Br 52 WIP

Carl, Bill thanks for taking a look in, appreciate the comments   You are both kind of correct with what you say about the camo scheme.  This should make sense to you Carl being that you where one ships.  This type of scheme was to possibly to help hide but more so "eye catching".  Large vehicles and very common with naval ships, these things being so large would almost be impossible to hide with camouflage or anything else for that matter.  So the disruptive camo was to more or less hide the true shape or particular area of the vehicle / ship which would do a few things: 1. make it harder to identify exactly what kind of vehicle it was which would make it harder for the aggressor to decide if, where, and when to attack.  2. If the decision to attack was made, it made it harder to sight, lead and fire into a kill area of the vehicle wearing the camo scheme.  So hiding the vehicle by actually "catching the eye" is a very effective camouflage scheme.  Back to what you were saying Bill, flying in at 300 mph with the landscape flashing by and trying to look through the sight at a moving Zig-Zaged vehicle losing sight of front back and trying to judge speed and distance, could be a tough task indeed.  Also remember my train as with most real ones will be very well armed with AA guns making things that much harder on that pilot.  Funny Carl, I had also thought of the WWII films of the fighters going after the trains.

Glad you two like the scheme so far.  Think I'm pretty happy with it myself.

Wind Guides.  Had masked then sprayed them with the darker gray, Gunship Gray, let dry.  Put a coat of Dullcote, dry over night, and then a wash with Raw Umber W&N artist oil.  Anouther coat of Dullcote and after a few hours of drying went about scrubing the mask off with an old stiff short haired brush. 

This is the inside of the wind guides so left things a little on the darker side but on the outside before scrubbing off the mask will also spray the lighter shade of Gull Gray and the zig-zag then maybe drybrush around the mask hopefully leaving the edges highlighted?

Was seeing if anyone had any opinions of how well you think this first mask worked and if you think there is a better way to do the other side before I begin to work on it?

Again, thanks for taking a look.

Rob , nice explanation about the "dazzle" camo .

This camo on your locomotive will make it really interesting .

I think the effect you created with the mask looks really good . Its one of those subjects that can be overdone easily so where do you stop before the results look unreal ? Some very careful drybrushing would inhance the look of the chipped paint ...but man that would be risky ! You could hit the edges of the boards and miss up the wood look IMO .

Good luck my friend .

I think the approach has worked...the key would be to determine just how much (and where) you want the paint to chip on the exterior. Since these guides were designed to channel air flow as well as improve things like the drafting on the smoke stack exhaust, it would make sense to me that there would be more chipping/wear on the inside vs. the outside of the guides. Less is more is probably the best approach when applying it to the exterior sides but the process you've used seems to have worked out very well Rob!

Carl, Bill thanks for the input.  Careful and easy does it seems to be the word, will see how the outside of the guides come out.  Just have the Dunkelgelb left to spray on then still contemplating doing a little dry-brushing, will see.

Small update, added wire plumbing..

Spectacular work on the windshelds guides  and the "small up date added wire plumbing" is very cool.

I especially like the crank handle you show in picture 3.

 I assume that is for when the battery power goes out ... OR not

GOOD LORD Rob what a build OUTSTANDING!! hey dose your wife get upset when she has to take you out of your straitjacket to work on this kit?? AAAAAHAHAHAHA

Clay

vonryan

GOOD LORD Rob what a build OUTSTANDING!! hey dose your wife get upset when she has to take you out of your straitjacket to work on this kit?? AAAAAHAHAHAHA

Clay

She starts getting upset when she has to open the door to his padded room

Simply stunning work so far!  No details spared... it has to be one of your longest builds so far?  

Sorry about my absence as I have been traveling a lot during month of October but things are slowing down at work and no more trips for a long time hopefully.  Keep it coming buddy!

Thats just beautiful details Rob !

Rob, I have to say this is one of the most astounding builds I've ever seen.  Curious to know if locomotives in general are an interest to you?

That dazzle camou  reminds a lot of the type used by various navies.  For warships it helped confuse the attacker, supposedly making it difficult to guage the speed and as well as direction.  Although in the case of a train, I imagine it's heading can be determined just by following the rail track if it is not too obscured by trees.

regards,

Jack

STEVE - Crank handle.....that's how they got this thing started   That thing is actually an exhaust pipe, had drilled open the end of the pipe but just does not show in the pictures had posted.  Also believe it is incorrect for the pipe to be there, a mistake in the kit.  On the war trains, from studying pictures, there appears to be no pipe but instead just an exhaust opening with a screen over the opening.  Now on post war pictures the pipe is present there but the compressor itself is in a different location, it is mounted all the way forward on the locomotive with a different pipe set up.  I did not catch this until everything was installed and now believe I will just leave things as they are.  So glad you like it.

CLAY, CLINT - She only gets upset when I refuse to go back into my padded room or straight jacket

ANDY - This build is taking so long not because of the building itself but because of the lack of being able to get to the bench   This is by far the longest that one has been on the bench but I will continue to work on it when ever I have the chance

CARL -

JACK - Thank you for that wonderful comment !  Locomotives as well as other large machinery has always fascinated me particularly the steam powered ones but it has never lead to my interest to build one until now.  Building this one has given me much respect to those that do model these elegant machines.

Your explanation of the camo and it's comparison to Naval ships is what I was trying to explain, you have summarized it very well.  Would have to agree, it's direction on a set rail must have been it's biggest disadvantage.

THANKS to ALL of you for stopping in, looking, and commenting.  All of your comments are very valued.  Please excuse my absence and long delay in responding to you all.  Have had many unfortunate events at the home-front and have not been able to get to the bench.  It is very nice coming back to all of your comments.  I have had a chance this weekend to finally sit and work at the bench and have done a bit more.  Was very excited to get some pics up for you guys but now photobucket is not working at all for me??????  Can log into it, says my picture count is there but it keeps saying or trying to connect and none of my pictures or albums are there???? Don't know whats wrong, has been this way all weekend?

Sorry to hear of the photobucket woes Rob, hope you get it resolved soon so we can see your progress!

Hey Bill, with some help from the guys on here believe my photobucket problems have been resolved so onto the pics 

They are not the best pics, took them quickly and in poor lighting but until I get the wheels put on this beast this will have to do.  Without the wheels on it's hard to move and set it somewhere for pictures.  Cannot set it flat down any longer because of the sand lines.

Will start with the wind guides.  We had discussed that the outside of the guides should have minimum wear which I had agreed but the temptation was to great.  Have refined my method of putting on the "Art Masking Fluid" and believe it gives a better result to what I had before.

Masked and painted

Scrubbed of the mask with stiff bristle brush

Both of them

This is where the lighting did not show what things really look like.  Anyway began the weathering of the frame and added the sand lines.

Here was trying to put some light behind the loco to show everything going on under the boiler

Weathering up front, the whole frame looks more like this if I could just get the light on it.

I like how the frame weathered but my question now is should I add a dust effect to the lower portion of the frame?  Just on the very bottom like if the dust got kicked up from travel on the track.  If I do this, trying to figure what the best approach to this would be?  Wheels are soon to go on and any added effects need to happen before they do.

Thanks for looking all and I certainly hope it will not be so long for my next update.

Hi Rob 

I am sorry man I missed responding to a couple of your updates, but my interest never waned. The job is truly gorgeous. In this new set of pictures I really love the steel look on the front truck where it rides the rail. All the weathering and piping are really great, but the look of that wheel,my o my ....small thing but it just looks so perfect.

I really like the splinter type interrupting camo job also !

Great stuff Rob

tread

Holy cow!  Amazing work on the wood chipping!   Wheels look great too!  Can't wait to see them on the train...

I think you made a good decision on the wind guides, looking good! As for the dust weathering on the underside, I'm no railroad expert but I would guess that whatever dirt accumulation there would be would be dark (coal dust and soot) and mixed with oil/grease for the most part. These locomotives were massive and dirty!

Panzerwaffe- fantastic job on this beast so far. I'm a fan of the trains, and dabble in model RR myself so I'm really enjoying your build. It looks like you've done some serious research on this with all the detail you've added, but since you were wondering about some of the weathering maybe you would find a couple links helpful.

Due to the tremendous forces that act on these machines steam and water come from many different places so evidence of leaks is everywhere, and eventually rust appears. Likewise the running gear is constantly oiled and dirt/dust/soot accumulates everywhere.

http://www.trainsahead.com/weathering_steam_locomotives.htm

http://www.google.com/search?q=steam+locomotive+weathering&hl=en&tbo=u&rlz=1I7GGLL_en&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=yGWpUKSEDqWH0QHCloCQDQ&ved=0CEIQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=747

http://www.vallejo.nl/gb/assets/s2dmain.html?http://www.vallejo.nl/gb/vallejo/trainweathering/index.html

Hope this helps....

WILLIAM - Thanks man  The front truck is very easy to achieve   First paint and finish the face of the wheel (in my case black and grays) weather it and then take a #2 pencil and "color in" the steel portion.  When all of that is done, spray a coat of Dullcote sealing in the graphite.  Once dry, go back and "color in" the steel with the pencil again.

Using MM Burnt Metal and then buffing it to a high shine will give you the same result.  I use that method from time to time also, usually on more exposed areas.

ANDY - Should not be too much longer now before all the wheels and push-arms are on.  Have most of all those parts painted and just putting on the finishing touches.  After that....assembly 

BILL - Good to hear you dont think the wind guides are over done. 

STAGE_LEFT - Great to have you stop in, nice to have a model RR'ers take a look and very happy too hear your enjoying !  Thank you much for the links.  Have spent some time looking and reading through them.

Now BILL & STAGE after reading your comments this is what my dilemma is.  I agree that oil, dirt, grim, and grease would be everywhere so the problem is not sure how to achieve this look?  All of the things I normally use, from medium to dark browns, black, and grays to achieve those effects will not work on this build.  It will not turn out properly being that the color of the frame is already so dark.  

I have applied some artist oil washes and even clumped some areas with the oils but I have to be careful because of the darkening effect.  Am now experimenting with mixing different things with future to see what I can make, on scrape of course.

Thanks for stopping in and let me know if you have any ideas.

Rob,

I can see where the dark undercarriage would present problems in terms of color contrasts but not so much on the areas that are painted gray and have the zig-zag pattern. I would use those areas to convey the sense of grime/dirt/grease, etc. as opposed to only showing it on the darker lower areas, if that makes any sense? The darker areas are already going to look, well, dark, so for those areas it would be more about highlighting the bare metal wear and other contrasts in a reverse sort of way since they already have a dirty/rusty finish as a base to work from. At least in terms of creating contrast/visual interest if that makes sense?

this is one of my favorite builds on the web

That makes sense Bill   Agree that the upper lighter portion will be much easier to weather and should not pose much of a problem.  Originally was going to weather it before attaching to the frame but as you can see did not.  Will be trying the Future / dot weathering technique, same as you do, for the upper section.    Had decided to go ahead and attach the wheels and will go back to hit highlights on the lower portions.  May be a bit more difficult to get to but it will make it easier for me to see what and how I want to highlight with all the pieces in place.

So here are a few pictures:

The parts

close up, can see that some pre-detail work has been done.

The brakes

And now the wheels attached both left and right

Will leave the wheels to dry for some time so will be back at it then.  Thanks for looking 

Each update just keeps getting better and better Rob! If you haven't already, you might check the wheel alignment with a section of track to make sure it will sit properly when the time comes. I recall having a small issue with that when I built mine.

magnificent!

Rob- continues to look fantastic! Some details if you wish to add more weathering:

Underneath would be black from dirt/grease/coal dust; a very popular paint for this with model RR's is Floquil Grimy Black. I've come to be quite fond of MM U.S. Army Helo Grey, which is not completely black but sort of an asphalt color.

Any fittings that move on the valve gear (connecting/drive rods for ex.) would be greased constantly, so some sort of gloss black would work. This also goes for the area behind the wheels on the frame.

The area immediately in front of the lower half of the cab is the firebox (right above the last driver wheel). This area gets intensely hot, obviously, and at night can be seen glowing a dull cherry red.

The boiler: this thing is full of water and steam under tremendous pressure. That means any of the vertical ribs on your boiler will have evidence of oxidation, or at the least calcium staining (grey/light grey streaks). This includes the riveted area toward the front of the boiler. That marks the separation of the boiler from the smokebox- lots of hot air and, well, you guessed it, but no water.

Steam drives the valve gear via the cylinders, hanging from the lower front end of the frame. Again, oxidation and calcium stains. Same for the steam dome on top of the boiler, and any joints on exterior pipes. There are two domes as you noticed; the other is the sand dome where the sanding pipes eminate from.

Your loco wouldn't have much soot on the top due to the smoke deflectors (your wind guides) that were designed to guide smoke up and away from the cab and the rest of the train. These devices were prominent on Santa Fe and New York Central RR passenger steam locos in the '40s and '50s.

Sorry if this is a bit long-winded but I hope there's something useful to you in here.

Dave

Rob i must say that is some of the finest workmanship that i have ever seen.i'd put your build up there with Bill, Redleg, Mutt, and some others, i've seen on other sites. and i would hope you could take that to a contest and show it off. and get your GOLD! that's why i like this site very awesome work i get to see. keep up the posts Rob.

Clay

Just another note to congratulate you on such a fine build.

with what's gone before, I can hardly wait to see how the weathering will come out.

Hope all had a Happy Thanksgiving !!!!!

BILL - Thanks for the tip with the wheel alignment   I had a bit of trouble getting them on correctly myself and luckily had thought they may not sit right.  To ensure that they did, had pulled out the section of track I had previously built for my Gondola car to make sure all was right.  With that section of track was able to align all wheels properly.  I too would suggest to anyone building this, have the track ready for fit before attaching the wheels.  Here is how they look.

SHAWN M - Had missed your first post, sorry   Believe we had posted at the same time.  Thanks for taking a look and for the nice words.  Good to have you along 

DAVE - That's some GREAT info !!  Have saved your post and will be using it as a reference, really appreciate you taking the time.  Have added a bit more weathering (not complete yet) to the frame and wheels but much was covered by all the other parts.  One thing it did do was to lighten things some so will be adding more weathering a little further on.  Right now concentrating on getting the base on and all parts on.  Will then really get into the weathering and into your info which I believe will be very beneficial at that point   Will pick up a bottle of the MM US Army Helo Grey, it sounds like good stuff.  Thanks again.

CLAY - Those are some big names that I too hold in high regard, maybe to much to throw me in that group but will defiantly say thank you !!  Really glad you like whats going on.  Have never been to a contest but would sure like too.....one day.  If for no other reason, to meet and see everyone's work.

STEVE - As always, thanks man   The weathering is on the way, just a few more parts to put on first.  Slow but sure 

In this update; added some earth tomes to the wheels and frame.  much is hidden put will provide a good base for more to come.  Have also, for the most part, completed the assembly on the left side drive.  It too will receive more weathering later on. 

Next same work to be done on the other side.  See ya then.............................

Hi Rob 

I find your build and especially the running gear paint work to be absolutely mesmerizing   

The more I look, the more I have to look. It's just simply beautiful to me. Happy Thanksgiving man 

Beautiful, accurate and artistic

tread 

A nice Turkey Day treat with this update Rob, drivetrain details and finish are top notch.

Rob- I'm very glad I could provide some useful info for your build. To my eyes, this build is right up there with any award winner and the weathering you've got so far is an excellent base for what's to come. If you were to consider taking this to a contest I've no doubt you would have the attention of the judges and spectators alike. Looking forward to your next update!