I plan to visit a local model RR club tomorrow to see if they have the decals in their stash. If not, Black Cat will be the other option.
I've got two weeks off work for Christmas so I'm managing to get quite a bit more done.
I masked off the smokebox:

and then painted everything

I chose two different blacks. Polly-s steam power black for the boiler, cab and tender body and a more charcoal black out of a rattle can for everything else. The steam power black is a slight semi-gloss that will take water-slide decals a bit better. I'll tone it down with some weathering later.

Glen, I won't be alone doing modelling for almost two weeks in a row! I feel it is the best time to do such things between family meetings.

Are you planning to motorize this unit or it will be a static display?

Matt

I do plan on powering this one but to do it right I'll need new side rods and a compound gear. It did come with the gear but I'll be using it on the next engine as that drive is free rolling with no binds.

Good news:

I found two partial set of Blackcat decals for the project with enough to finish it off. I should be decaling the unit tomorrow.

I decaled the engine and tender today. The decals that I got were both partial sets but They were designed to decal both the smaller and larger CPR engines. The larger tender heralds were gone but I only needed the smaller ones.

I tend to have trouble with Black cat decals, often the film doesn't dissolve with solvaset and leaves the border around them. I was a bit luckier this time, after letting them dry I sprayed with dulcoat and they turned out okay. Some of the hardest ones to apply are the front number boards, each number is a separate piece. I'm only using the white number plate that is attached to the headlight, it was just easier to handle it while still attached.
I'm also considering the cab window frames. some other these engines had them painted red, some look like they did not. Not sure what to do yet.

The rear of the tender requires the engine number as well the water and coal capacity. It took an hour or so of internet research to find the number values. Very few pictures are taken of a tender's backside!

After finishing up the decals I found that I have enough for two more smaller CPR engines.

Finally I started reassembling the frame and drive. I'll let the dulcoat on the boiler, cab and tender shell harden up a bit before handling them too much.
I have started on my next engine project, but I won't post anything until this one is finished.

Looking good Glen. I also have problems with Black Cat decals but for different reasons. They film is very thin, which is a good thig - but also can warp with solvaset.

Matt

Thanks Matt.
I'm really getting into these older locomotives now. I pretty much finished this one off this morning.

I assembled the locomotive yesterday and today added the details.

I added the headlight, upper numberplate, and air hose to the front as well as the marker lamps.

I had to fabricate a new drawbar for the tender as it had a larger mounting hole that the original. I know that the tender trucks are incorrect but I'll leave them the way they are until I find some better ones.

The bell is the casting that I repaired. I have yet to weather the engine but it will mostly just receive a light weathering, concentrating mostly on the smokebox, ash pan and running gear. Both Canadian Pacific and Canadian National kept their engines looking fairly good right up to the end of steam operations.

Lastly I added the bunker extension and the coal load. The coal load was created with a piece of high-density foam as a filler and then covered with woodland Scenics mine-run coal, held in place with diluted Matt Medium.

Now that this project is pretty much done I can show you the next loco in the shop:

I'm planning to build A Canadian National 2-8-0 N-5-A class.
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Specifically a 2600 series, as it has the most similarities to the MDC locomotive's valve gear.

Nice little build Glen! And a classic one too!

N5b, another interesting prototype!

Matt

Sorry I meant N-4-a class

Very nice work

Thank you.
I got quite a bit done on the CNR N4 engine this afternoon, mostly stripping the boiler of everything that I won't need.

Like the CPR D-10 I removed all the cast-on piping as well as the bell, but then I also removed the generator, steps on the front and the two air tanks. I have also already drilled the holes for the sanding lines. I'll be replacing all of cast-on parts with new parts from a rather unconventional source.


I went to the Bachmann Web site and got a Baldwin 2-8-0 boiler and cab for the grand sum of 20$ plus shipping (I needed some other parts anyway)

It took me about 1-2 hours to strip that model apart. From the Bachmann model I'm able to get: The feedwater lines and fittings, the blowdown pipes, a decent compressor, the cooling pipes on the engineer's side, two air tanks, a generator, whistle, Bell, and a number of handrail stanchions. I also have another cab that could be used on another old timer or narrow gauge MDC loco like my first project.

Glen, very unorthox way indeed, but fine with me! I used to make Elesco feedwater with ballpoint pen and compressor with Accurail's truck pins!

I know it's a little bit late, but the Bachmann shell is much more closer to your prototype than the MDC boiler and cab. I don't know if merging both together à la Wayne could have been an option. That said, I would seriously suggest you use the Bachmann cab for three reasons: closer to prototype, less work to do and will instantly hide the locomotive's MDC heritage. MDC cab has a weird roof curvature that seems off to me compared to N4a pictures. As for the boiler, both are quite similar, so I think it's more about a personal challenge to take the hardest way and have big fun building something from scratch yourself.

Good luck!

Matt

Matt, You are right about the cab. I just took a quick look at the boiler and two cabs and I'll open the Bachmann's front cab opening so it will fit the MDC boiler. However I think the MDC boiler is a closer match for the prototype. The N4 has a slight 'wagon top' boiler which the MDC also has. I also checked the Bachmann shell before disassembly and it's noticeably shorter than the MDC parts.

Some more progress today.

I mounted the Bachmann cab on the boiler. I did have to enlarge the opening for the boiler though, but it was easy using the original cab as a template. I will also have to add a new mount for the cab as the Bachmann one will now line up with the MDC's. You will also notice the red marks on the side of the boiler, those are drilling marks for the feedwater piping.

Speaking of feedwater piping, I started to add those as well. The CN engine does not have exposed injector fittings so the pipe come straight out of the cab. I cut the pipe off the injectors and added some .040 styrene rod to lengthen them.

I've started to glue the piping to the boiler. I left the plastic pin on the valve fitting and glued it into place. I'll continue to glue it to the side of the boiler to line it up with the cab (red lines towards the back of the boiler.)

Looking good with the new cab! I also took a look at a few other pictures and you're right about the boiler. Even the domes location seems right too.

Matt