. The space was to small and I didn't want to chance it.
I painted the steam whistle, pop valves and bell with Floquil Brass. They were a brass color, but looked more bronze so I used the brass.
I painted the front of the smoke box with Scalecoat 1 Smoke Box graphite.
The front number plate was painted Floquil Signal Red.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-140218171557.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-140218171557.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-140218171609.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-140218171609.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-140218171620.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-140218171620.jpeg)
I painted the headlight retaining ring with Floquil Brass. When dry, the headlight glass was replaced.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-140218171650.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-140218171650.jpeg)
I drilled a small hole in the Fireman's side cab between the two windows.
I used Detail Associates .010" diameter brass wire for a bell cord. The wire was painted with Floquil Earth.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-140218171632.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-140218171632.jpeg)
Decaling and weathering come next.
Decals are on and flat finish is next followed by medium weathering on the loco and light weathering on the coaches.
Photos later in the thread.
I'll have an update on this no later than Tuesday.
I finished the MiniTrains loco for John (Cuse) Mancuso. Per John's request, I decaled it for the Carrabasset & Dead River RR.
The weathering is light but due to the photo closeup, it appears much heavier than it actually is. The rust looks much more bright than it is as well.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-260218145247.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-260218145247.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-260218145259.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-260218145259.jpeg)
I added coal to the coal bunker and spilled water on the tender deck. I used Floquil Crystal Cote for the water.
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-260218145310.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-260218145310.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-260218145322.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-260218145322.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-260218145333.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-260218145333.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-260218145356.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-260218145356.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-260218145344.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-260218145344.jpeg)
(https://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-260218145408.jpeg) (http://modelersforum.com/gallery/24-260218145408.jpeg)
Welll done Tom..... 8)
Did you go blind or do you just need glasses working on those little things? ;D
Tom,
Beautiful job Sir! Just love everything you did. Color, decals, weathering. Take a bow maestro!.
Thanx Thom...
Looks great Tom. Can't wait to see in person. I cleaned my tracks over the weekend too!
John
Quote from: GPdemayo on February 26, 2018, 03:54:35 PM
Welll done Tom..... 8)
Did you go blind or do you just need glasses working on those little things? ;D
Greg,
Thank you. Yes, and cross eyed as well. Mama said, don't do that, your eyes will stay that way. She didn't mention Minitrains causing the same problem. ::)
Tom ;D
Quote from: tct855 on February 26, 2018, 04:25:52 PM
Tom,
Beautiful job Sir! Just love everything you did. Color, decals, weathering. Take a bow maestro!.
Thanx Thom...
Thom,
Thank you for the very kind compliment. It was fun and I don't plan on doing any more any time soon. Now, let me get rid of these 40X Opti-visor lenses. ??? ???
Tom ;D
Quote from: Cuse on February 26, 2018, 04:58:45 PM
Looks great Tom. Can't wait to see in person. I cleaned my tracks over the weekend too!
John
John,
I'm glad you like it. It looks better in person. You can come by anytime Wed, Thurs or Fri. and take possession.
Tom ;D
Tom,
I always enjoy looking in on one of your steam loco threads. You always add details that make even a simple upgrade into a dramatic improvement in appearance. (I'm taking notes.)
Great looking loco and cars. You have the master's touch when it comes to this sort of thing.
Jeff
Tom
Beautiful work my friend.