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MTH Triplex - Erie (Russian Iron)(aka 'Blue') (One Gauge) - photos


Rayman4449
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Ray, one last thing..

I was just checking out your webpage, and I noticed on your webpage, and in this thread, you use the term "Russian Blue"..

Thats not the correct term!  ;)

There is no such thing as "Russian Blue" boilers..

 

MTH says "Russian Iron" on all their webpages and references to their various triplex models..which is the correct term.

If you can, it would probably be good to change the subject line of this thread to "Russian Iron"..

thanks,

Scot

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Thanks for the fact checking, but that isn't just me using that to describe them.  The photo below is what MTH uses on the outside of the One Gauge Triplex box.  

 

Triplex-(Blue).jpg

 

MTH used that term for the same reason I did, to provide a description that laymen (average person/shipping folks/etc) would understand when you told them.  "It's the one that has a bluish boiler".   I can't count the number of times we had Aristocraft Mallets running (USRA 2-8-8-2) at our Mall display and people would say "I really like that Big Boy".

 

MTH has used the term Russian blue on at least one other release.  

 

Raymond

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Unfortunately, the reflective qualities of Russian iron (or generically, any plannished iron) are difficult to achieve with paint, particularly difficult in a mass-produced environment. It is possible on the workbench with a few different techniques.

 

The jacket on my C-19 is "painted" to represent a plannished iron jacket. You can see how it picks up the blue from the sky that's being reflected on the jacket.

 

TRR505.jpg

 

Taken at a different angle, the boiler looks black:

 

TRR506.jpg

 

It's really cool to see this running around the railroad, and watch the jacket "turn colors" as the reflections change.

 

I did this jacket by coating the boiler with graphite powder, then sealing it with gloss acrylic. This is a bugger of a technique depending on how much "tooth" the boiler jacket has to hold the graphite, but the result is worth the effort. I rub the graphite onto the boiler jacket with my finger and/or a Q-tip. Corners and sharply-defined edges can be--literally--drawn in with a soft pencil. Once I've got everything evenly coated, I wash the jacket with a diluted clear gloss acrylic. (Future floor wax.) The trick here is to use a wide brush (1" artist's brush), brush it on near the top and let gravity do the work of carrying it down the sides. If you start to "paint" this too much,  you run the risk of brushing off the graphite in the process.

 

This technique works great on boilers that you don't want to disassemble to paint. You can apply this around domes, boiler bands, piping, etc. fairly easily. The process holds up well to heat, also, as I've done two live steamers with this.

 

Probably the closest to a "commercially viable" means of replicating a proper plannished iron jacket is to use Testor's "Gunmetal" buffable paint. It comes in a spray can. This paint is regarded as the closest you're going to get to "Russian iron" in a can. It's a three-step process: first, you spray the boiler with the paint and let that cure overnight. The second step is to put a soft cotton buffing wheel into a Dremel tool and buff the paint to a shine. The key here is "buff", not "grind." Keep things light. Otherwise you run the risk of generating a bit too much heat and melting the plastic. (Just trust me on that one.) The third step is to overspray with a gloss coat to seal everything. (This third step is optional. I've done it on some, not on others. By the time I get done with the weathering, it's hard to tell which is which. If you're going for "spit and polish," definitely use the clear spray.

 

EBT306.jpg

 

Inside, in neutral light, the boiler is a nice dark grey. (Pretty much what you'd expect from "gunmetal."

 

EBT327.jpg

 

Outside, like the graphite process above, it picks up reflections from all around and takes on a life of its own. I use this process on boilers where I can disassemble the locomotive prior to painting, but whose boilers don't lend themselves to this next process:

 

TRROps09.jpg

 

It looks like treated metal because it is treated metal. For this technique, I use .005" brass sheet that's been chemically blackened. I use Birchwood Casey brass black, but there are others.

 

TRRfreight01.jpg

 

This surface isn't quite as "reflective" as the other two processes, but being unpainted metal, it has a quality to it that can't be achieved any other way. The other cool thing about this method is that I "ding" the boiler jacket before I install it on the locomotive to give it some character. If you look at a prototype boiler jacket, it's seldom (if ever) free from dents and creases. I've used this technique on locomotives with straight boilers that I can strip down to just the boiler. You could do this on a wagontop or tapered boiler, but you'd have to cut the brass sheets to fit.

 

Being outdoors, we have an advantage indoor modelers do not; we run our locomotives out in nature where the boiler jacket reflects the world around us pretty much exactly as the prototype would. Alas, indoor modelers don't have that luxury, which is why I think manufacturers have been prone to use a bit more "blue" in their boiler colors than what would otherwise be correct. The blue reflections do add a very nice contrast to the other colors on the locomotive, and I can't fault the manufacturers for wanting to give the indoor modelers that sense of contrast with a little help from Sherwin-Williams. I am, however, quite thankful they're not reaching for the cans of "baby blue" any more.

 

Later,

 

K

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