# Spanish 1/32 Jupiter Steam Locomotive Build



## compucrap (Dec 16, 2000)

Hey Guys,

After a short absence from model building I have returned to do my first ever online build-up.

And I have chosen a gorgeous kit from a somewhat obscure company as my build. It's a (static) 1/32 Jupiter steam locomotive produced by a company in Spain called OcCre. I realize this seems like it belongs in the railroading section; however, since it's really a static display piece I feel it better fits in the general modeling section.

First a little history. The Jupiter was an "American" style 4-4-0 steam locomotive most famous for participating in the golden spike ceremony for the joining of the Transcontinental railroad. In my humble opinion the 4-4-0 style trains are the most beautiful of all engines ever built.










Wouldn't you agree? These were popular during the mid-19th century and were the spaceships of their days. Locomotive builders decorated the trains with bright paint-jobs and embellished them with gold-leaf and lots of shiny brass. Built during the infancy of mechanical engineering they seemed to be designed more-so by the human eye then stringent mathematics.

The American style locomotive is how the west was won! If the larger all-black brutish steam locomotives of the early 20th century were masculine than these early works-of-art are their feminine counterparts for having beautiful curves and enticing colors. I guess you could say I have a soft spot for these lovely engines!

OcCre seems to agree. I first came across the company several years ago. They had produced a series of European locomotives that are none-the-less impressive - but are a style of train that doesn't interest me as much. At the time I thought to myself "If only they would make a 440." It seems great minds think alike. They produced this kit about a year ago and once I saw it I was hooked.

These kits are not the typical injection molded mass-produced kits we are used too. They are a mixed media kit composed of laser-cut wood, acrylic, and metal parts. I have to say this is a nice change of pace from the typical. OcCre got its start making wooden sailing ships using similar techniques and from what I have seen so far the process works equally well for locos.









Here's one of their older locomotive kits to show how these are constructed.

I have just received the package from Spain and at first glance I'm very impressed. The box is very heavy from all the white metal parts. I will be taking some photos of the parts tomorrow and will post them very soon.

I'm quite excited about this build and hope you all look forward to the build. When all said and done the Jupiter should look something like this









More to come soon!


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## StarCruiser (Sep 28, 1999)

Yep - mid to late 19th century Steam Locomotives were stunning machines.

Steam engines remained very individual right to the end of the steam era in the late 1950's. No two engines were exactly alike and the engineers learned to run them by listening and feeling how they were running.

Very much living machines in their way.


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## mcdougall (Oct 28, 2007)

Looking forward to this build of yours :thumbsup:
Great looking kit!
I remember running down to the Train Tracks as a kid in the late 1950's just to watch these old Beauties thunder by...They were absolutely massive and the vibrations in the ground were bone rattling...yeah good times...It was never the same once the Diesels took over, sadly ...
Cheers
Denis


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## veedubb67 (Jul 11, 2003)

Reminds me of the time-travelling locomotive in _Back to the Future III_!

Speaking of, did anyone ever release a kit of that train???

Rob
Iwata Padawan


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## Y3a (Jan 18, 2001)

The 4-4-0' s were early locomotives and DID have some issues. The main reason so few are left is that most were damaged too badly in wrecks, or they blew up, due to bad metallurgy. I think the last ones were retired from service after WWII. These would have been the same wheel arrangement, but not such early examples. I know the Southern RY used some for light passenger duty in the flatter parts of their system until just after the war.


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## Rob P. (Jan 26, 2004)

Nice Locomotive and great job with the build!

Rob


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## Y3a (Jan 18, 2001)

Then you need to build some wooden passenger cars to match! I'll be watching this thread!


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## compucrap (Dec 16, 2000)

veedubb67 said:


> Reminds me of the time-travelling locomotive in _Back to the Future III_!
> 
> Speaking of, did anyone ever release a kit of that train???
> 
> ...


That train was a 4-6-0 and as far as I know theres never been a model kit of that type of engine. However, some fine examples have been built using the old "The General" 4-4-0 plastic kit that (revell?) made several years ago. They are still available online but the quality is no where near as good as this kit. 

I do believe you could engineer the OcCre kit into a 4-6-0. The costumer service is very helpful and you might be able to convince them to include 2 extra drive wheels for a small fee.



Y3a said:


> The 4-4-0' s were early locomotives and DID have some issues. The main reason so few are left is that most were damaged too badly in wrecks, or they blew up, due to bad metallurgy. I think the last ones were retired from service after WWII. These would have been the same wheel arrangement, but not such early examples. I know the Southern RY used some for light passenger duty in the flatter parts of their system until just after the war.


That probably explains why most of the old time train parks run more modern steam engines from the turn of the century. 

One awesome thing I discovered why researching for this loco build is that there is a 4-4-0 builder located near Elgin Illinois building new engines from scratch. http://www.leviathan63.com/index.html#

We'll see if he'll let me do a build-up of his kit!


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## compucrap (Dec 16, 2000)

*Preview and Progress*

Here are a few photos of the kit parts. Everything is very well done. From the white metal castings too the laser cut parts. Even the photo-etched stuff looks superb. And several instruction booklets that are larger than the box!


















































The first assembly is the undercarriage frame. And it's a beefy one at that. It's very heavy for how delicate it looks (and the wheels aren't even attached yet!)


















This is going to be one sturdy model when done. I have built one of "The Generals" steam engine kits back in the day but it was no-where near as well designed as this (granted it is a plastic model and a little smaller in scale.)

More photos are available on my blog: https://modelerinthemitten.wordpress.com/

Next up is polishing the wheels and painting the frame!


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## Spockr (Sep 14, 2009)

Great seeing this. Really like the multimedia parts and its fun seeing a build outside the genre for a change. (Although it would be cool to see an in scale werewolf engineer hanging out the window of this baby as she screams down the tracks ;-) )


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## Y3a (Jan 18, 2001)

I'm not really sure but I think the "fenders" above the drivers are actually the brakes. I didn't see brake hangers, etc.


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## compucrap (Dec 16, 2000)

Y3a said:


> I'm not really sure but I think the "fenders" above the drivers are actually the brakes. I didn't see brake hangers, etc.


Actually I'm not sure if the Jupiter had brakes. Many early engines didn't have them and relied on the weight of the engine to slow it down. They would also use the brakes on the freight cars to stop. The engineer would blast the whistle to let the brakemen know to engage the brakes. Brakemen would run across the top of the cars with wooden clubs to help them turn the hand wheels on the roofs which engaged the cars brakes. At one time being a brakeman was the most dangerous job in the US!

Eventually someone got the bright idea to install brakes on the engine itself. Here's how they usually look:









It does look like there might be some type of primitive brake shoe on the tender wheels of the Jupiter - But I haven't got to that point in the build so we shall see!


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## Paper Hollywood (Nov 2, 2011)

That's a super cool looking kit. I love the mixed media parts. I'll be following your progress closely.


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## compucrap (Dec 16, 2000)

Started working on some of the wooden frame parts. The boiler is composed of 3 sub-assemblies all made from the laser cut wood sheet. The pieces fit together like a puzzle - very clever.










One suggestion I'd make to anyone building this is to number the parts according to the guide BEFORE removing them from the sprue. It will make assembly much easier.

This wood boiler frame is what the metal panels will be connected too. I like how this technique feels like I'm actually building a boiler. Some of the wooden parts need a slight taper before the sheet is applied. My dremel has made quick work of that!










There is a ash box on the lower part of the boiler that is assembled separately and is installed into the undercarriage first. It's a combination of wood, metal, and plastic mesh parts.










The 2 tabs in the center of the box will align with 2 slots on the bottom of the boiler.










Here is the ash box installed in the undercarriage. Haven't given the undercarriage a final coat of paint because I'm not sure I like the gun metal color I selected. I want it to be a little darker - but not black - dark cast iron is the look I'm going for.










The other cool part I finished building is the cow catcher. It goes together smoothly and needed very little finish work. Here's an example of how the wooden substructure gets layered with a final metal part. This catcher will look stunning with a coat of paint.










On the bottom side you can see some of the locator slots that makes assembling this complex looking part very easy.










A little putty and sanding and this will be ready for paint!


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## Y3a (Jan 18, 2001)

Neat older subject! BTW.... I'm a member of the Norfolk and Western Historical Society, and know a bunch about loco design, construction, measurements, usage etc. Ask me about Y's, K3's, M's etc!


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## aurora fan (Jan 18, 1999)

Thanks for sharing! One of the more interesting builds I've seen in a long while! Can't wait to see you're next update!


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## Y3a (Jan 18, 2001)

WOW! On closer inspection that IS A VERY WELL CONCEIVED KIT!


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