Doodlebug kitbash

[George_D]

Nice progress, Glen. It looks like the way you're mounting the body on the chassis, the motor won't extend into the passenger area.

George

[Bernd]

Nice save Glenn. Been in a couple of situations like that myself. Walked away and try again another day. Best advice when things go wrong.

Bernd

[boomer44]

Originally posted by Glen Haasdyk

"Well I took a deep breath and walked away at that point, coming back later when I was a bit 'calmer'

Then I spent last evening fixing my 'accident'"

Glen... your idea of a past accident is a good idea for a cover up. A little silver/gun metal highlights with some new rust... That's your story and your sticking to it.

A nice build by the way. I have a doodlebug to build... old style... but the castings / wood / metal siding is in good shape. Interesting how you are doing yours. Looking forward to when you have it finished.

Gordon

[Glen_Haasdyk]

Thanks guys. I'm planning on painting the car with no rust or allot of weathering, like that shops repaired the car the best they could and painted over what they couldn't.


I continued with mounting the F-7 chassis in the car tonight, adding a mounting point to the front of the car:



I cut the plastic "U" to fit the frame and that will be glued to the inside of the car when the time comes. I used some small screws that I salvaged out of some piece of electronic equipment, probably a printer, to mount it.



I also drilled some mounting holes in the back, through the fuel tank.



After that I placed the truck and frame into the car, and mocked up the motor and possible flywheel. I found the motor on ebay, 5 for 5$. I has and extra long shaft that may allow me to use the original Athearn flywheel.

[Dutchman]

Even with the set back, you are making great progress, Glen.

[Glen_Haasdyk]

Thanks Bruce

I spent the weekend modeling time finishing up a few small jobs and starting others.

I did the final mounting of the F-7 frame into the car.



I used some styrene 90 degree angles in the front and screws in the back. I may have to shim the motor up a bit yet. Since this picture was taken I cut the coupler mounting pad off and I'll be fabricating a coupler mount on the body.

I then started to look at the roof details, mostly the oil cooler box. Here I used the instructions from the MR kitbash.



I started with a Proto2000 GP-18 shell. I cut the two front battery boxes (one on either side) and shorter long-hood doors on the engineer's side.



I glued them all together along with some styrene and two brass geep grills to make the box.



I dug through my parts boxes and came up with the spark arrestors and headlight. now I can start to determine where to cut the roof back for mounting all these parts.

[Glen_Haasdyk]

I cut down and detailed the forward part of the roof



I cut the clerestory portion of the roof down and laid a new styrene roof down, then added the oil cooler. The headlight, bell, horn, spark arrestors and air tanks and from an assortment of detail part manufacturers.

[Bernd]

Nice work Glen. That'll a nice looking piece of rolling stock when you get it all done. :up:

Bernd

[Glen_Haasdyk]

Thanks Bernd. After the initial stress of cutting the car apart and fitting it back together this has been quite an enjoyable project. Of course I haven't finished the drive yet!

Here's some pictures of my latest progress:

First the front truck



I also used C-liner frames, these are from Smokey Valley. I had to trim the frames down lengthwise to get the to fit and swing properly.



After I had the trucks I could add the front coupler and pilot. The coupler is still removable through the front, the pilot is epoxied it so it's not going anywhere.



Now the front. I added the front panels of styrene to smooth the front a bit, accented with some 1X6 and half-round styrene strip. I'll be adding marker lights above the windows.



I also divided the middle window in half and the coupler mount on the bottom doubles as an anti climber.



I used a plow as the pilot to duplicate what the CPR unit had. I cut to down from the top so it could mount flat.



as it sits now the exterior needs grabs, ladders and stirups and then the interior will need to be looked at.



Finally the rear truck will have to be modified to pick up power. I'm not going to rely on just the front truck with my not-so-clean track.

[Dutchman]

The roof details look good, Glen.

[Glen_Haasdyk]

Thanks Bruce.

Well I got a fair amount done on the project this weekend. First I added all the grabs including a ladder made of drop grabs on the engineer's side.



I used Detail Associates drop grabs and fashioned this drilling jig from the side of an Athearn boxcar.



Then I used a piece of styrene 4x4 to ensure proper and uniform spacing.



And here is the finish piece. It's almost ready for the paint shop. I think I'll paint it first and then add the remaining drive after (motor, universals, wiring)

I also added the pickups to the rear truck:



I need my friend to do his soldering magic before I can continue with this part.

[rlundy]

Looking really good Glen.

[Bernd]

Coming together real good there Glen. Those little details are making for a fine looking Doodlebug.

An observation and comment on the pickup on that ruck. I'm wondering if there might be to much friction from the pick-ups on that truck. I'd like to suggest using something like what I did in the article I wrote for RMC back the July/October 2014 issue. Any easy fix would be to solder .010" phosphor bronze or spring brass wires to what you have attached to the truck now. Cut off the part that is rubbing on the axles and replace with the wire. Much less friction on the truck axles. Here's a picture of one tender truck replacement.



It's just a suggestion for consideration if what you have doesn't work out for you.

Bernd

[George_D]

I'm enjoying watching your progress, Glen. Looking good. :up:

George

[jschumaker]

This is coming together very well.

Jeff S.