GrantMundy
Registered
After looking for a USRA 0-6-0 and not having much luck and then not having much interest in the PIKO 0-6-0 tender loco I decided that my first kit bash attempt could be with a Bachman 4-6-0 (have a few and quite a few pieces of them sitting around spare!)
I had a new complete chassis sitting around, so I thought I would start with that to get the fundamental mechanics correct
Stripped the chassis to bare plastics and re-tapped the connecting rod link studs with an M3 tap to ensure there was thread all the way though
After this I measured and cut the lugs from the center wheels down to the length of the front and rear drive wheels on the loco, the section I removed I fitted onto the rear drive wheels with 2 small shin washers to compensate for the cut from the dremel
The next challenge was the original valve gear from the old chassis. I wanted to incorporate all of that back into the model. admittedly this was a challenge, as the positioning of the valve gear had to be near as identical to the original as possible. It started with a lot of trimming to get the valve gear roughly in the right place. Which was achieved roughly to give a good guide
Once I had a rough idea I started by cutting the top and front area off of the original chassis. This then let me mount the valve gear properly and let me mount the piston assemblies onto the front of the chassis
It was a tight squeeze with the original valve gear, so some internal trimming was required! I had to trim the inside of the pistons to get clearance for the drive rods. Wasn’t ideal however I was going for a certain look.
i also had to trim the bracketey off the valve guides however i don’t believe that it will affect the strength once it is finished and re braced though.
Once valve gear was fitted, I trimmed the front of the chassis off and started cutting the body. I cut it at the start of the parallel top line of the boiler. Once trimmed it took out one of the domes, which I will reincorporate later. I finished off with a bit more trimming of the front and by gluing the two body half's together. Think it’s not a bad first day. I’ve got a picture next to another Bachman big hauler to compare lengths.
Be gentle, it’s my first attempt at a kit bash!
I had a new complete chassis sitting around, so I thought I would start with that to get the fundamental mechanics correct
Stripped the chassis to bare plastics and re-tapped the connecting rod link studs with an M3 tap to ensure there was thread all the way though
After this I measured and cut the lugs from the center wheels down to the length of the front and rear drive wheels on the loco, the section I removed I fitted onto the rear drive wheels with 2 small shin washers to compensate for the cut from the dremel
The next challenge was the original valve gear from the old chassis. I wanted to incorporate all of that back into the model. admittedly this was a challenge, as the positioning of the valve gear had to be near as identical to the original as possible. It started with a lot of trimming to get the valve gear roughly in the right place. Which was achieved roughly to give a good guide
Once I had a rough idea I started by cutting the top and front area off of the original chassis. This then let me mount the valve gear properly and let me mount the piston assemblies onto the front of the chassis
It was a tight squeeze with the original valve gear, so some internal trimming was required! I had to trim the inside of the pistons to get clearance for the drive rods. Wasn’t ideal however I was going for a certain look.
i also had to trim the bracketey off the valve guides however i don’t believe that it will affect the strength once it is finished and re braced though.
Once valve gear was fitted, I trimmed the front of the chassis off and started cutting the body. I cut it at the start of the parallel top line of the boiler. Once trimmed it took out one of the domes, which I will reincorporate later. I finished off with a bit more trimming of the front and by gluing the two body half's together. Think it’s not a bad first day. I’ve got a picture next to another Bachman big hauler to compare lengths.
Be gentle, it’s my first attempt at a kit bash!
