Motorized resin railcar

[Michi]

My next deed:

An armoured self propelled railcar. The idea was from 1943 when the Wehrmacht decided for armoured railway stock that should be able to fight tanks (the current armoured trains were mainly artillery support or anti-partisan purpose).
Photos are from the book "Deutsche Panzerzüge" and were taken at the Steyr factory after the end of war. Three should have been built, but it seems unlikely that one of them had seen action.




The little box that arrived from Texas (thanks to Brian/Kampfgruppe Cottrell! :hello:  ):


The rather heavy and most solid block of resin that was inside:


The free hand drilled (or should I say milled) out interior:


A H0 scale locomotive that I bought cheap (20€) at railway model flea market. It has the perfect length that will fit into the hull of the railcar:


Body removed to motorize the railcar:



Some would say now that H0 is way too small for 28mm gaming. Right, this is correct. Though some may have noticed my efforts to collect a few narrow gauge railway models which are properly scaled, but run on H0 tracks. This is what I am aiming at with this build too.
Now it comes in handy that the locomotive model has six axles where the prototype armoured railcar had only four. It is common use at railways to adapt rolling stock for weaker lines by adding axles/changing bogies to lower axle weight. Being in the lucky position that the prototype was never really in use, I can say it is a "what if" model for alternative WW2 and can be used on narrow gauge lines now. There were quite a lot of those all over Europe, Africa and the middle east.

This is a modern example of what I´m telling here: A standard gauge Diesel engine (normally on bogies with two axles each) is set on bogies with three narrow gauge axles each to be used on the Brockenbahn in the Harz mountains in Germany (notice the small narrow gauge carriages behind that standard gauge engine):

[rob_the_robgoblin]

Wow, looks awesome!

Will the train be able to carry that weight?

Lots of work drilling it out, I am sure. Well done just for that alone!

[former user]

well well 
the railway master gives a lesson in how to truly make an armoured railcar.... 

what shall I say without being redundant?
magnificent?
yep, can't wait to see the result
looks like this was exactly the piece missing in Your collection

[Calimero]

Nice Project, Michi

P.S. : am I the only one who can’t see the last picture?

[Ramirez Noname]

Hi,

That's an interesting project, Michi.

@ Rob - not quite answering the question but the Brit version used to be fitted with a block of steel which you didn't want dropping on your toes  (past experince).

Nope - I can't see the last pic 

RMZ

[Michi]

Nice Project, Michi

P.S. : am I the only one who can’t see the last picture?

Try the link, it should lead there (I can still see it): http://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http://img.fotocommunity.com/Eisenbahn/Schmalspur/Harzkamel-im-Draengetal-a19608329.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fotocommunity.de/pc/pc/display/19608329&h=667&w=1000&sz=399&tbnid=4xkC3yLKJezn4M:&tbnh=99&tbnw=149&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dharzkamel&usg=__ME16PozUnlGjHQUdAzqcZuA38Ho=&ei=uOvAS7fgM-eHOI6m-ZMO&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=6&ct=image&ved=0CBoQ9QEwBQ

[Ramirez Noname]

Thanks Michi,

That's a big loco .... or small coaches.

RMZ

[Michi]

Thanks Michi,

That's a big loco .... or small coaches.

RMZ

Small coaches. The loco looks normal with standard gauge stock (4 axles):

[Michi]

Assembled, motorized and running - to be painted soon...

[Michi]

[starkadder]

I appreciate the difficulties of scale. This is a project after my own heart.

I made a few desultory inquiries a while ago. "O" gauge is closest to 1/56/28mm n'est-ce pas?

[dampfpanzerwagon]

Looking good.  I know how difficult it is to get such bodies to 'sit' true and level in such projects.  I think you have done a great job.

Tony
http://dampfpanzerwagon.blogspot.com/

[former user]

I made a few desultory inquiries a while ago. "O" gauge is closest to 1/56/28mm n'est-ce pas?

it depends how You like it on the Battlefield
S gauge is closer, but looks smallish (the HBLS and Company B trains run on S track, but they are smaller than S gauge)
0 gauge is also difficult, because it ranges between 1:43, 1:45, 1:48, depending on manufacturer and country norms.
It is basically a decision You have to make

My freight train is 0 gauge, 1:48 on the smallish side (toy train), but I am very content with it - it is only around 1 cm too wide

Goldlok Western express (and similars) is 0 gauge on the bigger side, but still OK IMHO
EBAY- it pays out to check for toy trains, because these are often not to railway modelling standards, so size can vary.

[Michi]

That's a lot of work Michi but the results speak for themselves. Well done, really looking forward to seeing it painted up and in situ on a table.

Painting in progress now:

[Aaron]

You don't fool around, do you? Looking good great!