M-10005: Further progress on engineer's car

Current status of shell & roof:

As mentioned before, the roof is divided into three parts - the front part will be furnished with the intakes, exhausts and radiators of the two aux-diesels.

And for comparison (adjustment of the shell's height) with the B-unit

M-10005: engineer's car

Of course the train has to receive a car for the engineer - according to prototype's composition this will be the auxiliary-power/baggage car #11700 that ran on the third position of the '36's prototype. It's app. 75' 10" body will turn into a model of 10'4" length. For ease of handling during transport I decided a) to  separate the 'body' from the car's frame, dividing it into two parts of 5'2"  length and b) to separate the roof from the body's side dividing it into three parts (avoiding a common 'break' of roof and body at the same position).
At the roof's front (app. first 2ft) the vents & exhaust of the two aux. diesels are located (of course only as simulated details). The rest of the roof should be able to carry up to three adults (engineer+two passengers) - this will give some serious design challenges on the trucks' suspension system.
First pictures...

M-10005: Assembling A- & B-unit

Eventually I assembled the complete locomotive - of course there were some problems with the powered truck which still interferes with the A-unit's coupler-pocket...more cutting & grinding necessary....
Total length is app. 18.5ft

M-10005: remodeled grill, update on trucks etc.

Some new pictures of the complete model with the reworked grill (aspect ration close(r) to prototype) and the trucks fitted with coil & leaf springs; the shell been covered with gel-coat for smoothing & UV-protection of the glass-fiber surface):

Rebuilding the front grill...

After checking the aspect-ration of several prototype-photos against my model it became clear that the model's front-grill is no wide enough. After a month of consideration I finally made up my mind and have started to modify he grill.
I cut through the grill vertically, removed the outer half & enlarged the opening in order to shift the outer half of the grill app. 1 1/4" apart. Finally brass stripes of appropriate shape & length has to be fit to close the missing grill work.

upper picture shows current design, lower picture is a digital mock-up of new design

M-10005: B-unit & trucks' sideframes

Here are new pictures of the B-unit. At the B-end the outlets of the two steam-generators are applied - the vanes & openings directed straight to the rear end.
The side-frames of the trucks are basically assembled - the (simulated) leaf- and coil-springs and the brake cylinders are still missing.

M-10005: anti-climber & buffer

The anti-climber has been detailed and the buffer (made from a massive rubber block) was adapted to it's receptacle for a test. The profile of the tip of the nose was slightly revised  (straightened) on the lower half.

M-10005: pilot's details

Application of raised chrome parts and hex-nuts to the pilot

The hex-nut row at the bottom of the pilot will not be applied - it interferes with the welded frame inside as well as it would weaken the pilot bottom.

New pictures of assembled M-10005 A-unit

Finally a sunny day made it possible to assemble the A-unit outside and make a photo-session as well as some measurements with the unit on rails (the critical dimension is the distance of the pilot to the top of the rails).

And a detailed view of the compressed air cooler on the top of the unit

The future engineer also took the opportunity to pose with his workhorse (some older guys might recognize the old 'Big Jim'-action figure).

M-10005: pilot's construction

Another 'critical' & distinctive part has been basically finished - the pilot.
While the circumference shape changes from almost tangent (at the unit's side) with a decreasing radius into the tip of the item the vertical orientation is twisted from almost vertical (once again at the side) into a significant angle at the tip.
From a test-sample from wood and cardboard the basic shapes of ribs/frames at the upper and lower position were evaluated.
First a basic main frame from square tubes was constructed and test-fitted onto the unit's chassis.
Flat bar irons (thickness app. 1/10 of an inch) were welded and ground into the determined shape of the ribs. These were welded onto the basic main.
The pilot's panels were cut from a iron stove-pipe (8" diameter) and bent into the shape given by the ribs (with deliberate use of a hammer). The panels were welded to the ribs finally while fixed by heavy clamps.
Finally the pilot was cut & ground into the prototypical shape.

Some sanding was necessary to adapt the overlap of the shell to the new pilot - some re-laminating of the overlapping area will be necessary. But basically the pilot now fits the shell.