EMU workbench

by pete_mcfarlane

original page on Old RMweb

__________________________________________

??? posted on Thu Dec 06, 2007 11:49 pm

A couple of DC Kits EMUs on my work bench.

The MLV was bought at Wakefield a couple of weeks ago. Basic construction is now complete (in 2 weeks, which must be a record for me).

Now awaiting underframe and end details. I'm planning on using the Southern Pride underframe mouldings in place of the etches that comes with the kit. I've always thought that the quality of the cast and etched details that come with these kits is a lot lower than the excellent plastic body mouldings.

Power is from a Black Beetle with a dummy beetle added at the non-power bogie end. This involved hacking an extra hole in the floor. I also ended up hacking out the moulded well in the floor at the power bogie end, as this was too shallow and made the unit ride too high. Even now I'm not convinced about the ride height. It could also do with a good scrub to get rid of all the dust from sanding. Most of the moulded on jumper detail is removed and will be replaced with Heljan mouldings.

To be finished in 1970 condition, ideally as the blue liveried one, or possibly green with small yellow panels if I can find a suitable photo. Otherwise it will be bog standard blue and grey.

Next up is a 2-EPB. I bought this when the kits first came about about 7 years ago, and it's been slowly progressing.

There's nothing actually wrong with the kit itself. The main issue is that the 2-EPB units had 1951 type control gear, and I'm struggling to reproduce this. The etched underframe detial that came with the kit isn't brilliant and the Southern Pride mouldings are for 1957/1963 type control gear, which has some major differences.

Some of the underframe gear is adapted from SP mouldings, and other bits are scratchbuilt. I'm not happy with the quality or positioning of some of the bits (especially the scratch built resistance banks after looking at the photos) so more work is needed.

The other problem I'm having, as you can see from this photo is getting the roof electric cabling straight. I'm using the SP turnings and brass wire, and it's a nightmare. This is my second go and its still very wonky

__________________________________________

Comment posted by michael delamar on Fri Dec 07, 2007 12:05 am

being a bit harsh on yourself there, they look great

Mike

__________________________________________

Comment posted by Miss Prism on Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:36 am

Use guitar string, Pete. It won't solder readily, but it will lay straight.

__________________________________________

Comment posted by rich_eason on Fri Dec 07, 2007 1:11 pm

The other method I've used with sucess is to use very fine Evergreen rod. Easy to stick where you need too and if you wish to thread it through small upstands a slight dab with mek will be enough to hold it in place.

For straight runs where you are not bothered with visible air beneath the pipe work then tack the starting end with Mek and using a steel rule as a guide continue to stick the rod down making sure that the steel rule does not come into contact with the Mek.

__________________________________________

??? posted on Fri Dec 07, 2007 6:14 pm

Thanks for the suggestions about the roof cables - will give them a try.

__________________________________________

??? posted on Tue Dec 18, 2007 11:48 pm

No progress on the EPB, but the MLV is getting there.

End and body detail now mostly complete. I've used very of the DC Kits parts for the underframe - most of it is from the Southern Pride underframe set, with a bit of scratchbuilding. From photos the underframe equipment on these units seems to be a bit of a minefield as it changed over time. At no point did it include giant self tapping screws though - I forgot to screw them back in before taking the photos.

End pipes are Heljan ones which are designed for a 33/1 so need a bit of tweaking.

I've come to the conclusion that there's nothing wrong with the ride height, but that the bogie sideframes were too close together. This is because I glued them straight on to the stretchers on the side of the Black Beetle units (which are set to HO spacing?). Padding them out with bits of 40 thou plasticard seems to improve the appearance no end, as there's no big gap between the body and the bogies.

I've also discovered that these units had at least 3 different arrangements of the battery box covers. The kit represents the most recent (as preserved) so I've bodified them with plastic strip to represent the in c1970 condition.

The main remaining task is to detail the bogies.

The only thing I'm not happy with are the buffers, which are Comet extended Mk1 buffers (as this MLV will be used to pull parcels stick). The moulds look very worn and I was lucky to get 4 usuable ones out of a pack of 12 which is unusal for Comet as most of their castings seem pretty good. They were the only extended Mk1 buffers I could find though.

__________________________________________

Comment posted by Dagworth on Wed Dec 19, 2007 1:28 am

I've never had any trouble soldering guitar string. Solder paste makes it even easier though. I use guitar string for all my OHLE.

Andi

__________________________________________

??? posted on Wed Dec 19, 2007 8:09 pm

Not being musical and knowing anything about guitar strings, what type of string do you use and what diameters do they come in?

Pete

__________________________________________

Comment posted by keefer on Wed Dec 26, 2007 8:34 pm

the 'plain' electric guitar strings are usually steel and are usually referred to in 'thou' sizes - can be bought individually in sizes from .008" up to (i think) .020" or .022"

strings any thicker than this tend have a winding wrap over a steel 'plain' core - these are 'wound' strings and tend to be from about .018" upwards (these are the type which look like they could be use for vac. brake pipes!) - these tend to have a steel core wire, with steel, stainless steel or nickel wrap

just go into a music shop and ask for electric guitar strings - when asked for the size just say 'a twelve' for a .012" or whatever - but for .018" or more, make sure you ask for a 'plain' as these come in 'wound' as well

hth

__________________________________________

Comment posted by Alex on Fri Feb 08, 2008 9:38 pm

Perhaps Bass guitar strings would make good vacuum pipes...

__________________________________________

??? posted on Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:05 am

The MLV is now almost ready for the paint shops - just needs a few slightly wonky details adjusting. Being able to view digital photos of models is a big help, as it lets you spot things you'd otherwise miss. Like the wonky lamp iron

The slightly iffy Comet buffers have been replaced with some much better ones from ABS. The various etched window frames are from NNK, as are the cast fuseboxes above the shoe beams. Big one of these to NNK for the quality of their parts -the window frames in particular are first rate, easy to cut away from the fret and needed no cleaning up.

Details like Buckeye couplers, handrails and vacuum pipes to be added after painting. I've had no luck in tracking down photos of the blue one, so it will be blue and grey.

One tip to anybody building a DC kits EMU - you can improve the front end appearance by filing down the edge of the roof to make it less thick and closer to scale. I used a half round file, and the filled any gap between the roof and the body with filler.

Another thing I've noticed about the DCK front end is that all three window rainstrips are at the same height, when on a real EPB based unit the middle one is slightly lower, which is quite noticeable. This was corrected after I added the etched window frames by adding new rainstrips above the outer windows.

__________________________________________

Comment posted by Phil on Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:43 am

That MLV is looking really good.

__________________________________________

Comment posted by mines a pint on Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:48 am

read an article where these were indeed used but it must have been over 10 yrs ago, assumed things might of moved on since then.

I'm with Mike on his first comment, even with the wonky roof pipes I'd be incredibly pleased with the results so far.

__________________________________________

Comment posted by michael delamar on Fri Feb 15, 2008 11:56 am

looking great now, well worth the extra effort

go on paint it green you know you want too

btw, whats with the small insulated piece of track on your workbench?

Mike

__________________________________________

??? posted on Fri Feb 15, 2008 1:25 pm

It's for testing kit built loco chassis. The idea is that if they can run over the short bit of dead track without stalling, then all of their pickups are working OK and they can cope with any dirt, dead spots etc that they'll encounter.

Not really needed for testing EMU motor coaches though.

__________________________________________

Comment posted by edmac on Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:44 pm

Have you finished your MLV yet ?

Ed

__________________________________________

??? posted on Sun Jan 11, 2009 10:49 pm

Nearly - I wasn't happy with the glazing, so now I'm flush glazing it the hard way using plastic sheet cut to shape. This is a bit boring and takes ages, as my patience is only up to a couple of windows at a time

__________________________________________

Comment posted by Gallows Close on Mon Jan 12, 2009 5:21 pm

Hi Pete,

Just seen your thread. The EPB looks really good, (as does the MLV ) but I have a question. I notice that you have drilled out the holes for the door handles and handrails, as well as fitted the roof cabling. Do you intend to paint the model with these details in place? or would you fit them later... Same goes for the door hinges.

Please show us the result when it comes out from the shop.

Cheers,

Chris.

__________________________________________

??? posted on Mon Jan 12, 2009 5:37 pm

Depends - the stuff that is the same colour as the underlying body (roof cables, end handrails etc) will be glued in place and painted in situ. Stuff like door handles that are a different colour will be stuck on after painting but before the final coat of varnish. It also helps that the EPB will be plain blue - the MLV is blue/grey and needs most of the side detail left off to allow for masking.

Hope this makes sense.

__________________________________________

Comment posted by Gallows Close on Mon Jan 12, 2009 6:00 pm

Yup, Sure does. The only thing that would worry me would be painting the roof cables - especially by air brush. Do you have a method to stop the paint 'gathering' on the cables? Also, whilst I agree on leaving off the door knobs and grab handles, but have you ever had any trouble re-locating the holes?

Thanks for your reply, it is of much interest as I will be painting something similar in a few weeks,

Chris.

__________________________________________

??? posted on Tue Jan 13, 2009 12:35 am

I don't use an airbrush, so have never had this problem. You do have to be sparing with the paint when brush painting detail like this though.

I've never had much trouble finding the holes. Most of them end up partially clogged with paint, but can be found and cleaned out with a pin (or the .5mm drill used to drill them originally).

__________________________________________

Comment posted by 5Bel on Tue Jan 13, 2009 10:23 am

Hi Pete,

Excellent work, good to see another 3rd rail modeller. You say that you are flush glazing with clear plastic cut to shape. Have you tried Replica flush glazing, all you do is cut the bar out of the windows and the new glazing just slots in. It's even easier now that he does a pack for his own MLV. If you want to see some results look at my 4mm workbench thread. It really does make a difference. Replica also do suburban flush glazing which will fit the 2EPB and they do interiors which can be made to fit easily.

Keep up the good work,

Cheers Ian.

__________________________________________

Comment posted by edmac on Sat Jan 31, 2009 6:20 pm

Any updates Pete ?

__________________________________________

??? posted on Mon Feb 02, 2009 12:05 am

Nearly done - just a few more windwos to go and some final detailing:

__________________________________________

Comment posted by edmac on Mon Feb 02, 2009 11:40 am

Looks great Pete , hows the EPB coming along ?

Ed

__________________________________________