Killawarra: 8206

Hi Guy's

I have been working on an On Track Models 82 class for myself. It is a pretty nice model and has some good detail. I guess on thing that I like about it, is that the detail is made strong enough that is won't break off that easy. There is some area's that I have sort to improve to make the model my own. As with any model I look at ways to detail and correct anything that I don't think is right.

This is a shot of the model as it stands atm. I am going to re-visit this 82 at a later date where I will detail the frame and bogies. At this stage I haven't done any work on this area other than a bit of a weathering. I have just realised that I never took a shot of this 82 class straight out of the box, but I have plenty of shots of the work in progress.

One of the first things I noticed on the model was the grill that covers the Dynamic Brake Intake. There is a brass Etch in place that covers a white Panel. This area is see through on the Prototype, So I investigated what can be done to improve this.

This shot taken by Graham Baker that shows this area. This shows a modification that was done to 82's around 1996 to baffle the sound from the Dynamic Brake with some large Louvers added. As my 82 is to represent an 82 as delivered I have modelled it without the Baffle.

This shows the process of cutting out the opening. There is no frame of the model behind this area which is good but I guess this not being done on the original model would come down to cost. There is one body screw that passes through this area which is really need to hold things together. This can be seen on the other side.

With the brass etch grills back in place

I made the dynamic intake area up with Styrene to simulate the area behind the grills

It does make a nice improvement to the model.

The other area I looked at was the main radiators. I didn't like what was used behind the grills so I replaced it was the casting that I had from a Bakers 82 class kit that I had. I didn't take a shot of the original but this looks much improved.

This is the model as it stands with these two mods. in place. I also placed a couple of bits of styrene inside the Vestible Area's to push the wiring down so that it could no be seen through the door windows.

The only other area I have looked at detailing was the pilots. The air hoses don't look that great so I have replaced them with brass ones. I have also added a bit of styrene to each side of the coupler as the model doesn't look quite right in the area.

I find that the easiest way to add details like this is to use longer pieces of styrene and glue them in place. Once stuck, just use a real sharp razer blade to remove what you don't want.

Here is a shot of the prototype. If I need to remove the coupler at a later date I will need to remove the styrene but I usually don't have any trouble with Kadee 58 couplers.

With these modifications done, it was just a case of weathering the model and placing it in service. I have given it a light weathering so most of the work has been done around the bogies and frame of the loco. One thing that makes it is the painting of the coupler yellow to suit the pilot. I have also weathered little details around the hand rails that usually get missed in the cleaning process.

This shows the detail that stands out around the handrails. It also shows the screw behind the grill. It is needed to hold things together. Also the styrene in the Vestible Area can be seen through the window. I can live with the screw as unless you are really looking for it, it is hard to see. When I re-visit this loco I am going to look at replacing the air line detail on the bogies with brass wire. As part of my weathering process I like to darken all the shadow details with washes of Floquil Engine Black. These are the areas around the springs, wheel journals and any little holes or areas where light doesn't get in.