Union Pacific FEF-3 4-8-4 Northern type steam locomotive, by Smokebox

[mrennie]

Is there a purpose to the cross-hatching on whatever the thing is that's got cross-hatching on?

You mean the strange nut on the cylinder piston crosshead? That's a multi-keyed nut, a Union Pacific design that was meant to be more robust than a standard cotter pin. There's meant to be something that looks like a giant wire paper clip placed in the grooves and it stops the nut from coming loose even when there's a lot of vibration. I've modelled the grooves but I still have to put in the "paper clip".

[harryadkins]

Maintain the standards...

[PapaXpress]

Maintain the standards...

Indeed. Please keep it up Mike.

[hertsbob]

Thanks for the explanation. Makes perfect sense.

I agree with the others. Maintain the standards and get that paper clip modelled.

[mrennie]

It'll be announced on RSC's facebook soon, but first I want to get a few more things tidied up and made presentable ... including the paper clip

[cor726]

I can't wait to see this locomotive. The consolidation is amazing and I expect this will be up to par with it.

One of these days I am going to learn how to drive it properly as well. lol

[mrennie]

Today I decided to have a go at texturing the smokebox (not just the front, but the whole thing). I've been putting it off because I couldn't find a good enough reference (it's hard to find colour pictures of the sides or top of the smokebox). Then I came across a photo foureightfour sent me a little while ago. So, using that as my reference, I've done something that, I think, comes close. However, I'd like to see what you think.

2013-07-09_00002.jpg

2013-07-09_00003.jpg

2013-07-09_00004.jpg

[mrennie]

!*drool*! ...nice....

Thanks Mike

The pilot wheels look better

[XDriver]

Looks real good! I know some engineers would say it's a graphite color and not silver.

[mrennie]

Looks real good! I know some engineers would say it's a graphite color and not silver.

Thanks Joe

For comparison, here's the photo I used for reference:

4600143239_8f1ba7d40a_z.jpg

[mrennie]

Maybe just a bit darker on the front part now that I see that pic
On a good day just after being cleaned they would have been about that light but that still seems a bit light for what it is.
This is looking great

I'll darken it down and reduce the colour saturation to get rid of the green hue.

[hertsbob]

Whatever colour it's supposed to be, it's a mighty fine looking model.

[XDriver]

Might find this little discussion link useful. http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/142157.aspx
I'm sure we can go too far on this topic. What you end up doing will be perfect.

pic of 3985

[mrennie]

Whatever colour it's supposed to be, it's a mighty fine looking model.

Thanks Bob

[mrennie]

Might find this little discussion link useful. http://cs.trains.com/mrr/f/88/t/142157.aspx
I'm sure we can go too far on this topic. What you end up doing will be perfect.

pic of 3985

I can't find any two pictures with the same colour! Anyway, I think this is what I'll stick with (after changing it a few times today):

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