And the tender becomes a full scale 50' long...
Now to attach the pieces together. I'll probably have to extend the coal hopper to just before midpoint of the tender, and I want to round the edges a bit more. Was going to just round them with filler and decal the rivets back on, but now I'm considering printing pieces that'll overlay the existing sides, and just print the rivets onto them. I've got a Lionel tender frame that'll need to be extended, but it's got openings for the speakers and mounting points for other gear and trucks, so it's a lot easier than starting from scratch.
And since we're multitasking, here's the sideframe for the E8. Since it was missing 2, and they weren't both on the same side, I'm just going to replace all 4 so that they match. I've got 3 printed, but just the one primed and painted. I've got 2 more curing. Tomorrow after work I'll print the last one, and prime and paint them all, and finish "phase 1" of the unit. "Phase 2" will involve drilling out the marker lights for LEDs, replacing the incandescent bulb with an LED, and if I'm feeling ambitious, making some sort of cab and crew. I've got TMCC electronics from an SD60 that should go in without any problems. Don't see "phase 2" happening until sometime this winter. "Phase 3" would involve replacing the trucks with correct EMD ones, but that'll only happen if I come across some at the right price.
