I received a Bowser kit a few weeks ago for a Pennsy B6 0-6-0. With the freight cars and crane, that I had been working on, out of the way, I decided to give it a whirl last week.
As kits go, the white metal parts had very little flash and mould pips to remove, and there were lots of nicely cast brass detailing parts included in the kit, all bagged up and numbered for the different stages of construction.
The first part of construction involves getting the loco complete enough to test - for up to 10 hours. This was pretty straight forward and the only daunting part in this section was rivetting the rods together. This is made all the easier by the inclusion of the rivet tool in the kit - ie the chunk of shaped metal that you knock with the hammer to splay out the rivet.
The only soldering involved was to attach 2 wires to the motor, and the only gluing is to attach a couple of shaped side frames to the chassis. All the rest is done with screws and rivets.
Here is the loco at the testing stage. The metal has been burnished with a fibreglass pen.
I ran the loco round the test track for approximately 6 hours before adding any of the loco details to run in the motor, check for binding in the gears and rods, and generally test the loco. I will be giving it at least another 4 hours before even thinking about adding DCC and sound.
With the loco running quite smoothly and quietly, I felt I could now add the detailling parts. These are all made from either brass castings, turnings and/or wire rod. It was relatively easy to glue the parts into the pre-drilled holes in the loco body.
After the metal was burnished again, I sprayed on some grey undercoat (from an auto spray can)
Kind of reminds me of the first ‘easy to assemble’ kits I ever tackled, half a century or so ago. (I can see the ‘is this available RTR in my road’s paint scheme’ folks diving for cover now!)
Jon, an excellent job and tutorial on the kit!! If anyone was hesitant about buying one of those Bowser kits, this should allay their fears!! [tup][tup][bow]
Awesome work and tutorial, Jon. Those brass castings look fantastic. I notice they’re blackening the wheels and running gear, too. Does it come with a can motor, or are they still using the open frame?
It’s good to know that there’s minimal flash. An old Mantua kit I built was lousy with it, to the point that the steamchest was webbed. I read somewhere that their kits weren’t like that in the beginning, but the molds must have worn after years of production.
All the brass fittings - bar three handrail knobs, used for some of the piping - were in the kit. This wasn’t a problem as I have ample spares, having built many white metal and brass kits for my British layouts.
There is also a three man crew in the box - 2 sitting and one standing, which is a nice touch.
The brass castings appear to be lost-wax castings and are excellent.
There is a can motor and solid, 2-piece gearbox, which was a joy to fit. I have had so many problems with other kits in the past, trying to get the gears to mesh properly - usually solved by adding small paper shims under the motor and messing about with the height/angle of the motor shaft.
I have now slapped on the first coat of paint. The green I mixed is lighter than the PRR recommended shade because I will be going for a weathered appearance similar to this one on Fallen Flags
Nice job ! NICE LOCOMOTIVE ! One of my favourites, I posted a note to show photos of yard goats, 2 responses, I guess they don’t rate up there with "big boys’’
It is pretty straight forward if you have a bit of experience with metal kits in general. Most of the major assembly is screw-fit and straight forward. The only daunting bit is rivetting the rods together, something I havent really tackled before now.
She’s beauty-ous, Jon! [tup] It shows that even in the age of high-tech RTR, there’s still a place for classic metal kits like these. I’m sure she’ll have no problem shoving any cut of cars, unlike some of her plastic brethren.
A separate gearbox is always a huge plus, especially if you ever want to upgrade the motor. I installed a Helix Humper in an old Mantua 0-6-0 shifter, but the plastic mount flexed enough that the worm was able come out of mesh under load no matter how I shimmed it.
Jon, you’ve done a great job of building that switcher, and I really hate to rain on your parade, but Pennsy switchers were not green, they were black. Pennsy’s DGLE (Dark Green Locomotive Enamel) was used only on their passenger locomotives. Freight and switch engines were black.
That’s a great tutorial on building a Bowser kit. An added piece of information - Bowser owns Cal-Scale, which is why their brass castings are so nice. Their Delux kits are really nice to build. Very good castings, and all the detail mounting holes are pre-drilled, so really all you need is some very basic tools (jeweler’s files, screwdrivers, a small hammer) and a bit of glue (I generally use CA) and you’re in business.
Very nice work! You’re going to have one fantastic switcher when this is all done!
I have the A-5 0-4-0, which has a very similar construction to the B-6. The can motor drive is smooth and quiet as can be, and since I used a few Kadee centering springs to give it all-wheel electrical pickup, it can go right through switches like a switcher should.
Thanks for that - this modelling lark is chock full of pitfalls.
I intend to weather the loco in similar fashion to the linked photo in Fallen Flags, where it is difficult IMO to tell just what the base colour actually is.
