MDC Climax kitbash

[cnrglen]

While I'm looking for parts for my other engine project, I thought I'd break into my collection of MDC 3-1 kits and pull out the Battle Mountain Climax kit.

[cnrglen]

I started with one that someone else had built, but never painted. Then the saw came out.

I always found that the look of the engine was rather clunky, mostly to accommodate the boxcar chassis that sits underneath the powered one. Mine will be a static model, narrow gauge actually so I wanted a more diminutive look.

I lowered the boiler by cutting the lower 2 boards away, shortened the cab to just behind the door and took a bit off the tender/water tank up to the small wooden tool box. I also cut the molded-in fuel bunker off.

After reassembly the engine takes on a whole different look compared to a stock one. I plan to use it as a tram engine supplying a stamp mill I plan to scratchbuild in the fall.

[cnrglen]

A bit more progress this evening.


One of the major shortcomings of the kit is the lack of frame under the smokebox. On the full-size powered model it renders the front coupler useless unless you are coupled to a flatcar. I used some of the frame that I cut from the cab and extended it out under the boiler. I also added some styrene stiffeners on each side for extra strength.

Then I turned my attention to the floor/ frame. It's too long so out came the calipers and saw again:

and glued back together under the body

[nachoman]

Nice work! Looks like fun.

[cnrglen]

Thanks Kevin, it is fun and a great way to beat the summer heat down here in the basement!

I did a bit more tonight

I really didn't like the cast wood fuel bunker on the back so I cut it off and used the top of an old tender shell to make a cover with rivets.

I had a cast brass tender hatch in the parts box and I used some parts of the fuel bunker to add a wood fuel bunker to the top.
I think this is it for working with the saw, I think I might be getting addicted

[faraway]

I read several times about a Roundhouse climax when I scanned the Internet for my Roundhouse boxcab. It looks like they share the same drive and some used the Bachmann GE 44ton drive in the climax too. It that an option for you to get an improved drive for your nice shell?

[cnrglen]

Yes both the climax and the boxcab share the same drive. That's the main reason for the clunky, boxy look of the original climax shell. I've seen the 44 ton chassis fit under each as well with a little reworking but with the shortening of mine as well as cutting down the boiler and fuel bunker neither drive will work so this will just be a dummy on a dead end track heading to a stamp mill I plan to scratchbuild in the fall.

[cnrglen]

After putting the saw away I started to rebuild

I added the stack, headlight, brass grabs on the cab.

I also filled in the window frames in the cab front. The gaps were made when I dropped the boiler. I made an air line from the compressor while I was at it.

When I glued the roof on I made a small structure in the rear to cover the molded framework underneath.

Finally I made some view blocks for the tender and boiler areas. The interior of the cab won't be very visible, but I also didn't want light to be shining through.
Next is the primer paint, then I start work on the aged wood areas.

[Sumpter250]

It is always fun to see someone else "risking the price of a kit" to create something new and unique.....
a practice I am "quite familiar" with.
Lookin' good so far.

[cnrglen]

Thanks, although this was a swap meet special at the princely sum of 5$!
On to the painting.

I sprayed the model with gray primer, them I airbrushed the wood areas with polly-s dirt, followed by a A&I wash. After that was dry I masked off al the wood and sprayed the cab and the metal vertical supports with polly-s light freight car brown.

Then all that was masked off

I painted the rest of the shell in polly-s steam power black, waited about half an hour and pulled the tape off

the black came out a bit too black but I plan to tone it down when weathering.


next is some lettering, add some details and weathering.

[e-paw]

I like it.. Glad to see people are still into building things in a hobby that is becoming more and more " ready to run".

[Sumpter250]

There has always been a "ready to run" component of the Model Railroading Hobby......There has always been the "model building" component......To each their own.
In the "Building" component, there has always been "Kit" Builders, and "Scratch" Builders, and "Kit bashers". It's all this, that makes Model Railroading such a diverse hobby.
You'll see some of the true insanity of all this, once I start the scratch build of my "Tern". I will try to document all the various aspects of this "three mast schooner's" progress, from the laying down of her lines to the erection of her frames, the planking of the hull, deck, cabins, hatches, and her masting and rigging. Her length overall, from the tip of the bowsprit, to the end of the main boom, will be close to 154 HO scale feet. Very close in size to the Brigantine, W.W. Marsland, and will timeshare a section of sea wall, where the Marsland, and my "Tour Ship", also moor when she is in port.
In this photo, that "section of seawall" can be seen in the center, occupied by the "Marsland" :
   

[nachoman]

If you really wanted - I don't think this would be that hard to power. You could use a bachmann 70-tonner chassis and the NWSL hon3 conversion kit. Or maybe find an N scale chassis and widen the gauge by 1.5mm. I keep looking at those KATO chassis as a basis for some HOn3 or HOn30 kitbashes.

[cnrglen]

Thanks for your comments guys.
Kevin, I guess I could power this little fellow but it won't have anywhere to go since the track it will be sitting on will be less than a foot long.

I did some lettering and some detailing on the chassis.

The BM is for Blackwater Mining, my layout's company. But It's also a throwback to the origins of the kit "Battle Mountain"


I also added the deck and beginning of the pilots to the front and back. They're some spare wood ties that I stained to approximately match the plastic weathered wood on the engine.


You'll also notice I started the weathering on the roof, more on that later.

[cnrglen]

I did the weathering on the engine today. I thought I would take you through it step by step.
I do most of my weathering with an airbrush, a badger internal mix with a fine tip. I also use acrylic paints, since they dry so fast and the cleanup is easy, especially when you are changing colors so much.
I first airbrush the smokebox with dark gull gray. It's actually a pretty light, sort of ash gray, then I use a lighter white-ish gray to simulate the scale that water drips leave behind. I use a masking template made from a 3X5 card


After a careful spray of paint the water drips look like this:

after that I turn to adding rust on the engine, using the same template, I add rust drips and stains, and give certain parts of the engine (tender decks, couplers, pilots) some random rusting. Polly-S rust is no longer available so I've been using Testors Model master acrylic Earth Red instead.


After I'm happy with the rust I switch to Polly-S dirt and spray the running gear, ladders, pilot, and running boards. I also gave the cab that I painted earlier with Light freight car red a misting to tone down and fade both the paint and the white lettering.

Next I switch to Grimey Black and give the engine a misting as a 'control coat' This tones down any 'over weathering' as well as the bright white lettering and the engine black that I painted the boiler and tender with. It's definitely got some miles on it now.


As for the roof. I dabbed Zinc Chromate primer (polly-s) on the roof until it almost covered the black, then I dry brushed Roof brown and my rust paint to make to nice and rusty. When I airbrushed the rust I blended the colors together a bit. The final touch was to put engine black back in the airbrush and spray a line across the roof to simulate ash and cinders falling.

So that's how I weathered the engine, using these paints:


While weathering the engine I also sprayed the trucks. I did two sets of trucks, first the HOn3 archbars:

Next a set of standard gauge passenger trucks:

I sort of like the standard gauge trucks a bit better. Maybe if I have narrowed the engine a bit it would look better with the narrow gauge trucks?