Rear drive, front brakes

[racerbrown]

glad to see you back here and am looking forward to more great pictures.
duane

[Deleted]

OH NO! I just couldn't leave damn good alone. I'm about two thirds of the way along fabricating front shocks. They will actually 'work' in that the arms are moveable and that if you tighten the nut they get harder to move. I really only made them 'operable' so that positioning the arms will be no problem. Pics soon. HELP! STOP ME BEFORE I DETAIL AGAIN!..

[cobra276]

I have a question after looking at the springs and small brasswork. What tools do you use to cut those out? The back edge of a #11 knife would wear down real quick and a razor saw won't work on those small pieces. I've tried various scissors on thin brass but they distort the metal. Can you give us an overview.

Thanks
Dave

[Deleted]

True enough, cutting brass shapes is the toughest part of small work. For something like the springs, the leaves are brass strip; K&S, I believe. For most parts that aren't predominantly round, cutting oversize and final shaping as well as detail stuff is done with jeweler's files. This is especially true with stainless. Occasionally, a frame type coping saw and relatively fine blades allow me to save time. A Dremel belt sander is quite often used to get right down to the line on some parts where possible; again, to save time. Truly round (cylindrical) shapes are turned on my Mini Lathe. Other shapes wherein precision really counts are milled on the Mini Mill. But, know this: None of the parts I fabricate just jump off the machine(s) and cry out to be installed. Lots of 'tuning' and refiguring go into each part. What I'm saying so poorly is that while the more expensive tools/machines are nice to have, most of my work comes down to planning and proving my methods and concepts. Then come the hand cramps! A goodly helping of DDP is needed as well. That's Desire Discipline, and Persistence. Nothing at all worthwhile is accomplished without those. The most important one, in my opinion, is persistence. Decide what it is you want to accomplish and hang onto it like a Dog in a fight. Don't settle for less than you know you are capable of doing. Some folks see what I do and say that I must have the patience of a saint. Well, number one; I ain't no saint. Ask my wife. Number two, I have almost no patience at all. What I tell them is that if I had any damn patience I'd never finish anything. Speaking of finishing, I can't wait to get pics online to show you the front shocks. In all honesty, I think they have come out rather nicely; something I didn't think would be the case. I had five attempts at making the spring adjuster fingers before I got them close. I have nearly a week in those shocks, which seems a lot, but I wanted them to represent my work well, as they will be prominent on the finished model. That, come to think about it, is what I've been talking about. I used to do restorations on classic sportscars in my business. When I was teaching someone to build, fabricate, or repair something, I would say, "Look, when you find yourself saying the words 'good enough'; it isn't good enough. When you stand back from your work and say 'Damn! That is right on the nose, and looks good too', well; that's just about good enough. Sorry about the long post. Concise is not a word most folks use when describing me, but I am thorough.

[racerbrown]

well said!
i'm looking forward to more pictures.
duane

[cobra276]

I know about hand cramps and numb fingers, trying to file and sand those small parts! I love building the brass parts to detail out a kit further. I quit building when I was about 18 because I kept screwing the kits up trying to add details. When I got back in about 30 is focused on the Indy theme which allows for detailing with some limits. I usually pick one or two areas per model to keep pushing the skill building. I find close up photos can point out flaws not see with the eye and then I can re-double my care on the next kit to make it better.

[Deleted]

cobra276,
Do you use a magnifier while working? I use a pretty powerful Opti-Visor, but have an even more powerful one when ultra close detail work is done. I find that if I work with one almost constantly on my noggin, I can be more accurate, plus the added benefit is that when a 'civilian' is viewing with unaided sight they'll never see the micro errors that have driven you so crazy! Don't beat yourself up over it. You see every wart, imagined or not. True enough, you can't capture every single detail, but think of detail in 'layers'. Look at the model and at pictures of the prototype. Back and forth, back and forth. Notice the spacing of the surrounding components to get a decent size and placement reference. Fabricate (or purchase) everything you need to install. Keep mocking up the results. Start with the relative big stuff, then work your way down. The potentially contentious part of what I've always done when detailing 'o' scale locomotives comes when a lot of the observing has shown that a properly scaled part often just doesn't look quite right. Sometimes I'd actually oversize a part (not by much) so it would just look right. Steam locomotives offer as almost infinite number of detail opportunities, so you have to make sure the really pretty ones don't get lost. There are a lot of painting effects that will also highlight or hide detail as well. Sorry, there I go again. Shutting up now...

[johnwebster]

Motorbill, do you post on Model Train Journal?

[Deleted]

johnwebster,
I don't post there anymore. I no longer do trains "for hire", and haven't done any real brass locomotive building for 12- 14 years. It's decidedly no way to make a living. I loved it too much, and pushed myself to do more and more, (each one had to be better than the last) and to 'overplease' my customers. This mades for many very happy customers and a much poorer modelmaker; me. Now any modelwork I do is strictly because it pleases ME. And now it's much more fun.