It was raining, I was bored, so.....

[Mik]

So 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?

 

[Mik]

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

 

[Mik]

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.....

 

[Mik]

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

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

Rear view

Still needs a bell, couplers, and motor brick. But I quit for now.

 

[Old Tom]

Neat bit of kit bashing Mik
I bet it looks better in real life than it does in the photos. Flash photos magnify all the blemishes - which is why I always set my camera to low resolution and switch off the flash.

 

[Mik]

It looks OK, a bit rough and raggedy in places.... many of which will be painted to look like rust and paint scale, the rest like sheetmetal dings and a few simply covered with clutter.... At some point I usually get bored goofy with sanding and decide the finish is 'good enuff'

As for the flash, it was in the wee hours... turn the flash off and I'd get a rather nice pic of a lump of coal inside an old boot

 

[Mik]

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.....

 

[Mik]

Maiden run, complete with freeloading stowaways...

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.

 

[C&S]

When you cut away the original side frames it reminded me of something. This.........

 

[Mik]

I thought about doing it that way. Then I did it the other because I'd have had to make new side plates and lazy won.