Cannonball kit for a Baldwin steeple cab

[IndyCity]

Some days ago the Cannonball kit for a Baldwin steeple cab arrived

The kit is normaly made for the older Bachmann 44to chassis but with a few changes the current chassis can be used. So it become a Baldwin 50to steeple cab. See MR 01/2010.


first pics






The kit fits well and can also be processed easily. I still have orderd a few more additional parts at AMB to refine the roof equipment. The delivery will take up to 4 weeks probably. But until then there is still much to do.

[298]

Nice little project...!! I'm looking forward to seeing this progress.

If you need any extra information, I might be able to help. It's been 9 years since I first built a proper 50 ton Steepelcab and three years since the article was in Model Railroader, and yours is the first project I've seen that also stretches the Cannonball kit.

[shortliner]

Hi Andy - thanks for popping in and posting - welcome

[IndyCity]

TodayI could do a little on the steeple cab:
I had to do some milling.


Then the marked area had to be lowerd for 2mm.


Then I milled the bottom of the tank down to level of the screw stops.


Then the red marked area of the tank had to be milled on both sides away. Thus there was only a 1.5 mm left, here shown in green, on as a support for the shell. This will be build from 2mm polystyrene.

Currently the framework gets a new black coating.

[sailormatlac]

Nice little steeple car... I would almost say it looks like an "easy" job to do! ;-)

Matt

[298]

Nice little steeple car... I would almost say it looks like an "easy" job to do! ;-)

Matt

Modifying the chassis is probably the hardest bit. The rest I thought was fairly conventional, although it all depends where your skills and previous experiences are from.

I don't wish to take ove rthis build too much, but thought you'd like to see some photos of the finished Steeplecab that appears in the article as an unpainted model:

In primer:





And a short video of this loco in action:

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[IndyCity]

No problem, 298 or how your name is.

some new pics:

the first loco finally got her roof. I have to grind even if the glue has dried.



And i could get another kit that i modeld unchanged:





You can clearly see that it is long-legged with the unchanged Bachmann drives. Fortunately, you can changed that with some super detailing parts.

These parts and the other still needed parts are ordered and after their delivery i can continue modeling these kits.

[298]

Nice to see the project progressing, Joerg. Using strips for the roof looks like a better idea than extending the roof that is supplied with the kit.

I have uploaded a photo to show the subtle curves on the cab corners, and the roof overhang above the ends. Sanding these to shape only takes a few minutes, but improves the look of the model:



You also have a couple of choices with the kit, since the cab ends are too narrow for a bigger 50ton loco and the cab sides should overhand the frames, you can either have a gap (as I have done), use a narrower frame (the real loco cabs are 9'6" wide), or make new cab ends.

Andy Gautrey.