# EBT #12 and a date with a bucket of dirt (and other details)



## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Prologue:












It was back in August when my 4 years of waiting finally came to an end, and Accucraft delivered my EBT mikado #12. While a beautiful sight in its own right, I knew from the start it wasn't going to stay "factory fresh" for very long at all.



Some other "before" shots...




























The "first" round of weathering took place within a few weeks of getting the loco, but I knew I was going to hold off on the finishing touches until after I got the R/C fitted into the cab and tender. Well, that's done now, so without much further ado, here's #12 finally finished. 


Later,

K


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Okay, the browser weirdness is dealt with, so here's the "after" shots... 




























The most noticeable change is that all the brass, white, and red is gone from the loco. I painted the loco to look as it appeared c. 1920. As delivered in 1911, the locomotive was painted Baldwin's "olive green" with a plannished iron jacket and "chrome yellow (orange)" lettering. By all accounts I've heard, Baldwin's "olive green" was akin to the Pennsy's "Brunswick green," so a very dark green that appeared black. Now, I was fully prepared at the outset to repaint the loco in this scheme, including the dark green, and back-dating the loco to it's "as built" appearance. This would have involved changing the headlight to a kerosene headlight, removing the generator and one air pump. Certainly not anything I couldn't do, but there was one tiny little hitch. Actually it was a "large" hitch. When I did the artwork for the dry transfers, I used the lettering on the mid-sized mikados as a guide for the size. Well, the "12" on the side of the cab is a bit smaller than the numbers on the side of the cab of the larger mikes, so my lettering was off--and if I was going to go through the effort to backdate the loco, then put the wrong sized numbers on the side of the cab, well, that wasn't going to fly. So rather than re-do the artwork, I opted to move its appearance up a few years to a time when either (a) the olive green paint had weathered to look black, or (b) the loco would have been repainted black by the shop crews, as appears to be the case by the 30s at least. 










So the cab, tender, and wheels and cylinders got left alone. The smokebox got painted black. I thought about leaving the boiler alone, too, but then inspiration struck. I definitely wasn't in the mood to strip all the details off the boiler to re-wrap it in a blackened brass sheet to represent a plannished iron boiler jacket, and spraying it with my 2nd choice (Testor's buffable "gunmetal" spray paint) wasn't an option, either. Instead, I swabbed the boiler with powdered graphite--the stuff used for lock lubrication. I use the "Victor" brand as this is a very fine powder. Once that was swabbed on, I painted over everything with slightly diluted clear acrylic (Future floor wax) to seal it. I've steamed the loco probably a half dozen times since doing that for 2 hours at a time, and the finish has held up. 










The smokebox was painted with Badger's ModelFlex gloss black paint. This stuff sticks great to the smokebox (and bare copper boiler inside the cab) without any primer. It's really a Godsend for this kind of work. You can brush it on, and there are NO brush strokes visible once it's applied. It's a bit more expensive, but worth it. Once that was painted, I then painted over with flat black acrylic paint (Folk Art). Oil from running the loco since then has given the smokebox a nice satin sheen. 










The stock couplers were replaced with Accucraft's 1:32 coupler, which scales out nicely for the 3/4-sized coupler used by the EBT. White "extra" flags adorn the corners of the pilot beams. I removed the class lamps from the boiler. While they looked okay, the green stickers for lenses annoyed me, and they also kept spinning around. The EBT only used lanterns when running at night, so the flags are much more typical anyway. I'll probably drill out the lenses and use them on another loco down the road. The pilot got washed with a brown/black acrylic wash, then Bragdon's weathering powders were applied while the paint was still tacky to give the powders even more "tooth" to stay in place. 










I added a working headlight to the loco. Prototypically speaking, the headlight on this loco is too small. It "should" be an 18" diameter headlight. This one scales to 15". Some day, I'll make a proper 18" headlight for it. But for now, this one will work nicely. The reflector is from a Bachmann headlight. I had to file down the edges just a bit so it fit inside, but beyond that, it works very well. For some reason, the headlight photographs a bit bluer than it is in "real life." It's a "warm white" LED from string of Christmas lights--the same that I use in all my locos. 










Back to the boiler, you can see how the graphite gives the boiler jacket a nice metalic look, especially under the simulated "soot" on top (dabbed on flat black acrylic paint and Bragdon's weathering powders). Some light weathering on the domes simulates hard water stains and the dust from the sand domes under the lids. The boiler bands were painted gloss black with the ModelFlex gloss black paint. In addition to the soot on top, the entire boiler got a grimy acrylic wash. 










The EBT originally painted their valve gear black, except certain parts. Here again, the ModelFlex paint works wonders. Not only on the valve gear, but the tires as well. I do get some flaking on the tires every now and then, touch-ups are easy enough. The wheels were weathered with washes and powders as well, but have also since gotten a respectable coating of oil. No better weathering than the real thing here. If it looks oily and grimy, it's because it _is_ oily and grimy. 










As delivered, the loco comes without any kind of glazing in the cab windows. The absence of it really ruins any realistic effects you could do with weathering, so that had to change. A friend of mine is a teacher, and a few years ago, they upgraded to using computers for class presentations instead of the old overhead projectors. This left her with a half dozen boxes of transparent laser and ink-jet film, which she gave to me to have fun with. I cut it to size, and taped it in place with 1/8" wide 2-sided tape I got from Michael's. This tape is pretty permanent, and has withstood the temperatures well. I've had other plastics curl up in the heat, but this stuff seems pretty tolerant. (I'd assume the temps involved in laser printing are fairly significant, so that may have something to do with its stability in a warm environment.) 

The fireman is one of Richard's "scale human" figures, and the engineer is from Ozark Miniatures. The engineer is glued in place The fireman has magnets in his shoes so he can stand on the footplate. Right now, I'm using magnets set into the footplate to facilitate this, but I'll likely just replace the footplate with a steel one at some point. 










The one thing that jumped out at me in photos of my loco after the initial weathering session was the pressure gauge. This big white circle in the cab window just screamed "something's not right." So when I was dirtying up the cab windows, I decided to dirty up the pressure gauge glass as well. Now it's much less noticeable, but still easy to read 










It's a steam locomotive, and you can never have too much coal dust. I dabbed some white glue into the rain gutters on the cab roof, and sprinkled coal dust to simulate the cinders that would collect on the cab roof and other surfaces. I still wish Accucraft spent more time on the cab roof, giving it more detail and proper rivet patterns, but I'll live with this for now. It's certainly easy enough to change if I ever get the urge... 










The one thing that _had_ to be corrected was the running boards. As modeled by Accucraft, they're too narrow (sitting inboard of the edge of the cab by 1/8"), and also metal. The prototype running boards are wood, and sit even with the side of the cab. Fortunately this was a fairly simple fix with some 1/32" basswood sheet I had on hand. I cut it to the proper width, notched out where the existing running board is notched to allow clearance for pipes, then glued a 1/8" square strip along the outside edge to give it needed depth. This was then epoxied to the existing running boards, trimmed out with 1/8" steel strap (don't ask where I got it; I don't remember, and I used all but my last 8" on this.) 










A little paint and weathering, and the running boards now extend as they should. Yeah, 1/8" on either side may not sound like a whole lot, but to my eyes at least, it made a significant visual difference in the locos appearance. 










The tender got a good bit of weathering and a proper coal load. 










The top of the tender is removable so you can access the fuel and water inside. When I added the coal load and details, I wrapped the tender shell in plastic wrap so I could glue the details to the top and have it not stick to the sides. The coal load is a slurry of coal mixed up and poured in place. Had I to do it over again, I would have just poured the coal into the tender than wet it and glued it in place that way. I think the effect is a bit more realistic that way. Close-up, this kind-of looks like a slurry poured in place. (At last I can tell the difference.) I'm fully expecting to drop this piece at some point down the line, so I can easily foresee me having to redo this. 










The tool boxes on the tender as they come from Accucraft are something of a disappointment. They're just sheet metal bent roughly to shape, with no attempt to make them look realistic. I thought about laminating real wood onto the sides and top, but decided instead to just use paint to give it the appearance of grain. Fortunately, the tool boxes on the prototype have cloth covers for "hinges," so a little first aid tape properly weathered covers the top seam quite prototypically. 










I added a back-up light to the tender. Technically speaking, #12 never got a back-up light, but I had one in my scrapbox that looked almost exactly like the EBT's back-up lights and I had installed the electronics in the tender to automatically turn it on when the loco's in reverse, so doggonit, my #12 has a back-up light. The mud splatter on the back of the tender shows up to varying degrees in photographs. I did this by dappling a stiff brush onto the surface. I've since learned of a new technique which I just _have_ to try. The effects in HO scale are pretty cool, and it's just one of those things that's too cool not to give a go. And yes, I'm going to keep you in suspense until I have a chance to experiment with it. Hint: what better technique than to do as the prototype does... 










The back of the tender also got a 3/4-sized coupler. I was anticipating having to do a bit more surgery than I ended up needing to do for this. I was able to use the stock coupler pocket casting, just raised up a bit. I cut the sides off the plastic Accucraft draft gear box to fit inside the brass pocket. 










So now, my #12 is ready to head out on the main with a proper train in tow. (Alas, it's going to have to wait until the snow melts again...) I can't say I'm truly "done" modifying this loco, as there are still lots of details that I've not included--particularly on the tender frame, but also on the loco. But for now, this will do. I've got other projects that need my attention. 

Later, 

K


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Magnificent job. You really captured the look of a working loco. So much better than as delivered!


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Kevin; 

Outstanding weathering and detailing on your locomotive. The class flags are the most natural looking flags I have seen on a model. I am trying to determine what material you used. My three guesses are: facial tisue, very fine weave fabric, or dryer sheet. Am I close? 

Best, 
David Meashey


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## VictorSpear (Oct 19, 2011)

Spectacular and astounding ! What are weathering rates/hr these days ?


Victor


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## digger (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nicely done, Kevin! She really looks "rode hard and put away wet".


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## jake3404 (Dec 3, 2010)

Excellent work Kevin. Gives me inspiration to "dirty up" my Accucraft C-19. I've been afraid I'd mess it up.


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## tj-lee (Jan 2, 2008)

Outstanding job! 

Best, 
TJ


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## East Broad Top (Dec 29, 2007)

Thanks, guys. 

Dave, you're close. Toilet paper for the flags. Tissues work just as well. I cut them into small rectangles, fold one end around the flagpole, then brush on dilute white glue and drape to shape. It takes a few tries to get it to look good and not rip, but once the glue hardens, the flags are fairly resilient. 

Victor, I haven't given much thought to what I'd charge. I'm loathe to do this as a business for the simple reason that it's a hobby. Having said that, I have done some custom work for others in the past as trade-outs for this, that, or the other. It's a hobby, but it's not a cheap one, and I'm generally open to getting something in trade instead of forking out cash. 

Later, 

K


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## Steamnutt (Apr 12, 2008)

Awesome job!!!!!! She does look beautiful!!!!!! 

Nice job!


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## Phippsburg Eric (Jan 10, 2008)

Oh man, what a mess...you really should get the crew out there with scrub brushes and soapy water...when they have time between runs! 

She looks great Kevin! Went from a nice looking model to a rolling diorama depicting a working engine in all its glory!


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

"Oh man, what a mess...you really should get the crew out there with scrub brushes and soapy water...when they have time between runs!"

NAH! Soap and water won't cut through the "smuts" (Blobs of soot and coal dust in re-congealed cylinder oil). I know. Had to clean and shine the locomotives on the Wanamaker, Kempton & Southern tourist railroad. Engine crews used rags dampened with kerosene to cut through the smuts and other greasy dirt. Then we would shine the locomotive by wiping her with rags dampened in re-refined 30 weight motor oil.

"Cleaning" was almost as messy as getting dirty!









Best,
David Meashey


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## bnsfconductor (Jan 3, 2008)

Kevin, 
I think I know the technique you used for the truck splashing on the tender. If it's similar to what I've seen, and have tried in HO & N it works really good. Scrap set of trucks... 
I haven't gotten up the nerve yet to try it yet on the large scale equipment. 

Craig


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## up9018 (Jan 4, 2008)

Nothing more beautiful than a dirty steamer. Nice job Kevin. 

Chris


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## Ray Dunakin (Jan 6, 2008)

Nice job!


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## Terl (Jan 2, 2008)

Another great weathering job Kevin. Was wondering what you were going to do, I knew you couldn't leave that purtty engine in front of your grimy rundown rollingstock. Gee, that shiny version was one of my favorites though, a real classic with the red roof on the cab. Hope I get to see her run sometime. Might be able to get you some more of that steel flatwire. 

Terl


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