Converting AHM Pacific into CNR Pacific--PIX NOW POSTED

RobertInOntario

Active Member
My wife & kids were out this evening, so I made good progress with this conversion tonight. :mrgreen: I worked for almost 4 hours and added the Cal-scale feedwater heater (or at least part of it), white trim along the running boards and wheels, red trim around the cab, plus some weathering & painting.

I'm taking the more conservative route and not adjusting the location of the running boards' and the pipes. Maybe I'll try this later ... Now, the main things to finish are a touch more weathering and applying the decals. I also need to add some detail near the front where the numbers would go, and move the bell location. I'm not (at least yet) moving any of the domes.

I'll try to post some pics, probably next week.

Rob
 

WReid

New Member
Rob

I have been so busy working on my brass CNR 2-8-0s I finally took time to read your post and remembered something that may help your conversion. There was an article in the March 1980 Model Railroader starting on page 70. It is about kitbashing a CNR 4-6-2. They used a Bowser NYC K-11 pacific as a starting point but it has a lot of info on detailing to get a nice look a like. Granted it is not 100% perfect but the photos of the completed model look good. The article also has some nice black & white photos of the real CNR pacifics. The article was about modeling #5265 a ( J-7a class ).

On a side note while searching through my Model Railroader magazine collection for the above article I also found an interesting article in the March 1979 Model Railroader I some how missed reading.
The article is " Canadian National's Northerns ". I have only quickly scanned through it but it seems to be about detailing tips and possibly kitbashing one. Needless to say I am now going to go and read it right now.:)


Wayne R
 

RobertInOntario

Active Member
Rob
I have been so busy working on my brass CNR 2-8-0s I finally took time to read your post and remembered something that may help your conversion. There was an article in the March 1980 Model Railroader starting on page 70. It is about kitbashing a CNR 4-6-2. They used a Bowser NYC K-11 pacific as a starting point but it has a lot of info on detailing to get a nice look a like. Granted it is not 100% perfect but the photos of the completed model look good. The article also has some nice black & white photos of the real CNR pacifics. The article was about modeling #5265 a ( J-7a class ).
On a side note while searching through my Model Railroader magazine collection for the above article I also found an interesting article in the March 1979 Model Railroader I some how missed reading.
The article is " Canadian National's Northerns ". I have only quickly scanned through it but it seems to be about detailing tips and possibly kitbashing one. Needless to say I am now going to go and read it right now.:)
Wayne R

Thanks, Wayne. I appreciate your feedback. I wonder if it's possible to order those old MRs from the publisher? I've also found several J-7a (and J-7b and J-7c) pics online as well as in one of my CNR books. My loco will probably end up roughly looking like one of the J-7s!

All the best with your 2-8-0 detailing -- if possible, I'd be interested to see pics of that as it comes along. There is a Northern located at Toronto's CNE grounds, which I hope to get a good look at if we go to the CNE this year!

Rob
 

WReid

New Member
Rob

I know you can order back issues from MR but I am not sure how far back. You could also check ebay for the issue. My issue is part of a hard bound copy of the first 6 issues of 1980. I may be able to scan it but I am not sure how it will turn out seeing as it is a big book and it will be hard to get it to lay flat for scanning.I will give it a try later today.

I plan on posting a thread about my CNR N-5-d project once I get it close to completion. I was going to start a thread at the start of the project but decided against. It seems like every time I try to sit down and work on it something more pressing pops up. I figured it would be better to wait till I was just about done then there would not be a long delay in between posts.

Right now I have a few small minor things to finish and then I will be ready to break the locomotive back down into parts and clean everything of any oil and dirt and possibly bead blast it with my Badger abrasive gun and some baking soda. From there it will be into the paint booth.


Wayne R
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
Rob,

If Wayne's scanning exercise does not work out, I have those issues, and can make copies. Let me know by PM or email.

Andrew
 

RobertInOntario

Active Member
Rob
I know you can order back issues from MR but I am not sure how far back. You could also check ebay for the issue. My issue is part of a hard bound copy of the first 6 issues of 1980. I may be able to scan it but I am not sure how it will turn out seeing as it is a big book and it will be hard to get it to lay flat for scanning.I will give it a try later today.
I plan on posting a thread about my CNR N-5-d project once I get it close to completion. I was going to start a thread at the start of the project but decided against. It seems like every time I try to sit down and work on it something more pressing pops up. I figured it would be better to wait till I was just about done then there would not be a long delay in between posts.
Right now I have a few small minor things to finish and then I will be ready to break the locomotive back down into parts and clean everything of any oil and dirt and possibly bead blast it with my Badger abrasive gun and some baking soda. From there it will be into the paint booth.
Wayne R

Thanks, Wayne and Andrew. I'm mainly interested in the March 1980 issue. Wayne, if it's too tricky to scan your copy, please just let me know. I'll check with Andrew then. I look forward to seeing your thread in the future. Cheers, Rob
 

RobertInOntario

Active Member
This conversion project is coming along quite well now. As mentioned, I'm not repositioning the running boards (at least not yet) but I believe I've at least captured a good CNR "feeling" or impression.

So far, I have: -- painted red trim around windows, added the Elesco feedwater heater, added white lining added to running boards & wheels, done a fair bit of weathering, CNR bell added, chimney lengthened, number plate added. This has taken a good 5-6 hours spread over a couple weeks.:eek:

I was also pleased with the results of some Tamiya flat clear spray paint that I'd bought. I had used some gloss black paint to paint out the previous numbers and emblems and was concerned that this gloss paint made it look too new and shiny. Well, spray painting the tender with this clear flat paint solved this problem. The tender now looks weathered and well-used -- the shiny gloss effect is completely gone!

The only remaining things I need to do at this stage are to add the decals and then spray paint another clear layer to seal the decals and weathering effects.

I'm also not sure what number to give it since this is not a true J-7 ... any suggestions? Ideally, I'd like it to be one that at least ran in Ontario.

I'll try to post some pics in a few days, but all of this takes time!

Rob
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
Sounds like you're making great headway...! Do you still need the article? ;) :D

One conversion you might want to consider is an all-weather cab - many pacifics had them. If you have any of Ian Wilson's books, you will see that this once crack passenger engine (state of the art in early 1920s) was relegated to freight service by the 1950s. Lots of pictures though, and many if not all featured in his books have all-weather cabs.

Thanks for the inspiration though - I have an older IHC/Mehano pacific sitting around that might just get an upgrade! :)

Andrew

PS - let's see some pictures!!
 

RobertInOntario

Active Member
Sounds like you're making great headway...! Do you still need the article? ;) :D
One conversion you might want to consider is an all-weather cab - many pacifics had them. If you have any of Ian Wilson's books, you will see that this once crack passenger engine (state of the art in early 1920s) was relegated to freight service by the 1950s. Lots of pictures though, and many if not all featured in his books have all-weather cabs.
Thanks for the inspiration though - I have an older IHC/Mehano pacific sitting around that might just get an upgrade! :)
Andrew PS - let's see some pictures!!

Thanks, Andrew! Sure, I'd still be interested in the article as I will probably tweak this upgrade somewhat in the future. I'm on the fence, though, about doing any further major changes such as repositioning the running boards and the domes, etc. I can't bring myself to start literally carving up the loco's body! -- If I do a bad job, I could ruin the entire project.

Yes, adding the all-weather cab might be one of the upgrades I'd be willing to tackle in the future. I could also add a lot of plumbing detail by using fine brass wire. Much of the plumbing detail is either missing or incorrect, so this would be a feasible improvement that I could see myself doing. George's Trains has a good selection of various sizes of brass wire. :mrgreen:

Thanks for your encouragement. I'll try to post some pics in the next few days!

Rob
 

60103

Pooh Bah
Rob: my copy of the Model Railroader is sitting on the coffe table right now. Are you still looking for the article?
 

RobertInOntario

Active Member
Rob: my copy of the Model Railroader is sitting on the coffe table right now. Are you still looking for the article?

I'm still interested but Andrew was going to copy it. I guess whichever is most convenient or easy. I sure appreciate Andrew's offer to scan it but if it's easy for you to copy it maybe that would be better? ... Andrew is this OK if you haven't copied it yet?

Meanwhile, I took some pics of my "project" tonight. Just downloading them now.

Rob
 

RobertInOntario

Active Member
OK, here are a couple pics. I have a few others as well. It's not perfect but feedback is welcome! (The pics seem to magnify the imperfections!) Thanks, Rob
IMG_0001.jpg

IMG_0007.jpg
 

RobertInOntario

Active Member
Here are a couple more pix.

Again, these pics catch the gist of how it looks but they seem to exaggerate the imperfections! :cry: It looks much better running on the layout from a distance of a few feet. :mrgreen:

I'm open to criticism!

The one pic shows my GP-9 in the background -- this was another kit-bashed project. It used to by a UP GP-18.

Thanks,
Rob
aaIMG_0005.jpg

aaIMG_0009.jpg
 

doctorwayne

Active Member
Good start, Rob, although I think you may regret not adding the piping when you did the work - to add it later will require that you remove the components to drill them to accept the wire, putting you right back to where you started from. :eek: The photos also emphasize the different shades of black, particularly on the tender. Usually, the cab and tender are similar in colour, even if the rest of the loco is a different shade of that colour.
It also looks like your loco's whitewalls are too wide: normal practice was to paint only the side of the tire white, while the wheel - spokes, counterweight, and rim, remained black.
I give you full marks for attempting this conversion, though, as it's always a bit unnerving to alter any loco for the first time. :thumb:

Wayne
 

RobertInOntario

Active Member
Thanks for your feedback, Wayne! I sure appreciate this.

I've responded below, to your comments:

I think you may regret not adding the piping when you did the work - to add it later will require that you remove the components to drill them to accept the wire, putting you right back to where you started from. :eek:
-- I was hoping it would be fairly easy to drill a few small holes for the wire, even if I did this later. I probably won't add ALL of the piping as well, just enough to make it a little more realistic.

The photos also emphasize the different shades of black, particularly on the tender. Usually, the cab and tender are similar in colour, even if the rest of the loco is a different shade of that colour.
-- the loco and tender were originally the same colour, so somehow my weathering was inconsistent!:eek: Actually, last night, I added more light grey weathering to both the loco and its tender, so I think I've made it more similar.

It also looks like your loco's whitewalls are too wide: normal practice was to paint only the side of the tire white, while the wheel - spokes, counterweight, and rim, remained black.
-- yeah, I guess they are too wide. It was a challenge to paint this and do it smoothly/evenly.

I give you full marks for attempting this conversion, though, as it's always a bit unnerving to alter any loco for the first time. :thumb:
-- Thanks again, Wayne. As I said earlier, the loco looks MUCH better running on the layout from a distance. These pics really seem to exaggerate the imperfections. I noticed this before when I did a previous kit-bashing project, when I converted one of my small British tank locos. It looked great on the track but, when I photographed it and placed pix on The-Gauge, blobs of glue and rough edges stood out like sore thumbs!

Cheers, Rob
 

RobertInOntario

Active Member
The photos emphasize the different shades of black, particularly on the tender. Usually, the cab and tender are similar in colour, even if the rest of the loco is a different shade of that colour.

OK, I now realize what the difference-in-black issue is. I had used some gloss paint to paint out the previous numbers and decals. I used this on the sides of the cab as well as the sides of the tender. After I spray-painted the tender with some clear flat paint, the gloss effect disappeared entirely and the tender looked nicely weathered & used. I haven't yet spay-painted the cab sides yet — I'm hoping, once I do this, that this will nicely "weather up" in a similar fashion.

I also haven't chosen a number for this loco. Since it's such a fudged project, I'm not sure which one to chose!

Thanks again -- your comments & feedback are helpful.

Cheers, Rob
 

MasonJar

It's not rocket surgery
You are very brave to attempt this! Great first effort. Undoubtedly the good doctor's advice will help improve it. I am greatful that I waited to start mine until he had weighed in, so thanks for braving the waters Rob! ;) :D

Andrew
 

RobertInOntario

Active Member
You are very brave to attempt this! Great first effort. Undoubtedly the good doctor's advice will help improve it. I am greatful that I waited to start mine until he had weighed in, so thanks for braving the waters Rob! ;) :D

Andrew

You're welcome! :mrgreen: I plan to tweak it and upgrade it but I think I'll take a break from it for awhile. I'll do this in phases. Thanks, Rob
 

doctorwayne

Active Member
Andrew, I'm currently working on three Bachmann Consolidations and a pair of Ten Wheelers, but I doubt that any of them will be of much use to you. ;):p I'm awaiting parts for the 2-8-0s, while the last of the stuff for the 4-6-0s arrived this past week. Unfortunately, my conversion is to modernise them, the opposite, I believe, of what you have in mind for yours. :-D:-D

Wayne
 
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