1/24th scale, narrow gauge RS-3! Pics & video

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

This is a project I’ve been working on for well over three months, and finally finished. It started out as a stock, 1/29th scale Aristocraft RS-3:

I kitbashed it into a fictional, 1/24th scale narrow gauge RS-3 variant, for my In-ko-pah Railroad :

Here’s a YouTube video showing it in action on my In-ko-pah Railroad:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJvAk3onISY

And here are some more photos:

In addition to changing its appearance, I also installed an Aristocraft “Revolution” r/c receiver, a Phoenix PB9 sound board, and custom headlights.

This project took a LOT longer than I’d expected but it was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot along the way. Now that’s it’s finished I feel much more confid

2

Here’s a photo showing the windshield wipers I made for this loco. They were made from bits of brass rod:

3

Nice looking model. I am curious though. It looks like you lowered the hoods. Any reason for this? Is this modeled after a specific prototype or is it just a modeling exersize. Anyhow, the work looks first rate, keep up the good work.

Dan

4

Thanks!

I was scaling this up, from a 1/29th scale standard gauge model, to a 1/24th scale narrow gauger. It’s not patterned after any particular prototype but is intended to look like a smaller, narrow gauge variant of the RS-3.

In scaling it up, I wanted to reuse the existing hoods rather than having to model all those doors and such. I did add some material to the bottom edges of the hoods, making them a quarter inch (6 scale inches) taller. In retrospect, I probably should have made them a bit taller still, mainly because it would have given the headlights a little more clearance over the tops of the handrails.