Commission: Falk #2 in 0n3…

I’m not sure many of you would still be able to see the Bachmann On30 Porter that lies within and beneath this scratch-built logging inspired lokey…

It seemed like a great idea at the time, to start from a tried and trusted mechanism and work up and out from there but whilst it certainly allowed some savings in time, I’m not sure it was any easier. Interestingly what you think is the boiler is actually partly the motor itself, which has become an intrinsic part of the model. Thank goodness it’s a quality Buhler affair and should last for the lifetime of the model itself! 

 

The first challenge was stripping the donor model down and converting it for 21mm gauge On3. Replacing the axles wasn’t too hard, some spacers and new pickups required a little more chassis surgery but we got things running. The cylinders were re-spaced too, but then I had to modify the slide bars to allow them to still fit to the brackets in the chassis… fiddly but it worked. The bodywork came together quickly but the winch was a bit of a head scratcher!

In the end this is fashioned from various sections if styrene, brass rod, old watch parts and the drums are two British OO ‘Austerity’ chimneys from the EFE/DJM model (I think!). Once painted black and then weathered down I don’t think it’s obvious and the overall impression matches the photographic inspiration supplied by my customer. I’m particularly pleased with the paint effect on the cab, which has been given the look of dry worn wood just with enamels through dry brushing, washes and detail painting.

Not much larger than a Hornby Peckett this certainly has the cute factor. My customer will be adding some personal touches and a log load in the cab, it has been immense fun bringing his dream to life. If you have a prototype you’d like to recreate, any scale, any gauge, get in touch (form in the menu, Facebook or the forums) for a fixed price proposal. We can look at modified ready to run, kit builds through to scratch building with custom designed 3D and etched metal parts as appropriate. I specialise in bringing your memories to life, I hope you’ve enjoyed reading. Until next time more soon…

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