Prior to exhibiting my 009 pizza layout 'Old Quarry Line' last July I quickly reworked a Minitrains Gmeinder as a spare loco. I had limited myself to replacing the bonnet side vents with a MG Models etch and altering the cab doorways a little to lose the door one side and add a canvas side sheet and wooden planking on the other. This was the result.
It was only meant to be a temporary work-around but I've grown a bit attached to it. However, the cab sides were still jarring a little, they just didn't look like they belonged on a Feldbahn locomotive...
This is where a recent O9 project came into play. I realised the etched cab sides from the 009 cab on the A1 Models test-build did have a slightly Feldbahn-esque look to them. This is the etch as seen on A1's eBay listing.
Offering them up they were a little too wide and a bit too tall, but setting to I managed to cut them down to size, re-drilling the bottom handrail hole as the original was lost in the cutting. Having added the handrails I then realised the real thing would most likely have shorter rails to allow for a removable cab top, so I removed them, re-drilled and re-soldered them in place. Then came the moment of truth, the cab was carefully removed from the Minitrains loco and bathed in 'Super Strip' to return it to bare plastic to make the required changes. With detail removed and sanded flat I was able to Araldite the new sides in place.
Milliput was used to fill the gaps between the etched sides and plastic parts, being careful to try and retain the rivet details on the ends. I opted not to add a split line horizontally on the cab sides/ends to represent the removable cab top. Even so, it now looked a lot more like a Feldbahn locomotive despite still being a very much a freelance interpretation
Painting then followed, I have managed to match the weathering (what little there was) to the original paintwork on the bonnet and I'm really happy with how the cab corners look, the time spent carefully filling and sanding the join has paid off with the rivet detail intact.
The original driver, already much modified from a Dapol example (largely flattened on the other side) has had further surgery to cope with the new door layout. Having infilled the old door opening to the right with styrene before adding the etched sides, he has had a chunk taken out of the back of his right arm and leg to accommodate this (and a chunk from his left arm too). He now sits in such away that it highlights the thinness of the cab sides at the door opening. He is also now an integral driver, securely polystyrene cemented into the cab side rather than relying on glue under his feet!
On the other side of the cab the original canvas cover have been resized to fit the new opening, with planking retained below
Before reassembling the cab onto the loco I was able to resolve the issue of less-than-perfect running I had encountered with the loco, eventually resorting to having the wheels out and tweaking the pick-ups a little. I was also careful to replace the glazing in the rear window with thinner material as there was evidence of the flywheel making contact with the old window.
Colin
