the 2 end pieces were attached to the side pieces upside down. at least half the brake pads are broken in every possible way. and the hand paint was horrendous on the sides so have to smooth that out. so i glued the four deck pieces together and will glue the four frame pieces to the deck. may need to add some angle iron on the corners, may be easier than filling and sanding. this is going to be a well used car. OTOH not spending ANY time on things that won’t be seen.
for example on the K-5 there are a dozen sink wells running around the deck overhang of the generator. i didn’t fill any of them because no one is going to pick it up and turn it over (at least not more then once and never with that hand again). same with the wood steps on the trucks. Not going to spend any time weathering the underside of the truck.is. THIS IS a big step for me
I agree completely. I’m on my second Soleil Royal by Heller that includes about 120 cannons on multiple decks. The first time I spent a month or so making each cannon just perfect, then when I assembled it, you could only see the cannons on the top deck and barrel ends from the windows. I would do the same thing making nice tank interiors then close it up. Don’t we ever learn that we can build more and better models if we spent our time more wisely. Unless it’s for s customer or for a contest, I might not repair a bad piece tucked on the belly of one of these.
On another note, I haven’t got much done lately i’m just in a bad stretch but should get things rolling real soon and post some photos.
Eric I think I found another photo for you if I can remember what fold it’s in.
Eric here it is. If I’m correct, the crews stayed with their tanks during transport and they rigged up a tent suspended from the barrel to sleep in. Anyway its similar to your build, thought you might want to see it.
Schienenwolf is 95% completed, final assembly and a little more weathering. I used the D string from one of my basses for the threaded rod and a little more work and this is done. I’m finishing up the C 12 Locomotive and the track.
my shelf queen Dragon heavy flat car. Got the frame back together. Had to shim the ends but will look fine. also some obvious paint removal. no underside details which is fine. wasn’t planning on rolling it over
Hey Eric - I n looked at the instructions and the sprue pictures and it seem they only gave you 4 of the little hooks that go along the top. easy enough to fake with angle iron sprue. BUT, is it me or did they only include 1 coupler? WTH? already thinking of options such as 1. having the end without the coupler against a loading ramp, 2. derailed and that end buried in a pile of dirt, 3. have someone resin cast me more coupler parts though my guy is out of casting for the next few months, 4. steal a second coupler from another kit, 5. see if i can order one from dragon usa.
depending on how well it looks after painting, this may become a rusty abandoned derelict sitting on a rusty weed infested siding.
UPDATE. it seems all the rail cars have the same sprue C and only one coupler. the gondola does have not used hooks so i can put them on and steal a coupler from a gondola to have one at each end. Seems Trumpeter kits have that. sent a request to dragonusaonline for 2 new sprue Cs.
Eric are you going to do more with the ballast, if so I may have a suggestion to consider. I’ve had a couple of these and what has worked for me is a base paint thats a dark dirty color sprayed or painted over the ballast, then dry brush a couple different browns or grays over the rocks hitting the peaks. This seems to add some depth to it without overkill.
Eric heres a photo that shows the rails and ties before I hit the ballast with the dark base and dry brushing lighter colors. Oh and I this added an oil wash to the ties, cant remember anymore. I thought I had a finished photo but I can’t find one.
Eric real nice work getting those ties in place and running the rails through without busting off all those little nail heads. I certainly learned my lesson that the rails have to be perfectly level first…
Im probably jumping the gun with this but just thought Id add a thought or two, but I’m sure you’ve had this thought out. You seem to getting a lot done, I wish I could get more bench time.
Depending on what light I look at in in, I’m not really satisfied with how the ballast itself looks. I do have to darken it up a bit. I was also thinking of adding some Woodland Scenics ballast and some weeds, growing here and there to the final base.
I did snap one of the rails, getting it through. That was a tough deal for sure. I still have to touch it up. You can probably see a place, where it needs to be addressed (top left between third and forth tie)
I got one to go all the way through and was a bit cocky. The next one, hit a snag 3/4 of the way and bam…snapped. I had to file and join…and it was mid tie. so, it had sort of a droop in it. Had to hold it in place with super glue.
Thank you for the advice…will get it looking better.
Terry Your rails look nice. i threw mine out and will donate all plastic rails in kits to folks who want them.
I have an answer on Buffer and Chain German couplers.
This coupling is still the standard in European countries (except the former Soviet Union, where the SA-3 automatic coupler is used). Coupling is done by a worker who must climb between the cars. First he winds the turnbuckle to the loose position, and then he can hang the chain on the hook. After hanging the chain on the towing hook the turnbuckle handle is stowed on the idle hook to prevent damage to itself, the vehicle, or the brake pipes. Only shunting is permitted with a dangling chain. Disconnected brake pipes must be stowed on dummy connectors, to allow proper operation of the brakes. (The picture shows two coupled cars, with a single brake pipe.)
The hooks and chain hold the carriages together, while the buffers keep the carriages from banging into each other so that no damage is caused. The buffers can be “dumb” or spring-loaded. That means there are no run-in forces on the coupler. The other benefit compared with automatic couplers is that its lesser slack causes smaller forces on curves; there is a lower probability of a broken coupler in a curve than with automatic couplers. The disadvantage is the smaller mass of the freight that can be hauled by hook and chain couplers (maximum 4,000 t or 3,937 long tons or 4,409 short tons).
Early rolling stock was often fitted with a pair of auxiliary chains as a backup if the main coupling failed. This made sense before the fitting of continuous fail-safe braking systems.
On railways where rolling stock always pointed the same way, the chain might be mounted at one end only, as a small cost and weight saving measure.
On German and Scandinavian railways, the left buffer is flatter than the right one, which is slightly more rounded. This provides better contact between the buffers than would be the case if both buffers were slightly rounded.
Great shots, I’ve been looking for something like these. Thanks.
I’ve made more progress today, i’ll get some pics up later tonight. I was thinking the rails were just too nice looking and need some creosote or some other grimy color.
Wow, they did so many other German Locos in 1/72 scale, why can’t they do this one in that same scale? I need two of these to place in front of my Dora, but only in 1/72 scale. Good score Johan, maybe someday they’ll shrink it down
No, I don’t need to justify it, I’d buy them regardless if they are ever released in my scale. Besides, I did buy and build two of the modernish looking diesel-powered WC-360 locos to put in front of Dora. Three issues occurred to me. One: these WC-360’s were yard bugs meant for shunting cars around in a train yard and were rarely, if ever used out on the main rail lines; Two: These WC-360’s are two small to aim a monster like Dora, unless you place six of them in front of her; typically they used between two and four locos specially modified to move her only inches at a time. Three: the first two issues I found out when I bought these two WC 60’s; built them and placed them in front of a partially finished Dora. The bumpers on these WC-360 Locos were 1/4-inch too low and would literally pass under Dora’s bumpers if they were hooked up. The armored loco depicted in the pic above was used in most German armored trains and was powerful enough for two of them to aim Dora. They also had room to move their bumpers up to match Dora’s if needed, unlike the two WC-360’s. I have one of those armored Locos on my 6-and-a-half-foot long Panzerzug BP-44 German Armored Train. I don’t want to buy two more of those horrid Armageddon kits just for the Locos on them. They are far too expensive for that and I had a tough enough time building just the one armored locomotive!
KRUPP D311 / DRG V 188 DIESEL ELECTRIC LOCOS SPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR USE WITH LARGE WORLD WAR II RAILWAY GUNS
Krupp was commissioned to build twelve pairs of special diesel electric locos for use as locomotive power for heavy railway guns immediately before and during World War II. The locos, of which only four pairs appear to have been completed, were designated D311.01 a/b through D311.04 a/b by Krupp and V 188 by the DRG; the units that survived the war were eventually known by the DB designation of BR 288.
The D311 / V188 loco sets were used during construction of the heavy railway guns, to move the guns into place along curved tracks that were used to aim the guns, and to provide power required to load and operate the guns. The locomotive sets had to be powerful enough to move the extremely heavy gun sets and had to operate in a combat environment (i.e., without the benefit of overhead electric power and without smoke/steam plumes that would give away camouflaged locations).
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