Lionel y6b to y6a conversion

I’m still waiting on my new bell from PSC 

A few more changes and a test fit. Fresh scalecoat paint won’t be here until Saturday. Then it’s on to the paint booth and into the oven. 

 Nice Job! My favorite and most enjoyable part of the hobby, Super-detailing specific locomotives and rolling stock.

   Keep the pics and progress coming

Al

Threw some paint on this evening. Scalecoat always looks good out of the oven. 

Nice work N&WSTEAMFAN. Also noticed your Harley key chain, cool!

You surely put the "Shinola" on that one!

Big Jim posted:

You surely put the "Shinola" on that one!

Hahah yeah scalecoat has that effect. Once the decals are on it will get toned down. 

It looks like its fresh out of the shop ( as it should).

One of the best threads I’ve read on this forum in years. Great job! Can’t wait to see the next entry😎

Tinkered around a little today 

Added rivet details to the brass piece. Probably not prototypical spacing but it’s eye appeal 

Modified the smoke unit unit and have it up and running again. Not quite finished 

Smoke unit modified. Tender stripped and repainted to match the engine. Not quite finished yet but it’s back together 

Looks like very nice smoke!

gunrunnerjohn posted:

Looks like very nice smoke!

Thanks John. I have your chuff generator to add as well!

That'll make it even better!

gunrunnerjohn posted:

That'll make it even better!

I hope so. It’ll be my first engine with it. Several years ago I used a reed switch and magnets on a Lionel scale J for the 4 chuff rate. I didn’t like how it sounded at higher speeds. It sounded like a machine gun. Your product seems to be a much better option. I’ll do this engine and if it goes how I think it will I have a few more engines to operate on. 

Awesome progress! Scalecoat is a great product. Hard for us up here in Canada to get due to government regulations.

  I have a couple of locos I am looking at modifying to different sub class's in my CPR roster.

Great to see how the modifications are coming along

Al

This thing looks fantastic. I can almost see this coming down the tracks by me shaking the earth as it comes by. Keep up the excellent work.

Thanks everyone. I’m actually more excited to get GRJs chuff generator installed. 4 chuffs per rev and dynamo steam will make this a unique model. 

Looks awesome!  I love the sheen on the paint - just the right amount of glossy.

On my quest to have an accurate O scale y6a I decided to photo etch some parts tonight. A more accurate smoke box, and a new rolled boiler. The boiler was a flat photo etched at home brass sheet that I made and then rolled into shape, unlike the Lionel boiler this engine will not have a sheathed smokebox. I also made a new feedwater box that was more accurate for the y6a. The box has the correct angle. I etched lines on one side so it was a simple matter of just bending the sides into place.

I’ll add rivet details and etch all the little detail pieces this weekend. 

The box was etched with thin lines one the back side so it bent easily into place  

A few more pieces scratch built this evening 

This is just fascinating to watch really.  

A few detail pieces added 

I’ve drawn a new boiler to be etched. Maybe that’ll get done this weekend 

This is a really cool project!

i am very interested in learning more about the tools and photo etch process you use in your home on these types of projects.  

Pictures of the process of producing the small part would be great!

thanks,

mike

New scratch built smoke stack in the works. Etched and rolled brass utilizing lionels original design and stack tip 

Smokestack 

Soldered together. The boiler front will be attached with a brass plate and screws. Now I need to make the flat bottom and get it soldered together 

It’s still a work in progress but it’s getting there. I still have to add more details to it and create more depth to the front rib. That piece needs to stick out further and have the edges filed down. I have a couple of ideas on how to do it

Chuff generator and super chuffer installed today. Very simple installation and great results. 

Here’s a running clip 

https://youtu.be/e9rei1j5yw8

Well, now - I can throw together a presentable bit of scratch bash on occasion - but this kind of work and skill is way beyond me. Really beautiful - and I like the fact that you wanted a Y6a rather than a Y6b. The visual differences between the two are real, but most would be just fine with the "b". These projects I think of as "long walks off short piers", as the work and research required is not reflected in the apparent changes to most eyes - but you can see it. That's really modeling for yourself. I just finished such a project. Not your level of workmanship, but I may post a short thread on it soon.

(Isn't it a shame that we dumb ol' 150 mph 3-railers don't know anything about operation, prototypes and modeling? Huh?)

D500 posted:

Well, now - I can throw together a presentable bit of scratch bash on occasion - but this kind of work and skill is way beyond me. Really beautiful - and I like the fact that you wanted a Y6a rather than a Y6b. The visual differences between the two are real, but most would be just fine with the "b". These projects I think of as "long walks off short piers", as the work and research required is not reflected in the apparent changes to most eyes - but you can see it. That's really modeling for yourself. I just finished such a project. Not your level of workmanship, but I may post a short thread on it soon.

(Isn't it a shame that we dumb ol' 150 mph 3-railers don't know anything about operation, prototypes and modeling? Huh?)

Thank you! 

I feel that a lot of people don’t really have a good understanding of how in-depth scrath building can be. I put in hours of research before I ever touch the model. It might not be for everyone but I am thankful to know there is someone else who appreciates how much work goes into a model like this.

Is it perfect? No, but it’s what I wanted and the time involved makes it worth it to me. The y6a is my absolute favorite engine of all time. I don’t consider myself to be anything but an average modeler, but I thank you for the nice compliment!