Locomotive Taking Shape

My large scale 4-6-0 steam locomotive has been disassembled into numerous piles of parts for more than a week, I think...  maybe it has been two weeks at this point.  I've completely lost track of time.  Today was the first day that provided the opportunity to assemble some of these parts again so I could see how things are coming along after repainting most parts and adding some detail parts.  The paint is dry enough now to assemble and disassemble the locomotive as necessary without the risk of ruining the paint job.

In this first image, at right, there are some changes here other than the major change in color.  I've added marker lights to the front end of the locomotive (on each side of the headlight) and, for me, this is a big change to the appearance of the locomotive which will be even more noticeable when they are illuminated.  I've also replaced the standard tall cow catcher with a large timber bumper which, in my opinion, not only looks better but it's more appropriate for a narrow gauge locomotive such as this one.  

I have not yet done any weathering on the body of the locomotive so, overall, it is still appearing too clean to me.  I'm also seeing some problems to fix with some areas where I have started to do some weathering.

In the next two photos, you can see part of the big mess of parts and tools spread across our kitchen table.  Our kitchen table has been like this since I started this project a couple of weeks ago.  Since Sheila's desk for work is currently located in the train room, I'm doing my model railroading wherever I can.  At the moment, that is the kitchen table. 

My little portable cutting board is getting some use lately...

The cab is looking pretty good now!  I added two gauges on the top of the boiler but this new part didn't come with background dials for the gauges.  I thought about just installing the gauges without any background dials but, yesterday, I decided to see if I could make some background dials on my computer and print them on my laser printer.  The larger dial is 8mm and the smaller dial is 5mm.  That is quite small.  I had to make these dials twice because the first dials printed too faintly.  I glued the background dials on the gauges by carefully positioning them with a pair of tweezers.  

I'm liking these gauges now.  Actually, I'm liking all the detail on the backhead now.  It is looking good!  As I said previously, however, I'm seeing some problems with unfinished weathering which I will fix before this project is finished.

That being said, I did do some weathering inside the cab and that is taking shape.  I added the valve knobs and levers.  The diamond plate flooring is weathered as well.  I really like my paint job showing how the ash has stained underneath the firebox door.  That came out well too!

I just dragged a big brush across the sides of the tender too.  I used a big brush to dry-brush some gray paint which is a pretty fast way of adding weathering details.  At this point, I realized that I hadn't done any lettering yet so I stopped weathering the tender.  It is coming along nicely though.  I'm thinking of lettering this tender with the initials "BYRR" for Backyard Railroad since I can't think of a better name...

I added white planking to the ceiling of the cab.  I also installed the window panes too.  I'm still debating about adding some wood trim around these panes.  I also added the awnings to the outside of the sides of the cab over the windows.  The empty slot under the cab floor is for the plug for wiring running between the tender and the locomotive.  The tender is where all the electronics will be located as well as the battery for power.  

Here, below, is another front view.  I'm really liking this view.  

I'm looking forward to getting everything wired so I can illuminate the marker lights, the headlight with constant lighting, the backup light on the tender, and the cab light.  I might need to order some single pin connectors though before I completely wire everything and add the electronics.  I think I want to be able to remove the shell of the locomotive without having wires tethering the shell to the chassis.  Having single pin connectors for the headlight, marker lights and cab light will allow me to completely disconnect the wiring when removing the shell.  

This project is coming along nicely and looking good!