AMERICAN 4-4-0 LOCOMOTIVE & TENDER

By George Grasse

Andrea 54mm Scale Metal Kit of the American 4-4-0 Locomotive and Tender

Andrea BOX ART

 

HISTORICAL IMAGE OF THE GENERAL

This photo was taken of a photo that was displayed in a portion of an Atlanta museum dedicated to the famous Confederate locomotive and tender named the "General" which featured prominently in the suppresion of famous Union raid on the W & A Railroad in Georgia in 1862.  Actual date, circumstances, and coloring of the photo are unknown.  The model by Andrea entitled "Express Raider" is based on "The General" which was a standard locomotive design of the time.

 

EARLY PHOTO 18 July 2007

This photo was the first taken to show all of the kit's components laid out.   The multi-media kit includes resin parts, white metal parts, brass photo-etched parts, and (not shown) brass rod and press-on decals.

 

EARLY PHOTO 2 February 2008

Up to the date of this photo, I had worked on the kit to the point as shown in the photo.  You can clearly see the resin and white metal parts to the kit.  The tender has been primed in white hiding the nature of the components.  The tender body is resin and the undercarriage units are white metal.

 

PHOTO #1

The kit was purchased back in 2007 (!) much work done over the intervening years.  This photo shows resurrected model that was in storage at this stage of completion before I resumed work  in 2023 (!).  Unforutnately, I did not take many photos as work progressed over those years.  The project was set aside for such a long time until revived in September 2023.

 

PHOTO #2

This photo was taken in October 2023 with additional details added to the locomotive.  The detailed instructions in the right lower corner are quite good but note that there are hundreds of parts!

 

PHOTO #3

In late November I resurrected the press-on decal sheet for the kit.  I was really concerned that they would not work.  I was partially correct.  Parts of the decal did not adhere and I had to match the color and hand paint blank areas.

 

PHOTO #4

The cab exterior is removed for detail work.  The interior is nicely detailed.  Note the wood seats for the engineer and fireman.  There are still quite a few parts to add plus painting of some of the figures.

 

PHOTOS #5a & 5b
The locomotive engineer (left) and fireman (right) are painted.

 

 

PHOTOS #6a thru 6d
The locomotive cab in four views.  All windows except the engineer's large openings were "glazed" with thin clear plastic sheet taken from grocery store fruit containers.  Much touch up work to follow.  From the top left clockwise: front, rear, right side, left side.

 

 

REFERENCES:

Abdill, George B.  Civil War Railroads: Pictorial Story of the Iron Horse 1861 thru 1865.  New York: Bonanza Books, 1961.

Andrea Press.  Express Raider Code SG-S10 54mm Instruction Booklet.  Madrid, Spain: Andrea Press, 2002.

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5 Mar 2024