January 2, 2008

I had 11 days off over Christmas! 
I used the time to start work on the new cab.

I had determined that the original On30 2-8-0 cab was simply too large.
mainly in width, but also slighty too large in length and height.
the only obvious solution was to scratchbuild an all new cab!
So I spent many hours carefully cutting and gluing bits of styrene:

Looking pretty good!
I have never scratchbuilt an entire cab before, so im pretty pleased with it so far.

I have built one "cab wall" before, for my 1/24 scale "Leviathan":

(which may NEVER be completed..6 years and counting, and still waiting for the drive unit.  )

But the one cab wall was quite a learning experience, and Fletch's masterclass has helped a lot with the building of this new On2 cab..so its all good!

or is it??

no, nothing wrong with the cab build, thats fine..but something else isnt quite right..hmmmm....

I have been using the "Crittenden" drawing of #23 for the project so far..
I mean no offense against Mr. Crittenden, whose many drawings are of great benefit to our hobby,
but there are several inaccuracies in the drawing that have started to give me problems.
Namely, the boiler size is not correct on both the side and front view..
I believe the actual dimensions listed are correct, but the drawing doesnt always match those
given dimensions.

So I was thinking about how to fit the oversized 2-8-0 boiler to the correctly scaled 1/48 cab, how the cab
windows relate to the boiler, (thats how I noticed the drawing was wrong),
when a thought occured to me..

The boiler and drivers from the 2-8-0 are slightly too large for #23 in 1/48 scale..I knew this all along, but was just going to "live with it"...but it will skew the proportions of the final model somewhat..
boiler and driver too large, with everything else more or less "scale"...hmmm..thats also going to effect the height of the boiler off the ground, and the boiler's relation to the front of the cab..

So since the boiler and drivers are slightly too large..what if I change the scale slightly until they are the right size?? (Scot makes some new calculations and measurements)...woah! If I change the scale from 1/48 to 1/44 suddenly everything falls into place SO much better! the drivers are the correct size, the boiler is MUCH closer, and even the original cab now fits! 

The only major problem with that idea is now the whole engine will be a bit too large..for correct 1/48 scale.
but how bad is it? will it be TOO large? will it be noticable?
and which would I rather have? a model in 1/48 scale with correct overall length and width, but other proportions out of whack..such as driver size, boiler diameter and boiler height..which might make the overall finished model look a bit "off"..

or..

a model of #23 where all the proportions match: cab, boiler, drivers, everything in correct size and proportion to everything else, but the overall mass of the model is a bit too large??

Need to whip up some new drawings:

But unless someone brings their brass Number 23 and sits it next to my larger Number 23, I highly doubt anyone will be able to notice the difference..

Here is the 1/48 scale cab wall on top of the original 2-8-0 cab..
the 2-8-0 cab would now fit the project in 1/44 scale..
the black metal cab represents how much "larger" the cab would be in 1/44 scale
compared to 1/48 scale:

hmmmm..I dont know, im still torn..
I dont like the extra size..but again, its a question of two choices if I want to use all these 2-8-0 bits:

1. Correct overall 1/48 scale dimensions..correct overall length, height and width..but with some incorrect individal componenents, primarily the boiler and drivers..which will skew the overall "look" of the model..
(actually..I probably couldnt get correct height with the boiler and drivers being too big)
or..
2. Model is in correct proportion..everything looks right together..but the overall size of the model is oversized.

And there are also two ways of thinking about the finished result if I went with the 1/44 scale idea:

1. "This is a model of No. 23 in 1/44 scale running on a 1/48 scale On2 layout"
or:
2. "This is a 1/48 scale model of No. 23 if it had been built as a slightly larger engine"! 

All the parts are still O-scale..everything should still look fine in a 1/48 scale world..
its just a bigger engine now..there was quite a variation in 2-footer loco size anyway...

Oh! the drawing...turns out I already have a VERY correct drawing of Number 23 in my collection!
An actual Baldwin builder's drawing in fact!
Its the Maine 2-foot Quarterly "2-foot Cyclopedia plan book"..not sure if its still available or not.
I can scale that to 1/44 and use it as my new working drawing..

still not sure if I want to go with the 1/44 idea..
but I probably will..
meanwhile, rivits are getting filed off the cab to convert it into a wood cab:

thoughts?
what would you do?
 

Update - February 2008.

After a lot of thought, and discussion on the forums, I have decieded to go with the "1/44 scale route"..
It will make the overall proportions of the loco much nicer, and results in a lot less modification
to the 2-8-0 parts..everything fits much better in 1/44 scale than in 1/48.

So that is going to be the path forward! 

But I have also decieded to put Number 23 on hold for awhile!
instead I have started work on SR&RL No. 9.

But dont worry, I will definately continue with Number 23!
 

Scot Lawrence.
Rochester, NY

sscotsman@yahoo.com

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