yvesvidal

With the track completed (more or less - I thought about replicating some snow but quickly dropped the idea), the snowplow can be installed: In the picture above, you can clearly see that the snowplow was designed for a regular gauge track. An aerial view to complete this phase of the project. Yves

Installation of the rails is now terminated and it is time to pass to the ballasting phase. Below is a picture showing a vintage and seldomly used narrow gauge track. Ballast ispresent but not in the same quantity and thickness as on a main track, with heavy code rails. To ballast the rails, you need the ballast and a special syringe to apply the glue. The bag of ballast is made of real granite crushed to 1/48th scale by Brennan. Brennan has made for himself a name and his ballast and coal (used in the tender) have become the reference in the O scale 2 rails world. The syringe can be found with Micro-Mark and is very useful to apply precisely and delicately the mixture of 50% PVA glue, 45% water and 5% isopropyl alcohol to make the water ever wetter. First step is to apply the ballast, using a soft brush: The glue mixture is then spread delicately between the ties. Once dry, the track is a lot more realistic: Some dirt, grass (Woodland Scenic) is also added to show the reduced lack of maintenance of that track: Yves

It would be nice to see a Build log of this model. Yves

You are pushing the perfection to use the same materials as on the prototype ship. Yves

Not yet. Too many other projects.... Yves

Probably HO scale. There is a tremendous choice of figures in that scale. Yves

Great work on the rear tires (and everything else, of course). They look very realistic. Yves

Incredible project. You are very brave to build such an enormous structure around the vessel. I am sure that the Movies Studio will hire you for their next Star Wars Sequels.... Yves

The next step of this project is to build a piece of track to display the snowplow. As I have mentioned, there is no commercial On3 tracks available. Everything has to be hand built, with ties, rail extrusions and spikes. I usually build 3 feet long display tracks for my O scale models. The same will be done for this small On3 project. I have "spiked" quite a few length of O scale tracks, using Code 148 extrusions, plates, pre-stained ties and O scale spikes. This On3 Code 100 rails are a new challenge, as their dimension are close to an HO scale track, which means real small. I know that there are people who lays their N-scale tracks, but I am not masochistic enough. The plates help tremendously when putting together the track, but on metric gauge tracks, plates are skipped most of the times. I usually start with a piece of flat and straight pine plank: On each side, I will glue 1/4 inch square strips to delineate and retain the ballast and dirt. Ties and spikes are coming from a company called Old Pullman which used to be located in Vero Beach, Florida. Unfortunately, Old Pullman closed a few years ago and all their fantastic supplies disappeared from the market place. They had, rail extrusions in various codes, flexible and finished tracks in O scale, pre-stained ties, spikes, turnouts, gauges and many other things to satisfy the O scale enthusiasts. All of these are gone, causing a void which is really hurting the O scale community. Recently, Micro-Engineering stopped producing O scale rails, adding to the despair of O scale enthusiasts. Today, only Atlas offers commercial 2 rails O scale tracks and another company offers the extrusions and other parts to lay your track by hand. I then build a bed to raise the track and create that typical crowning seen on most railroad tracks. The ties (originally for O scale) are cut shorter at about 40 mm long. They will be glued with Titebond Quick and Thick. The whole piece is varnished with Golden Oak. We can now lay the ties: Then comes the tedious and delicate work of spiking the rails. If you have never done this job before, I would recommend very strongly the use of a special XURON tool: the Spiker, available at Micro Mark. Trying to spike a track without that tool is almost impossible, in my humble opinion. Each On3 sized spike is inserted into the tool like this: And then the tedious task starts.... after painting the rail extrusion with Floquil Rail Brown. With tie plates, the painting can take place later on by masking the ties and the wood around them. With the absence of plates, rails must be painted before hand. Their top surface is then cleaned with a rag soaked with solvent and some low abrasion sand paper. Because of the absence of the tie plates, it is difficult to avoid marring the wooden ties. This will be corrected with a little dab of wood paste and some stain. Finally, it is over. I have only spiked every other tie. Most O scale modelers spike one tie out of four for long straight track stretch. Once the ballast is in place, it will look a lot more realistic. I have spiked O scale tracks with plates, requiring 8 spikes per tie !!! That is a recipe for self inflicted pain. Et voila. I tried the tender and snowplow and everybody is rolling very smoothly on that little stretch: Yves

This is going to be one solid model. I love how you are approaching the construction of the deck. Yves

There is a similar issue in the USA. Usually, the limit is at $800. Under that amount, they will not tax you or bother you. Fortunately, CAF Model sells some of their kit in "Sessions", allowing each session to stay well under the limit of $800 and not arise Customs attention. That is what I did with the Bellona, purchasing each session independently. In Europe and UK in general, officials and custom services are a lot greedier and therefore, it is difficult to procure these kits. Yves

Interesting subject, very rarely modeled. Yves

It is nice to see Artesania Latina offer such a magnificent kit, depicting one of the largest period ships ever built. I wonder if Amati will ever produce the HMS Victory designed by Chris Watton. This one has been postponed for ever ..... Yves

Nice kit. I have the feeling that half of the cost of that expensive kit, went into the packaging. It is so preciously packed. Pontos missed the boat, so to speak, and should have used a standard scale instead of going with the odd 1/250th scale. Offering the kit in 1/200th scale would have had a much bigger impact, in my opinion. That will make for a lovely model for sure and a very unusual ship. It would look terrific in a small diorama, surrounded by ice and snow. Yves

You have done a very good job in rendering the specific shape of the hull. Yves

Tough competition.... Beautiful models. The large Seawolf model is impressive as are the dioramas on your first picture. Yves

A few views of the beast: The metal pieces above the rear truck, are used to re-rail the units. It is not uncommon for these snowplow and tender to derail when the ice is very hard, and that despite their mass. And finally, the two units coupled together: Again, this is a temporary pause in the project, as a piece of track must be built. Yves

The snowplow is almost finished. I have to finalize the various lines (water, air) between the two units and build a piece of track to call it completely finished. The roof has been permanently glued to the chassis. The headlight is made with the metal cast part, a piece of plexiglass cut and filed until it fits perfectly and a toothpick, rounded and painted to mimic a light bulb. The tender is getting some extra details, as well: Headlight installed: Yves

The two major problems with 2K clear are: 1) The price - You have to plan for $25 a bottle. Then, you'd better have other projects to clear at the same time, as the can will last only a few days if conserved in the fridge. 2) The spraying: you really have to have a complete covering suit, goggles and a serious painting mask with dual canisters. Do not spray inside, if you can avoid it as while drying, the clear will vaporize and leave a small residue on your shelves and other horizontal surfaces. Otherwise, it is a fantastic product that I have used on models and pinball playfields with a lot of success. Yves

Magnificent. What a beautiful diorama with such a lovely and musical atmosphere. Yves

Don't forget the Ceramic Coating for long term preservation.... 😄 Yves

Please, post pictures of the Models show and of your winning pieces. Yves

That is planned. There will be a shovel and there is the .....broom 🙂 Yves

Thank you Folks for all these recommendations and web sites. Yes, I know all of them and have ordered a lot of parts in the past. Unfortunately, for this rotary, once you couple the tender, there is not much that can be seen in between. But I do appreciate your ideas and suggestions and my do it at a later time. Yves

Doing the last finishing touches on the rear of the Snowplow: Railings have been added, a steam pressure gauge and the inevitable broom to clean up the floor: I can now glue (permanently) the roof. Yves