Fun Town - Ice Cream Wagon MKII : Continuing with the crazy idea of building a few animated wagon's that would run on DCC for Fun Town's market.
Determined to have an animated figure in this build, so I went for a tea drinking ice cream seller that also rotated his head as he eyed up potential customers. Things didn't turn out quite as expected, but the final result aint to bad.
Thanks for Looking............
I've been doing a little more work on 'De Snitzlton', a small 0:4:0 shunting locomotive for Fun Town's market stall's. This blog covers the scratch building of the wheels, connecting rods, gearbox modifications, axles, mechanical parts for the steam assisted uncoupler and the animated and non animated 4mm scale figures. I probably got to carried away a little with one figure that seemed like a good idea at the time, but after a period of calm / settling down, this figure was destined for the lay
I've been working on a small 0:4:0 shunting locomotive for Fun Town's market stall's. I decided early on to design a new locomotive drawing inspiration from the transverse cylinder engine "Albion" and a small shunting loco De Winton. To make things even more interesting, the loco would be operated with DCC and include a DCC uncoupler with an animated operator and also, other as yet undetermined animations to be added as the project progressed. The project starts with a compensating chassis machi
Fun Town - Ice Cream Wagon.
Had this crazy idea about building a few animated wagon's that would run on DCC for Fun Town's market. The original thought's were to add movement to the 4mm scale humanoids that would occupy these stationary wagons, maybe a rotating head, guy serving ice cream, someone waving, rotating cog's / gears, steam cylinder's, and roof fan's. The animated wagon's would be similar in size to the market stall wagon's and form part of the same train. With very little pre p
Continues with the development of an analog Pentroller type.
This blog brings to an end the development of an analog Pentroller type controller with a couple of versions that have turned out rather well. The blog also includes a shuttle circuit that is designed to be used in combination with the controller in a future fun type layout with automatic trains, automated chimney sweep brushes, people waving, light flashing and whatever else that springs to mind. So, while browsing the r
This is yet another of those jobs that's been on the to-do list for a few years, yet, what prompted me to make a start on this project was the fact that I needed a turntable to showcase some of the rolling stock for future model railway video projects I'm attempting. Therefore, the project will exclude a couple of design components that I will illustrate but not include in the model.
Snitzl
First off I must apologize for the long delay in posting a blog, the truth is that for the time being at least, I cannot spend as much time as I'd like on model railway's. Therefore, after what seems like an eternity, here's part three of 'De Snitzlton'. This blog covers the design and construction of a trailing bogie / pony which I considered a last resort 'steam assisted uncoupler' method as I much preferred the original design that featured in Part 1, but this design failed to deliver. This b
I needed a Tenshodo type 14:1 worm and wheel for the current project I'm working on. The Tenshodo's were about the right size and would probably do the job, but a preference for metal gears prompted this sub project. The one thing that this blog demonstrates besides novice gear making, is how much time can be spent making side tracked components before work can begin on the job in hand. Now that the gears are complete, changes have been made in the main project that may render these gears as unr
Hello RMwebber's. Snitzl is a nickname I've had from very young, used by my mother to describe the mess I used to make whenever I made something. These blogs will illustrate whatever I've been obsessed with, whether it be sctrach building, electronics or venture's into the unknown. I tend to model whatever I like, with little thought as to location. For instance, the illustrated lattice bridge is based on a bridge that existed at Kimberley Station, Notts, which was G.N.R. and later became Mid
The little people in 4mm scale.
Creating figures in 4mm scale is a bit of a hit and miss affair for me. When sculpting the face, some figures turn out great, while others turn into real monsters. The initial sculpting is done in dental plaster or chalk from which a silicone rubber mould is created. From this mould is cast a white metal figure which is further detailed to become a 'master figure'. If multiple copies of the same figure are required, then a second silicone rubber moul
Here's a few images following the construction of a 'Replenish Wagon' for 'Fun Town', this wagon will supply good's to the market stall wagon's parked outside both 'The Mart' and by the 'Cattle Dock' area. The wagon carries it's goods in tray's that match those used on the market stall wagon's. Construction of the model is very similar to the market stall wagon's which have a split frame live chassis for DCC led lighting. Unlike the 'Market Stall Wagon's', care was taken to make sure that short
Brief Prototype History for the T14.
The LSWR Class T14 was a class of ten 4-6-0 locomotives designed by Dugald Drummond for express passenger service for London & South Western Railway, built at Eastleigh between 1911 and 1912. The T14 was not one of Drummonds better loco designs, they suffered from heavy coal and water consumption and the axle boxes ran extremely hot. Later modifications included removal of the paddlebox type splashers, raising the footplate and forced lubri
This project is to try and do as much as possible to finish off an L.S.W.R. class F9 4:2:4T.
Brief Prototype History for the Bug.
The bug was Dugald Drummonds inspection loco built by L.S.W.R. works at Nine Elms and completed in april of 1899, numbered 733. Original livery for the loco was apple green edged with chocolate with a black line edged either side by white. The saloon was painted dark green / brown with the upper recessed panels in salmon pink, lining for the saloon
Decided to cover this topic in a little more depth and detail after visiting one of my earlier blogs for some information, only to find it totally lacking in regards to the electric's and programming details for Arduino. Arduino is not something I work with everyday, the last time I tinkered was some 6 years ago in blog 'Funtown Micro Layout - Part 1', so this blog serves as a reminder to myself, for the next time I tinker. So began a re-investigation, what files did I use for programming previ
Building the stone steps and walkways for Snitzl Town.
A step by step illustrated guide to building the stone steps and walkways on the market place of Snitzl Town. The model is based on a walk way / railway bridge that existed on Main St, Kimberley, Nottingham.
The individual components of this model bolt together to form a complete assembly, an idea I've carried on into other modules of Kimberley Station, that I will post soon.
Here's a little design and development work on Flexichas Motor Bogies.
Been thinking for quite some time about modelling a couple of motor bogies with Sharman type suspension and although the idea I have in mind is new to me, I wouldn't be overly surprised if the idea had already been done. Some years ago, scale flange wheels were fitted to all snitzl rolling stock, which in turn made all of the fixed chassis locos unreliable due to derailing. Presently, with the exception of tw
Verne's Tower - Flying Machine.
As part of Fun Town, I was thinking of modelling a hot air balloon that revolved around the large tower, but in the previous blog on Mike Sharmans vertical boiler steam traverser, Mikkel commented that the traverser was very much in the stye of Jules Verne in appearance. This got me thinking about maybe modelling the hot balloon baised on something Jules Verne might have designed, a web search was done and after browsing through many images a compl
Here's a couple of methods you can use for making replacement coupling rods.
Its not unusual when scratchbuilding a new loco chassis to make the rods first and use them as a jig to drill axle bearings holes or holes for axle bushes, but there are times when there's a need to make replacement rods. Here are a couple of methods that may be of use. The first method is the simplest, but requires the use of either a milling machine or compound slide mounted on a bench drill. For those t
Modifications and detailing on Neilson & Co 0:4:0 Coffee Pot.
After reading other modellers blogs, its seems that quite a few of us are plaqued with infinished projects syndrome, with incomplete models littering our shelfs. In my case, I had scratchbuilt 16 locos and 5 remained unfinished, so a decision was made to try and get some of them transferred to the done section. This scratchbuilt model of the coffeepot was started some 30 years ago, but because of its racehorse like
Geabox Madness illustrates the construction of different gearbox types.
How many modellers do you know that make a closed gearbox for an Adams B4 only to find that the motor intended for use with the gearbox has packed in, a modification is made to the gearbox to later find that the unit will not fit in the intended B4 without surgery to the boiler, a start is then made on a cradle type gearbox only to find the same, the end solution on the B4 can be viewed in another blog.
Ever wanted to make your own worm and gear wheel ?.
Here's how to make a simple 30:1 worm and gear along with a home made gear cutter, both lathe and milling machine were used in the process.
Snitzl.
Scratchbuilt Em to P4 conversion with wheel rim turning for this L.S.W.R. class B4 Dock Tank.
This second installment of Snitzl Works section covers the conversion of a scratchbuilt Adams B4 in EM gauge to P4. The original model was built way back in the early 1980's to standard gauge and a few years later converted to EM, so its taken a while to build up enough enthusiasm to do this final conversion.
Brief introduction and Wheel Quartering Jigs .
Snitzl Works blog will illustrate and describe my efforts into modifications and scratchbuilding of rolling stock / locomotives along with all the sub assemblies / components such as gearbox's, gears, worms, wheels, motor bogies, wheel quartering jigs and will also include all the trials and tribulations that can sometimes occur along the way, so perhaps this blog should be a guide on how not to modify and scratchbuild locomotives. I
Walls Traverser Cover - Part 2.
This is part two of the 'Walls Traverser Cover' which was started last February and has taken at least 1260 hours to construct. Details of construction covered in part one are not repeated in this blog so illustrations move on rapidly. The model is virtually a micro, multi layered layout modelled in styrene. This blog also covers details of the traverser with its extruded aluminium tracks, mechanical switch and end of board track protection.
Walls Traverser Cover - Part 1.
It was only last February that I thought to myself that Snitzl Town only required a traverser and transportation rack to finish, then I could get on with some rolling stock modelling. Thinking about the traverser, instead of using two pieces of plywood to hide the traverse sidings from the viewing public, what about an actual model of stone walls and walkways. Searching the internet for ideas with search terms such as ' fantasy castle ', ' stone wa
