GPM Smialy Armoured Train

[modelperry]

Under frame and linkage is complete. fit is a bit sloppy here and I tried to make a few improvements to make the drive linkage work better with only limited success. Anyway here's what I ended up with.

BTW I started building the linkage during Army Heritage days (see thread elsewhere on this forum), but only finished it last night. I was in PA visiting my family last week and did very little building (none on the train) while there.

greg

[Kevin WS]

Looks 100% to me!

I wouldn't be complaining!

Keep going. You are doing a fine job.

[eatcrow2]

Beautiful work,and great photos showing the process!!

[Don Boose]

Excellent work on the undercarriage, Greg. I was glad to see this fine model at Army Heritage Days. A major project!

Don

[modelperry]

Thanks Kevin, Peter, and Don!

The frame is now mounted under the boiler and cab subassembly and is well hidden from view.

Next was a few access panels on top of the side tanks, Some sort or pods on the sides of the cab and a dome cupola thing on top of the cab.

Of these things the dome cupola thing was a major pain. The dome was formed from petals. things were going fine as I glued the petals in pairs and then glued the pairs together. When I got to joining the two ends, everything went south. The natural curve of the petals was such that the ends overlapped quite a bit and the whole dome shape needed to be flattened. Yeah right.

I flattened it and joined the ends and the center point hole grew and split down several of the petal seams. Sooooo...

I filled the holes with aleenes and superglue and sanded. Then I used some Vallejo putty to even things out and sanded again. Then I painted the sanded areas. The result is barely passable, but I was tired of fighting with it.

greg

[Kevin WS]

Wondering what that dome is....

A ventilator maybe?

[modelperry]

I think it ventilates and provides a means for the crew to look out of the cab in any direction. Similar to the lookout cupolas on the other two cars.

greg

[bpgeygolpher]

FYI

There is a great article in "Downloads", "Self Help" about forming petal shapes. You may need it for future efforts. It really makes forming those shapes so much easier and is a pretty simple process.

Paul

[modelperry]

Thanks for the reference Paul.

More progress since the dome incident. No real issues. The ovoid cylinder closest to the cab would not sit flush to the top cover of the boiler since the boiler plate was oil canning as there was not support underneath. So I got out the gel CA glue and affixed one side then the other to draw the boiler plate up to the cylinder.

I had to do the same for the other ovoid "dome" but to a lesser extent. the smoke stack and front boiler plate assembly was of no difficulty.

greg

[Kevin WS]

Well that is a splendid job - all the curves everywhere look spot on for a loco.

Have followed all the troubles and warts with the kit and I think you have coped really well.

Just a bit of patience and perseverance makes a big difference!