Look over the Bill of Materials. Gather as many of the items as you can. Then set aside the equivalent of one day, remove yourself from all distractions, pour a glass of your favorite drink, and prepare to have fun.

THE BOILER

Begin by assembling the boiler. Hot glue the "chimney" (an ear examination funnel from the doctor's office) to a toothpaste cap and the cap to the top of a beer or soft drink can. Then use a Dremel tool to cut three slots where you want the firebox door. Two cuts should be horizontal; one should be vertical. Cut carefully so you avoid going too far.

Use a screwdriver or knife blade to pry open the resulting "door", drill a small hole in the open end, and insert an Ozark Miniatures OM-07-A nut-bolt casting. Glue the casting in place. It will serve as a handle. You may fashion a hinge from a round toothpick. Cut a section to length and cement it along the crease where the "door" joins the "boiler". The photos will show what to do.

You may now add the coil to the front of the boiler. It is a spring from a ballpoint pen. A length of solid core electrical wire runs through it. Bend each end of the electrical wire 90-degrees, drill matching holes in the can, insert the bent ends into the holes, and glue in place.

Mount Ozark Miniatures OL-812-3 shackles and braces to the toothpaste cap above and in front of the boiler. Since that essentially completes the boiler assembly, paint it and set it aside.

THE SLED

The sled is amazingly simple to build. I always pre-cut and stain the wood parts before I assemble them; it is much easier and faster. Stain may be nothing more than a few drops of India ink in a bottle of rubbing alcohol. The lumber is a combination of popsicle sticks and stripwood. Here is what you'll need (but it would be a good idea to cut a little extra): 17 ea. wooden popsicle sticks (or 1/16- x 3/8- x 4 inch wood strips) 4 ea. 11 x 3/8- x 1/4-inch wood strips 3 ea. 3 x 3/8- x 1/4-inch wood strips 5 ea. 2 1/4 x 3/8- x 1/4-inch wood strips That will build up into the basic runners (or "skids"), framework, and floor. Glue two 11 inch strips back-to-back. That forms one skid, so glue together the other pair, too. Cut the ends at the angle in the side view. Then glue the five 2 1/4 x 3/8- x 1/4-inch pieces between the skids. That forms the framework. Refer to the photo showing the underside of the frame. Glue the popsicle sticks to the top of the skids. Begin 5 1/2 inches from the front of the skids and be sure the overhang on each side is equal. That forms the floor. Then glue the three 3 x 3/8- x 1/4-inch timbers across the top of the sled (at the front). The first should be 1/2-inch from the front, the second 2 1/2 inches from the front, and the third 4 inches from the front.

THE PULLEY

Make the two saddles for holding the pulley/axle assembly to the sled by gluing together a pair of 1/4- x 1 1/2 inch pieces of wood. I trimmed the corners off the top pieces.

Make the pulley/axle assembly from the axle of a freight car truck. Remove one wheel from the axle, turn it backwards, and push it back onto the other wheel. Leave the long part of the axle sticking out to act as the shaft.

Drill a hole through each wooden saddle of the same diameter as the plastic hub on the wheel assembly. Slide one saddle on each side of the wheels. Place the entire assembly on the sled, glue the saddles to the underframe braces, and be sure the wheels can spin freely between the saddles.

ADDING THE BOILER

Make the four angle braces holding the boiler to the floor. First glue together three 1/4- x 3/8-inch blocks of wood, then cut them at about a 45-degree angle. Refer to the photos. Center the boiler on its platform and glue the four braces to the floor around it. Avoid gluing the braces to the boiler or the boiler to the floor. That way you may remove the boiler if you want.

If you have decided against building the small gantry and rigger blocks, you are nearly finished. The remaining pieces are detail parts of your choosing, such as nuts, bolts, rope, and "clutter".

FOR THE BRAVE BEGINNER OR INTERMEDIATE MODELER

If you do plan to include the gantry and want it to swivel, here is what to do next:

Find about 15 inches of 5/32-inch square brass tubing and about 3 inches of 5/32-inch diameter round brass tubing. Be sure the round tubing fits inside the square tubing. Solder a small washer onto the tubing as in the close-up photo. It will serve as a base plate. Slide the round tubing into the square tubing, mark a spot on the floor, and drill a 5/32-inch diameter hole into the floor and the wood base. The round inner tubing should swivel in the hole. That will allow the completed gantry to turn.

Cut the square tubing to form the gantry and solder the together parts. The entire gantry should now swivel in its hole. Mount the rigger blocks to the gantry as follows: Cut three small pieces of sheet metal or tin from a "tin" can. Drill a small hole in one end of each. A wire hook will fit through it. The hook will, in turn, attach the pulley or block. Form the hook by bending a piece of wire into an "S" shape, glue or solder the block to the gantry, then hook it to the bracket.

Mount the hand crank and spool assembly to a sheet metal bracket and to a piece of the 5/32-inch round tubing you used for the swivel mount on the gantry. Drill a 5/32-inch hole through a piece of dowel or a twig, push the tubing through the hole, then through the bracket. Run some string through the hook, the pulleys, and around the wood spool. That completes the gantry.

STAINING AND WEATHERING

Touch up any remaining areas with stain, paint the metal parts or chemically stain them with Hobby Black, and add whatever junk, clutter, or details you want. For additional weathering, drip old, used motor oil onto the bearing areas. Then sprinkle some dirt from the backyard onto the wood. Place the boiler between the four saddle braces you mounted on the decking, fasten it down with some chain from Ozark Miniatures or Shortline Car & Foundry, step back, and admire your work. The model is finished.

NOTES

I built a smaller unit just as I did the one I described above except I used a plastic shampoo bottle for the boiler and left off the gantry. Ashes on the boiler are real cigar ashes.

Some scale modelers will probably recoil at this project. But before they complain I want to point out my model is for hobbyists on a limited budget, artistic types with a desire to create something from almost nothing, or people looking for an interesting conversation piece for their layout or mantle. And the best thing about such models? You may always buy more toothpaste or another can of something to drink and build another one!

BILL OF MATERIALS

Ear examination funnel (from doctor's office)
Aluminum window screen
Top from toothpaste pumper (mine is Ultrabrite)
Aluminum soft drink or beer can
Ozark Miniatures OL-812-3 shackles and chain
Ballpoint pen spring and bent wire for boiler coil
Sardine can for metal tub at rear of boiler
5/32-inch square and round brass tubing for gantry
Ozark Miniatures OL-812-6 "rigger blocks"
Ozark Miniatures OM-57-3 hook and ball
Freight car wheel and axle set for large pulley and shaft
Twine for rope (stain it brown)
Tandy leather working brass bushing grommets
Ozark Miniatures OM-07-A nut-bolt castings
Wood popsicle sticks for floor decking
1/4- x 3/8-inch wood strip for runners and framework
Scrap sheet metal for runner shackles and gantry spool brackets
Paint (Floquil Grimy Black, Rust, Rail Brown)
Stain (any household brown wood stain)

TOOLS

Airbrush
X-acto knife
Hot glue gun
Tweezers
Needlenose pliers
Soldering gun
Dremel Motor Tool with fiber or carborundum cutoff wheel
Cyanoacrylate (CA) glue (Zap-A-Gap or equivalent)
Small ruler or machinist's pocket scale rule
Razor saw
Pin vise (for small drill bits)