# Detailing an aristo 0-4-0



## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

I had started a thread about this last week. When the forum crashed this weekend, it took the thread with it. I'm going to repost it.





The Pennsylvania Railroad had 47 of these A5s switchers, which it used on tight industrial and urban lines. They were successful and effective. In Set Up Running, the autobiography of a PRR engineer, they're described as having "an amazing amount of power for [their] size" and "really handling easily."

I've found that on our layout, smaller locos look better. We have some fairly tight curves and more and more I like the look of smaller stuff. This is about the smallest mainline loco in class A service The Aristocraft 0-4-0 is a decently proportioned but under-detailed model of a PRR A5. It comes with a very foreshortened tender or sometimes with a coal bunker and no tender, as on the right. Mine came labeled for PRR with the bunker. I decided to see what I could do to make it look a little less toy-like. It's also a pretty weak puller. I decided to add powered trucks from an aristo center cab switcher.

First I scraped off a lot of the molded on detail--the sand lines and air compressor lines. I'll add them back later

I used Jerry Barnes foil tape method to simulate rivets. You get some metal foil duct tape, and using a "pounce wheel" (or "ponce" wheel) press rivets into the back of the tape. Then peel away the paper and stick the tape onto the plastic. 



The cylinders on the aristo model have a lot of visible seams on them. I use the same foil method to conceal them



Below after painting with scalecoat "brunswick green," and cutting the door out so it could run in the oen position



The PRR had distinctive marker lights. I made a crude approximation using drive wall anchors and 8mm beads in a method I stole from "rangerjoel" in his builder's log on making a PRR E6.



I added a more accurately scaled bell--aristo's is comically oversize and stands too high, and made a steam turret out of some wire and brass trackside details parts



Added some backhead detail:



Aristo got some things really wrong, like the air compressor. It's in the wrong place. I filled the hole in the running board with styrene and then glued a piece of diamond-patter sheet styrene over the hole. The I took a compressor from a Piko 0-6-0, cut it in half, and set it in place. The square box, which all A5's had and which I assume is a junton box for train control electonics, was easy to fake up. The piping was harder.






The tender is really problematic. Mainly it's way too short, by about two inches. I also wanted to make it a powered tender, to assist the loco. I thought about lengthening it, and still might., but for now I simply added marker lights, a headlight from a Bachmann 4-6-0, a pair of trucks from an aristo center cab switcher. 

It's pretty silly looking from some angles especially. I may not be able to live with it but I'm not sure how to go about making it better. It would be hard to construct a frame that let the shell sit lower. I need to think about it a while. But after speed matching a decoder in the loco and a decoder in the tender, it runs REALLY well. 

Here it is done. The fireman is a lemax figure, painted


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Excellent upgrade Mike! 

Greg


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Really nice. Maybe I'll resurrect mine.


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## Dwight Ennis (Jan 2, 2008)

Onnnne Mooooore Tiiime!!! hehehe


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