Hi, I just wanted to let anyone interested in Trumpeter’s 1/35th kit of the BR 52 know that it’s a really good kit–a really quality product. I’m a novice in locomotives and train stuff, but I found the kit to be an easy and enjoyable build. Above and beyond the FSM kit review that was done several months ago, I would note the following. First, the roof to the cabin was warped, and it took a fair amount of bending and glue to ensure a good fit between the roof and the cabin. As the review pointed out, the boiler doesn’t mate easily to its supports, and requires additional work. The base (tracks, rails, etc) is made of several segments and there is a fair degree of filling/sanding work around the edges of the base to make it look good. It was hard to glue the windows on the cab without getting glue on them.
Artistically, the main difference between how the BR 52 looks in the FSM review and how I did it is that I put a ton of black/burnt sienna sludgewash over everything. I started out with a panzergrau color (lighter, and bluer, than what I got out of the Testors Model Master jar), but ended up with a very dark gray tone, to reflect the effects of heat and exposure to the elements. I also added on the tracks in front of the locomotive a really cool engineer figure from a French company “Blast Models”, but it’s hard to find on the market–if you want it, you’ll need to order directly from that company.
I would have liked to have added photos here, but for some reason (unless I’m mistaken), FSM doesn’t want photos submitted by forum members, so . . . if you want to see the finished product, just shoot me an email (TerryBishop624@aol.com), and I’ll send you photos of my BR 52.
All in all, this was a great kit and I think Trumpeter has done the hobby a great service by putting out its line of locomotives and other WWII-era railway products. I plan with the New Year to do Trumpeter’s diesel locomotive and one of the parts of the German armored locomotive (the Kanonen und Flakwagen car).
[ "I would have liked to have added photos here, but for some reason (unless I’m mistaken), FSM doesn’t want photos submitted by forum members, so . . . " ]
yes, I think you are mistaken. Try using the ‘Insert Media’ in the tool bar above the Post Message box to place images in your posts.
That’s an awesome looking train. Nice work, and I love the figure too.
You better get your tail over to the “Help” forum and search for a tutorial on posting photos though. It’s really easy, honestly. I use Photobucket, not Fotki, but I’m sure the process is the same. It’s as easy as posting the link in the pop-up box when you hit the images button in the post. That’s it.
Can’t help but think of the movie “The Train” with Burt Lancaster. I’m sure it’s not the same, just that everytime i see one, my mind gravitates to the movie. Been years since I’ve seen it.
Really nice work on a cool subject. Are you going to add some cars to it?
Thanks, Tigerman! Yeah, doing the loco inspired me to watch the movie–it was pretty awesome. I do plan to do more rail kits by Trumpeter–the diesel locomotive and one of the armored cars (Kanonen und Flakpanzer). It won’t be me, but hopefully someone will do a full-bore armored train, like the BP42, which was multiple cars long.
Thanks, and thanks for the lead on going to the “Help” forum. I’ll have my stuff squared away for next time, next month, when I download photos on my next completed kit, the Airfix 1/24th Mosquito. --Terry