The Molino-project – adding cab, tender and more details

Good morning, after a short break, I’m back on my Molino Shay.

My dad made the cnc milled cab parts from 0.5 and 0.3mm brass as well as some filler pieces for the buffer beams.

The cab walls are made from 0.5mm brass as base with a layer of 0.3mm brass on top. I applied a thin layer of soft solder to the 0.3mm layer, aligned and squeezed them with metal clamps and heated them in the blowtorch to solder both parts together.

All further joints on the cab are soldered as well, also the cab on top of the brass frame. This helps to make the whole thing very strong. In between the steps, I added the filler pieces to the end beams. They are made from 1mm styrene.

Next to the tender. I made it from 0.5mm brass for the sides and top. I soldered pieces of 10x2mm flat bar to the side walls to add more weight. The top sheet is glued in place as I did with the whole bunker on top of the frame. I also added the cover around the steam engine from 0.5mm brass.

I placed the Shay beside my 13ton Sugiyama Shay and was blown away how tiny this 10ton Molino Shay will be. I did some cross checks with H0 figures and prototype photos, but as far as I can determine, this is the right size of this loco in H0-scale.

Now, the basic shell is done and I’ll continue with the detail stuff next, including pipe work, rivet detail, hand rails and finally a coat of paint.