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OK, The model build. This has so many starting points it is difficult to know where to begin.

I think the first thing is a picture of a locomotive that just cried out to be built.

 
I saw this posted on another train forum and immediately printed it and sought more information. I found a couple more pictures but no information concerning it's location, owners, or usage. So into my someday file it went.

Not too much later the Annual Build Challenge was announced on Large Scale Centrals forum. I know this has been mentioned on these pages in the past but to bring everyone up to speed the annual Challenge is announced every January to forum members to help shake off the winter doldrums of not being able to work outdoors on your railroad.

In a nutshell a subject for the build is announced and you have 30 days to build it with a budget of 30 dollars and anything you have on hand to use. Napkin drawings must be presented and progress photos must be posted. In the end forum members vote on their favorite build and the winner gets bragging rites for a whole year   .

Last January the announcement was to build anything that rolled on rails. That beastly little loco immediately popped to mind. But could I build it in 30 days? Did I have the materials on hand to make it happen?
I started digging through scrap boxes and stored supplies and thought I might be able to pull it off.

So the build started. I won't bore you with all the details just throw in a few pictures and details to fill in the blanks.
The 10 wheeler Bachmann chassis I had on hand wasn't the perfectly correct wheel spacing but it is what I had on hand.
 

Cutting the cylinders and rods away changed the whole look of the chassis.


After the factory cast iron weight was removed enough 2 1/2 lb. lead sheet was distributed throughout the chassis to bring it back to within 2 ounces of factory weight for this locomotive. Believe me it wasn't easy getting it all in there.


Enough for tonight, more to come.
Thanks for taking a look.
Rick


   

Kim,
Nice looking scene.

You seem to have some talent for composition, design, and model building .... -- Russ

I love your phrase, "a recurring source of enjoyment." I've experienced that more than once. -- Russ

Beautiful ... of course. I'm glad to see more progress. -- Russ

In recent days, the milling machine has been active again and has produced another twenty wall sections for the Delvenau weir.


Delvenau_Wehr_37 (fspg2)


Delvenau_Wehr_38 (fspg2)


Delvenau_Wehr_39 (fspg2)



I also used 9.0 mm multiplex boards to build the frame boards for another segment between the old lift bridge and the harbor area. The Delvenau weir will be installed in this segment so that my light railway can serve both areas. In reality, however, no light railway ran over the Delvenau weir.

Delvenau_Wehr_35 (fspg2)


Delvenau_Wehr_36 (fspg2)



For testing purposes, an auxiliary board was mounted with screw clamps and the milled wall sections were loosely positioned.

Delvenau_Wehr_41 (fspg2)


Delvenau_Wehr_42 (fspg2)

Narayan,

thank you for this hint.

A short digression about professionalism, or so: Well, things don't always go according to plan before I achieve a presentable result.

On the upper floor of the building, I've planned rooms for different, more private uses. That's why there are a few different ceiling designs with wood panels and wainscoting. For example, in the bedroom:



These are approximately 0.5 mm thick veneer strips that I glued to the Forex (Sintra in the US) surfaces using Gudy 870 by Neschen. The pronounced grain isn't very important, as it will be barely noticeable later when viewed at a sharp angle through the windows. The panels are separated from each other by strips.



The planned dining room, intended as the most representative room, will have checkerboard-patterned paneling:



The hallway, on the other hand, will have large wooden panels. Note the trowel...



Here comes the "but": I made the components in my studio, which I rented at the end of last year. The humidity there is relatively high. When I took the pieces home, I learned the hard way that veneer is extremely prone to shrinkage. The meticulously cut pieces contracted significantly in the much drier air of my room. Even varnishing them with boat varnish in the humid indoor climate didn't help; I had to write them off as a total loss.



Ultimately, the ceiling panels were remade from varnished and wood-grain painted cardboard, which doesn't have these properties and remains dimensionally stable.



In the attic hallway, I experimented with green-stained wood:



I didn't like the rich color, though, and it seemed inappropriate for the period.



I wanted a pastel shade. And that's what I ended up with, although it's great fun to paint over stained wood with water-based paints. This leads to—how should I put it—a recurring source of enjoyment, as the stain keeps bleeding through.



Eventually, though, I did like it...



...and a few rough trim pieces were added to finish off the ceiling boards against the faded and bled wallpaper.



Cheers,
Volker

Now that has a lot of atmosphere!

Hey everybody .
At the business end of my workbench.
This full-page downloader is just the best
All the very best

Quote from: Hauk on November 25, 2025, 03:14:55 AM

Quote from: nk on November 24, 2025, 02:00:44 PMIn the museum community there is a great deal of work on this front as printed parts are used in natural history collections to replace lost bones, artists are using printed parts etc etc.

Searching the conservation literature gave me a list of 60+ articles on 3D printed parts. All this is to say museums/art galleries are looking into it seriously.

Very interesting! Are there anywhere articles of this kind can be read for free?

You can search for articles using AATA (Art and Archaeological Technical Abstracts) AATA Homepage Some of the journals listed are open source and some require a subscription. It is possible that your local library/university library can arrange for a copy of an article