Fen End Pit

I spotted this on the high street in Kendal a couple of weeks back.

I had a first go at weathering the Ferguson tractor. I don't really have much experience with weathering vehicles and even less experience with Vallejo acrylics. I think I'm fairly happy with the outcome but would welcome your opinions. I do note looking a the prices of tractors on Ebay that I have added a couple of thousand to the price by weathering it as it would appear that you pay less for a 'restored' tractor than you do for a 'barn find' by about £2000. David

I liked the look of the Fergie, but decided that the steering mechanism was very 'representational'. The 3D model just had a couple of bumps meant to represent the steering rod and axle supports. I decided to try and model a better mechanism. I was able to import the STL file into CAD and then try to draw up the extra parts. The original model was designed to be printed on a filament printer so the detail was quite simple. Ideally I would have removed the original features from the model but I'm finding that much more difficult than adding bits! If I try doing a boolean operation on the 3D model it makes a large hole in the surface but I can't see how to fill the gap back in. Onshape probably isn't the right tool for this but I tried Meshmixer too and got stuck with that. I'm not brave enough to attempt anything in Blender. For now I just attacked the resulting resin with a scalpel! I think the result makes the front end look much more complete. You can image it being able to steer now. I was very pleased with the Vallejo 'Tire [SIC] black' which has given the wheels a really nice matt rubber look. I'm now going to have some fun weathering it, if I bog it up completely I can always print another one. David

As observed I got the tyres on the wrong way around. Try this...

The anycubic slicer has profiles for lots of resins. It is just that chitubox doesn't yet know about the m5s pro yet and I am used to using it to do support positioning. What I have worked out is that I use chitubox to do that then export the models with support as an stl. Then take that it the anycubic slicer and slice and print from there. David

Techy bit ---- So this weekend I took delivery of my shiny new Anycubic Photon M5S Pro and a Wash-and-cure station. This was ordered direct from Anycubic and arrived 5 days sooner that the original delivery date. The printer has a 10" build plate so it considerably larger than my old Phrozen Sonic mini 4K. It also has the advantage of wifi connectivity so I can monitor progress in the garage from my warm workbench in the house. The printer also comes with a heater which means I don't have to build another home-brew unit like I made for the Phrozen. The deal also provided a couple of bottles of Anycubics new 'rapid' resin which almost has the consistency of water, it is much thinner than conventional resins so it runs back into the voids faster as a layer is pealed. As usual for a new printer Anycubic provided a manual written in something which was almost English - why do manufactures never get a native speaker to even proof-read them? They also provided their own Anycubic Photon Workshop slicer, which I didn't really want to use because I am used to adding support and slicing in Chitubox. After printing one of the test models I tried to print 'the cones of knowledge' from Tableflip fountry. This is a little print which helps you calibrate the exact resin exposure time. I tried to create a Chitubox profile to match the M5S Pro because they didn't have one yet as the printer is so new. I was able to generate and print the cones and it took ~40minutes. Then I tried slicing the same model in Anycubic's slicer and got exactly the same part printed, with indistinguishable quality and it printed in ~19minutes. These were at the same layer height and exposure time so the saving was obviously in the other movements while printing. Long and short of it was I don't know what voodoo the printer is doing but boy does it print quickly! I think I'll still stick to slower times and conventional resins most of the time as the rapid is a little more brittle than I'd like. The modeling bit ---- I've rather fancied having a little tractor on Fen End Pit and even went as far as buying a Heller Kit for a TE-20 in 1:24 scale trying to convince myself that it wouldn't notice as underscale if it is was positioned at the back of the layout. Ten I found a rather nice model of one on the Thingiverse as a 3D print drawn up in 1:18. I'd downloaded this and rescaled to 1:19.05 for 16mm:1ft but then given up as on my previous printer it would have taken four print runs to get all the items printed and each run would have been 4-5 hours. I managed to get everything except the tyres in a single print and then the tyres on a second print. the first print took 1 hour 10 minutes and the second just over 50 minutes, so from ~16-20 hours down to 2 hours. The results aren't bad. I think I'll probably model up a few more bits of detail to make the steering rods look a bit better and add things like pedals but I think it is a pretty good starting point. The Wash-and-Cure station is quite something, the vat for the washing can hold 15ltrs of IPA (I've only put 5ltrs in for a start). It has a magnetic stirrer in the bottom which whirls around and get the liquid to woosh about a wash everything. Half way through the wash cycle the motor spins down and then reverses, sounding in the process just like a London underground train. Then you take the tank off and replace it with a dinky turntable (in background of photos) which then spins the part under some bright UV lights to finish curing the resin. Lots of fun to play with and obviously some things I didn't think I could print are now possible. Judging by what I've learnt so far I reckon I should be able to get two complete J17 kits on the bed at once, though it will be more sensible to print more of parts of the same height. All rather fun and exciting to play with. David

Following a request for some garden tools I took to the Thingiverse and found a couple of items to print. The spade, fork and grass rake were made for 12th scale but scaled down to 16mm without too much issue. I then drew up a rake and, because I couldn't find ones I like the look of, a watering can and plant pots. The nice thing about the plant pots was that I only had to draw one size and then scale them in the slicer on the printer to get a range of sizes. While in printing mode I also made the 56lb weights I wanted for my coal scales. Just for fun I tried assembling the weighbridge equipment in CAD and printing it at 4mm scale. Amazing it printed so I'll get in touch with the NEEAG and send them some for Lavenham. I think I'll stick one on the goods shed platform of Clare too. Sorry for the quality of the picture, trying to get the camera to focus on this tiny part was a bit tricky. Last I added some tortoise stoves to the build plate, in 16mm, 7mm and 4mm scales. In 16mm you can read the text, in 7mm you can just make out the tortoise logo. I'm really happy with the improvement in the reliability of the resin print since I added a little heater to it. I've now had four or five print runs on cold evenings with no failures. David

Given I am in the process of finishing the design of an EasiChas for an Ivatt class 2, a complete kit for an ex-GER J17, producing boilers for the reintroduced J94 and detail parts for a Coronation all for Brassmasters I can say I am not expecting them to go away anytime soon. Always amazes me the speculative dross the internet kicks out. David

Roy's model on the Crownest tramway was obviously meant for weighing little narrow gauge 'tubs'. I would expect that these would have fitted within your 'couple of tons' specification. Thanks David

Thanks Keith, A lovely photo. I think that it is slightly taller than the version Roy modeled, the plinth looks a bit longer and thinner. I'm intrigued by what looks like a stretcher frame in the background? David

Inspired by Roy Link's model documented in The Crowsnest Chronicles and at the request of a user on 'another well known Narrow Gauge Railway Modelling Online forum' I modeled up the weighing equipment to go into a weighbridge hut. I'm quite pleased with the result and it captures the prototype pretty well. I was amused that the drawing in Roy's book didn't actually match the model he'd built and I opted to cheat with a design for the scroll-work found for me by Google. First a couple of pictures of Roy's superb pantograph milled version. I suspect this took many, many ours. Second, my 3D printed version. In 16mm the scales stand 70mm tall. And with a Bachmann 16mm character for scale... I guess the 3D modeling took a couple of evenings and the parts took ~4 hours to print (for 2 copies) I was very tempted to model 'LINK' into the bottom as I remembered from all his wonderful plans in C 1978 Railway Modellers. Thanks for the inspiration Roy. David

I was reminded of the rather nice drawing of a set of coal scales in Roy Link's superb Crowsnest Chronicles book and while I can't match his version with lots of beautifully panto-graph milled pieces I thought I'd have a go at modelling it up in CAD to 3D print. As this model is in 16mm:1ft scale it took a while to print (a little over 5 hours) at .03mm layer height on my Phrozen Sonic mini 4K. I printed double of some of the smaller pieces just in case there were issues. The first attempt has actually assembled into something that looks pretty good first time. Sorry for the dust in the photo, I have sanded off the support structure and also lightly add a grain texture to the timber of the trolley. I'm looking forward to painting it now. edit (now painted) David

Blimey I've not put anything on the blog since August. I must be slacking... There has been a fair amount going on but not much progress to write about. Progress on the Ivatt has been good, however I felt that the original Brassmasters pony truck, a work of art and perfectly good product, was in a different league to the rest of the EasiChas I had been designing. Discussing with the Brassmasters at Scaleforum we decided to try to design an 'EasiPonyTruck' with the aim to making an easy to assemble unit which would better match the rest of the kit. The revised version uses just two main parts together with wire sprung bearings for the axle. The original unit needed lots of tiny etched parts to make up the springs on the front and rear but I decided this could be more simply dealt with by a little 3D print. The complete loco is now running around Clare and looks rather good hauling a goods train. One of the best features of having put a new High Level motor and gearbox in the chassis is that the footplate can be cut away between the frames like the prototype. This gap has a couple of addition bits of bracing which are just visible when the boiler is in place. The J17 project continues with the delivery of the second set of test etches. So far these have gone together well. One of the major design changes has been the decision to split the etches between nickel-silver and brass. There is now quite a difference in price and also some parts, notable the cab roof were a bit tricky to roll in nickel-silver. Also I've decided that rather than produce the tender as a single part, etching the outside frames and buffer beams will make for a stronger model. This also makes the tend much easier to print and clean up. Please note that isn't the tender riding too high the holes in the side frames are to locate the axlebox print and deliberately don't match the centre height of the axles. This version of the boiler has the vacuum brake pipe so this was one of the fitted J17s. I've also modified the 3D model to produce an earlier non-super heater version with a Ramsbottom safety valve rather than Ross Pops. In fact it is fair to say that I am getting quite a collection of J17s now... Other activities have included making a front end for a Wickham DMU at the request of a fellow member of the GERS who want one to go with some etched sides he had. This was a bit tricky with lots of compound curves and difficult shapes. I think I've made a half-decent fist of it and people I have shown it to have at least gone 'ah, a Wickham' so hopefully I'm not too far out. So now I have best part of two weeks off. I hope I can get this J17 build running and get a bit further with the instructions for the Ivatt. And I must put a few more blog entries up... David

I've just put together a heater/fan and a thermostatic controller to heat the build area of my Phrozen Sonic Mini 4k. The heater isn't too powerful and I'm only running it from a 5amp 12v power supply so all the electrics is 12v. Once running in the garage (temperature 6C tonight) it took a while to hit 25C but then would kick on for 10 Sec every 2 minutes. Best thing is I got a successful 4 hour print in the winter for the first time. https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DM4TD5W?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WK16JSX?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details I also used the original packaging of the Phrozen to make an insulated jacket. A not so Frozen Phrozen. David

looks fine on firefox and opera from my PC David

I love this idea, shades of the Burwell Tramway or Stephenson's siding. I'm working on a J17 kit which won't require too much difficult etched work. Good luck with it David

18mm MDF on its own will warp, it will need some bracing. I wouldn't want to have more than a 12" square unsupported in some other way. David

Good to see someone else bitten by the 16mm sand quarry bug. You have captured the atmosphere rather nicely. David

Nice relaxing, inexpensive build? You can change that be adding the most complex shaped load manufactured from purest gold. David

I think you might be referring to my blog, unfortunately this was before the great picture loss. the last comment has a link to the jig I made for redrilling the handrail holes on thingiverse David

During the week I assemble the chassis for the J17 tender which went together well apart from me drawing the holes for the brake hangers in the wrong place. Artwork correction took marginally longer than drilling 6 holes in the right places. I've stuck two pieces of copper-clad sleeper strip down the inside of the chassis and soldered the pickup wire onto these. While I have metal brake blocks and hangers on the etch I thought it would be interested to try 3D printing them and see how they worked too. The advantage of a 3D print being that there is no possibility of shorting anything out and, as the brakes are out of the way, they should not bee too fragile. The hand rails were added using Alan Gibson 'short' hand rail knobs. I thought these had a very chunky base so stuck them in a mini-drill and ground off just a little to make what I think looks a better size. The tops of the handrails on the front of the tender are a little vulnerable until the hand rail wire is fitted but it was possible to drill them out to .45 without breaking. The handrails on the front of the sides didn't have knobs for some reason. To get the power from the tender pickups (and chip) to the motor I wanted to get some very small plugs and sockets. I found a source from Micron Radio Control who have a wide range of connectors. These tiny 'UM' battery lead 1.25mm Plugs and Sockets can be purchased with different thicknesses of wire, I choose the thin stuff which is similar that used on DCC chip harnesses . I must congratulate them on their service, the bits arrived within 48 hours of being ordered and they refunded part of the cost of the P&P because the actual postage cost less than the minimum amount charged by their website. A view of the underneath of the tender gives some idea how this goes together. I have some P4 Markits axles on order now so I will have a go at another batch of loco wheels soon. The original ones using EM axles are ok but I think I can make them with less fiddling if I can use the P4 axles and just have a plain flat back to the wheel insert. I think the next challenge is to get the rest of the 'hot work' done on the locomotive body before sticking the 3d printed boiler on. This means the cab hand rails and rain strips, the brass buffer shanks and the lamp irons. David

I had an afternoon learning to drive a 22-RB dragline at Rocks-by-Rail a couple of months ago. Really good fun. The scary bit was slewing where the clutch which makes it turn doesn't have a brake. you start turning, put the clutch in neutral and 22 tons of machine just keeps turning. David

Yes they do, but they only seem to be available direct from Markits and not through the various resellers like Wizard or Roxey. I will try to get some as they might make this easier. David

Gibson and Ultrascale wheel are fine normally, particularly if you have a GW wheel press. It was just the resin centres which didn't have the grippiness of the plastic. David

In my previous blog on this subject I mentioned I'd 3D printed some wheel centres to fit into Alan Gibson 4'10" tyres. I put these into my test chassis and got it working but I was not entirely happy with the result. The issue I believe is that 'Gibson Style' wheels rely on having the centre molded out of a fairly 'grippy' plastic, the hole through the centre is designed to be a good tight fit on an 1/8th inch axle. even so most of us have had a wheel be a bit loose at times and some people resort to pinning the wheels to the axles. Those modelling in OO and EM have the opportunity to use wheels from Romford, now Markits which make use of an axle with a square end which fits into a square hole in the back of the wheel. I thought I'd try and replicate this with my wheel centre print so modified the wheel centre to match the style of a Romford wheel and I purchased some Markits EM axles. Obviously the P4 Back-to-Back is slightly wider than the EM one so my wheels needed a little section in the back to take their thickness out so that when fastened to the EM axles they present a P4 Back-to-Back. The drawing shows the rear of the wheel centre. Printing horizontally does mean that the back of the wheel has all the support structure which needs to be removed but it cleans up alright (photo taken half way through the process). The key is not to interfere with the central boss and just to make the rest of the wheel rear smooth. I've put a touch of black sharpie on the rear of the wheel to better show up the square whole. I had to play about a bit with the model to get the right size central boss. A little bit of trial and error was needed at this point but in the end I fitted all 3 axles to the test chassis and the quartering of the wheels worked from the get-go. Obviously I'll need to make some covers for the axle ends but the result took less effort than using my GW wheel press. I have now assembled the footplate and cab sides and it all fits together quite nicely with the 3D printed boiler though nothing is fastened down at this point. I've borrowed a GW models roller to roll the cab roof (thanks Middlepeak) so that is the next job on the cab. Although I have etched the brake gear I've also produced a 3D printed version of the brake hangers and brake blocks to see how they work and whether they are robust enough. I also need to make up the tender chassis, I've rubbed down the tender sides very slightly to remove a little bit of marking from the printing process. All together I think it is some good progress. David