# It was raining, I was bored, sooo.....



## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

....I started working on a critter.

One HLW mack base, one Larry G Scale gen set, one slightly mangled LGB 2017 cab, and some acrylic









With an idea roughly based on Plymouth practice, I started sticking it together









B'mann air tank and seat, Aristo toolbox on the other side, wooden 55 gallon drum for a fuel tank. I need to make a couple control levers yet...









Hood cut down from a plastic toy dozer, now waiting for the glue to dry so I can putty in the goobers...









I don't have a power brick, so it will have to be a dummy for now.... unless somebody has a cheap brick or wants to make an offer on the shell?


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

first color coat. Kim wanted red.... it's red. It might glow in the dark, too


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

NICE! Looks like a great little critter. She was right about the red, it just looks good. But now some rust, dirt and oilstains to make it a real old workhorse.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

A Kalamazoo sand dome (yes, Plymouth actually did it that way, looks kinda goofy to me too), a Just Plain Folk engineer, and the second coat of colors. It's starting to look like a locomotive, I think.....


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

While I was at it, I decided to cut the sideplates at an angle to make it more Plymouth-ish









Front view.... rather an ugly duckling, isn't it?









Rear view









Still needs a bell, couplers, and motor brick, but it's as far as I can go with what I have on hand


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Got some stuff to finish this in the mail yesterday. Some of you will take one look and tell me that I got the absolute WORST possible power brick. You may be right, but it was cheap..... 









Yes, it's a B'mann trolley drive. It's wimpy and noisy and has a set of wheels that have a bit (maybe 1/16") of wobble - but at least they wobble together so it stays more or less in gauge, and it has skates for (maybe) decent power pickup.... Did I mention that it was cheap? 

On the UP side, it came with some rather nice looking sideframes.... And it was cheap! 









The block has a bit longer wheelbase, but is lower than the HLW drive, so I made some wooden spacers 









I think it looks pretty good at least, and the prototype probably only wanted to pull one or two cars anyway... 









Next is a few end details, couplers, and some side handrails.....


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## Paulus (May 31, 2008)

Is the Bachmann motorbrick really that bad? 
I think the brick just looks OK and it's what you say; this little engine would not haul long trains but only shift some cars arround. 
Have fun with the detailing!


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

You're familiar with how a sounding board on an acoustic guitar amplifies the vibration of the strings, right? The HLW Mack baseplate is your basic open bottomed plastic box.... It won't need a diseasel sound system, it growls quite loudly all by itself.


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## chaingun (Jan 4, 2008)

I LIKE IT! 
Great job! 
Ted


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

Maiden run...









Danged freeloaders! Where's Donald?










It doesn't pick up quite as well as a Stainz, so it was a bit jerky on the dirty track. It also wanted to run like a scalded cat or stall. I suppose I'll need to clean the rails and try again.


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

But does it glow in the dark?


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

The white shows up REAL well in low light. They also have G-i-D coating at the craft store....

Maybe I'll just weather it, instead.


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