Are you a loco basher ?...

Model Railroader General Discussion (Model Railroader)
1

I personally have always accepted my locos the way they came from the factory, but may yet one day buy one and dive into it and add what ever details it requires in order to make it as close to prototypical as possible - but first I’m going to have to overcome my fear that I might screw it up…

Tracklayer

2

TIP:

Get an old locomotive, one with issues, serious issue. Use it for the base of your project. It’s not hard.

Decide what it needs to be prototype-correct, and do it…

3

I agree with Bill - start with something semi-expendable, practice and perfect your techniques on that. If by bashing you mean detailing a model to more closely represent a specific prototype, it’s hard to go wrong. Once you have a few models completed, you’ll have the confidence and skills to tackle something a little more demanding. Take your time, measure twice, cut once, and you’'l be fine. Here’s a photo of one of my early attempts at detailing:

All the best,
Mark.

4

Those inexpensive, non-powered models of the NYC Hudson are good for learning the skills - you can remove and reuse the parts you add, and if you mess up the model it’s no great loss.

If you are planning to try to model a specific prototype loco, get as many photos of that particular loco as possible. Details applied to different steam locos of a single class seemed to depend on what the boilermaker had on hand, so they can vary widely from one loco to another. Also, the loco that ended up in the scrap yard (or the city park) often bore little resemblance to the original Baldwin, Alco or Lima builder’s photos after many years of shopping and modernization.

In answer to the original question - yes, I do loco-bash!

5

So far, only when one falls off of the layout… I do have a Bowser USRA 2-10-2 that I’m trying to turn into a Wabash class L-1 similar to this one from the Fallen Flags site

[image]http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/wab/wab-s2523.jpg[/image]

By the time it’s all said and done, the only things remaining original of the kit will be the boiler casting and the drive-train. I have to better hone my metal working skills though to complete the domes.

6

Yes.

7

Tracklayer,

An easy “first time bashing” job to do on BB type diesels: Install “See Thru” fans.

Very easy to do and adds a depth of realism. Details West and Cannon & Company make some very nice radiator and dynamic brake fan kits.

8

Since I try to be a proto modeler, I have to 'bash my engines. That’s not so easy to do when you’re a steam modeler, but it IS very satisfying! I’m working on a bash right now in fact, turning a stock USRA light Mikado into NKP H-6d 624, circa 1949. The process so far has included stripping the Athearn model of all it’s cast on piping, all of the major appliances, and pilot. Reapplication of parts has so far included adding all the details to the fireman’s side (Worthington BL feedwater heater, turret detail, muffler, blow-down, top mount check valves, piping), cab (wind deflectors, winshields, armrests), pilot (new sheet steel pilot, deck-mounted air pumps and shields, air reservoir, piping), the underframe (Delta trailing truck with booster, frame extension, ash pan rocker, piping), and a start on the fireman’s side (new running boards, power reverse, and about 1/3 of the piping done). I started the engine after Christmas, and should have her done before Valentine’s Day. Once the engine is done, I’ll have to start on the tender!

Jeff: funny you should show that photo of Wabash 2523: I was emailing a couple of modelers last week about the same photo, looking at the new Bachmann 2-10-2 as the start for two models of the L-1s; one as a Wabash engine, and one as a C&IM. You’ve got to change the valve gear on the Bachmann engine, but it’s otherwise a pretty simple conversion (Bachmann now makes the correct tender!)

9

i kitbash alot, right now i am starting an Ho scale sd45-2B unit for the Santa fe i am starting will a railpower sd45-2 shell i have 9 of these shells adn chassis since athearn has announced they are making them i am gonna make all of the b units with the shells i already have one 1 done last year

10

Absolutely. As a GN modeler, I have to kitbash and/or superdetail in order to
achieve the unique looks of the prototype I have chosen. Some locomotives
are easier to rework than others. GN’s passenger Fs, for example, have many
unusual or unique rooftop features, like air filter boxes, aftercooler coils in
many different configurations, specific and unique air horn locations and several
different styles of winterization hatches. Some of these alterations require
the custom building of the detail parts. I don’t begrudge the time involved,
after all, it is the facet of the hobby I enjoy most-crafting accurate models of
my prototype. Eventually, I want to try to kitbash a Kato SD40 into a model of
a GN 320-series SDP40. Just haven’t gotten around to it yet-I still have a
3-unit set of Highliner F shells to build and detail as a 364/365 ABC set
as they appeared in the middle 50s. (I am hoping very hard that the rumors
of Walthers doing a 1951 or 1955 Empire Builder become fact). So, yes,
I am a strong devotee of kitbasing and superdetailing. As others have said.
the best way to learn is to try your hand at less expensive models and gain
your experience there.http://www.rr-fallenflags.org/gn/gn352a-cdb.jpg This
link shows some of GN’s unique roof details on passenger Fs.

11

So far the only “bashing” I have done to a loco was to remove the in cab light from an Athearn BB SD40-2 and put in a light for its number board and headlights. The mod worked out pretty good and makes the loco look better. My next project is to put an interior into this loco.

12

I looked at the spectrum, or at least what I could see of it online… The thing that’s always looked wrong to me on the production plastics (and the bowser I’m working on) is the domes. On most larger wabash locos and even some of the smaller ones, they are huge and boxy looking. I’ll probably never get them exact but to me, those domes are signature Wabash Railway. The bell and headlight are usually in the wrong place too but that’s an easy fix.

The bowser I’ve been working on (on and off) has been a pet project for about 10 years now but other things keep getting in the way… I don’t remember if I have to change the valve gear any, but I’m pretty sure I’ll be changing the drivers (all 3 center drivers on the kit are blind drivers) so I probably will have to modify the valve gear… When all is said and done, I’ll be probably be approaching the price of the Sunset brass unit… Of course, that would take the pride of building my own out of it.

13

I am not yet, but will have to be once i get out of the armchair phase of my model railroad. I will have to kitbash almost every loco i want, since i want to model the Southern. They had high hoods on even the most modern of locos prior to the big merger with NW.

14

There is a huge difference in just adding details and really bashing. I mean scraping off molded on hand grabs and adding wire ones is in a totally different league than whacking the entire length of the shell to make the hood the appropriate width. I’ve done both. It is not nearly as hard as one first thinks.

15

I couldn’t agree with TZ more. Just adding detail parts is not “bashing”! That is called strangely enough “Detailing”. Bashing is short for “Kitbashing”, where you take something and make it into something else. i.e. taking a GP38-2 and making it into a GP39-2 or a GP35 into a BN GP28M.
Just adding the proper detail parts is simple and really hard to screw up. Kitbashing takes a little bit more experience, your first projects will be a little rough, practicing on some donor shells is a great idea. But the more that you do the better you’ll get at it.
So don’t be afraid about screwing up and just go for it!!

Dan

16

Well, since i model mostly the Southern Railway 1975-1985 and there are only a few Geeps and SD’s out there with high short hoods (after the GP18) just about every locomotive I get needs some surgury. Some of the newer releases are easy to convert but I remember the 1st time I had to start cutting on an Athearn GP50 to get the low nose off I was a bit hesitant. In the end it came out fine but there were moment when I thought I had screwed up a perfectly fine shell. So like some of the others have said “just do it”.

Bob DeWoody

17

The domes are easier than you think to fix too, and a modeling friend has the solution: remove the domes, cut them in half, and raise their height. Since they’re plastic, it’s an easy fix and will give you those signature Wabash domes, which otherwise match the USRA domes pretty well. The thing that will give you fits will be the Elesco feedwater system, and routing all the air lines around the twin pumps on the fireman’s side.

The Bowser engines come with Southern valve gear, so yeah, you’ll have to replace it. The Wabash engines came with short hanger Baker gear, which is only realistically available from Bowser (unfortunate, because their rendition is crude at best). I need to look, but it might be possible to cannibalize a Bachmann Spectrum 2-8-0 for it’s valve gear and hangers for use on the 2-10-2. The tender’s wrong on the Bowser engine too; you’ll either need to scrounge up an OLD Athearn 4-6-2 tender, or trade for someone witht he new Spe

18

I try to do the same thing by adding all the necessary details required to get a locomotive as prototype as possible…it’s not too hard except wind shield wipers…i find that installing windshield wipers are a bit of a challenge because the parts are so small and ackward to hold in place while the glue dries even with many modeler’s tools…chuck

19

… or Scratch one… As I said in my orinal post, the only things left of the kit will be the boiler casting (modified of course) and the drive - train (valve gear not necassarily included)… Finishing it has become more of a quest than anything else… The current fleet is large enough for the layout and there’s not a lot of need to add a lot more to it.

20

Never thought my stock had to be that much like the origional one. Maybe someday I will try it. There is a guy at the local club that insists on doing that to every diesel he has to the entreme. It look like hell. He is no good at it at all. But he is happy and that’s all that counts.