Katzhagen - Archive - August 2009
Freight for the RhB KK low-side gondola
Years ago I heard of corn transports on the RhB's tracks, but related details remained a secret until some day I happened to stumble across a webpage by Maurizio Polier dealing with this interesting topic.
The prototype
Just a few days later a friend passed me the picture shown on the left. Again a vessel of that kind ! I took this as a broad hint...
A piece of a vinyl tube, some liquid plastic and a suitable porcelain bowl serving as a mold ... and here we are, the vessel's basic shape is done. And then, it's the unpleasant affair again: grinding, filling, grinding, filling,grinding... until the curvature of the cylinder's ends seamlessly match the fronts' curvature.
Both the frame and the additional parts made from polystyrene fell out of a friend's milling machine. Just the lugs made from 1.5mm brass wire a re pure handicrafts.
The assembly includes around 70 parts
Now it starts to compare to its prototype...
The vessel was grinded thoroughly using a grid of 600 before applying the little parts. This way it was possible to airbrush the complete assembly without the need to varnish single parts. The detail pictures below show that some ironing out was needed near some of the roundings.
Crevices were filled and grinded again.
Details - That extra something
Next, the primer and then the satin grey varnish were applied using an airbrush gun. While drying, the lettering was designed and printed. Each part of the lettering was cut out from the sheet and glued to the place it belonged. The final step included the application of a clear satin varnishusing the airbrush gun again - just to improve both the lettering's durability and the overall impression.
Varnishing materials and tools
Laser printed transparent self-adhesive foil
