CNR MLW M420 kitbash

[sailormatlac]

Hi, I'm actually planning to restore my old Atlas M420 kitbash I did almost 15 years ago following a December 1975 Railroad Model Craftsman issue. While browsing through my magazine collection, I found found I lost the issue probably during a move... I only have the cover. If anybody have this issue, please contact me. I would be interested to see the scale drawings.

Matt

[doctorwayne]

Matt, I have that issue, but there's nothing in it concerning the M420. However, the December '74 issue does have such an article: three pages of mostly photos, with some text, and another page with some text and an HO scale drawing showing the front, rear, top view, and engineer's side of the loco. I don't have time at the moment, but I'll scan if for you either tonight or tomorrow and send the scans as e-mail attachments.

Wayne

[sailormatlac]

Matt, I have that issue, but there's nothing in it concerning the M420. However, the December '74 issue does have such an article: three pages of mostly photos, with some text, and another page with some text and an HO scale drawing showing the front, rear, top view, and engineer's side of the loco. I don't have time at the moment, but I'll scan if for you either tonight or tomorrow and send the scans as e-mail attachments.

Wayne

I made a typo, it's effectively December 1974. Your description fits exactly the article I'm referring too.

Thank you!

Matt

[sailormatlac]

Here's the 15 years olf kitbash I'll have to restore to working condition. It is one of my first locomotive kitbash done when I was 17 years old. At that time, my only tools were a metal saw, a dull #11 Xacto blade, a pinwise with one drill bit and a paint brush. Everything was glued with CA, many parts were made out of wood. Particularly, the roof is sculpted from a wooden venitian store blade! At that time, I had very limited access to styrene. Louvers were made by embossing aluminium foil on another locomotive shell then cut to size. I never completed this locomotive but I did operate it during the summer of 2001. Only numbering and modifying handrails were left to be done. College finally took all my spare time and our family was later forced to move. It wouldn't be before 2007 that I came back to model railroading when I graduated from university.

Honestly, I'm not sure if I'll be able to turn this wreck into a believeable M420. But I have nothing to lose. Let's look at the shell before I start messing with it:



















Matt

[sailormatlac]

BTW, if anybody has any clue where I can find M420 ZWT truck sideframes, let me know. I thought they were available at Shapeways, but I was wrong.

Thank you,

Matt

[Canadian Atlantic Railway]

i think you did pretty good for your age and what you had to work with at the time. Try emailing Kaslo for the side frames. They may sell you a set.

[sailormatlac]

i think you did pretty good for your age and what you had to work with at the time. Try emailing Kaslo for the side frames. They may sell you a set.

Thanks Stephen. I followed your advice and asked them. Nothing ventured, nothing gained!

BTW, here are a few shots of the model after two days of care. Everything was made out of scrap styrene, wood, paper and aluminium foil. The rear fan grilles are 100% scratchbuilt. I mean I had to engrave the louver blades independantly using a dull Xacto blade, then cleaned the mess with a curved blade to get a smooth and slanted look. I suspect I lost 3% of my sanity on that. This is ludicrous. I feel like a model railroader from the 70s.









Matt

[Canadian Atlantic Railway]

I love the pug nose on the M420W. These units are a favorite of mine and I look at them as a modern RS18. To bad so few are still in service. Delson has one but it is still in SLR yellow.

[doctorwayne]

The Delaware-Lackawanna roster shows six C420s and two M420Ws. I hope to see them (and a lot of other Alcos and MLWs) again later this month.

This older photo shows one of the M420Ws in the distance:



Wayne

[sailormatlac]

Wow! That's a neat picture. Those Alco rounded cab curves have a classy steam-era vibe to them.

By the way, anybody have idea what could be used to replace the stanchions with metal ones. M420 have late Alco thin stanchions... I seriously doubt I can modify old Atlas/Kato stanchions with success (drilling them and replacing the railing with brass or phosphore bronze wire.

Matt

[sailormatlac]

I love the pug nose on the M420W. These units are a favorite of mine and I look at them as a modern RS18. To bad so few are still in service. Delson has one but it is still in SLR yellow.

I agree. I do prefer the MLW pug nose than the regular geep one. Lots of picture of the SLA unit. Would be nice to see it back in zebra some day.

I contacted Kaslo and they kindly replied they could sell me the ZWT truck sideframes. Very nice folks and I'll save precious time.

Now, if I can figure out how I'll build the handrail... It will probably be soldered brass. Smokey Valley have late Alco stanchions, but only sold in 4-pack instead of regular package. At this price, handrails would cost more than the locomotive itself!

Matt

[sailormatlac]

Some progress on the cab:
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Matt

[sailormatlac]

Hi,

I'll have to make new handrails for the locomotive. I've looked at Smokey Valley, but it seems late Alco style stanchions can only be bought in very small package? Any other alternative? At this point, I'd be willing to make my own from soldered brass (or other metal)? Any idea which material to use? Any tricks? I suspect it would be a handy skill to develop.

Matt

[doctorwayne]

I'm uncertain as to the appearance of those stanchions, Matt, but Detail Associates offer flat brass bar .010"x.018" (Part #2522), .010"x.030" (Part #2524) and .015"x.024" (Part #2526) one of which might be something with which to start.
For the handrails themselves, Tichy has phosphor bronze wire in various thicknesses. There are packages of 8" lengths which may be a bit short for one-piece railings, but they also offer similar sizes in 3' lengths - I'd guess that .015" (Part #1113) or .020" (Part #1114) would be most suitable.
The flat brass bar can be easily bent, but it seems to fatigue more readily than soft brass wire, so it's best to measure accurately and not have to re-bend it. The phosphor bronze wire bends easily, too, but it's much stronger than D.A.' s soft brass wire and solders well - it's fairly springy, although not as resilient as music wire, but the ease of soldering it is a big plus.
If you choose these materials, before bending any of it, grasp the full-length strip with pliers near one end and draw it through a folded-over piece of fine sandpaper a couple of times, then repeat with the pliers holding the opposite end. This removes the oxidation from the surface, making soldering a snap.

Wayne

[bdw9535]

Matt,

Have you looked at the Bowser Alco handrails? If your going to make the handrails maybe you could use their handrail set for the stanchions. The SRNJ has four of the M420Rs so if you need any detail pics I should be able to get them for you.

Bruce