BR52 KRIEGSLOKOMOTIVE

TRUMPETER 00210     

 

 

 

Following the build of the Trumpeter BR86 Dampflokomotive I am commencing this large kit.  My intention is to super detail this kit as well and this time post pictures and details as I progress rather than waiting till the end of the build trying to remember the relevant points and not losing fotos on the way.  

 

For this build I will use another excellent reference book titled

001 KRIEGSLOK BR 52 Train In Detail by Wings and Wheels Publications.

 

 

I have acquired 2 aftermarket PE sets of which I will use bits of both.  The first is Voyager Model Pro35002 1/35 Scale Baureihe 52 mit Steifrahmentender which was attached to the kit when purchased at a hobby store closing down sale many years ago. The second is Lion Roar LAS35001 1/35 Full Set of Super Detail Update Conversion Series for Trumpeter BR52

 

 Also being used are 2 aftermarket kits from LZ Models.  1/35 Upgrade set for BR52 35301 and 1/35 Compressor Knorr for BR52 35304.

 I will also be using a set of Archer Fine Decals BR-52 Locomotive Markings AR35219 which are a much better crisp detailed offering than that offered by Trumpeter to appease the PC Police.  A pic below for comparison.

 

 

Steps 1 and 2 is just the rail bed construction. 

I have chosen to start with the Tender which begins with Step 1 which follows Step 26 of the Lokomotive build....go figure.  Steps 1 and 2 deal with the chassis build. Parts H1 and H11 is full of ejector pin marks which need to be filled.  Not an issue if you will never turn the model over but as it is going to have a lot of detail added underneath as well, they were filled with super glue and sanded smooth.  These parts form the base of the tender and mounting points for the 4 axles.  There are 5 Q9 cross bracing parts with holes on both sides.  The first Q9 for the front of the Tender, the left hand side hole has been enlarged (red arrow) to accommodate the forthcoming brake cylinder (thanks LZ models from an earlier non BR 52 order) and scratch building for the brake levers, pipes and springs etc. 

 

The rest of the major Tender parts.  All the ejector pin marks will be hidden when built. 

 

 

Today's effort focused on the structure above the chassis.  There is a lot of absent detail that needs to be added to the coal scuttle both internally and externally as well as the top of the water tank.  The opening of the coal scuttle offered in the kit (K9) is overly simplified.  Instead of 2 internally folding doors that are in themselves complex, there is just one door.  On the right side of the doors there is a locker (with door).  On the left side there is a small alcove area that encloses a pipe with stopcock and a gearbox with a shaft end for the crank of the hand brake...all absent in the kit.  I cut out the simplified part to the edge of the riveted arch as shown below.  This area will be rebuilt further on.

 

 

As I'm not using the 'plastic coal' I will be adding the internal details such as angle iron bracing (3) and a cross support beam with corner bracing (2).  Also added is hose connection to the front (1).

 

Added is the sprinkler pipe inside the scuttle that was used to keep the coal dust down (1). There is a ridge inside the scuttle (2) that needs to be removed at the front and the rear of the scuttle if not using the plastic coal. 

 

 

 The water tank has two ? lifting hooks added and the front end has a piece of Evergreen tubing added to the drilled out hole which will hold the coal rake which slid inside for storage.  Along the edges of the water tank was a ridge of steel almost all the way around and these will be added.

 

Been working on and off for quite a few nights now.  I am amazed how simplified this kit is.  There are numerous errors and an absence of pretty much any under side detail which isn't really an issue if you don't plan to look underneath it, unless you're planning an overturned derailment diorama.  For me, it's got to be done simply because I now know better thanks to the books  and research.  It's part of the enjoyment of the build.  As for the PE, they also replace some errors...with PE errors instead....sigh.

 

This is what the coal tender front end should look like.  2 Doors that fold up as well.   2 cupboards, one with door and the other C. with crank handle for brake and a stop cock tap for the descending steam pipe plus oilers and pipes.  A. is for a rake holder, drilled out and extended in length.  B. is a replacement for the over simplified door.  

 

 

 The inside of the coal tender.

 

Some scratch build parts for the hand brake system

 

Part of the and brake system and plating in place.  Resin brake cylinder and wiring added.  Nuts and bolts added everywhere.  The large white Evergreen piece is support only till glue dries.  More next week.

 

Quite a few hours spent on the tender, almost ready for primer.

 

 Brake line piping and more nuts and bolts.
 

Dual brake springs and support structures.

 

Brake system and bracing added. 

 

1 is the brake rod which goes through the cross beam (3) which was and Evergreen I beam and connected to brake pulley / lever.  This is repeated both sides for every brake and finally anchored at the rear cross I beam.

 

The kit has a single door on this side which is incorrect. The reference book photos show that wire cabling runs from the side, then between the 2 doors and around the back of the tender.  Voyager have reproduced the error so I used the doors supplied by Lion Roar on this side.  Although not quite as crisp in detail as the Voyager offering it's better than being wrong.  I also discovered soldering is not a strong point of mine.

 

Dry fit of the front end.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BR86 Dampflokomotive, here it comes...

TRUMPETER 00217 BR86 Dampflokomotive

 

 

Well, after a long time turning a 670+ parts kit to about 2500+ part kit, The build is finally complete.  Sadly I've lost the early photos of the build so it starts pretty much half way.

Be aware, this is a simplified version of the Lokomotive if built straight out of the box but still builds to a lovely model as it is.  But if you want that eye popping extra detail, then your work is cut out for you.  Fortunately, there is an excellent reference book from Wings & Wheels Publications called Dampflok BR 86 Train in Detail No.2.  Well worth the purchase.  There are 4 Loks covered, 3 restored and many fotos of a rusted specimen.  All have differences and you'll look time and time again at the photos trying to work out which pipe goes where etc.

 

I also used three aftermarket kits from LZ models.  These were LZ 1/35 Upgrade set for BR 86 Tolkien-Knorr Compressor and Tolkien-Knorr Water Feeding Pump, Upgrade set No.2 for BR 86 and Upgrade set No.3 for BR 86 Boiler Armature.  There are 2 more upgrade sets available, No.4 not required for my build and No.5 were replacement wheels but I was happy with the kit version.

Also used were numerous nuts and bolt heads from Meng Models, plenty of brass rod, copper wire and Evergreen plastic.  

Steps 1 and 2 deal with the rail assembly.

There are 2 options of the Lok to build, just aesthetics and nothing major.  The book may help you to decide which is to your liking.  

Step 3 starts with the chassis.  Fairly straight forward and it is imperative to keep the chassis square and flat.  I weighted it down using a book after gluing with Tamiya quick setting cement.  There are quite a few ejector pin holes you will need to fill in first.  

Step 4 is a continuing of the chassis.  Again be on the look out for ejector pin holes.  My preferred method of filling is superglue followed by zip kicker and then sand flat straight away.  It looks like a hole still as it's clear (see on foto later) but smooth and quick.  Now is the time to start placing all the nuts, bolts or rivet heads on the chassis before proceeding further.

 

Step 5 starts with the suspension / some wheels and steps. Trouble free and straight forward.

Step 6 continuing the top side of the chassis.  Time for more rivets and bolt heads and piping.  

 

 

I've added all the detail for the steam water drain cocks and connected it right through to the cabin.  Quite necessary if you don't want to blow the cylinders apart.

On page 9 which is the unlabelled Step 7, top right and bottom left calls for gluing parts J25 and J17 for these sub assemblies.  I held off and waited till the boiler assembly was dry fitted in order to get the correct angles.

Step 8 continues  top of the chassis with the pressure tanks among other things.  Now is the time for more bolt / rivets, pipe work with brass and Evergreen rods.

 

1, holes ready for bolts (some extra too which I had to fill in, looking at the wrong Lok). 2, the assembly for throttle adjustment and 3, holes filled.  Not sure why Trumpeter had them, every foto shows it closed off.

Step 9 more steps if you'll pardon the pun.

Steps 10, 11 and 12 is construction of the boiler.  It comes in 2 halves and just like assembling a model aircraft fuselage, you have to get this right and smooth.  Fortunately there are no fine lines or rivets to watch out for when sanding.  This is also where some extra scratch building detail that needs to be added such as piping, handles and hinges.

 

Step 13 is more boiler work and the beginning of the cabin firebox.  We careful when gluing the front cabin wall on.  I glued the floor, part K12 from Step 14 first.  I also had the cabin side walls, parts L11 and L14 ready to dry fit.  You need it to get the front wall alligned correctly. I also had a plastic off cut taped to the top of the firebox to aid alignment. 

Above, you'll see the superglue filled ejector pin marks on the front cabin wall.  The foot pedals were added to levers and the like which are below the floor.

 Ash pan doors and levers.

The red arrow point to the flues which were opened for draught depending which way the Lok was traveling.  Fine mesh wire used but hard to see now the Lok is assembled.

Steps 15,16 and 17 continues with the Cabin, roof and Boiler base.  The roof I left off till after painting.  Lots and lots of detail can be added here, both after market, scratch and fix errors.  Leave off the windows obviously till after painting.

 

 

The added detail on the cabin roof...yes another 60 parts added!

Lots of rear cabin detail added including wall hooks for the shovel, rake and poker.

Wire for the light added, plus door detail.

Steps 18, 19, 20, 21 and 22 are primarily wheels and extras related.  Sadly the soft flexible black plastic pipes (sand pipes) are one disappointing feature.  They're too flexible and the paint cracks and flakes off easily.  The grey plastic would have been a much better option.  It is also difficult to secure near the base of the wheels and move out of position when the Lok is picked up.

 

There is no need to glue any of the wheels on.  Even with all the extra detailing added, I was still able to wiggle them off for painting and then put them back in.

Step 23 and 24 deal with the water tank construction and fitment.  The left side tank needs modification to correct an error especially so when fitting the LZ models Tolkien-Knorr Compressor.  Refer to the book.  There are numerous scratch build extras to add here as they are simply not provided in the kit.  Again, I would not glue in situ until painting completed.

Handles and brackets for water tank, can be opened from inside cabin.

Tool brackets for poker, scrapers

 

Modification of simplified kit left tank to accommodate the Tolkien-Knorr compressor

Step 25 is fitting last few breakable parts.

What follows now are dry fitting pre-painting fotos.

Next came Vallejo German Red Brown Primer followed by Testors Glosscote.

I chose a cabin paint scheme from the reference book purely for it's startling contrast.

The floor was made using craft sticks from the local $2 junk shop and painted with Cabot's Cedar Satin stain and varnish.  The walls with Tamiya XF19 Sky Grey and X18 semi gloss black.  The externals were sprayed XF63 German Grey.  It was then sealed with Testors Dullcote.  Where the decal locations were, I gave a spray of Glosscote.

  I used Vallejo Natural Iron Oxide for the soot and coal dust weathering inside the cabin.

The decals came next.  I found the Trumpeter decals thick and poorly defined so I used the BR86 decals from Peddinghaus.  Sadly they were also quite thick but well defined.  After application I sprayed 2 layers of Dullcote over it and began to thin them, the edges in particular with 1200 wet and dry sand paper.  I was quite nervous about this but it worked a treat as well as aging the 'Wheels rolling for victory' decals on the water tanks.

Weathering the Lok itself was a multi level task.  Pigments, laquer, repeat, repeat and repeat.  My choice of pigments for this area were all MIG, Old Rust, Medium Rust, Light Rust, Panzer Grey (fading) and Allied Green (fading).  Used some graphite powders and the good old lead pencil.

The light globes (not supplied in the kit) are made from Evergreen rod with a small drop of superglue x 6.

The finished BR86 Lok.

My aim was to portray and end of war, beaten up work horse, in a time of destruction, lack of supplies and repair ability.

Overall, a complex challenging build that took me some 21 months from start to completion with a 5 month break in the middle to settle the brain down with something easier.  

A BR52 is coming.....