Fixing a brass Erie 2-8-4, Class S-4 for Erieman

[ACL1504]

Thom,

That was quite the video. I looked up the Aster kits and boy they are anything but cheap.

Great video, thanks for sharing.

Tom

[ACL1504]

When you are in awe of the material before you, comments are usually superfluous. 

Chip,

Wow, that is quite the gratuitous compliment. Thank you kind sir. I also appreciate you following along on the adventure.

Tom

[ACL1504]

Tom


Excellent work and excellent thread!  The locomotive is going to really look nice on Frank's layout. You seem to be getting more done each day - I hope that is a sign that you are feeling better.  Take care, my friend.

John,

Thank you for the very kind words on the work and thread. Frank is going to like this one for sure.

I'm able to sit longer now so this has been much easier than a few weeks ago. I am doing much better but not to the point of standing for a long period of time in order to work on the layout.

My goal is to start a very little layout work next week.

Tom

[ak-milw]

Tom, excellent post as always. I wish you would have posted this back when I had my question on steam engines. I did in fact save up enough to get one. bought a PFM Milw. 4-6-4, matched it to pictures and it is right on and it runs great. But after reading you post here I am beginning to really like that  faded golden color it is..

Andy,

Thank you for the kind compliment.

I went back through my post and don't see your question. Was it a separate post? If so, I'm sorry for some reason I missed it. Do you know the link? I couldn't find one.

The faded golden color on the decal is due the fact I lessened the brightness for a more clear view.

Tom

Tom, just kiddin' with ya, that post was from the end of last year. The golden color I was referring to was the brass color of my engine. I got it and thought I would find someone to paint it but after this posting and prices I think I will just leave it brass and put it on a shelf.

[ACL1504]

Tom, excellent post as always. I wish you would have posted this back when I had my question on steam engines. I did in fact save up enough to get one. bought a PFM Milw. 4-6-4, matched it to pictures and it is right on and it runs great. But after reading you post here I am beginning to really like that  faded golden color it is..

Andy,

Thank you for the kind compliment.

I went back through my post and don't see your question. Was it a separate post? If so, I'm sorry for some reason I missed it. Do you know the link? I couldn't find one.

The faded golden color on the decal is due the fact I lessened the brightness for a more clear view.

Tom

Tom, just kiddin' with ya, that post was from the end of last year. The golden color I was referring to was the brass color of my engine. I got it and thought I would find someone to paint it but after this posting and prices I think I will just leave it brass and put it on a shelf.

Andy,

Okay, I was a little slow there and now I'm with the program. Do some searches on the net, for custom painters and you will probably be able to find some for the Hudson. Keep in mind you get what you pay for as well. Another thing to consider is the decals. Decals are hard to come by now unless you had a stash from Champ. The Milwaukee Historical Society is a good place to get info on HO scale decals for steam locos.

Tom

[ACL1504]

I did a little teaser quiz a couple of pages ago. Only PaulS took a shot and he got the one right.

Here are the photos again.










Continued in a few.

[tct855]

Good Job for Paul, but I wasn't allow to play...

[ACL1504]

Answers for the quiz -

1. PaulS saw that the bell and smoke box holes were misaligned. I fixed this by realigning the headlight. I had to slightly bend the light to the right (looking at the loco) and turned a few degrees clockwise. See photo below.



2. Looking at the front of the loco, the  running board steps on the right are bent outwards.  I fixed this by slowly and gently bending it back a little at a time.

3. The bell bracket is bent to the right. Left if looking at the photo. Not much but noticeable to me.  I left this as is due to the fact by bending it back the bell won't sit straight in the bracket.

4. The number boards showing the #3349 are actually white styrene. The painter of this looc, cut small strips of styrene, added the numbers and glued the styrene to the brass number boards. Look at the photo above and you can see the number boards are just slightly off center. I left these are is as I don't have any decals to match these and you really have to look to see the difference. Either no one noticed or no one wanted to play!

A BIG THANK YOU TO PAULS!

More in a few.

[ACL1504]

Good Job for Paul, but I wasn't allow to play...

This test quiz was way to easy for you Khaki!

Tom

[ACL1504]

The small items mentioned above - 45 minutes.

ACL1504 16 hours = $400.00

Unknown guy 16 hours = $560.00

Darryl 16 hours = $720.00

Steve 16 hours = $880.00

More in a few.

[ACL1504]

Here is a look at the white styrene number boards.



I used the touch up paint to hide the white color. This time was included in the four items mentioned above.

I didn't like the color of the cab windows. They were some brown color. This loco needs to stand out and the new engineer and fireman decided to make this their lady. We'll just say she is fine but needs new window color.



They also plan to redo the old arm rests also.

Diet Pepsi time friends.  Back in a while.

[tct855]

Tom,
           Yeah, I guess you were right!  I looked at the pics and saw things I would have changed and whoooo, you ended up naming all the same things.  Also I thought I saw from the pics the engineer side marker light a little bent also?  I guess I'm way too detail oriented.  It's decided, I'm raising my rates up too! It's true one gets the quality of work one wants to pay for.  Thanx Thom...

[ACL1504]

Tom,
           Yeah, I guess you were right!  I looked at the pics and saw things I would have changed and whoooo, you ended up naming all the same things.  Also I thought I saw from the pics the engineer side marker light a little bent also?  I guess I'm way too detail oriented.  It's decided, I'm raising my rates up too! It's true one gets the quality of work one wants to pay for.  Thanx Thom...

Thom,

You are correct on the marker light. However, I didn't mention this as it is a bad marker casting vs. a bent one. I didn't think anyone but you would see it anyway.

You should raise your rates and you should be at a minimum of $45 - $50. per hour. From what I've seen of your work vs the others you are still a bargain. I'm a retired brass buy so I know of what I speak.

No brag, just fact. You are certainly well worth the price.

Tom

[ACL1504]

I painted the windows with Floquil Signal Red, two coats.



I painted the arm rests with Floquil Foundation, two coats.



As you can see, I also added Canopy Glue for the cab windows.

More in a few.

[ACL1504]

I used Details West .006 brass wire for the bell and whistle cords.



In this next picture, you can really see how bent the bell bracket is.




Yepper, more in a few.