Fiberglass Tenders

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bcody
Posts: 954
Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2003 12:07 am

Re: Fiberglass Tenders

Post by bcody »

There will always be rivet counters, people who will only consider building an exact miniature of the 1-1 scale prototype and there are the ones who build/buy to run. I belong to the latter group. Don't care that much for building but I do like to run, the longer and heavier the train the better. Like to hear my engine work. I enjoy a train with about 40 passengers on a 2.5% + grade, you know where you are just about to break traction and you can feel every power stroke your engine makes, hand on the throttle waiting for the first indication of slippage.

Bill
Steamingdanny
Posts: 157
Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2012 10:34 am

Re: Fiberglass Tenders

Post by Steamingdanny »

I'm leaning towards 16ga steel, folded up on the bottom and pop riveted to the tank floor

I'll use regular rivets at baffles and sides. I'm going to bend the sheet metal at almost 0" radius, sharp bends

My prototype is Canadian
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johnpenn74
Posts: 404
Joined: Tue May 04, 2010 12:54 pm
Location: Waiting for next assignment!

Re: Fiberglass Tenders

Post by johnpenn74 »

Well yep here's one of the propane tank for water type tenders....

Don did complete a nice tender made for it...

JP
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John Pennington

Logging meets that actually move logs

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Allen 4-4-0 Narrow Gauge Conversion
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Like I'm actually gonna build all this stuff :-P
rrnut-2
Posts: 691
Joined: Mon Jul 18, 2011 7:40 pm
Location: Bennington, NH

Re: Fiberglass Tenders

Post by rrnut-2 »

The fiberglass tenders are quick, functional and look good. Just don't sandblast them to remove the paint. The mikado that Don Marshall built, the buyer did just that. Wow, talk about ugly!

Jim
Eric M.
Posts: 62
Joined: Fri May 27, 2011 10:45 pm

Re: Fiberglass Tenders

Post by Eric M. »

I find this topic fascinating because I have built a large part of my career as a professional model maker around mastering techniques to make certain materials look like something other than what they are.

I can tell you right now that I have built models that look like metal and you would never be able to tell otherwise unless you tapped on it with your knuckles.

I see a divide in philosophy here. Personally I would side with the people who use whatever get's the job done and looks good. I have enormous respect for people who try not to compromise any authenticity in materials or fabrication methods, but ultimately there are some concessions because, at the end of the day, it's still a model that a full size human has to ride around on. In the special effects and museum biz it's a waste of time to labor over traditional methods because deadlines can be so unforgiving. That is why we innovate with materials and methodology whenever possible.

That said, I would offer up a couple basic tips from the special effects playbook that will make your plastic or fiberglass tender more convincing.

Choose materials wisely. I have found plastic and FRP to be good analogs for metal in a model but wood is a more difficult sell. I always choose a material that has at least a few like properties to the desired look. For example plastic and metal are both hard shiny and non-porous.

The most important tip is to "keep em' guessing" In other words, a mixture of materials is best. I built a tender tank that is solvent welded ABS plastic but anything where the thick cross section of the plastic sheets would be a visual problem, I used metal instead. I also skinned the tank with metal and added a metal hatch and details. When it's all painted it becomes really difficult to identify what parts are metal what are plastic. Also, most of the surfaces you touch with your hands are metal so you have that tactile feel of a metal tank.
But I know that I have never had any trouble telling that a tender was made of fiberglass (or wood) at distances of even 15 or more feet.
Like I said before, I would challenge anybody to figure it out on my models.

And since the proof is in the pudding here is my plastic tender tank with riveted steel "skin" and various metal detail parts:
Image

This is not a tender but just to show you the power of good fabrication and faux finishing techniques, here is my 3" scale mining car built from ABS plastic. Wheels, rivets and other details are steel:
Image

This car has been sitting outside for the past several months and the "rust" has weathered and mellowed naturally. Currently the color is more uniform. This model has just gotten better with age. :mrgreen:

Regards,
Eric Maschwitz
Head of Operations, Squirrel Mountain Mine
Former Whistle Punk,
Gunn Lake Land and Lumber, a subsidiary of East Devils Hill Lumber Co
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