FINISHED - BR-52 Steam Locomotive by CDW - Trumpeter - 1:35 Scale

[lmagna]

11 minutes ago, Roger Pellett said:

What was the purpose of the “blinder” plates on either side of the front of the locomotive?

Air deflectors. They cause the smoke from the stack to raise free of the engine and allow the engineer a clearer field of view. (I had to look it up as well.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_deflectors 

Edited November 11, 2019 by lmagna

[CDW]

Just now, Roger Pellett said:

What was the purpose of the “blinder” plates on either side of the front of the locomotive?

 

Roger

Roger

I've been told those are smoke deflectors, but I don't really know for sure.

[CDW]

Just now, lmagna said:

Air deflectors. They cause the smoke from the stack to raise free of the engine and allow the engineer a clearer field of view. (I had to look it up as well.)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smoke_deflectors 

Lol, I should have read your post before I replied to Roger. I guess we have our answer...smoke deflectors. Your reply was on page 3, a new page.

[lmagna]

It is your thread Craig and to be honest I am impressed. You say you don't know much about locomotives yet you knew what they were. I had the same question as Roger a few days ago and was too embarrassed to ask so spent all too much time determining #1, what they were called, and #2 what they did. That was why I was so quick in replying to his question. I was like a kid in class who just learned something new and was able to raise his hand and show off a little! 

 

I originally thought they might be some kind of armor plating used to protect part of the boiler! But then on closer inspection of your model it appeared that they were made of wood and the search began.

[CDW]

Before I ever started work on this model, I spent a number of hours doing online research of the Br-52. So many times, information found on the internet is not reliable so I take it with a grain of salt. But it's quite true that my sum total knowledge of railroading could be held in a thimble compared to knowledgeable railroad folk.

[popeye the sailor]

same here with the General........I had never built a train model before {if I did,  I don't remember}.  

[Old Collingwood]

Great work  and some very intersting  research being learned  - I too am very skeatchy  when it comes to steam trains, the only thing I remember building with my farther was one of those large card  ones  - I lost interest and he finished it,   had a couple of  Hornby  ones though as a kid.

 

OC.

[Canute]

Yep, lads, that is what they are. They help to lift the stack gases up over the top of the loco. Keeps the smoke out of the crews eyes, at speed. Some roads here in the US used them, too.

[CDW]

Progress updates on the Br-52 will be fewer and farther between over the next couple of weeks. I'm prepping and painting our house, and this prep work is serious crap. Painting is a breeze compared to the prep, but ain't that always true whether we're decorating our scale models or painting a house, car, truck, or whatever. When I used to paint cars and trucks, prep work was 90% of the hard work and that's no joke.

[lmagna]

You have my sympathies Craig. I was doing a couple of "Getting ready for winter" things the other day and I suspect I will be doing the same in a year or two. Except in my case my wife says she wants to change the color of the house!

 

So you get here at last Ken. Where were you when all of us needed your loco knowledge? 

[Barryc]

Here in the US they were formally known as "Smoke Lifters" by most builders and railroads.

 

Barry

[Canute]

Lou, I was out of town, so didn't have my loco cyclopedia to refer to. No misstating of info to add any confusion, by pulling an answer out without checking.  I've been off, hobnobbing with other prototype railroad modelers. And a fine time was had by all. Learned a little about improving my airbrushing techniques. 😁

 

Craig, lots of work prepping the house. Local chore is blowing the leaves off the driveway. Threats of snow with that crud underneath should be avoided. Driveway will be as slick as owl poop with leaves and snow on it. 😧

Edited November 13, 2019 by Canute

[CDW]

4 hours ago, lmagna said:

You have my sympathies Craig. I was doing a couple of "Getting ready for winter" things the other day and I suspect I will be doing the same in a year or two. Except in my case my wife says she wants to change the color of the house!

 

So you get here at last Ken. Where were you when all of us needed your loco knowledge? 

Mine is no exception, I am entirely changing the colors. 

Do yourself a huge favor and first lay down a good primer coat like Zinser brand. Then buy a premium paint, one that will cover in one coat. You'll be darned glad you did. And it will last a long long time before you have to do it again. 

Seriously, as much work as this is, I don't know if I could do this again once some more years go by. It doesn't get any easier. Next time I'll just bite the bullet and hire someone to do it for me. In a weird sort of way I like doing things like this myself. Always have done things like this myself and have never hired this kind of work out to others.

[lmagna]

Like you I have always done my own work. Cars, house, yard and pretty much everything else. But in the last few years things have changed drastically and I am no longer trying to fool myself. It is one thing KNOWING how to do it, and being ABLE to do it.  Plus I wasn't smart like you and instead of a relatively modern single story ranch style I had to buy a 2500 square foot six bedroom two + story 120 year old Victorian house. Under the already existent paint it is made of Cedar, a common building wood here in the NW a hundred years ago. 

I will need to either sand or pressure wash, then prime, then paint. As all this is going to cost a fortune it had better last! I don't want to have to EVER do it again! 

 

Dumb question time. You already stated that you are going to start the gun car soon and will have the three cars of the model kits. Do you have any intent on adding another car or two such as a command car, AA car, ammo car, (I know that is more than one or two) Are there any "G" scale cars that would match this build?

[CDW]

I'm thinking of doing an AA car to go in front of the locomotive...like this one:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Trumpeter-Models-1518-1-35-WWII-German-Army-Gondola-Railcar-Low-Sides/293161894052?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

[druxey]

Yes, good prep work pays dividends even if it delays the pay-off! I swear by Zinsser primer as does CDW.

[popeye the sailor]

....and the military centipede grows  

[lmagna]

18 hours ago, CDW said:

I'm thinking of doing an AA car to go in front of the locomotive...like this one:

That would be a fantastic add on with your skills. It would be hard to believe that any military train like this one would ever leave the station without one.  They make a high sided car as well that I think would be fairly easy to convert into a command or  birthing car for the troops.. The nice thing is that the other cars could be added at leisure after the two present cars are done. But like Denis says, it could end up getting quite long.

Edited November 14, 2019 by lmagna

[amateur]

But it should not go ‘in front’: a train in ‘push-mode’ was, as far i know, speed delimited, especially if low weihjt carriages are pushed. 
 

Jan

[Canute]

Jan is correct. Light cars should trail the loco and usually are limited to pretty low speeds. The Germans hauled AAA cars, but I seem to remember they were behind the loco. Looked at a lot of WWII gun camera film from my F-4 unit in Germany way back when. They flew P-47s during the war and shot up a lot of stuff. Winter weather in the Eifel being what it was, we had a lot of non flying days to watch historical movies. A good shoot em up was always fun.

[mtaylor]

Didn't the "flak" cars on the trains have two mounts of 2 to 4 guns each?   Plus ammo, some armor on the mount?

[CDW]

Just now, mtaylor said:

Didn't the "flak" cars on the trains have two mounts of 2 to 4 guns each?   Plus ammo, some armor on the mount?

I'll have to research it as I really don't know. I've seen illustrations of one quad mount, but maybe that's not accurate? The devil is always in the details.

[CDW]

Not a heck of a lot to report, but I did apply the camouflage pattern to the coal tender.

 

I like the Trumpeter attention to detail as can be seen in the coal tender suspension and brake system.

 

[CDW]

Steps 4 and 5 of the coal tender

 

With steps 4 and 5 complete, all that's left are decals and some weathering of the coal tender.

 

 

I'll get some decals and weathering in place, then present some final pictures of the locomotive and tender combination.

[Edwardkenway]

Hi, hell of a beast!! Are you basing it on rails in a case? Or building it into a diorama? I'm loving watching it come together. 

[CDW]

9 minutes ago, Edwardkenway said:

Hi, hell of a beast!! Are you basing it on rails in a case? Or building it into a diorama? I'm loving watching it come together. 

Thank you for looking in and the kind comments.

It will eventually be based on rails and displayed with a Leopold rail gun and an anti aircraft gondola. Lots more construction to do.

[Old Collingwood]

Superb work  - that disruptive camo looks the part   keep it up mate.

 

OC.

[CDW]

2 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Superb work  - that disruptive camo looks the part   keep it up mate.

 

OC.

Thanks OC. 

 

[popeye the sailor]

very nice work on the tender.......the whole model looks awesome!  the camo really came out great   

[CDW]

16 minutes ago, popeye the sailor said:

very nice work on the tender.......the whole model looks awesome!  the camo really came out great   

Thanks Denis. What's odd to me is that Eduard provided a stencil sheet/s in the Big Ed photo etch set, but it was only to mask the wheels. Why they didn't provide a mask for the camouflage seemed disappointing. If i had it to do all over again, I would save the money for the photo etch and buy a good reference book instead. The Trumpeter kit has about all the detail one needs IMHO.