I've loved almost everything about this
little engine except it's looks. The LGB 2017 is great for a small layout, is well engineered, quiet,
will creep along at very
slow speeds, is drop dead reliable and can nearly pull stumps. It just
looked..... well, odd. With an American style kerosene headlight,
diamond chimney and a big red cowcatcher stuck on what is a very
obviously German style locomotive. I hope we can improve it. We won't
be following any particular original builder's practice, but rather just making it a
bit more like something that could have been made here in the States. Let the butchery
begin!!!
Stage I - Winter 2007
My 2017 on my layout before starting the bashBoiler with the cab removed and domes cut off.
New steam and sand dome courtesy of a Bachmann Porter
Cab with new front wall pieces fabricated from the old side tanks
Test mock up...it now looks a little bit more like a US built locomotive, doesn't it? The bell is Aristo off a c-16
I also added new basswood running boards
A new coal bunker with basswood "hungry boards" changes the whole character of the tender
Stage II - Winter 2008
Stage III - Weathering
Step one: overspray with primer brown...
Step two: overspray with primer grey...
Step 3: overspray with primer black (oops, the pic didn't turn out! Sorry)
Ready to do the same combination with the tender. I use index cards to help mask large areas.
Ready to go back to work - consist is Lehmann toytrain, they work well with R-1 curves and the realities of a small indoor layout...plus they are (or were before the big meltdown) cheap.
Stage IV Sping 2009
Kitbashing is kind of contagious once you start, you'll have all sorts of ideas.....
My Aristo 1:29 0-4-0 turned 1:22 2-4-0 bash
The Aristo c-16 meets Bachmann Big Hauler bash. Kind of a c-13
With lots of scratchbuilt cab details
Other train stuff
A new coal bunker with basswood "hungry boards" changes the whole character of the tender
Ready for more paint, some detailing, and lettering... but it looks like a whole different loco!
Test shot back on the layout, still needs final paint and decals
Stage II - Winter 2008
I kind of just stopped on the project for almost a whole year,
simply running the engine in black primer. An electrical gremlin (just pinched wire) caused
me to have to take the the loco
apart. So while I was at it I decided to address all the details and
stuff I
had been ignoring. -- I was never particularly happy
with the compromise cab, I decided to try to modify one from an
Aristocraft C-16 to fit. I had to remove a bit of material from the
front wall to accomodate the boiler as well as opening up the back wall
since this loco has a deck.. (I also got a better camera, lol)
Test fitting the new cab...oops it is a LOT shorter than the old one. Now it looks kind of funny.
Shortening the smokestack about 1/4" helped a little. Doing that isn't for the faint of heart.
Only time will tell if I messed up the smoke unit. It's kind of hard to see, but I also added the old tool box from the tender to the running board on this side. The vent on the roof is actually the old coal hatch from the original cab. Yes, I know, I still need to plug the hole in the side of the boiler where the air pump was originally mounted.
Only time will tell if I messed up the smoke unit. It's kind of hard to see, but I also added the old tool box from the tender to the running board on this side. The vent on the roof is actually the old coal hatch from the original cab. Yes, I know, I still need to plug the hole in the side of the boiler where the air pump was originally mounted.
Hole now plugged with a bit of styrene. Builder's plates off the Porter, and
Ozark Miniatures air tanks added, plus the first coat of Allegheny Valley colors.
Piping for the air pump and turbo
generator is just some brass wire bent to fit. but it looks better than
having them just hang there.
Here it is almost ready for decals.
I didn't like the Bachmann whistle off the donor Porter, it looked
more like a safety valve.... So, I changed it to a brass one from an
Aristo c-16 and made a lever from a bit of plastic. I also carved away
some of the extraneous cast in piping for a cleaner look. I
painted
the valve gear since it was starting to rust anyway (They aren't really
as grey as the flash made them look, rather a different "shade" of
grey/black), and blacked out
the tires on the wheels and the skates. Yes, the colors are a bit
bright. My "weathering" process will mute them considerably, subtle
color differencess at this point would be lost on the final result.
I realised why the
boiler still looked "odd". The firebox was simply too short. I started to
make a cardstock template to make the extension pieces out of styrene,
but decided to just use the cardstock since this area is protected
anyway. Yes, I know it is seriously lacking in rivet and staybolt
detail, but from 5 feet away it isn't all that noticable. A washout plug casting will cover the remaining mounting hole
behind the toolbox.
Still awaiting the decals and weathering, but otherwise pretty much done.
Decals
applied. A big thanks to Stan Cedarleaf for the custom printing job
(and for selling me this much loved/hated 2017 in the first place,
lol.)
The cab roof has been removed to mask the windows for weathering and I
will probably paint a bit of the interior while it is off as well.
Here is a rear view of the cab. Nobody
will ever see it, so it's kind of minimalist The clunky plastic windows
were removed to be
replaced with thinner mylar ones after weathering (easier to put
masking tape on the inside than mask each window separately, anyway).
.
Stage III - Weathering
Some
people swear by chalks for weathering, I've never had much luck with
them. Instead I use a "secret recipe" of primer paints from rattle cans
to get that old, run down effect. here we are all masked and ready for
weathering...
Step one: overspray with primer brown...
Step two: overspray with primer grey...
Step 3: overspray with primer black (oops, the pic didn't turn out! Sorry)
Ready to do the same combination with the tender. I use index cards to help mask large areas.
Ready to go back to work - consist is Lehmann toytrain, they work well with R-1 curves and the realities of a small indoor layout...plus they are (or were before the big meltdown) cheap.
Stage IV Sping 2009
Never one to leave well enough alone. I found a snowplow and straight stack on ebay..... I may redo the tender tank as well...
Kitbashing is kind of contagious once you start, you'll have all sorts of ideas.....
My Aristo 1:29 0-4-0 turned 1:22 2-4-0 bash
The Aristo c-16 meets Bachmann Big Hauler bash. Kind of a c-13
With lots of scratchbuilt cab details
My scratchbuilt 8 ton Climax
And a logging dinkey based upon the Falk
Current projects include a 2-4-4-0 logging mallet made from 2 Stainz chassis and some NOS Delton c-16 parts
Other train stuff
While I was waiting on the decals for the 2017 I got
bored, so I built an interior for my caboose out of cardstock. Stove is
Aristo, I think...
Lehmann "Cattle Car" Bash
Y'all stop back soon!
Finished caboose and a couple boxcars. They were also weathered with the paints.
Lehmann "Cattle Car" Bash
I
got a pair of these Lehmann cattle cars rather inexpensively. I
thought they were hideous, but rairoads can always use a couple more
flatcars...
I was just going to toss the ugly sides in the trash but I happened to notice how well they nested together. Then at 3AM an idea bit me and after about 20 minutes with a pair of sprue cutters and some glue I had this...
A bit of paint some decals, and the same weathering process later, and we have a rather homely but quite useful gon.
Scratchbuilt Russell log cars
I was just going to toss the ugly sides in the trash but I happened to notice how well they nested together. Then at 3AM an idea bit me and after about 20 minutes with a pair of sprue cutters and some glue I had this...
A bit of paint some decals, and the same weathering process later, and we have a rather homely but quite useful gon.
Scratchbuilt Russell log cars
Toy cast iron steamroller replica to a semi-scale model.
before:after:
Y'all stop back soon!