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When fellow Forumite @ryoung3 read about the 55ft McKeen set that I built up this past summer, he contacted me with a special project: to build up a 72ft McKeen Car based on the Nevada Railroad Museum's Virginia and Truckee #22. After a solid month of work, it's finally done!

IMG_20241025_120303409

This project started off with a donor frame. My 72ft McKeen car kit is designed to use the MTH Railking Doodlebug frame. This particular frame has MTH's early 5V Protosounds 2.0 system, which is a little taller than the ERR TMCC or Protosounds 1.0 boards that I used in my 72ft Cuyamaca build.

000 railking doodlebug donor chassis with ps2 5v

I typically make the truck and frame parts from black ABS filament, but since the prototype has most of the undercarriage parts painted in olive green, the first stop was the paint booth to fix the color.

001 painting frame parts olive green

With the new truck sideframes, underframe part and the pilot all painted and mounted, the next step was to test run the chassis before I started modifying it. The stock PS2 electronics were in perfect working order.

002 chassis test

Unfortunately, the 5V PS2 boardstack is a little too tall to fit into the McKeen body! I proposed several modifications to improve clearance. The first step was to replace the big tall 9V rechargable battery with a compact BCR.

004 bcr upgrade

I could make a little more room by moving the speaker into the rear of the model. I cut up and extended the harness accordingly. This allowed me to lower the PS2 boards by carefully rebending the heatsink.

005 lowering ps2 boardstack and moving speaker

That just about did the job for vertical clearance!

006 preliminary test fit body

To better mount the speaker, I redesigned the stern section of the kit to add a little shelf that would hold it in place. I also added mounting points for backup LEDs-- more on those later.

007 designing new rear section to support speaker

With the new kit section printed, it was time to begin assembly. I started by gluing in all the roof vents. The kit has little holes in the roof that need to be carefully resized with a drill so that the vent pieces can be slid in. I used the frame and some rubber bands to closely align each section while I glued them together.

008 gluing roof hatches and body sections

Before gluing the body sections, I tapped all of the screw threads for #6-32 machine screws and did a test run with the body screwed in. I found that I had to trim the stems on a few of the roof vents that were touching the top of the motor flywheels, but after that minor adjustment, the fit was just right.

009 track test for internal fitment

After gluing the model together, I began filling all of the body sections. To improve upon my previous McKeen build, I decided to try using Bondo Spot Filler. I was very pleased working with this material-- easy to apply, smooth and sand. It took three or four sections to smooth things properly.

010 bondo spot filler for body seams

I happened to have a Virginia and Truckee McKeen passenger trailer partially built from a project several years ago, which I had offered to throw in on the project. While I had the tube of Bondo out, I got to work redoing the passenger trailer as well.

IMG_20241012_101625554

With the body filler cured, I was ready to paint the dark brown primary coat.

011 basecoat kona brown

I don't think there are many Virginia and Truckee decals out on the market, so I designed and made up my own waterslide decals. I did a test print on regular copy paper to make sure that the stripes and lettering were sized appropriately.

012 designing custom decals and pinstripes

With the base coat applied, it was time to tape off the roofline.

013 taping off body for roof paint

Here's the roofline after painting.

014 fully painted mckeen car body

I used the exact same process to paint the trailer also.

IMG_20241014_145625041

After paint it was time to start applying my homemade decals. Although I am fond of how pinstripes look on locomotives, I also remembered how much of a pain they are to apply! It was something of a trial and error process.

015 applying custom decals

While the decals were drying, I got to work on adding a few more features to the chassis. I rigged up the headlight to the appropriate pins on the PS2 board.

016 new headlight

I had been sent some of the parts scavenged from the donor Doodlebug, including a harness with the old marker lights. I added those in as a nifty set of backup lights. I did have to rewire them with a different resistor to get the brightness satisfactory.

017 tailights

After sealing the decals with some matte clear, I glued in handrails along the passenger and driver doors.

018 clearcoat and handrails

After glazing the windows with strips of clear plastic secured with foil tape, it was finally time for assembly. I very carefully tucked and bundled all of the wire harnesses in. I'm not a big fan of zip ties since they tend to pinch small gauge wires and are a PITA to remove if you ever need to move them. I save the little twist ties that I get off of rolls and pastries at my local bakery and use those instead. They don't damage the wires and are very easy to move or adjust where necessary.

019 packing up the wiring

Finally the set was ready for the track!

020 finished VnT McKeen with trailer

Here's a view from a sweeping O72 curve on my layout.

021 finished VnT McKeen set from side

Here is the finished set undergoing trials before it goes on to its new home. I just received word that the set has safely arrived and will soon be the star of @ryoung3 's Christmas layout.

Thanks for reading along on my latest build adventure!

Attachments

Images (24)
  • IMG_20241025_120303409
  • 000 railking doodlebug donor chassis with ps2 5v
  • 001 painting frame parts olive green
  • 002 chassis test
  • 004 bcr upgrade
  • 005 lowering ps2 boardstack and moving speaker
  • 006 preliminary test fit body
  • 007 designing new rear section to support speaker
  • 008 gluing roof hatches and body sections
  • 009 track test for internal fitment
  • 010 bondo spot filler for body seams
  • 011 basecoat kona brown
  • 012 designing custom decals and pinstripes
  • 013 taping off body for roof paint
  • 014 fully painted mckeen car body
  • 015 applying custom decals
  • 016 new headlight
  • 017 tailights
  • 018 clearcoat and handrails
  • 019 packing up the wiring
  • 020 finished VnT McKeen with trailer
  • 021 finished VnT McKeen set from side
  • IMG_20241012_101625554
  • IMG_20241014_145625041
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Thanks so much for the info and video and pictures of your kit being assembled. It could not have come at a better time. I recently got another gas-electric, so now I can eventually work on mine. It does not have any sounds other than the horn so hopefully I will be OK.  I do know the parts were somewhat rough so I hope I can clean them up to work. I also could use some feedback as to how to smooth out the sides for painting. Thanks so much to all. Hope to get some feedback per my questions.



Jeff

Ken, Absolutely Outstanding ! This needs to go into the Print version of OGR. I never cease to be amazed at the talent on the forum. I stopped scratch building a while ago when I became too shaky to make perfectly aligned details. Windows in particular, and 3D printing solves that problem. It would be great if you wrote a series of articles for OGR on 3D printing and the associated CAD.                            j

I do know the parts were somewhat rough so I hope I can clean them up to work. I also could use some feedback as to how to smooth out the sides for painting.

If I correctly recall, you have one of the older FDM printed kits. The older kits are a bit sturdier and easier to assemble (only 2 body seams instead of 4), but they are less detailed and have a rougher finish. Here's what you can try to clean them up:

1. Use a filler putty like Bondo Spot Filler to plug large holes and seams. Apply small amounts, sand down and reapply-- the material will shrink as it dries. It took 3 or 4 layers of filler to get a satisfactory result.

2. Sand rough spots and heavy layer lines down with sandpaper. I found that 220 grit worked equally well on the filler and the ABS plastic body itself. Take care that you don't split along the "grain" of the parts, but otherwise the FDM parts should hold up to whatever sanding you want to do.

3. Use a primer-paint aerosol like Rustoleum 2x, which will help to fill in minor surface anomalies. The first coat of paint will reveal all the places that aren't filled to your satisfaction, so be prepared to fill and sand again after the first coat of paint.

4. If that's not satisfactory, you could upgrade to a resin bodied kit. Send me an email and we can arrange a "trade in".

Here's a photo of the bodies from this project during decal application, the passenger trailer in the foreground is a reworked FDM printed kit that would have had a similar roughness to yours (there were some major print anomalies when I started). I filled in the holes and gaps on the FDM printed trailer and they sanded down very nicely. I found that several layers of paint covered the layer lines on the roof to my satisfaction, but you could go further on your kit with some extra sanding if you so choose.

mckeen car and trailer after paint

@ncdave posted:

FD89DCEB-8879-44EB-A07F-972A37BB55C0

Thanks for posting these photos of the prototype. I appreciate the closeup of the builder's plate, that would make for a cool decal on a future build. Is this located under the driver's door?

Et all: Thanks everyone for the kind words! I appreciate your support as I develop my skills as a model builder.

Attachments

Images (1)
  • mckeen car and trailer after paint

When fellow Forumite @ryoung3 read about the 55ft McKeen set that I built up this past summer, he contacted me with a special project: to build up a 72ft McKeen Car based on the Nevada Railroad Museum's Virginia and Truckee #22. After a solid month of work, it's finally done!Finally the set was ready for the track!

020 finished VnT McKeen with trailer

Here's a view from a sweeping O72 curve on my layout.

021 finished VnT McKeen set from side

Here is the finished set undergoing trials before it goes on to its new home. I just received word that the set has safely arrived and will soon be the star of @ryoung3 's Christmas layout.

Thankms for reading along on my latest build adventure!m

@ncdave posted:

Ken I just visited the Nevada Railroad Museum in early October and was surprised to see a McKeen car there. So when I saw your post I was intrigued. I think your model compares very well with real one. Here’s a couple of photos.

669E2AF3-2D44-4D7C-AD42-57B5C14E6112D3575B61-60EF-4F04-A6D2-CC890FAF1BA4

AWSOME Ken. 🤓

Ken,

Yes, the builders plate is located under the driver’s door. Between the bottom of the door and the latter. I wished I had taken pictures of the motor car’s interior. The rear seats especially. It was curved so it had that cool kids sat in back of the bus vibe to it. Here’s a picture looking forward over the engine to the drivers position and one of the engine. I hope it was covered during operation.
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IMG_1565

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Images (2)
  • IMG_1565
  • IMG_1552

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