Signaller69's projects

[MJI]

3 hours ago, john new said:

How do you programme it? Does it use a form of 2D CAD?

 

[Signaller69]

The mould looks a success, after carefully releasing it from the masters. The small channels top and left catch overspill when a flat spatula is passed over the filled mould.

 

The first batch of castings have been made and I was pleasantly surprised how few air bubbles were present.

 

The digital scales proved their use again, for a 50:50 mix of resin and catalyst. As suspected air bubbles that were present were at the lowest point of the moulds, which slightly affected 2 of the exhaust outlets of the engine block so these will need the wire poking method on further runs. This has to be done quickly as this particular PU resin has a working time of 3 minutes from bringing the 2 parts together, and a mould release time of 30 minutes.

 

From the first casts, having pulled off the loose moulding flash. The air bubble issue can be seen where the exhaust outlets have not formed correctly on the engine block. The battery box came out really well all things considered. Although not easy to photograph, the texture of the extremely fine mesh in the air intake/radiator is present too - I thought this may have been a real air bubble trap.

 

Second batch just out of the mould, prior to removing flash. The exhaust outlets much better this time.

 

And onto the next batch....

 

I bought the casting kit last summer. I know from previous experience that both the rubber and resin have a fairly limited shelf life, even unopened - 6 months is quoted in the instructions - so I will probably use all the resin I have to make 10 or so sets, or at least part sets.

Edited February 2, 2021 by Signaller69

[leopardml2341]

When can I place my order

 

ps you have a PM about suburban coaches.

[Signaller69]

19 minutes ago, leopardml2341 said:

When can I place my order

 

ps you have a PM about suburban coaches.

Many apologies Andy, I THOUGHT I replied to your last PM but it seems to have got lost in the ether, as it didn't save either. Anyway have just re-replied!

 

As for the resin parts, let me know which parts you need (ie is it just the engines, or everything - not forgetting most DMU power cars need 2 engines), and how many and I will work out a price.

 

Note I cannot offer the DMU drivers control panel seen in photos, as it is a copy of an old casting.

[MJI]

I still need to work out what is what but I will be making some of my own moulds as well

[ISW]

3 hours ago, Signaller69 said:

As suspected air bubbles that were present were at the lowest point of the moulds, which slightly affected 2 of the exhaust outlets of the engine block so these will need the wire poking method on further runs.

Martyn,

 

Have you thought of using a hand drill on 'hammer' setting, with the drill bit resting on the mould frame (or the surface upon which it is resting), to 'vibrate' the mould / table to assist with removal of the air bubbles?

 

Just a thought ...

 

Ian

[Signaller69]

1 hour ago, ISW said:

Martyn,

 

Have you thought of using a hand drill on 'hammer' setting, with the drill bit resting on the mould frame (or the surface upon which it is resting), to 'vibrate' the mould / table to assist with removal of the air bubbles?

 

Just a thought ...

 

Ian

Hello Ian, 

It's a bit of a juggling act as the resin starts to visibly cure 3 minutes from when the 2 parts are mixed, so after carefully pouring into the mould and poking the known areas prone to bubbling it doesn't leave much margin. I have put the mould on top of the washing machine, but that depends what part of the cycle it's on at the time. I like the hammer drill idea. Similarly, picking up the mould and tapping it on the worktop a few times might work too.

[Signaller69]

After adding exhaust pipes bent up from bits of wire and epoxied into place, the castings have been fitted to the DMBS underframe.

 

 

 

A few tweaks are needed, along with a few small scratchbuilt parts to be added.

 

 

It's getting there!

[cheesysmith]

Careful or you may be inundated with requests for them. You could always stick them on evilbay lol. I know I would not begrudge you getting some monies back on the work you have done there.

[cheesysmith]

Ps. I would need two sets lol.

[Signaller69]

11 hours ago, cheesysmith said:

Careful or you may be inundated with requests for them. You could always stick them on evilbay lol. I know I would not begrudge you getting some monies back on the work you have done there.

 

11 hours ago, cheesysmith said:

Ps. I would need two sets lol.

Thanks Cheesy, 

 

 

I'm not going to be doing these in any commercial sense, and am not advertising them elsewhere, but to those who have expressed an interest, I am prepared to make them available on a small scale at a fair price as I won't be giving up my day job anytime soon. After some thought as to how best to do this I arrived at the following:

 

1. Engines castings pack.

 

(Contains 2 AEC/BUT engines & 2 Radiator castings)

 

2. Full castings pack with engines as above, 2 battery boxes and class 100 type electrical boxes.

 

3. Battery box (single) (Useful for trailer cars etc).

 

Please PM your interest in the first instance for further details, prices etc.

 

Martyn.

[Signaller69]

A shot of the underside. Excuse the poor lighting.

 

Thanks to those who have contacted me regarding castings.

 

For anyone wanting to do their own casting, this is the provider and kit I used:

 

https://www.mbfg.co.uk/polycraft-moulding-casting-resin-kit-mini.html

 

Bare in mind, if buying a bigger kit or quantities of resin, that even unopened it has a finite shelf life, generally around 6 months from manufacture.

 

Edit: If you shop around for "casting resin" you will find it is available in different colours, such as black which may be useful for underframe parts, bogies etc.

Edited February 4, 2021 by Signaller69

[cheesysmith]

Just been thinking, but do these make your earlier conversions look out of place? And the chassis mod for the bogie centers does that make the 107 wrong?

 

If so, I can see a lot of us doing some cutting to correct this on our old models.

[Signaller69]

3 hours ago, cheesysmith said:

Just been thinking, but do these make your earlier conversions look out of place? And the chassis mod for the bogie centers does that make the 107 wrong?

 

If so, I can see a lot of us doing some cutting to correct this on our old models.

Yes I had been thinking on those exact lines. Doing something about it may take a while longer though!

[MJI]

Other parts are too different to both 120 and IC

[Signaller69]

The Class 100 has had the underframes completed after making new footsteps in the correct locations and fitting a couple more details, followed by a coat of car aerosol Matt black. Solebars will need painting BR blue along with picking out engine details, exhaust pipes etc.

 

Attention will now turn to finishing the roofs and body detailing.

 

Another batch of engines have been produced too. 

[Signaller69]

One of the jobs I like least with etched kits is adding door hinges. Just cutting them off the fret without them flying off into thin air is bad enough, but picking the things up and dropping them in exactly the right place on the model I find a particular test of patience. My method for fixing them in place is to place them on the body then use a drop of acrylic varnish as a fixative, using the point of a small paint brush to move the hinge into place.

 

If anyone knows an easier method I'm all ears!

 

Small pieces of fine plastic rod would work just as well though. As can be seen the bodies were primed with an etch primer first and will get another thin coat before painting proper commences.

 

Door Handles and grab rails still to be fitted next; needless to say, the etched grab rails I have (PC and Comet) do not align with the holes so fine wire will have to be used.

 

Class 100's either had a single marker light on the roof or 2 below the cab windows; I went with the latter as they are marked on the etched cab ends. Small slivers of plastic tube were used to make the light housings. The kit provides etched 2 character headcode blind surrounds, which will be added after painting.

[MJI]

On the 119 I soldered them on before soldering the body together.

 

Underframe bits

 

How does the 126 compare to the early W79xxx versions?

 

Do they have the big fuel tanks on the right?

 

Do they have the almost flush battery boxes?

 

I am making some masters for these two items this weekend.

[Signaller69]

58 minutes ago, MJI said:

On the 119 I soldered them on before soldering the body together.

 

Underframe bits

 

How does the 126 compare to the early W79xxx versions?

 

Do they have the big fuel tanks on the right?

 

Do they have the almost flush battery boxes?

 

I am making some masters for these two items this weekend.

The 126 has the fuel tank behind the cab end bogie on driving vehicles (similar to a loco fuel tank) istr.

[MJI]

41 minutes ago, Signaller69 said:

The 126 has the fuel tank behind the cab end bogie on driving vehicles (similar to a loco fuel tank) istr.

 

Same as the 79xxx batch then

[Legend]

Hi Guys 

 

I don’t think I posted this before on this thread. But just in case anyone interested , Silver Fox are producing kits for 126 Ayrshire and The original Edinburgh & Glasgow sets . They are also producing cab ends . Sorry for taking the easy way out but as well as ordering a kit I’ve ordered cab ends for my Trix coach conversion . I had been worried about how I would achieve the cab ends and this seems an easy way out . Give added impetus to the project now which has occasional bursts of activity ! . 

[MJI]

42 minutes ago, Legend said:

Hi Guys 

 

I don’t think I posted this before on this thread. But just in case anyone interested , Silver Fox are producing kits for 126 Ayrshire and The original Edinburgh & Glasgow sets . They are also producing cab ends . Sorry for taking the easy way out but as well as ordering a kit I’ve ordered cab ends for my Trix coach conversion . I had been worried about how I would achieve the cab ends and this seems an easy way out . Give added impetus to the project now which has occasional bursts of activity ! . 

 

cab ends look OK but I am going to make my own, not seen any 126/IC stuff apart from ends for sale

[coronach]

5 hours ago, Signaller69 said:

One of the jobs I like least with etched kits is adding door hinges. Just cutting them off the fret without them flying off into thin air is bad enough, but picking the things up and dropping them in exactly the right place on the model I find a particular test of patience. My method for fixing them in place is to place them on the body then use a drop of acrylic varnish as a fixative, using the point of a small paint brush to move the hinge into place.

 

If anyone knows an easier method I'm all ears!

 

Small pieces of fine plastic rod would work just as well though. As can be seen the bodies were primed with an etch primer first and will get another thin coat before painting proper commences.

 

Door Handles and grab rails still to be fitted next; needless to say, the etched grab rails I have (PC and Comet) do not align with the holes so fine wire will have to be used.

 

Class 100's either had a single marker light on the roof or 2 below the cab windows; I went with the latter as they are marked on the etched cab ends. Small slivers of plastic tube were used to make the light housings. The kit provides etched 2 character headcode blind surrounds, which will be added after painting.

I drill and solder in brass lacing pins, with the pin heads suitably squeezed using pliers and filed to shape.

Edited February 12, 2021 by coronach

[Legend]

1 minute ago, MJI said:

 

cab ends look OK but I am going to make my own, not seen any 126/IC stuff apart from ends for sale

Martin

 

I think they still have to update website but the kits are in stock as they are just sending one out to me.  You can send them email query

 

Best regards

[MJI]

2 minutes ago, Legend said:

Martin

 

I think they still have to update website but the kits are in stock as they are just sending one out to me.  You can send them email query

 

Best regards

 

Not after buying lots of Triang mark 1s for roofs, ends, chassis, and cutting out  a big pile of sides