Model Train Journal

Last summer I picked up another Grabowski PRR N5c. This is my third. The first two were factory built versions. This third one is an untouched kit. I debated quite awhile on whether I would try to attempt the build. Ahhhh, what the heck, so I started it. I'm not good at soldering at all. If I mess it up, well, I mess it up. The kit included no step by step instructions but having an already built one present will come in handy. I figured I'd start with the roof and sides. Here are a few photos of the roof section and the installationof the port hole window frames on the sides and ends as well as the doors and rivet belt. Not too pretty currently but I'm sure it'll clean up and a trip to the grit blasting booth eventually will make things more presentable. Tomorrow back at it.

Finally! Someone building a model....



Looks great and having a finished one as reference should make this build a lot easier than w/o it and w/o instructions.

Neat kit! Nice job so far too. My stumbling point on these PRR cabooses like N5's in general is getting all the end railings and those "crash girders" soldiered together and mounted. Please keep us updated.

More in progress photos of the N5c build. Car body sub assemblies were put together. Was able to use a small block of wood inside the corners to help keep things square while trying to solder the ends to the sides. Luckily the seam done first didn't fall apart when the second seam was soldered. I guess I was quick enough with the resistance soldering probe to not allow that to happen. Whew! Once those 4 corners were together I soldered the rivet belts onto the sides. Quite easy as the process allows solder from the inside of the car to be applied to the backside of the rivet belt by means of those pre drilled holes along the length. Then the angles inside on the lower sides to hold the underbody were attached. That all lined up great and the factory prebuilt floor was test fit. Looked fine. So then I went to the ends. First I soldered the porch platform brackets to the inside of the ends. Thin gauge brass so again that was relatively easy. Then came the porch floors. Those are heavier cast pieces and I was sure it was going to be trouble soldering it to the thin brass supports. Surprisingly the heat was quick enough to get good bond onto the 2 brackets without breaking their bond to the car body. Then the easy job soldering the brass "wood" decking onto the end platform was done. That's where things stand in this batch of photos. Back at it tomorrow.

Impressive work. Thanks for sharing it with us. I have a brass caboose I hope to finish soon myself, but I've been busy and started back up an old hobby (or distraction) from when I was a kid - competitive Pokemon TCG.

Another marathon work session resulted in the roof attachment and the build up of the end detailing. After a little file work on the end tops the roof sit down in place very well. A few quick hits with the soldering probe anchored it temporarily and then I went back and made more permanent solder seams. Again without destroying any previous work. The end detailing which consisted of cast ladders, brass collision post channel and brass angle for the other side either fit perfectly with only little filing needed, no filing needed and for the angles, they were cut and filed to fit. The collision posts fit into a formed brass piece that was previously soldered to the underside of the roof allowing proper placement. The brake stand anchoring was the most tedious. The deck needed heated enough to get the solder to flow and anchor the stand. The ladder broke free once due to too much heat nearby but I eventually got everything anchored. Then the horizontal bars were soldered on. I then continued on the forming the porch hand railings and the side curved grab rails. Each hand curved to fit, soldered on the inside and the third leg measured, cut and soldered in place as well. And lastly the air hoses were soldered in place. Tonight or tomorrow I'll attach the coupler cut off levers and chain and then run it through the blasting booth to clean the N5c up to see what it looks like. We'll then see if any improvementsneed done prior to progressing forward. More tomorrow.

It looks about as neat as possible from the soldering and everything else including the railings.

Yes. Very nice! That looks like an excellent kit. Too bad the market is so thin for such fine products.

Building a kit like that is a giant step toward brass scratch building.

Thanks, guys. It's really starting to look what I wanted (hoped) it would. Last night I did the cut levers and lift chains on both ends. I then looked the whole thing over making sure all the soldering was strong and then decided it was time to run it through the blasting booth. Took some additional photo progress and this morning washed it all down and gave it a light grey primer. I'm very satisfied with the looks. I am changing one thing. Kinda late in the game but that slanted H chimney needs changed. That H chimney stack is for an oil burning stove that was installed in the early 1950's. My Cabin is going to be dated to 1949 so a simple sheet metal curved top chimney top needs to be put on to represent a coal stove equipped N5c. I'll do that later today. Tomorrow maybe I can start the painting. Buff interior, freight car color body, black roof and maybe the cupola sides, (may leave them freight car color), and yellow grab irons where needed. I'm waiting for the proper trucks to arrive as well. Here are the latest views.

Simply beautiful!

Dan Weinhold

Thanks for posting all the photos. I am sure I am not the only one that likes to look at fine work.

Jim

Models always look better in primer, even if sometimes they show off surface imperfections.

I don't model PRR, so questions:
1. Did PRR really attach chains to the cutlevers? Looks like there is no leverage against the lever. I feel like I've seen them attached to airhoses before, but not cutlevers.
2. What did you use to clean the flux off the brass? Just soap/water?
3. What primer did you use on the brass?

Will be interesting to see how you do the stack swap post-primer. Hopefully you don't have to repaint the whole thing again.

DaveJfr0 wrote:Models always look better in primer, even if sometimes they show off surface imperfections.

1. Did PRR really attach chains to the cutlevers? Looks like there is no leverage against the lever. I feel like I've seen them attached to airhoses before, but not cutlevers.

Betting that was done to get primer on the chain (stretch it out).

Rich

This update from work done yesterday, last night and earlier today. I first sprayed the interior my mix of buff, it's a medium tan color, to replicate that used inside PRR Cabin Cars. After that was dried I placed blue painters tape on the inside of all door and window openings to avoid over spray going inside. I then sprayed the car my mix of PRR Freight Car Color. Mostly Poly Scale Zinc Chromate with a bit of red and orange added. It'll get weathered later so perfect shade isn't that important. Looking back at photos of the particular N5c I want to model, the 477974, I see in 1956 it had the cupola painted entirely black. So I'm moving my date preference up to that, from the 1949 I had in mind. I masked of the car body so I could spray the roof a mix of Black and Dark Green Locomotive Enamel (Brunswick Green). Again, it'll get weathered to a faded black later but the green gets rid of the pitch black color to start, kinda. The yellow safety colors were applied to the grabs after a coat of white was applied first. Brighter yellow results doing it that way. After all that was dry, ya gotta love acrylics, I was about to give the model a coat of Future Floor Wax. But I remember I wanted to use a set of Komar dry transfers, so I left it a dull. I rarely use transfers but the no decal film is a plus. You only get one shot at applying them so I made sure they were positioned properly before burnishing them down. Worked pretty good and I was OK with the results. Then I sprayed the cabin with the future floor wax to protect everything already completed. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention. I was able to desolder the chimney from the roof and cut the "H" away and soldered a simple curved cap in its place. After it was finished I was able to quickly attach it back to the cupola roof. All this of course before the finish paint was applied. Photos as where it stands now.


I wasn't planning on doing much with the Grabowski assembled underbody. Then I decided since the trucks are still enroute, yeah, I'll mess with that tomorrow and add some basic pipe, rods and levers like I did on my other Grabowski N5c.

David, I'm assuming the PRR attached the chains to the cut levers to make it safer to cut off on the fly. To clean the Flux I used Greased Lightning, Dawn Dish Soap and water. Then the trip into the blasting booth and another round of wash up prior to painting. Not sure of this particular primer as it was in a secondary storage bottle. Could be Vellajo, Testors or ? And yes, back to the cut off levers chain. It should be attached to a flat bar that was welded to the cut levers. I skipped that on this one for now. May go back at some point and do it more correctly.

Here is the real 477974 in 1956.

Thanks for the responses. Came out really nice, especially the transfers.