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California Steve
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Well It’s only been a year!…………

November 21, 2015 · in Uncategorized · · 15 · 1.2K

Since I received this fine model from Martin. This was from one of our contests. So, here is what I have done.

Lengthened the rail bed by one third.

Scratch built a basic interior. I searched but could not find any interior photos. So this was a basic guess

Added the breach mechanism from a artillery gun.

Split and opened the turret side doors.

Now... here is where the fun begins.

I found (at enormous expense), about forty dollars, a lighting effect that emulates a welding torch. There are two light elements, a circuit board, to a nine volt battery.

One pulsates blue and the other gives out a white flash at random. I have tried to show this in a couple of photos. Still only half finished with this . Wait till you see the finished product in about a month. Thanks for looking I hope you like her so far!

California Steve

Reader reactions:
3  Awesome

15 additional images. Click to enlarge.


15 responses

  1. So...the 'crew' is inside that thing making repairs...? Your dios are always "outta the box"-type thinking, Steve. Looking really good so far. Love it!

  2. Thanks Craig, I am having some fun with this. Here is the plan.
    Except for the welder and a mechanic, the crew will be outside the tank,
    along with all of the ammunition boxes. There will be a repair vehicle on the access road with it's crew. Wait to you see the vehicle I have chosen as the repair truck. Thanks again.
    California Steve

  3. Oh yeah...put the ammunition OUTSIDE while welding - good idea. 🙁

  4. Outside is right. On U-Tube there is a cool bunch of videos of guys restoring WWII tanks. In one of the sessions the welder hit a live round in a stripped tank with his torch. Well after it went bang, ping, ping, he wasn't hit. Very lucky guy. The round was wedged way down in the torsion tubes.
    Steve

  5. Steve, love the idea that some poor devil is inside, welding away, whilst his companions are outside, taking five. Whole new take to working on the railroad, or reichsbahn. Probably some folks who have no idea that trains were run by the various militaries, particularly armored trains.
    Is this a self-propelled car, or one of a lashup? Looks like if the Daleks had their own railroad.

  6. Hello Bernard, these were self propelled. You can spot the two mufflers in the front. When lashed up to a locomotive they were in neutral and were pushed or pulled.
    California Steve

    • Thanks, Steve! I wasn't sure, I've been interested in these since I saw some in an English modeling magazine years ago. I come by it honest, as most of my relatives worked on the B & O at some point, way back when.
      And either s/p or pulled! Versatility, other than being dependent on trackage.

  7. Bernard, these never left the track. I would imagine a few well placed rocks on the tracks could stop these.
    Steve

  8. Very cool! Can't wait to see the completed diorama. Great creative work Steve.

  9. Hi Steve, good to see another posting from you. I've seen the welding effects on some model railway layouts at various exhibitions in the UK, didn't think they were that expensive though...

  10. Well it is good to hear from you George. Great question about the welding effect. I purchased a HO scale effect that had three L.E.D. bulbs for about ten dollars and these would work well on a small scale layout inside a repair shop. But this one is a monster!. Two very different looking bulbs. One is blue and it slowly pulsates giving the effect of the flame. The other is white and really Pops at different intervals giving the effect of sparks flying. I couldn't resist spending a few extra dollars for these results. I made a phone video. Is there any way I could send it to you? I know you are far away and have limited access. Let me know.

    California Steve

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