Nile's NG Modelling

[Nile]

With windows glazed it went for a spin around a friend's layout last night.

[Nile]

It's been a while, lots of other things to do, but a trip to Narrow Gauge South yesterday has prompted an update. The event saw the long awaited (by some) appearance of the new 009 society kits, replacements for the no longer available Colin Ashby kits that the society gives to new members. I bought a couple to try and started to build one last night.

This is the three plank version, there is also a steel sided one and a one plank/bolster version.

 

The main parts were assembled and left to set overnight.

 

Today I inserted the wheels and fitted the brake gear. I've modified it to have a single shoe per side (as suggested in the instructions) and to make it look it might actually work.

I'll leave the levers off until after painting, I think that will make life easier. I'll also add some lead weight and couplings later.

 

This is a side by side comparison with the easier Colin Ashby kit. The new one is a bit smaller and a different style, offering a bit more variety to 009 modellers.

[Nile]

I've got on with painting and weathering it, the pre-painted brake levers were then fitted. Two strips of lead were glued to the underside between the wheels, this turned out to be just the right thickness to match the chassis. The Greenwich couplings needed a small kink bent into them to raise them to the correct height.

 

And now the right way up.

 

With a Peco L&B open wagon, it's a very small wagon.

[cnw6847]

The wagon looks really good.

 

Are the wheelsets non magnetic?

[Nile]

They are the same wheels you get in Dundas kits (Romford I think), brass rims with steel axles. There is a slight attraction to a Greenwich magnet.

[cnw6847]

They are the same wheels you get in Dundas kits (Romford I think), brass rims with steel axles. There is a slight attraction to a Greenwich magnet.

 

Thank you Neil.

 

I wondered if the new ones would be non magnetic.

[Nile]

I bought some of the new 8mm wheels, they follow the same pattern with brass rims and steel axles.

In practice steel axles aren't much of a problem as they are far enough away from the magnet to be hardly drawn to it.

[Nile]

Scarrdale Railway No.3

 

Having recently identified a need for a fleet of small (or more specifically short) locos, I extracted this model from the box its been sitting in for far too long. It's a 3D print to fit on a Minitrains chassis. All its had so far is some black paint and a rub down to smooth out any roughness.

 

The main stumbling block for me was figuring out a way to securely attach the body to the chassis. In the donor Minitrains model (Bagnal wingtank) The body, cylinders and chassis are held together by the screw on the end of the chimney. I've used a M2 screw to fix the cylinder block to the chassis. Despite looking like brass it is in fact magnetic, so I've used a 5mm magnet glued into a hole under the smokebox to hold the body and chassis together. It's strong enough to keep them attached in normal used, but they can be easily separated if needed.

 

It's a tight fit in the cab, but it does all fit together and work.

 

With that sorted I could get on with detailing etc.

Edited June 25, 2018 by Nile

[PaulRhB]

That's a pretty little print, who designed it?

[Nile]

Turns out I bought this over a year ago, It's a 2A-rail design.

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/9UEL8MW62/009-fletcher-jennings-side-tank-1-minitrains-st?optionId=59990447&li=ostatus

[Nile]

This loco needs weight at the front to counter balance the motor and aid traction. To do this I filled the boiler with fluid lead,secured in place with thin super-glue. I started at the smokebox end.

 

I added a bulkhead at the firebox end from some plastic card. This made it possible to fill the rest of boiler with lead.

 

The smokebox door hadn't come out too well, suffering from the effects of support material. Rather than try to clean it up and repair it I filed it off to make way for a replacement. You can just about see the lead balls through the smoothed material.

 

I made a replacement door from a disc of plastic card, its edge rounded. Hinge and straps are micro-rod and strip.

[Nile]

A bit more work on the chassis. The mostly hollow cylinders were filled with fluid lead. The bits of yellow masking tape make it a tight fit inside the body. Around the base of the motor I added bits of plastic card to form a cab floor. At the top of the motor at the back I added a piece of plastic card to act as a spacer. This keeps the flywheel from touching the back of the cab.

Then the wheels and visible parts of the pick-ups were painted black, along with the body.

 

The side tanks needed some filler caps. After a rummage I settled on some Talyllyn buffers I had spare. Removing the buffer head leaves something resembling a filler cap. Being whitemetal they add even more weight.

[Nile]

More progress. I made the couplings from the leftovers of etched brass kits. They will be glued to the backs of the buffer beams after being blackened.

 

Some paint has brightened things up a bit, buffer beam red and Maunsell green. The smokebox door handles follow my usual pattern - Gibson shoulderless handrail knobs on a bit of brass rod.

 

I added brass paint to the cab window openings before glazing them. The whistle if off an American N gauge loco, as are the safety valve tops. Nearly there now.

[happyChappy]

Fabulous little loco. A real credit to you Nile. Hopefully with the Minitrains chassis it runs as well as it looks too. HC

[Nile]

Thanks hC, yes it does.

[Nile]

Some numbers added from a HMRS Southern locos sheet.

So is it finished now? Well it's been pointed out to me that the cab is a bit small and has no room for coal. So I'm thinking of a few mods to improve matters. Nothing major, it's a bit late for that now I've painted and numbered it.

[Vanguard 5374]

That's the best build of one of my kits I've seen yet, out of all the Minitrains based locomotives it was the one I was least happy with too. Glad to see you've worked wonders on it.

[Nile]

Thanks Vanguard, glad you like it. Now for those mods. To solve the coal storage problem I'm going to add a bunker in front of the cab. This would extend down into the side tank with an exit hole into the cab. I've used a piece of scrap brass bent into a square shape and soldered.

 

I've made a few other bits from plastic card, here they all are after painting.

[Nile]

The loco with the new bits stuck on.

On the back of the cab there are some sliding doors to allow long things to be poked into the firebox, made from 10thou plastic. Above them is a semi-circular cover for the handbrake handle. This was made of discs of 20thou plastic cut out with a paper hole punch. Three of them were cut in half and glued together, the edges sanded smooth.

 

I then made a toolbox (or storage box) to go on the other side tank from scraps of plastic and brass.

 

Painted and glued in place. It helps balance the appearance of the loco.

Also new in this photo are handrails on the tank fronts and coal in the bunker.

 

Finally the loco needs a crew. The small cab, mostly full of motor, meant some surgery was needed to get any figure to fit. These were the unlucky victims I thought best suited this loco. As well as loosing an arm the one on the left has had a lot of material removed from his back and hat.

 

After being stuck into the cab they do a good job of hiding the motor.

[Vanguard 5374]

Superb work. Will be dropping you a PM

[Nile]

Like many I bought the Bachmann (USA) models of Skarloey and Rheneas, two of each so that I could modify one and keep the other as is. This is what happened to Skarloey.

 

Scarrdale Railway No.1

 

My cunning plan was to replace the cab with that from a Minitrains Bagnal wingtank, as I had a spare one from the last loco (No.3). To do this I cut off the rear part of the cast body with its strange wall that blocks the front windows.

 

The Minitrains cab needed a bit removed to fit over the Bachmann chassis.

 

And this was the result.

It sort of works, but there were a few problems I could see.

The resulting loco would be even longer than before, when what I need is short locos.

It's always going to look like Skarloey/Talyllyn with a different cab stuck on it, an obvious bodge.

 

Not happy with this I got a bit more radical and got the saw out again.

 

Now this was looking more interesting.

Its origins would not be so obvious now. Eliminating the rear axle should also cure the loco of its only real problem, its poor pulling ability. On the original model the centre axle floats and contributes little to traction.

[chuffinghell]

Some fantastic work there!

[chuffinghell]

With windows glazed it went for a spin around a friend's layout last night.

91.JPG

Fantastic, I think I’m on the wrong forum.

 

I’ve only ever dabbled with modifying 3D printed bodies but no where near to the same high quality as yourself

 

I’m out of my depth on here

Edited June 30, 2018 by chuffinghell

[Nile]

You've achieved a good finish on that model. You should start your own topic showing us your ng models, what I've seen so far looks good.

Back to Skarloey, I got the saw out again and removed the rear of the chassis and cleaned things up back there. the result is a more compact looking loco.

 

Using bits and bobs I got to work on the inside of the cab. I've tried to make the motor mount look like the firebox backhead, complete with steam dome and safety valves. They sort of line up with those on the cab roof.

[chuffinghell]

Looks great!

 

PS sorry for high jacking your post earlier

Edited July 1, 2018 by chuffinghell