This project is nearing completion and I thought I'd post an update pending receipt of the finished models later this month.
There's an earlier thread in which I mentioned this, which you can see here: https://ogrforum.com/t...-water-tender?page=1. A number of people have expressed interest in having the same or similar models.
Both MTH and Lionel have recently cataloged UP water tenders sporting Old Glory and the MTH versions have the Jim Adams and Joe Jordan lettering as well - but none of them reflect the modified UP AWTs that actually have those names and are used in UP's steam excursion runs. It was those two tenders I wanted to duplicate. They've been done in N, HO and larger scale but not in three rail O.
The designer/supplier of the tender shells is James Norris and you can see his own description of the project here:http://jamestrainparts.wordpress.com
(Scroll down the home page until you get to his entries for December 15th and 8th, the latter being entitled "'O' What a Big Tender!").
As you will see, my pair are to be mounted on stock Lionel AWT chassis and trucks that I sourced from Lionel replacement parts. I think that using a stamped metal frame for a chassis is probably essential because the plastic used for 3D printing isn't thought to be up to the task of pulling any great weight behind the tender, such as a passenger car consist.
In other respects I refer to James' own description of his efforts. While he is based in the UK the shells are actually printed in New York. That might suggest that people would - unlike me - want to finish them themselves but better read about the necessary steps James describes first.
Here's a couple of photos of what the shells looked like before finishing started:
Here's a few that are more recent, including after the painting was started:
I don't necessarily expect the detail to be as pin-sharp as it is on the Lionel and MTH die cast versions but neither manufacturer seems likely to make new tooling to model the present-day UP AWTs as opposed to in effect recycling existing tooling with new paint. Lionel has already done this once with their Legacy AWTs.
For anyone who's interested, here's a nice photo/video presentation on functioning 1/32 scale versions of these tenders, which are used behind some live steam UP models (the video is linked at the bottom of the page): http://www.asterhobbyusa.com/U...ter%20tank%20car.htm
For reference here's a couple photos of the tenders as built for service and one that compares the size of the O scale model to James' previous HO and N versions:
