Simond Posted July 13, 2015 Author Share Posted July 13, 2015 (edited) Well, this loco is trying... Took it to John's on Thursday and it would not run (on DC). The ashpan glowed, but motion there was none. It worked perfectly last week, but this week, no, nil, zip, nada, zilch. Took it home, on the DCC, running perfectly. Check cv 29, present and correct. Scratch head, it got so confusing I even read the b. manual. There are more cvs on a Loksound V4 than you might imagine. There is an "analog DC enable" and an "analog AC enable", and an "analog DC start volts" and... Well, I'm puzzled because as I said, it ran before, and then I did a bit of work on the front of the chassis, and then it doesn't... I guess computers are like that. Anyway, it appeared that the analog DC start volts was set to 90, and the default should be 30, so I set it to this, and I connect up one of my old analog controllers, and it runs up and down the Greater Windowledge. Good. Back down to John's on Saturday afternoon, and It doesn't run.... The ashpan light glows and the sound system is making "steamy idling noises" but it doesn't b. GO! At this point John suggests wiring his DCC controller from his 00 layout into part of his 0 gauge layout so I can run the damn loco more than the three and a half yards that the current home layout permits. This works and we run a train of 6 bogie coaches down the hill behind his Watford tank (see http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/80443-great-windowledge-railway/?p=1693441)and bring it back up the hill, wrong line (engineering works, don't you know) with the King. Whose bogie derails.... Addition of some 6 BA washers finally sorts this out, and we have a fine session of shuttling the coaches up & down the line. Took it home, and reduced the height of the "pots" that would bear the weight of the frames on the top of the bogie until I could remove the additional washers and get the front buffers back to the normal ride height. The loco now rides on the equalised bogie, two softly sprung axles and the rear axle which has quite hard springs in its axle boxes. It now seems fine, but I don't think I'll do this again, I'll equalise the bogie or pony truck with the front axle, and equalise the middle & rear axles with twin beams. Having sorted that out (subject to further testing between Leigh & North Whitton) I moved on to the brakes. I removed the etched shoes from their hangers, and filed everything back to create plain hangers. These are soldered onto the cross beams, which will in turn be secured to the pull rods, cross shaft and brake cylinder. The hangers spring onto the pivots which are soldered onto the frames, and are thus removable, albeit with some difficulty. And here's the next photo, which for reasons best known to Apple, is upside down. Anyway, you can see that the brake hangers now fit without fouling the wheels. I'll turn up a ring of plastic from which the shoes can be cut, and pin them to the hangers, and fit safety chains. Then onto the injectors pipe work & sundry gubbins Best Simon Edited July 13, 2015 by Simond 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted August 2, 2015 Author Share Posted August 2, 2015 So, having baked in Crete for two weeks (weather v hot, food & drink good and reasonably priced, natives very pleasant & welcoming, no hassle whatsoever with the Greek Economic Crisis - but the least said about the hire car the better!), and done sundry bits and pieces of garden & house maintenance on our return, I summoned up the courage to clear the clutter from in front of "the big lathe", fitted the four jaw chuck and sawed up some Tufnol. I wasn't confident. I cut off two blanks, 60mm square, ish... The square of Tufnol was reduced to a ring just over 55mm diameter, with an inside diameter of 45.2 to clear the wheels of the King, and then back to the 3-jaw. I then drilled a load of 0.5mm holes in it, on a 47.something PCD, using an adaptor I made for my Proxxon drill a few years back. This fits the standard Myford type tool-holder, and allows drilling using any of the slides on the lathe (although you do have to be a bit careful that the drill is aligned with the axis of the slide). I then turned the outside diameter to 50.7, and then ground an old tool to make a square groove in the ring, this had to be 1.1 wide to clear the thickness of the filed down etched brake hangers from the kit. Tedious, grinding tools... Having turned the groove, the ring was parted off and given a quick clean-up with emery cloth. The individual shoes were cut from the ring with a piercing saw, and filed to shape, using one of the spare etched lever/shoe from the kit, suitably cut down as a template. It's soldered to a "pin" to locate it on the pivot hole. It looks like I was not quite brave enough when cutting the groove, as I have had to deepen it slightly when fitting the shoes to the levers, but this is quite easy using a small coping saw. Two of them are on, the others will have to wait a couple of days, as will the chains, cylinder & pull rods. A little further adjustment looks to be necessary. Anyway, pleasing progress. Of course, what I should do is replace the cross-slide lead screw & nut, and fit DROs which would give the lathe a new lease of life, and would have considerably simplified today's efforts. I should probably also clean it occasionally... And whilst I'm doing a bit of maintenance, fix the vertical feed on the milling machine and fit a new drive motor & controller... I could then have transferred the ring to the milling machine and cut the profile on that... Maybe... What I probably will do is make a silicone mould off the best of the shoes I've made, and then I can resin cast more if I ever need them. All the best Simon 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Nice, I can smell that tufnol Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Isambarduk Posted August 3, 2015 Share Posted August 3, 2015 Simon, As I said elsewhere (http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/101674-reworking-locos-from-finescalebrasssan-cheng-models/?p=1972045): " I think the trick is to persuade yourself that the first attempt is a 'proof of concept' exercise ... and there is always the chance that the first attempt is spot on :-)" which you achieved; well done! Most informative posting, BTW. David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted August 17, 2015 Author Share Posted August 17, 2015 Well, all the brake shoes now fit, and the linkages have been adjusted, and I looked and decided that you can only see the safety chains on the rear axle, which saves some fussing around, so now I am waiting for my lace pins. Found a local supplier, will report more when I get my order. So I put it on one side, and set about a project of an entirely different nature. Last Saturday I nipped up to the Hawkinge toy and train fair. Geoff Roberts, the G0G area 10 rep usually supports it, and had a small shunting layout. Anyway, I perused the "bargains" and for my efforts, secured a Corgi 1929 Thornycroft van. It claimed to be 1/43 on the box, and when I compared it to the drawings in my GW Road Vehicles book, it seems that it is basically spot on in all major dimensions. The wheels appear to belong to a modern motorbike, and the rectangular windows are missing from the cab sides. The plastic detail is a little coarse, and for the picky, the rear mudguard profile is a bit too sporty, but for a fiver (and the two quid for show entry), I'm not moaning. It was a matter of a few minutes to extract the wheels, and drill out the rivets to remove the body from the chassis. The success or otherwise of the project depends on the wheels, so I have set about them. I bored out two of the supplied wheels, to save the tyres. I then turned a bit of brass to represent the wheel face profile, and using my Proxxon in the tool post, drilled holes for the wheel studs. I don't have a dividing setup on my big lathe, and I don't have a tool post fitting for the Proxxon on my Unimat, which left me with a dilemma. I hit on a high-tech solution: the iPhone might result in upside-down pictures, but it has a digital level, and by pressing this to a chuck jaw, and zeroing it, I could increment by 45 degrees, to get the 8 wheel stud holes. It wasn't perfect, as when I tried to engage the drill with the first hole, it "clicked" in, rather than perfect engagement... But it went in, so well pleased. I then forced some wire into the holes, cut it off short and gave it a quick polish. Fitting the tyre then gives me a master for resin casting a set of five - it needs a spare. Unfortunately, at this point the success tails off a bit... The RTR mix must be wrong as it hasn't hardened overnight... That's going to be a messy job... More to follow Best Simon 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derbys65 Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Wow amazing work !. Amount of skills and talent on here is it worth me carrying on with mine lol Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
keefr2 Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Wow amazing work !. Amount of skills and talent on here is it worth me carrying on with mine lol I wouldn't even know where to start! This is beyond my scope of modelling (sticking bits of plastic together!) & I think moves up a level to miniature engineering! Excellent work Simon, I cannot hope to emulate it, but I do enjoy reading about it! Keith 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jintyman Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Superb work on that lorry Simon. Very well executed too. Jinty Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 Very nice - it'll be about ready for some R/C gear.......! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted August 17, 2015 Author Share Posted August 17, 2015 Well, thanks for the kind comments! I did consider the R/C approach, but it doesn't seem worth it with a van, even though there's lots of space for the batteries and receiver. Now, if it were a tipper truck... Which, given the chassis, is possible... But not now! I'm still pondering the lights (see my Foden steam lorry pix on the Greater Windowledge Railway thread) which is obviously easier with metal wheels. I think dimly glowing side/tail lights will add to the atmosphere when the sun goes down. I need to decide whether to create a new front axle, which allows the vehicle to be posed with "steered" wheels, on an uneven surface. I think this is probably the single thing that lifts a toy into the model class, so I guess I'm going there. I've also got a nice white metal Thornycroft truck to finish off, thoughts of the Pendon one, but bigger. Thus more detail required. That'll be a challenge! Best Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted August 27, 2015 Author Share Posted August 27, 2015 Bit of progress after a weekend away, Mould, master, and some of the castings, as cast & as cleaned up at the back. On the first couple of them, the wheel studs didn't cast, due to bubbles in the holes in the mould, I took more care, and poked the holes as I put the mixed resin in the mould. I drilled out the little pin holes and can put short lengths of wire in. I also discovered how much resin to use by number 4... Cleaned up the back and drilled the centre holes in the Unimat, but could have done it with a file and a hand drill. As you can see, I have used a tea-light as the starting point for making the mould - I put the master on the short stub of brass, "glued" on with a drop of wax. I then melted some wax in the tea light case, and dropped the master in, let it all cool, and poured the silicone mix in. When it had set, I extracted the master, and invert the mould in the tea light case. I've done a couple of moulds this way for small items, seems to work quite well. Next job will be the front axle. I also got my pins, 4 different types, from Sylvia Hornsby, http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/djhornsby/Home.htmof Canterbury, this week too. Very prompt & helpful service. Usual disclaimers. So the King brakes might make a bit of progress this weekend too. Best Simon 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted August 31, 2015 Author Share Posted August 31, 2015 Back to the King this weekend, although I did paint the van wheels whilst spraying those from the loco. After fighting with the Slaters Allen key for the wheel screws (it appears to be made from stale cheese, or something similarly useless...) I finally got the wheels off, cleaned, araldited on balance weights, blacked the steel and gave the whole ensemble a dose of Halfords best satin black rattle can, followed by a tread cleaning with acetone. I managed to fit the brakes, and after an unreasonable faff, got it all to work again. You'll see one of the slide bar braces is off in the photo... It does seem that this loco is putting up a fight, it very nearly got consigned to the box-at-the-back-of-the-shelf (where its soulmate, Spams' 1366, may well be lurking, a sort of Swindon equivalent of the naughty step). Anyway, a little more progress. I made up some weights using resin & shot. The mould was half a PVC 40mm waste pipe, and some bits of plastic card to generate the right shape. It's in two bits so it goes in through the firebox without a fight, and it was secured to the loco with some evo-stik, on the basis that the glue will probably break first if I ever want to get them out again, which I doubt. Much easier dealing with the leaking mould than resin all over the paintwork. I might add a bit more, if there's room. Learning point. Make two batches of resin. Pour the first to lock the bottom of the weight together, then as it's setting, pour the second to completely enclose the lead shot. This way you won't get irritating little balls, and clumps of two or three, falling off where they haven't been well secured. And I made the KA capacitor bank, using 6 x 1F caps, per my earlier post. I'll fit it with a polarised plug for connection to the decoder, and it will sit on a wodge (another technical term) of blu-tak on top of the weights. Might get a bit more done this week, fingers crossed. The weights The KA capacitor bank, shrink-wrapped Chassis with brakes All the best Simon 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted August 31, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 31, 2015 Swindon naughty step indeed! ;-p Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted September 1, 2015 Author Share Posted September 1, 2015 Some days, nothing goes right. It looks like the diode I used in my KA failed (possibly simply too small) and that seems to have cooked my Loksound decoder. I've checked my wiring & soldering and it looks right, and the diode appears to have failed, so I think it is the likely culprit. I'm surprised that it should kill the decoder, however. I think I'll wait a day or two and come back to it. Perhaps looking with less jaded eyes will enable more insight. This loco definitely belongs on the naughty step. Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jintyman Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Hi Simon, Sorry to hear that. Although I believe that Loksound's have a good threshold for failures of other components. I hope you resolve it ok. Jinty Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted September 2, 2015 Author Share Posted September 2, 2015 Thanks David It appears that a black, cuboid component on the top right of the board has let its smoke out it's certainly looking rather carbonised on top. I will see if it is possible to return the dcoder for repair, or, as I have a tame genius technician at work, I will try to find out what the dead component is, and assuming they can be purchased, beg a favour! Meantime, I will buy another decoder, and be rather more careful with it - this is frustrating as it delays the next loco being re-chipped, but never mind. Worse things etc. I will let you know how I get on. Right now, it's not my favourite loco... best Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium 2ManySpams Posted September 2, 2015 RMweb Premium Share Posted September 2, 2015 I think it's good to have a "not favourite loco". Makes you appreciate the others more ;-p Expensive bits of kit going pop, burn , bang is one thing that worries me about the DCC route I've decided to follow for Pencarrow. DCC does seem at times to be a money pit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
81A Oldoak Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 I think it's good to have a "not favourite loco". Makes you appreciate the others more ;-p Expensive bits of kit going pop, burn , bang is one thing that worries me about the DCC route I've decided to follow for Pencarrow. DCC does seem at times to be a money pit. I agree. There are times when I'm trying to calibrate steam modules that I just want to give up and revert to DC. Apart from a completely wireless system of loco control, what I want is to be able to put the loco on a rolling road with the sound on and to be able to adjust the chuff rate as I watch the wheels in motion. And of course, we are getting more realistic sound projects and better decoders with more functions so I will probably have to replace most of sound decoders already fitted. The DCC wallahs have watched and learnt well from Apple and Microsoft about the cash-cow properties of regular "upgrades". 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted September 2, 2015 Author Share Posted September 2, 2015 Right, I've jumpered the 8-pin socket, so it's now DC, and assuming the rain stays off, I'll take it for a run tomorrow evening at John's. I'll chase up repair tomorrow. I've heard there is a fixed price repair service for Loksound decoders. Will let the multitude know! Best Simon 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted September 4, 2015 Author Share Posted September 4, 2015 The rain didn't stay off, so we retired to the pub... The 'king is now on the shelf (actually the one above the one it fell off...) and the Castle is out for some further work, the tender repaint needs to be completed. The decoder has been returned to Howes, who are going to "see what they can do" - I'm optimistic, they have provided excellent service in the past - but then this one is my fault... Let's keep our fingers crossed. I have some goodies coming from Telford, despite not being able to go myself, so in an effort to clear another "bench queen", started to make the front axle for the Thorneycroft. I drew it on my age-old TurboCAD, and fretsawed the centre web of the girder from 1mm brass. A length of fret waste made the girder flanges. Soldered by pinning to a bit of MDF and using the micro blowlamp and the usual Powerflow. I'll get the Unimat out tomorrow and turn up the hubs from some 2.43 AF hex brass, amongst re flooring the bathroom, and a few other chores. Pondering how to spring or equalise it. I think a short stub of piano wire mounted under the sump poking through a hole in the centre of the axle will be fine. More soon! Best Simon 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giles Posted September 5, 2015 Share Posted September 5, 2015 Simon, of course you can get miniscule flanged bearings which you can recess into your wheel (as a hub) ever so easily - and these make the wheels go round! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Get thee behind me... If you saw the list of things to do, you'd realise that "can" and "should" have different connotations in my model world. The big step is to rip out the GWR, and replace if with the loco shed for Porth Dinllaen. Given that I have a PhD in procrastination, and lots of toys to play with, and a bathroom in bits, the chances of me ever getting round to motorising the van are so small as to be incalculable - more chance of winning the lottery, and I don't do the lottery! (Actually, the difference between your chances of winning the lottery if you do do it are only very slightly greater than if you don't enter). So, I shall try to get it sitting on its wheels by the end of the weekend. It will then stay in this state until I get my finger out and sort out "GWR Cartage Services" transfers for it, along with working lamps, etc... At the end if the day, it's only a bit of tarted up RTP to provide a bit of scenery! This morning, I checked the KA capacitor pack, and replaced the diode with something with more cojones. I had not wired it wrongly which is reassuring. More worryingly, the diode, which I suspected to be the chief culprit in the latest tale of woe, seems to have survived being soldered in, tried out, and being unsoldered, which is about as good an alibi as it's likely to get. The finger of blame therefore points at yours truly in connecting to the decoder itself. The connections were checked twice by me, and once more by my son, and we could see nothing wrong, so the mystery deepens... Of course, when I get a replacement decoder, I then have to bite the bullet and try again (or more accurately, I don't have to, but I will want to) - so we'll have to wait and see. Now, bench cleared, Unimat time! Best Simon 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Ahead of expectations! It's on its wheels already! The body has had a first coat of Halfords Rover Primula Yellow, and as you can see the front axle now rocks and steers. The vehicle can thus be posed much more realistically than the original. The front axles were turned from 2.43 AF brass hex, and threaded 10BA, the rear axle is the original corgi chassis casting, tapped 10BA for the screws that now retain the wheels. In the second photo you can see that I soldered the hubs to a bit of brass which I then marked out, drilled and cut out to make the steering arms. I will make nuts and screws to replicate the rather nice brass hub caps on the original. Need now to decide whether it should benefit from working lights, and to make some minor mods to the body, mask & spray Rover Russet, fit the driver (who was a tractor driver, and needs an apron, cap & repaint) and see what else needs doing. Best Simon 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted September 5, 2015 Author Share Posted September 5, 2015 Does anyone have any info about the roof colour? I've painted it white, and I guess as they aged, they would have darkened as rail vehicle roofs did, but is white the right starting point? I have Philip Kelley's "Road vehicles of the Great Western railway" but it is somewhat vague - "The livery of GWR road vehicles followed very closely that of the rail passenger carriages..." Further insight most welcome !!! (Copied in the GW Prototype thread) Best Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simond Posted September 13, 2015 Author Share Posted September 13, 2015 Well, I did do a bit on the Thorneycroft last week, but work has been a bit hectic, and we had a weekend away, I'll post some pix of the trip later, but there are a couple of it as it now stands. My pal, John, kindly gave me some transfer film so I can do the "GWR Cartage Services" bit, and there's some touching up to do, plus painting the inside of the cab. I didn't go to Telford, but my pal Andrew picked these up for me - a very pleasing purchase of Mr Waterman's best from a fellow G0G member on the G0G "sales & wants" - there are another two which are at a similar level of completion, but which are not yet on their bogies. I think these will keep me entertained over the next few months: it will be interesting to compare them with the brass Blacksmiths ones I've already built. At least I've got new cans of Halford's spray paint to do the main colours - does anyone have any thoughts about the colours? The cream is Rover "Primula Yellow" - I'm 99% convinced... The "Russet Brown" works fine IMO.. Best Simon Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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