Burrell4040's Road Steam Modelling Projects

[burrell4040]

Afternoon all.

 

Some may remember me as the chap with the scratch build Burrell traction engine from a fair old while ago, thread linked here: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/107883-scratch-build-burrell-traction-engine/&do=findComment&comment=2193563

 

The subject of the previous thread was fairly well accepted given it is not rail steam but the project turned out to be a non starter for a number of reasons, primarily because i am a perfectionist and it was not close enough to scale for my liking so it never got completely off the ground. Back to the drawing board i went (sort of!).

 

A long time passed without me working on any projects and then i decided that it was time for me to get back at it which has lead to a number of various projects, all of which will get some coverage in due course in this thread. 

 

I have always liked the idea of larger scale models as a true "desk toy" so to speak and have easy access to my families full size Burrell steam roller, the simple solution to measure, scale and model this which i have started to some success, but more on that later.

 

Next i decided upon a quick project with another forum member who happens to be a mate from the college i go to. This was a 3D printed Foster traction engine in 00 gauge or thereabouts. This turned out to be very successful, i modelled the engine and later printed it to great success which only spurred me on, below should be some photos of the model in Sketchup and the final 3d printed engine. It is to no extent perfect but as my first ever 3D print i was beaming that it came out so well defined. 

 

First, the Sketchup model of the Foster, excuse the roughness, i was trying my best to keep it simple enough to print successfully and hadn't mastered the program at the time.

 

 

Now here is the 3D print, it well and truly surpassed my expectations and came out an awful lot better than i had anticipated. It is worth noting that all of the motionwork and controls of the engine is modelled, albeit to a crude level. The printed model is 3" long.

 

 

So, back to the roller temporarily. I made a start on this project a while ago by measuring lots of parts and acquiring some original drawings to aid me in making it to a 1" scale, or 1/12. With some badly done drawings in hand i made a start on modelling a few parts and turned all of the wheel rims and the flywheel. I may end up re doing the wheel rims out of aluminium in the future but i have not decided as of yet. The parts modelled to date are the aforementioned wheel rims and flywheel along with the nearside hornplate (difficult one), the front wheel hubs and the crankshaft. Photos are as follows and the order should correspond to the order they have been mentioned in. Pay no notice to the crap paint on the wheel rims, i only slapped a thin layer on to check the paint would stick properly. The rest is all halfway through the painting process. There are two of each rim shown, just didn't bother to get pictures of them all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That for now is all of the physical work which has been done to the roller. I have modelled some of it in Solidworks and may 3d print some of it in the future, some Solidworks renders below. 

 

 

 

With the Burrell roller covered on to the next one, which is more of a possibility than a definite project. A long term project of mine has been a 6" scale (half size) live steam Burrell traction engine. In the lead up to this project i have been modelling parts in Solidworks and have a lot of it now assembled on the computer. As i like desk sized models i have thought of the possibility of 3D printing parts of this, again in 1" scale. As previously mentioned this is not a confirmed project as of yet but a sure possibility. I am thinking of starting with the differential for this project, if i am going to do it i would like to make as much of it work as possible so the diff i think will be a good test. Hopefully i can get some parts for this printed next week and then i will know whether or not the project is realistic or not. Below are a few renders of this project, firstly the differential assembly and followed by the near complete assembly. The gears around the outside of the differential will be left out of the first diff print test and would be added later, they are just to show the assembly of it all together. The full model is very complex and detailed so obviously some of this would have to be toned back before any printing was done. I would be interested to hear from anyone who has printed small scale gears, whether spur or bevel as i would love to know how they turned out - i have rather a lot to print and would like them to work! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With my initial show and tell of projects done that about wraps up the majority of the model making work i have done and am planning to do, hopefully you all get the jist of what each project is and what i am trying to achieve in doing it.

 

I hope these projects, although not related to rails, are of interest to at least some of you and i sincerely hope you will not lynch me for allowing my old project and thread to die!

 

And here as a finale to this opening post and a way to make it sort of rail related (just!) is a drawing of an idea i had, it is a Minnie miniature traction engine converted to run on rails as a sort of shunting loco...

 

 

I will try to keep this thread updated as i progress with these various projects. If there are any specific things that are or aren't of interest please let me know and i will adjust my posting to suit and if any information, photos and updates are wanted of anything else mentioned in this post let me know and i will write about these too.

 

That's all for now folks,

 

Cheers, Josh.

[burrell4040]

Afternoon,

 

I have managed to stick with it this time and have made some reasonable progress with the Burrell traction engine project. I have been looking into getting a 3D printer for some time now, over 2 years, and on Tuesday acquired a Dremel 3D idea builder. I thought what better way to test it and to get used to 3D printing than to make some Burrell bits on it!

 

So below should be some photos, i started with the differential assembly, as it includes a lot of features fairly testing on a 3D printer. I have to say it performed very well but i am still making the occasional (okay, frequent) cock ups. 

 

Here is the differential and the parts which go together to make it.

 

 

 

Next i moved on to the cylinder. As this was a larger part and a longer print, i decided to print it in two halfs - if a 4 hour print went wrong i would have been pretty annoyed! Each half took 2 hours and had 3 wrong attempts before the final ones. The back of the cylinder is not perfect but when it is all glued up and i use some filler to fill the gap left you shouldn't be able to tell. Following this i also printed the safety valve casting shown below the cylinder pictures. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have also started on the front wheels with the parts which make up the hubs all printed. I have the spokes ready to print but i want to sort the rims first. Trying to print the rims did not go so well first time round so i am going to try again now. Failing that i will hand make or turn these. 

 

 

Finally for the actual progress, a shot of all of the printed parts together. Since this was taken i have printed the 4 slide bars and have re printed one of the bevel gears for the differential as it did not mesh 100% satisfactorily. 

 

 

As a finale to this post, here is the current state of the Solidworks model. Still a long way to go but it is coming along nicely.

 

 

Hope this is all of some interest. 

 

Cheers, Josh.

[burrell4040]

Evening,

 

I have been busy working away again, something a bit more of a convenient scale this time, 1/50. Unfortunately i don't seem to be able to attach any images so i will keep this post fairly short, if anyone has any ideas as to what could be the issue please let me know!

 

On to what i have been doing.

 

I acquired a damaged and buggered about with Corgi traction engine from a friend and decided to make some new wheels for it, progress was fairly quick and it got completed fairly quickly so i needed something else, so i moved on to the next project which is now complete other than the painting which i may get around to eventually. It is a traction wagon based on those marketed by Burrell and was commonly found behind traction engines. They were often used to carry stones, wooden planks and various other commodities. I am extremely happy with how it came out. I have a few pictures to post when i am able to attach them again.

 

The next and current project (it is not finished yet) is a pole trailer, again to Burrell design, you may notice a recurring theme... Currently i have the rear end of this trailer completed, along with the pole. I have yet to draw up, slice and print the front end but i imagine that will be tomorrows job. Again, i would post photos but they will come in time (i hope).

 

Seen as though i have been burning through projects so fast i already have a bit of a list on the go of the next ones, which are a bit more complex and should be fairly interesting also. All of what i am planning have never been modelled in any small scales before to my knowledge. 

 

Also just to put it out there, as i have all of the files for these various different things, and as i create more over time, i am thinking of possibly running off small batches of them to sell. They are in 1/50 scale for now so may not be of interest to all of you but potentially if the interest is there i could make some things for 00 gauge as well. If anyone is interested in 1/50 or 00 gauge, do please let me know, it will give me some idea as to whether to bother or not.

 

Exciting times,

 

Cheers, Josh. 

[burrell4040]

Long time, no post. A month has passed and i have had some progress on the Burrell traction engine. I have the majority of the front end of the engine all loosely assembled with lots of other bits also completed. The front suspension works but does need some tweaking. I am also going to make a new front axle to make it a little easier to make, currently it has taper bearings on a camber as per original which has proven a swine to get the wheels running on properly. Other progress includes two hornplates (possibly being reprinted due to a change of plan with some parts), lamps and other random parts. 

 

Parts for Corgi models have also been progressing with lots of varieties of wheels printed recently. 

 

The reason for the lack of posts is that unfortunately all of my Solidworks has stopped do to my student license expiring, i am awaiting a new code and then i will be flat out again. Until then there is not an awful lot of work i can do on the models. When i am back up and running again more frequent progress posts will hopefully be coming your way as i crack on with the models. 

 

Still no input from any viewers of this thread i have noticed, please share your thoughts and opinions and if there if anything you think i could do better let me know.

 

Cheers, Josh. 

 

Couple photos of the front end, wheels and lamps attached below. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest Isambarduk]

Josh, Hi,  I have only just come across you topic, perhaps others have yet to find it too, which is why there have been no comments so far.  In truth, what you are achieving is truly astounding and just makes me realise all the more that all the time that I spend at my machine tools producing similar parts by hand, very slowly, will soon be an anachronism! I shall follow your progress with great interest.  Cheers,   David

[burrell4040]

Josh, Hi,  I have only just come across you topic, perhaps others have yet to find it too, which is why there have been no comments so far.  In truth, what you are achieving is truly astounding and just makes me realise all the more that all the time that I spend at my machine tools producing similar parts by hand, very slowly, will soon be an anachronism! I shall follow your progress with great interest.  Cheers,   David

Hi David, possibly so. Thank you for the kind words, there is no replacing proper machined parts though. Besides that there is no better feeling than holding a component in your hand and being able to say you have made it yourself, whether it is machined, glued from plastic sheet or carved from wood, my 3D printing method is cheating really! I do plan to machine a few parts for this model, mainly shafts and parts for the back axle springing along with any simple moving parts that i can easily make. I also have bits for the same engine 6 times this size which i will start machining before too long depending on when other commitments are finished.

 

Cheers, Josh.

[Guest Isambarduk]

Thank you for that, Josh.  I feel suitably reassured! 

 

Just by for fun, and by way of a contrast, here is an embryo fly-crank emerging from the solid:

 

From www.davidlosmith.co.uk/Model-Parts.htm

 

David

Edited August 14, 2017 by Isambarduk

[N15class]

Excellent work. I am not a great fan of 3D printing, but I think you are actually using it in a manor that works to the processes best advantage.

[Dave John]

Some very interesting modelmaking. 

 

I too enjoy a bit of lathework, there is satisfaction in removing material from the solid bar to create a part. But 3d printing isn't cheating, its just the opposite process, putting liquid material together to form a shape. Mouldless casting really.  So I think that machining from solid and 3d printing are complimentary techniques, just a case of choosing the best process for the task. 

[burrell4040]

Afternoon, 

 

Thank you all for the kind words, i still don't have any access to Solidworks so i am limited with what i can work on but i have been working on the transmission gears lately as i had already modelled and exported them. Below are some pictures. They look rather scruffy in the photos but aren't quite so bad in real life, with some finishing they should look spot on in time. I'm impressed with how well they mesh and the splines have formed exceptionally well. I think the next job is going to have to be the many bearing brackets and shafts so i have something to hang all of these gears off! Rear suspension currently being worked on and i will try to machine the axle and axle tube next week if i get chance.

 

Cheers, Josh. 

 

 

 

 

[burrell4040]

Hi all,

 

Long time, no post. As expected other commitments got in the way, lots of time spent on the roller and working on the half size Burrell. 

 

That said, this project has not been ideal, i've been working on a few things in and out and i've picked up the pace again the last few days. Recent progress including a nearly finished crankshaft, bearing brackets and some other bits and bobs.

 

On to the photos, i've put a caption with each to explain more what's going on in it. 

 

 

 

First up, these 2 photos are of the gear side crankshaft bearing bracket, a fairly complex piece, wouldn't want to have to scratch build it i must say! The print turned out remarkably clean, i have been playing with a lot of settings to achieve cleaner prints, it's starting to pay off! 

 

 

This picture shows the flywheel side crankshaft bearing bracket, very different to the gear side one! Both the bracket and the cap were printed in 2 pieces. I haven't made the bearings for either of these brackets yet as i want to make sure i get them right (and i have other stuff i want to work on with it!). This bracket is pushed on to the hornplate as it will be when assembled. The hornplates unfortunately need re making, but this will have to wait until i source a replacement print bed, or i will have to machine one. 

 

 

This image shows the weighshaft bracket. I included this picture as it shows exactly how it came off of the print bed, in two pieces due to the complexity and overhangs. With some tidying up, sanding and most importantly some glue, it should look the part soon enough. 

 

 

 

These final two photos i have left until last as they are the real interesting ones, the part i am most proud of currently, the crank shaft! This is made up of 5 sections of turned stainless steel and some 3D printed webs. The splines are also 3D printed and will be glued into the end. The gears are a very nice sliding fit on the splines so my plan to make the gear change mechanism work as per the real engine should be easily doable! Couple things to alter but nothing too serious.

 

Along with all this, i've done some sanding, filling, priming and painting on the chimney and some other parts. I am now starting to get back into the project a bit so i'd like to think i can get some stuff done over the holidays!

 

As always, thanks for reading.

 

Cheers, Josh.

 

 

[ian@stenochs]

Hi all,

 

Long time, no post. As expected other commitments got in the way, lots of time spent on the roller and working on the half size Burrell. 

 

That said, this project has not been ideal, i've been working on a few things in and out and i've picked up the pace again the last few days. Recent progress including a nearly finished crankshaft, bearing brackets and some other bits and bobs.

 

On to the photos, i've put a caption with each to explain more what's going on in it. 

 

DSC_0007.JPG

 

 

 

DSC_0008.JPG

 

First up, these 2 photos are of the gear side crankshaft bearing bracket, a fairly complex piece, wouldn't want to have to scratch build it i must say! The print turned out remarkably clean, i have been playing with a lot of settings to achieve cleaner prints, it's starting to pay off! 

 

DSC_0005.JPG

 

This picture shows the flywheel side crankshaft bearing bracket, very different to the gear side one! Both the bracket and the cap were printed in 2 pieces. I haven't made the bearings for either of these brackets yet as i want to make sure i get them right (and i have other stuff i want to work on with it!). This bracket is pushed on to the hornplate as it will be when assembled. The hornplates unfortunately need re making, but this will have to wait until i source a replacement print bed, or i will have to machine one. 

 

DSC_0006.JPG

 

This image shows the weighshaft bracket. I included this picture as it shows exactly how it came off of the print bed, in two pieces due to the complexity and overhangs. With some tidying up, sanding and most importantly some glue, it should look the part soon enough. 

 

DSC_0003.JPG

 

DSC_0004.JPG

 

These final two photos i have left until last as they are the real interesting ones, the part i am most proud of currently, the crank shaft! This is made up of 5 sections of turned stainless steel and some 3D printed webs. The splines are also 3D printed and will be glued into the end. The gears are a very nice sliding fit on the splines so my plan to make the gear change mechanism work as per the real engine should be easily doable! Couple things to alter but nothing too serious.

 

Along with all this, i've done some sanding, filling, priming and painting on the chimney and some other parts. I am now starting to get back into the project a bit so i'd like to think i can get some stuff done over the holidays!

 

As always, thanks for reading.

 

Cheers, Josh.

I have just come across this thread. Very interesting and nostalgic. It takes me back to the 80s when I built a live steam 1/4 size Burrell. I had a lot of fun machining castings and fabricating parts and it gave me, and others, a lot of pleasure running it. I still have it, she got a repaint last year, but we haven’t steamed her for a while.

 

Ian.

[stadman]

Just found, well impressed.

[burrell4040]

Evening all,

 

I have just by chance checked up on here and noticed that it is a year to the day that i started this thread. It is also nearly 6 months so my last post, so i thought i'd share some of what i have been working on over the last few months. I have been extremely busy with the full size Burrell roller and when i get chance building my 6" scale Burrell also, if anyone would like to see some updates of any of that stuff let me know and i'm happy to include that as well. 

 

On to my scale projects, starting with the 1" scale Burrell, i had a big push on this a few months back in the aim of achieving a rollin chassis. This was a fairly large task given that i only had the front end prior. I spent a few solid weeks on the project and made some real progress. I burnt myself out with it for a little while but i am sure i will get back to it soon enough. A few photos of this project as it stands currently are below.

 

 

Alongside the 1" Burrell i have been working on various 1/50 scale model traction engines, with this scale being chosen in order to match the size of Corgi models, which are popular in the road steam scene. I started out altering the Corgi base before deciding to bite the bullet and design my own models, completely from scratch, which are shown below. The first is the initial prototype of a McLaren road locomotive. The print quality is not perfect but it was a good proof of concept. Secondly is a Foden D type timber tractor, the second prototype of this model which is still a work in progress. In time i will be selling the D types in kit form and i already have over 20 pre-orders for them. Lastly, the bare boiler is for a Burrell road loco and showmans kit, it is based off of a specific full size engine which holds a massive amount of sentimental value for me, hence the decision to model it. As i type this message more parts are being printed for this project. Photos of all 3 below.

 

 

As always, please give any feedback you see fit, i am always looking to improve. I will aim to post again very soon with more information as i am pressed for time currently, watch this space!

 

Cheers, Josh.

[burrell4040]

Morning all,

 

Just a quick and concise (hopefully!) update of what’s going on currently with my bench.

 

I’ve not had much time to spend at my desk due to having the following 2 views every weekend since the start of July, pics below.

 

 

Now onto what this whole thread is about. I’ll start with the smaller scale stuff, I finally got the 1/50 scale Burrell finished, it is based on Burrell 3159 The Gladiator (top photo of this post), but how it looked in the 90s after boiler work was carried out. I plan to make another model of it as a showmans in due course. I’m very pleased with how this project came out given that everything is to my own design in CAD, 3d printed an assembled by myself and all hand painted. The lining is scruffy but it is getting better the more I do as will hopefully be seen on my next project in perhaps the next post. Photos of The Gladiator follow.

 

 

Onto the big one, the 1” Burrell. I’ve spent rather a lot of time on this project as of late, mainly doing lots of filling, sanding, painting and repeating. Not many new parts have been printed for it but a couple of parts have been replaced. I have also purchased a number of bearings for the wheels and various shafts along with having machined some of said shafts. I have replaced the old front axle and turned up 2 stub axles to be glued into the 3d printed centre which are a good fit on the bearings. Next job in this area is to make new front wheels. I’m unsure yet as to whether or not the back wheels will need replacing or not. At present I am continuing painting parts until I decide what to work on next. Ideally I’d like to make a start on the drive train but there is a bit more work to do before I can get the shafts in and situated - all in time! As a goal I’d like to say that by the start of next summer I’ll have finished the drive train, have a full and final rolling chassis and have made a start on the motion work but we’ll see.

 

Not much to see in photos other than the paint but I think it’s looking rather smart. I’ve just ordered more paint so that I can finish painting and lining the hornplates hopefully in the next week or two before possibly setting my mind to painting the back wheels properly.

 

 

Until next time...

 

Cheers, Josh.

[burrell4040]

Afternoon all,

 

Quick update, nothing much has been going on but I’ve been working on one or two bits here and there. Mocked it up with a paintbrush as a temporary second shaft to check gear centres. When I have machined the second shaft I will be able to finalise positions and finish the drive train.

 

Along the way I ran into a problem. My crankshaft had an unexpected date with the floor, resulting in the splined end being broken off leaving a stub stuck in the crank (last photo). Any suggestions how to get this out are more than welcome. I’m reluctant to put the crank in the lathe in case it self destructs.

 

The following photos should give an idea. Still lots to do but the drive train is getting there slowly! Ignore the poor print quality of the gears, they are being re-made soon.

 

More soon... Josh.

 

[burrell4040]

Well it's been a day or two since updating.....

 

I've managed to keep myself rather occupied in between work and full size steam with some modelmaking from time to time, but in all honesty a lot of the time has been spent on CAD preparing the next projects for printing. That said a fair bit of actual 'building' has gone on since my last post here. More on that after a quick request if I could...

 

I've been having some major issues the past year or two in sourcing custom etched brass plates for use as nameplates, number plates, owners plates, etc, etc. I have tried Narrow planet on a few different occasions but they have each time said they are not taking on bespoke work at the time. I've gotten to the point a few of my models need plates to be able to call them finished so I'm looking for any suggestions anyone might have of companies that can take this on from the design of plates through to finished items please!

 

With that bit out of the way for now, onto the update. A lot has gone on over 2 and a half years. I'll start with one you've seen before and try to keep to a chronological order! 

 

So here is the finished Foden D type, finished some time ago and has been sat on the shelf for rather a long time so please excuse the dust! Had a change of heart with the colour on this one hence why it's now blue!

 

 

There was another Burrell made after this one but I never quite finished it so I won't post photos of it. Following on from this I made a decision which I am glad that I had, deciding to change from working in 1:50 to 1:36 scale. I did this with the intention of adding more details, along with making the general assembly and finishing of my kits easier. 

 

The first 1:36 engine I built was a fictional 8HP Burrell road locomotive, from a handful of measurements and known dimensions, but mostly from reference photos and educated guesswork. Despite not being a 'proper' true to scale model I am still to this day rather smitten with it, it is still one of my favourites with how well it came out. This was printed in much the same way as my previous Burrell build, although the body was printed in 1 piece this time round, rather than top and bottom halves as before. This was mostly due to getting my printer settings improved and having more knowledge of, and confidence in, the process. Photos below of the finished model as it stood a few months ago. 

 

While it is not based on any particular engine, I decided to use features found on the later engines that were prevalent in the 1920's, as opposed to the slightly earlier style between 1900 and 1915.

 

 

 

Then onto my next and most notable project in recent years (until the current 2...!). A fellow enthusiast was kind enough to provide me with copies of works drawings for the Burrell 5HP engines built from the early 1920's onwards. I quickly set to designing this in CAD and over the course of around 3 months, while still building the engine above, I managed to complete the design for the base engine. However, at this stage i had a slight change of plan and decided to take it a step further, recreating a personal favourite engine, Burrell 4074 'The Lark' of 1927, sold new to J. Reynolds of Bury St. Edmunds. This one was special as it was a completely unique engine, with lots of the original drawings being made specifically for this engine, along with it being the last crane engine built at Thetford by Charles Burrell & Sons Ltd. This along with the engine surviving egged me on for the project and it had to be done. An additional month or so of design along with more printing, post processing, fettling, assembling, painting and finishing and we end up with the model as below. This is hands down my favourite model to date, and has served as a benchmark for all since. All in the name of progress!

 

 

A while after finishing The Lark, I thought it rude not to build a model of the log trailer that it was supplied with. This was a fun project, simple in it's building and basic enough in the CAD, a very quick project and I particularly enjoyed it. Pictured below with the 8HP Burrell i mentioned previously, and another with The Lark below that. (Another picture of the log trailer is above with The Lark) Pictured in the background of the 8HP with the log trailer is my 2" scale threshing machine, a bit of a present to myself last year to go with my part built 2" Burrell gold medal tractor, perhaps some more on that another day.

 

All told the log trailer is around 10" long from the front of the drawbar to the back of the pole!

 

 

And lastly, because otherwise this thread may look a bit sparse, 2 others that have been worked on in the in-between times! 2 more 5HP Burrells, the road loco being based on 3930 'Renown', the first engine of the last series of 5HP Burrells (and first to be built to the new 'z series' of drawings), the showmans is a fictional engine, built specifically to not have much brass work on it and be representative of the type of engine used as a workhorse as opposed to a 'front of house' engine. Both pictured with The Lark to complete the trio of 5HP Burrells! (Ok well not complete as the showmans isn't finished finished, but you get the idea).

 

 

Sadly that's all I can attach for now as the file sizes have reached the limit. I do have many more pictures of each individual project, and a few of some others in the pipeline. I'll do my best to swing back here in a couple of days and perhaps update on those, along with some CAD work and future projects. The 1" Burrell also progressed a bit but we'll see what happens with that one.

 

As always please let me know if you'd like to see more, I hope it's of interest to some of you at least. I'll do my best to update more regularly over the course of this year!

 

All the best, and stay safe all...

 

Josh.

[sir douglas]

long time no see, youve been busy. last  year i shared your "Minnie" drawing in a thread while you were away, hope its okay

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/131625-traction-engine-and-other-over-type-locomotives/&do=findComment&comment=4060644

[burrell4040]

10 minutes ago, sir douglas said:

long time no see, youve been busy. last  year i shared your "Minnie" drawing in a thread while you were away, hope its okay

https://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/131625-traction-engine-and-other-over-type-locomotives/&do=findComment&comment=4060644

 

Not a problem, hope it was some use. It's an idea I've been toying with for a while to make a 3D printed model based on it but we'll see, maybe one day!

[burrell4040]

Evening,

 

Short update for tonight. Been working on the CAD work for the next traction engine model this past couple of weeks and this week decided to take a break from it for a quicker sub-project, the trailers to go with it, a pair of traditional style timber traction wagons scaled from a general arrangement drawing in a book. 

 

I finished the CAD for this one this evening but started 3D printing parts 2 days ago, starting with wheels, followed by turntables and the first pair of drop sides this evening. Hoping to get the first chassis printed tomorrow all being well. A few pics below of the completed CAD model of the wagon and some photos of the turntable and front wheels, along with a quickly knocked up drawbar from a paperclip! Also included a couple screenshots of the CAD model of the engine so far, month or two's work left in this yet before any serious progress can be made although I have already printed and started painting the wheels for it.

 

Still looking for a supplier of etched plates also if anyone knows of any.

 

More to follow

 

[laurenceb]

Try Diane Carney

https://www.loco-nameplates.co.uk/

[burrell4040]

5 minutes ago, laurenceb said:

Try Diane Carney

https://www.loco-nameplates.co.uk/

Thank you for that, I will get in touch! 

[Barclay]

On 11/02/2021 at 21:33, burrell4040 said:

Well it's been a day or two since updating.....

 

I've managed to keep myself rather occupied in between work and full size steam with some modelmaking from time to time, but in all honesty a lot of the time has been spent on CAD preparing the next projects for printing. That said a fair bit of actual 'building' has gone on since my last post here. More on that after a quick request if I could...

 

I've been having some major issues the past year or two in sourcing custom etched brass plates for use as nameplates, number plates, owners plates, etc, etc. I have tried Narrow planet on a few different occasions but they have each time said they are not taking on bespoke work at the time. I've gotten to the point a few of my models need plates to be able to call them finished so I'm looking for any suggestions anyone might have of companies that can take this on from the design of plates through to finished items please!

 

With that bit out of the way for now, onto the update. A lot has gone on over 2 and a half years. I'll start with one you've seen before and try to keep to a chronological order! 

 

So here is the finished Foden D type, finished some time ago and has been sat on the shelf for rather a long time so please excuse the dust! Had a change of heart with the colour on this one hence why it's now blue!

 

 

There was another Burrell made after this one but I never quite finished it so I won't post photos of it. Following on from this I made a decision which I am glad that I had, deciding to change from working in 1:50 to 1:36 scale. I did this with the intention of adding more details, along with making the general assembly and finishing of my kits easier. 

 

The first 1:36 engine I built was a fictional 8HP Burrell road locomotive, from a handful of measurements and known dimensions, but mostly from reference photos and educated guesswork. Despite not being a 'proper' true to scale model I am still to this day rather smitten with it, it is still one of my favourites with how well it came out. This was printed in much the same way as my previous Burrell build, although the body was printed in 1 piece this time round, rather than top and bottom halves as before. This was mostly due to getting my printer settings improved and having more knowledge of, and confidence in, the process. Photos below of the finished model as it stood a few months ago. 

 

While it is not based on any particular engine, I decided to use features found on the later engines that were prevalent in the 1920's, as opposed to the slightly earlier style between 1900 and 1915.

 

 

 

Then onto my next and most notable project in recent years (until the current 2...!). A fellow enthusiast was kind enough to provide me with copies of works drawings for the Burrell 5HP engines built from the early 1920's onwards. I quickly set to designing this in CAD and over the course of around 3 months, while still building the engine above, I managed to complete the design for the base engine. However, at this stage i had a slight change of plan and decided to take it a step further, recreating a personal favourite engine, Burrell 4074 'The Lark' of 1927, sold new to J. Reynolds of Bury St. Edmunds. This one was special as it was a completely unique engine, with lots of the original drawings being made specifically for this engine, along with it being the last crane engine built at Thetford by Charles Burrell & Sons Ltd. This along with the engine surviving egged me on for the project and it had to be done. An additional month or so of design along with more printing, post processing, fettling, assembling, painting and finishing and we end up with the model as below. This is hands down my favourite model to date, and has served as a benchmark for all since. All in the name of progress!

 

 

A while after finishing The Lark, I thought it rude not to build a model of the log trailer that it was supplied with. This was a fun project, simple in it's building and basic enough in the CAD, a very quick project and I particularly enjoyed it. Pictured below with the 8HP Burrell i mentioned previously, and another with The Lark below that. (Another picture of the log trailer is above with The Lark) Pictured in the background of the 8HP with the log trailer is my 2" scale threshing machine, a bit of a present to myself last year to go with my part built 2" Burrell gold medal tractor, perhaps some more on that another day.

 

All told the log trailer is around 10" long from the front of the drawbar to the back of the pole!

 

 

And lastly, because otherwise this thread may look a bit sparse, 2 others that have been worked on in the in-between times! 2 more 5HP Burrells, the road loco being based on 3930 'Renown', the first engine of the last series of 5HP Burrells (and first to be built to the new 'z series' of drawings), the showmans is a fictional engine, built specifically to not have much brass work on it and be representative of the type of engine used as a workhorse as opposed to a 'front of house' engine. Both pictured with The Lark to complete the trio of 5HP Burrells! (Ok well not complete as the showmans isn't finished finished, but you get the idea).

 

 

Sadly that's all I can attach for now as the file sizes have reached the limit. I do have many more pictures of each individual project, and a few of some others in the pipeline. I'll do my best to swing back here in a couple of days and perhaps update on those, along with some CAD work and future projects. The 1" Burrell also progressed a bit but we'll see what happens with that one.

 

As always please let me know if you'd like to see more, I hope it's of interest to some of you at least. I'll do my best to update more regularly over the course of this year!

 

All the best, and stay safe all...

 

Josh.

Narrow Planet are taking orders again.

[burrell4040]

Afternoon,

 

Another update. Been doing more of these in the past week than in the past 4 years! 

 

I've been busily working away on printing and fettling parts for the traction wagons project trying to get the first one fully assembled, got to that stage this afternoon. I'm hoping the photos show in some sort of chronological order, will put a caption with some of them to explain the goings on. 

 

It's not been without it's troubles, wasted about 8 hours and a fair bit of filament in 2 failed prints on Thursday and Friday but some adjustments were made and the next tries were more successful!

 

 

The Chassis shortly after printing and fettling. A few holes cleaned out with drills and the end sections glued in place. Located side for side by sticking the drop side sections in place with blue tac to get the ends central!

 

 

2 pics above show the brakes assembled and the kingpin glued in. on the real wagon the cross member carrying the two brake blocks hangs from hooks and links from the chassis. In this scale it's hard enough bending up a drawbar, let alone the hooks so I settled for straight rod, a cop out i know but gives the illusion from a distance. The other rod going back to the axle is to represent the screw on the real wagons, and to give the brake bar some vertical location on my model, ensuring it is inclined at the correct angle from horizontal. 

 

 

Above, a quick assembly to see what it's all about before gluing the sides on. 

 

 

2 pics above, final prototype assembly of the first wagon. There's a bit of clean-up to do on various parts like the brake wheel, wheel spokes and some of the nuts on the drop side irons but all in all i am calling it a success. Very pleased with the overall result. 

 

 

Another 2 pics of the wagon with an engine I made previously to visualise it a bit better. 

 

With the prototyping of the wagon complete, I will now work on getting wagon number 2 to the same stage before stripping both, priming and hand painting/lettering per the usual process I use. 

 

 

And finally a bonus picture, wheels and flywheel progressing well for the engine to pull the wagons. The wheels are ready for the details to be picked out and lining carried out, the flywheel will need a few more coats of paint, flatted between each, to achieve the desired finish.

 

Happy weekend to all, until next time

 

 

 

 

 

 

[burrell4040]

Well we’re back on the go again. No progress on the 1:36 wagons or engine but I’ve been working on another big project of late that I started some time ago. One of those I’ve been doing bits and pieces to as and when I feel like it. This time a 1:12 scale Burrell showmans engine, specifically 2984 of 1908, the first of a selection of well known 7hp engines. 
 

I think the best way to go about this is to do a few posts to get things up to the present day as a catch up. So I’ll start from the beginning. 
 

it is worth mentioning that this is the direct replacement for the 1” engine detailed in my earlier postings. I decided to not continue with that model due to it being a compromise between scale drawings and scaled from photographs and I could never get it quite right. That alongside many oversights on my part resulted in a model that would have been more hassle than it’s worth. With this one I have gathered the original works drawings to ensure it is exactly true to scale and a bit more thought is going into the CAD work so I don’t shoot myself in the foot for further down the line! 
 

I started off by drawing most of the engine in CAD in 1:1 scale, in order to prove the drawings. From here I could scale to 1:12 and add allowances, or another other details required. Below hopefully is a render of the CAD model, a long way from finished but enough done to make a start. 
 

 

The plan with this one is to have as much working as possible, without the obvious source of power of course. This means I am having to give a fair bit of thought to how to make things sturdy enough to not break while still allowing for full articulation and movement. 
 

I decided to start the printing by making the compensating gear, or differential for those of us firmly in the 21st century. Simple enough parts and assembly to be starting with. Following should be some photos of the various parts for this, including the centre, bevel gears etc. Where possible I am using sealed ball bearings to allow for smooth rotation and minimal wear on the plastic to avoid things becoming slack and causing issues further down the line. The last photo shows the assembled unit which all works exactly as intended. This will all end up being located on the end of a steel shaft supported by a bearing tube and will carry some of the transmission gears. 
 

I will leave it at that for now and continue when I get a minute. 
 

Please let me know if you’d like me to continue with more detailed postings getting up to date or whether to bunch it all into a more concise overview. 
 

All the best for now,

 

Until next time....