In between other bit's an pieces I've been grittily determined to scratch my US itch and progress at least something.
So back tracking to some classic era UP I've gone back to the GP9, it needs a whole new chassis at some point, nothing wrong with the plastic one except it flexes too much and requires strengthening, which I managed just fine, but, all of the original plasticard additions are now brittle so an all new brass one is on the cards in due course.
I do have another Overland OMI Ajin model winging it's way across the pond as I type, one I've coveted for as long as I ever first saw one in magazine 30+ years ago. The purchase was not as simple as it could of been, but enough for now, I'll reveal all when it gets here toward the end of the week.
Anyway, said engine and other UP engines I have or wish to have need a B unit GP9, in fact they were quite common in mixed consists, ideally I'd like an A-B-B-A set but only have three RC units here so it'll be a pair of A's and one B for the time being.
Refreshing a little from last time, there is a small batch that fit the RC shell as far as doors and vents go perfectly, sadly the roof fans are three 48" ones, not the quad 36" and one 48" that the model has. There is a batch that fits that but they require an extra set of grills....similar to those that Yorky Dave added. Not sure which route I'll go down as the two batches are several years apart, the triple 48" being after almost all of the steam had gone.
So onto the model, the B unit simply replaces the whole cab with an tin shed enclosure and porthole window. you can drive the engine from in here with whats commonly called a hostler station, a simple throttle and brake stand is all that's fitted.
I contemplated etched covers and in the end went 3D, because I can and if there's a mistake it's easy to run off another, and another.....
Eventually one of them was fit for purpose though it still has some niggles and errors., it's just plonked in place at the moment.
Such a simple shape isn't it, how hard can/could it be. Actually very very bloody hard, minimising warpage, stretching, bowing and all other forms of shape manifestations.
It took 22 attempts in the end.
Every single one a failure in one aspect or another, the original plan was to print two sides and a roof and bond them together, sadly printing flat often left them curled up when hardening, the flattest had to be kept on the aluminium build plate for a week, it is flat but I can't afford to have build plates sat around for days, luckily I have two but it makes a dent in production. In the end...in desperation I printed a complete set up, it had more promise but still took an age to refine.
As a reference, angled ones take between 5 and six hours per print, flat ones between one and two.
On top of that, the LCD screen started to fail which is why some of the failures have large distorted and missing sections. The up shot was a new LCD screen and FEP film, but that wasn't all. Some parts now have a very shallow wave effect running through them, I can only put that down to the excessive temperatures we've had last week, or it could be the new resin I'm using.
Anyway, I now have a fairly decent set of settings and orientation, sadly it has an effect on some surfaces, specifically the sacrificial face which is tending to warp and needs a fair bit of post processing to resolve.
A crop of the 1:1 engine, copyright Don Strack Utah Rails.
In the third close up you can see that my doors needs raising in height, as does the bolted cover plate to the rear, I'll tend to that this evening and run one off overnight.
