Before heading off on hols this week I decided to crack on with the last major item for my Bolsheviks - an armoured train . Having baulked at the price for a 3d printed version - north of £150 , for something that is of limited long term use I decided to get the spares box out . One advantage of being a very long term model maker is there are all sorts in it . I have the loco, tender and a fighting carriage made and undercoated .
I had some train bits left over from the Sudan stuff and am repurposing some of that. These were originally built around a toy Teamsterz set I picked up for £3.50 in 2016 . For the RCW /BoB there are some good references and also some scratch builds on LAF . So I had a plan .
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| Main faighting carriage |
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| Loco and tender |
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| Pleased to have sorted out the moving turret . Plus I will do an MG team for this position at some time |
The teamsters sets are these :-
The loco and tender are based on the blue version . They are listed as 1/55th on the packaging so a decent size .First up was to clad the loco piece in a balsa frame and then plasticard . I also raided my grandsons little used Lego stash for some useful pieces to make the smoke stack . I used some nicely shaped notice board pins to make the buffers as well.
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| I have trimmed the armour plate over the wheels by 3mm since this picture as it sat too low . The Teamsterz pieces sit over standard 16.5mm track but they look ok . I am using my On30 track I did for the cowboys and the Sudan , it’s O gauge narrow - as it has larger wooden sleepers which I think look better |
The main fighting carriage is based on a couple of 00 gauge bogie sets that have lain in the stash for more years than I can remember. A result to find a use . These were attached to a 4mm balsa base which I can the build on . The Lego was used to form a large rectangle to sit on the base with space for the gun . This is then clad in 2mm MDF rectangles , again from the basing stash . I added magnets flatbed and base of the gun to be able make to swap out for other items . The gun turret was made from a 60mm across flats Octoganal MDF top and bottom with 20 x 40 bases upright at the flats. The gun was made from brass tubing and held in place with milliput. I filled the upright gaps in with 6mm Tamiya masking tape . This was then run around the turret at the top and bottom . Another couple of pieces added the top to create an observation cupola .
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| A pair of these have been in the stash for goodness knows how long. |
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| Lego os a great resource for scratch building thanks to a regular shape . |
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| MDF cladding for the LEGO . Adding in some extra doors and some small washers for apertures . |
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| Glueing the top to the uprights was fun , but a pair of tweezers to hold the uprights and a spray with superglue activator soon had it sorted . |
The tender was clad in various pieces of MDF and some bits of LEGO once more . Some bits of plssticard section have been used across the whole model . Some staples used to make steps , some washers used to made observation and shooting apertures.
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| It nearly 600mm long at 3 pieces . 😆 |
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| Trains are big old things and nice to see it looking like it next to the cavalry . |
Everything glued had dried and I decided to give it a basecoat of green . I want to add another passenger carriage and flatbed for supplies . MartinC says he’s seen some more of the Teamsterz bits . I will keep and eye out for some more bogies - there is a model railway show coming up locally so might have a look there .
I want to add some more detail , railings , couplings , ladders , rivets etc (though I might not count them!) . It’s then a simple final paint job , washes and drybrush . Some nice slogans to research I think
Cost so far I reckon is about £10 and most of that is the new superglue I needed . Great result and actually a very enjoyable 3 afternoon sessions doing it !
All in all pleased to far .
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