Full Version: P5se Camelback’s EOY Challenge
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Well, I suppose I have put off making the decision as to whether or not I would enter this Challenge for as long as is practical … the “End Date” is now in sight! So, O.K., I’m going to throw my hat into the ring.

Now, as to which ancient project to resurrect … that was a tough one! I just couldn’t make up my mind. Then, at the Annual Scale Rails of Southwest Florida Train Show in Ft. Myers, FL, I discovered a vendor with Prototype Photos in three-ring binders. There was one that said, “Reading.” As I paged through page after page of diesels, hoppers and boxcars, I turned the page and there it was! The subject for my entry into the E.O.Y. Challenge …

[Image: JCLaRuePhoto-RDGScaleTestCar91210.jpg] John C. LaRue, Jr. Collection, used with permission.

Back in the mid-sixties, I had bought a little tiny kit. It had been produced by a local Philadelphia limited-run kit manufacturer, George. D. Stock. (I believe he also custom built brass steam locomotives for a small client base in the city.) At any rate, I recalled that the diminutive kit box contained an incomplete, partially assembled, very poorly painted model. I think I paid fifty cents for what was in the box, but I remember thinking it was cool and I wanted it.

Having recently been through all of my model railroad stuff, input it all into an Excel spreadsheet and repacked everything, I looked it up, opened box #7 and there it was, sitting right on top!

… The Tiny Box …
[Image: GeorgeDStockKitBox.jpg]

… The Original ‘60’s List Price …
[Image: EndofKitBox-OriginalListPrice.jpg]

As I said, the previous owner had started to build the kit, but never finished it. None of the add-on detail parts were to be found. Unsure of how to proceed (as a novice teenage model builder,) I had packed it up and put it away in a box where it has resided for about 46 years or so. Now I figure that time is on my side as a procrastinator … and the time has finally come to resurrect and finish this kit! What follows is to illustrate what I have to start with …

I opened the box and found …
[Image: OverviewofGeorgeDStockScaleTestCarKit.jpg]

[Image: Overview-ExplodedKitView-1.jpg]

[Image: As-PurchasedPaintJob.jpg]

[Image: As-PurchasedPaintJob2.jpg]

[Image: BottomView-3QtrEndView.jpg]

[Image: ExistingKit-ExplodedView.jpg]

So there it is, then! I’ll do my best to make the deadline … the bugaboo will be decals … I haven’t a clue where to look … I’ll probably reach out the Reading Company Technical & Historical Society (I am a member) and see what kind of assistance I can get there.

In the meantime, I’ll get some brake parts and some brass wire together while I soak the existing parts in lacquer thinner and see what I have to work with. I’ve always thought that Scale Test Cars were kind of cool as you rarely saw them, virtually no one modeled them, and that’s exactly the type of thing that always piques my interest. (How many guys do you know that have built a very scary pocket-rocket based on a 1.3 Liter 1994 Ford Festiva? The local teenagers with the loud Hondas have learned they'll never catch me, especially on a mildly curvy road!!)

So ... O.K. … let the scrambling begin!

Edit: Redirected photos after a reoganization of the Photobucket Albums
Woah, a project from the 1960s! Very cool. That is obviously a unique car, and looks to be quite solid. Should be fun scratchbuilding all the details - I look forward to seeing how you get that done. Should be quite a contrast from my "slap it together as fast as possible technique" - I can imagine you working like a mad scientist engrossed in the work, with micrometers, calipers, squares, and al sorts of precision tools tied up in the process! Big Grin

I'm sure I can learn something, so post plenty of photos! Thumbsup
I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do with this one, biL. Sure looks gritty. How will you strip it?

Galen
Did you arrange to have a camera hidden over my breakfast room table somehow? How did you know that's how I work ... at my very old, very tired garden slug's pace?

Ooooooo ... scary!


Sometimes I wish I could go at the jackrabbit pace that you work, but when you check everything a couple of times and test fit everything a couple of times before final assembly, it tends to slow the pace down ... just a bit. I'm just compelled to be as close to perfect as I can get it, to hell with the time it takes! (We can blame that obsession on my Grandfather! "Do the very best you can possibly do ... and if you are fortunate enough to ever do it again ... do it better that you did the first time!" Thanks, Granddad!)
Also, was that quarter in the box all that time? You'd better hang on to that one!

Galen
ocalicreek Wrote: I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do with this one, biL. Sure looks gritty. How will you strip it? Galen

All of the parts shown in the "exploded" assembly (except for the wheel sets) are soaking in Lacquer thinner as I write this. I'll so a little "scubby dubby" later on tonight and see what happens. There are more aggressive stiping methods in my arsenal but i'll begin with the meore gental approach ... this is a very old Zamac casting ... I'm going to take it easy.

Photos of stipped parts will follow.

I am hoping against hope that there will not be a ton of surface imperfections as that will really slow me down! This is primarily a "build and apply the details" and "atomize the pigment" project. Surface and surface prep are everything on a deal like this. Masterful application of paint over a poorly prepared surface invariably looks like kukka! I'm just hoping I won't have to spend a week squeezing Squadron Green Putty from a tube and sanding it smooth!

BTW, the apparent grittyness, I'm assuming, is a matter of a complete novice on the business end of an airbrush, allowing the pigment to be dry/nearly dry when it hits the surface.

And, Galen, the quarter was placed there in honor of George Manos, AIA, a favorite instructor of mine at Philadelphia College of Art, whose parting words as we left the classroom after being assigned a new design project in Environmental Design were always, "Don't forget to give it an SOS!" (a "Sense of Scale")
Let's hope the casting is still in good shape, and not suffering from the zamac disease. I've had problems painting zamac before with it winding up gritty. Sometimes it is the temperature of the metal, sometimes it is oil on the metal, sometimes an incompatible paint or primer, sometimes just a poor paint job. I applaud you for tackling a 45 year old unfinished project!
How better to illustrate the problem of rampant procrastination than with a project that has been continually postponed for forty-five years!


Icon_lol
P5se Camelback Wrote:
How better to illustrate the problem of rampant procrastination than with a project that has been continually postponed for forty-five years!


Icon_lol

I hope when it comes time to award the prize(s), there is also a category for "how long has this been put off"...! Wink

Andrew
Wow, never seen that kit before...It's a little before my time, but now I need to keep my eye open for one for my self.. good luck on it. Cheers
Keep your eyes open, but don't hold your breath ... I've never seen another one like this one! Ever!

I have seen a newer version at some point in the not-to-distant past, a plastic kit, but I have no idea who makes it or where one can be found.

But keep on looking ... they are an unusual model that are not on everyone else's model railroad.
I saw a scale car going by in a train, a couple of years ago, being carried on a bulkhead flat car. I know they are very careful about its weight -- they don't have air brakes because they might wear a little, as might the wheels. This might be a way to showcase the car since the wheel bearings look a little, well, stiff.
I don't remember: is the scale car moved just ahead of or just behind the caboose?
Quote:And, Galen, the quarter was placed there in honor of George Manos, AIA, a favorite instructor of mine at Philadelphia College of Art, whose parting words as we left the classroom after being assigned a new design project in Environmental Design were always, "Don't forget to give it an SOS!" (a "Sense of Scale")

That's what I figured. However, I just spent a few hours the other night looking through our change jar for 'junk silver', i.e., coins prior to 1965 with 90% silver content...there's a bit of a survivalist in me that figures, hey, even if it's never worth much from a metal standpoint, at least it'll be worth the face value if the dadgum economy ever recovers!

But please don't let my rantings take us off task here. Glad to see you're moving ahead with the stripping. And yes, you should win some sort of prize for the most-procrastinated project unless, of course, other contenders arise.

You could say your EOY challenge project is now 'under weigh'... Misngth

Galen
ocalicreek Wrote:... You could say your EOY challenge project is now 'under weigh'... Misngth Galen

Oh, Galen ...

... You are a very punny phellow!

Stripping is under "weigh" ... the "wheel wells" on the bottom side are proving to be a bit problematic -- the lacquer thinner has "eaten" a couple of soft bristle brushes in an effort to get down in there to remove any paint residue. I'll try Q-Tips next ... I just want to start with a clean casting!

I'm being very cautious with the wheelsets, swabbing the wheel faces and treads with thinner-soaked Q-Tips. The axle sappear to possibly be some sort of plastic. It's difficult to tell for sure what material they are due to at least one layer of paint. I've been picking through an old checkbook box of small "miscellaneous stuff" looking for a small magnet to check the axles for steel content ... and not having much luck. I guess I'll have to continue my search out in the garage tomorrow when the light is better.

[Image: Overview-ExplodedKitView-1.jpg]

In the meantime, I've located some assorted brake gear bits and pieces in my "Freight Car" parts bin. I have also pulled a couple packets of brass wire stock as well as some piano wire and I'll get going on railings and brake lines when the stripping process is complete. Photos of the cleaned-up,stripped casting, bottom plate and at least the wheel faces and treads will follow shortly.

Thanks, one and all, for your interest in this chronicling of overcoming "terminal procrastination," as demonstrated by the resurrection of a long-dormant project. I surprized myself with this one, and owe a certain amount of gratitude for helping to "get me off the dime" on this project to John C. LaRue, Jr. of Bonita Springs, FL for displaying and selling to me a print of his photo of Reading Company Scale Test Car #91210. Without that serendipidous look through his binder of Reading Company equipment photos at the Train Show, I'd still be wondering if I wanted to commit to entering the EOY Challenge and pondering which of many unfinished projects to enter.

EDIT: Redirected photo after a reorganization of Photobucket Albums.
e-paw Wrote:Wow, never seen that kit before...It's a little before my time, but now I need to keep my eye open for one for my self.. good luck on it. Cheers
Unless age has made me hallucinate more, I believe Walthers had the scale test cars available, not all that long ago.

Edit: OK I couldn't find them on the Walthers site, but I do remember seeing them as recent ( last ten years ) kits, and or RTR.
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