Now the first three body types for the HO Baldwin DT6-6-2000 have been made available, (see the page here) I need to share with you how some of the details work.  In this post I’ll discuss the etched brass box windows that appear on the Minneapolis, Northfield, and Southern Railway no 21. (Picture from Illinois Railway Museum http://www.railroadmichigan.com/illinoisrailwaymuseum.html)

The 3D printed shell for this particular locomotive is my Baldwin DT6-6-2000 HO Type 3 and can be ordered from Shapeways using the link below.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/XUCQYADSG/baldwin-dt6-6-2000-ho-type-3

Several posts ago I shared the design for the box window and you can see the parts which need to made from brass in the image below.

I even designed them so they could be modeled in the open position if required.

To make this design work the shell has a different window configuration, with slots to receive the etched brass on all sides and nothing in the middle.

Because the test print had the standard windows, and I didn’t want to print an entire shell to test the box windows, I simply 3D printed a cropped out section of the window.

You can see the slots around the window opening.

The etched brass sheet has two sets of box window parts at the bottom of the fret.

On the left is the roof, base, and sides, and on the right are the sliding windows.

After I cut out the parts they looked like this.  I confess I rushed this a little and have bent a few parts.  Time should also be taken to file off any burs to ensure a good fit.  But for this test, a quick install is all I needed to do.

The base has two prongs that fit into the slots below the window.  There is a bar on the base that should be facing up.

The roof fits in a similar way with the bar facing down. The roof will fit at an angle because the slots for it are tilted to run at the correct angle.

The sides, when not bent, fit between the roof and base with the two prongs locating in the 3D printed slots.

 

Both sides are the same so it doesn’t matter which one is used for either side.

The square windows are the parts that slide and fit behind the fixed sections.  They’re designed to rest against the two bars on the roof and base.

Once the square window is positioned the C-shaped window can be fixed resting on top of the square window. Any glazing would ideally be fitted before they are fixed in place.  This can either be cut to fit inside the window frame or fixed to the rear.

With both windows fitted, the assembly is complete.  The left window is closed and the right is slid half-open.  With the parts carefully cut out and any burs removed the box window will be a nice snug fit.

Of course, fitting the glazing before spraying the body may cause an issue, so some careful planning will need to be done.

The windows could be glazed then masked for spaying.  Or the glazing could be fitted last.  Or the body could be sprayed before the brass is fitted and glazed.  I guess it all depends on the modeler’s preference.

A full set of instructions for the whole locomotive will be made available soon for all the parts needed and over the next few weeks’s the other shells will be made available for the different DT6-6-2000 locomotives and RT-624s.