Well, I do have an orphan a long way from home, but its finally time to fix that.

Modeling the electrified Northeast Corridor is my future goal, and in New Jersey, it is populated by a huge fleet of "Jersey Arrow" Electric Multiple Units. These units are so subtly iconic, that many NJ Transit street signs feature their distinctive face.

the Jersey Arrows came in three flavors, I, II, and III. Our orphan is the first.

Some History for the Curious-

The Arrow I was a St. Louis Car Company design, 35 of which were ordered by the Penn Central and NJ DOT in 1968 to modernize New Jersey commuter operation on the Northeast Corridor. Until the Arrival of the Arrow I, 300 aging Owl Eyed MP54s were the dominate form of conveyance of commuters to New York City. The new cars, classified as an "MA-1A", were initially promising. The Arrow Is came as single unit EMUs capable of 100 MPH operation, and with a much needed update in passenger accommodations. They were speedy cars, with a very fast acceleration. They were said to have "Pep", and could beat later models (Arrow II and III) in a race from a dead stop, when the Arrow I worked.

Unfortunately, these cars became quickly unreliable. Almost all of them were taken out of service due to fire damage at one point or another, and one car was lost entirely to fire. In the late 1970s, many of the Arrow Is were given a minor rebuilding and overhaul to allow them to couple with the Arrow II and at the time brand new Arrow III, but their fate was sealed. As the Arrow Is reached Age 10, they were replaced by the Arrow IIIs. A handful of the functional units squeaked out their last few miles in the late 70s, possibly early 1980, before being put in storage, most burnt and permanently dead as powered units.

In 1987-1988, many Arrow Is were given new life as "Comet 1B" cars, becoming converted to push-pull cabs and coaches. They would continue such service in New Jersey until the early 2000s, as the were withdrawn from service. Some ended up leased to the Canadian commuter agency AMT. 14 have found their way to Amtrak California, and will be placed on the San Joaquin

Check out this awesome link discussing the Amtraks MASSIVE overhaul of these cars for California service. Its ironic that these cars are older than Amtrak itself, but will now have the newest features. There are good pictures of what they were and what they are now.

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A pair of Arrow Is do their thing.



In this late November 1979 photo, Arrow I 510 (formerly 110) is an example of a rebuilt Arrow I. The difference is subtle, but the evidence is clear. As built, the Arrow Is were not compatible with the Arrow II or Arrow III cars. #510 appears to be tacked onto the end of this Arrow III consist. This is probably one of the last Arrow Is in service, as by this date, the last few Arrow IIIs have already arrived.



The Project-

The plan is to do another cloning project, similar to the GP40FH-2 project I did a few years ago. The GP40FH-2 project was highly instructive. One of the most clear lessons is that one shouldn't skimp on the casting rubber, that the orientation of the master is important, and that I should give the cast time to harden.

The "master" in this case is the orphan, an IHP Jersey Arrow I kit that JWB lent me almost two years ago for this purpose. It has sat for too long, and now it is time to get it done. This will probably ironically orphan my last challenge project (which I could never really begin due to school work). It has been safe in its box and now it is time to get casting.

I have chosen Alumilite to make the molds. I've picked up High Strength 2 and 3. The former is "tough" and stiff, but highly tear resistant. The latter is far more flexible. Alumilite claims that I can get 30-40 casts from this mold. I'm not so sure how true that is, but if I can produce a handful (8 cars ideal, 4 acceptable), I'll be happy.

In theory, if the molds lasted long enough, I could almost model ALL of the Arrow Is (only 35 prototype units!) but that might be excessive! I might make some more spares as Comet 1Bs.

The plan is to use the High-strength 3 to mold the floor (which has lots of detail and undercuts), but as a simple one-piece mold. If I do this right, it will allow all the bubbles to flow away from the master during the molding process, and when I flip it over to cast the mold, the bubbles will rise to the floor, away from the underbody details.

The body itself will be the most difficult. The body has few, but DEEP undercuts, particularly around the "face" of the model. I'm going to shoot for a two piece mold, using high Strength 2 for the "inside" mold, and High Strength 3 for the "outside" mold. In theory, it will allow me to peel the rubber off the mold without tearing (a problem that occurred using Micro-Marks casting rubber on the GP40FH-2 project).

I think I might have to construct a purpose built mold box this time, instead of using an old cardboard box. When I cast the GP40FH-2, I needed a LOT of material to get the whole thing covered in the rubber, and a lot of it had to do with all the space "around" the model. The Arrow I will be even worse for this, since its nearly 1 foot long. I'm not sure if I should use styrene or wood and clamp it all together, but it will probably be something of that nature.

once I get this kit cast,it shouldn't be a big deal to build. The kit is essentially just the floor, shell, interior seats (which i'll probably also cast with whatever casting material is left over), and a "plug" in the floor for if you are building a dummy, or a powered unit. The trucks are also in the kit, but I have my own trucks and don't need to cast these.

Hopefully, the molding process will be smooth and bubble free. because these cars are fluted, filling and smoothing the shell probably will not be as easy as the GP40FH-2 was, so it needs to work well the first time.


Here is the model with the casting rubber, and the Arrow II and III models behind it.

GEC- I always enjoy seeing what you can do with those streamlined beauties. Looking forward to seeing this project progress!

Galen

Well time is running short, but I hope I'll have something to show for this project before the 15th. School has absorbed all of my time for the last few challenges, and I still need to get that GP40P project back on track (that locomotive is particularly important to my modeling efforts).

That said, this Arrow I has been sitting here since before TJU got intense. As I noted on my layout progress thread, I've already got floor/underframe mold ready to go. The only reason I'm hesitating on making a cast, is some of my casting resin is getting VERY old, beyond its designed shelf life. It has worked for some small parts, but I don't know how well it will work for large casts. Besides, I should be able to get a few cars out of the casting resin I've ordered, with 4 cars being the minimum i'd like to shoot for, with maybe one or two kitbashed into a Comet 1B, if possible.

I have already placed the order for the new casting resin batch, as well as another pound of the High Strength 2 (HS2) mold rubber. As along as I can get good casts from these molds, i'll consider this challenge a success, even if I don't get around to painting and assembling them.


The molds setting a few days ago. The underbody is on the left, the body shell, the right.



I packed in the molding clay along the edges and the windows of the body shell (and then filled the inside of the shell with paper towels to keep the pressure up). I pressed the clay onto the "base" of the mold box, and folded/sealed the box around it. 2 lbs of the HS2 were barely enough, but I was able to squish the box together while it was setting, and cover the master completely.

The deadline is coming up quick,,, hope you can get em done in time..

Even if I don't make the deadline, its no big loss, since the bottom line is that this project needed to be done a LONG time ago. as long as it doesn't take them two weeks to send me the casting rubber, i'll be fine. In 24 hours, the rubber would be long set. After that, its only a matter of hours for casting a model. It might be safe to leave the model in the mold a little while, but if I have a few days, I should be able to get away with it.

ugh, I made that oh so critical flaw and did not check all my materials. My casting rubber came in yesterday, as well as all new resin supplies. The first thing I needed to do is coat the current mold with mold release, so that the silicone doesn't stick.

The bottle was just about empty, not nearly enough for such a wide area. In the back of my mind, I wondered if I needed to order any of that stuff, but i was like "nah, I should have plenty". I probably won't be able to finish this in time. If i had the mold release, the mold would have been done sometime today, and I could have had the parts casted up by tomorow/the day after. Since this kit is simple (its just the floor and the body shell, with an optional plug), it would have taken no time. In theory, if I rushed it, I could even have the pieces painted.

Unfortuneately, I know of no local hobby stores that stock the resin/silicone molding supplies, and shipping from Alumilite would take beyond the 15th. At least things are moving a long though, so I'll probably put in an order for the mold release in the meantime, so that I can get this project rolling.

I've seen the casting supplies at hobby lobby before.

nachoman Wrote:I've seen the casting supplies at hobby lobby before.

Unfortunately, good hobby shops are nearly extinct in southern New Jersey. There IS one hobby shop that has some casting supplies near me, but its for other sorts of molds, and the combination of irritating traffic and not the best customer service policy usually keeps me away. they have more of a craft/military modeling thing anyway, and their HO train area isn't extensive.

I think the last "chain" hobby shop by me was Allied Hobbies, and I remember walking into the mall and being shocked to see them all packed up.

I wonder if some other kind of store sells these kinds of materials - or if there is a suitable substitute. Then again, any other store that sells this kind of thing is probably less common than a hobby/craft store. I'm not sure what other kind of trade would use it - jewelry or art crafts? There is an artist supply store near me and I think I have seen it in there.