Bachmann headcode box 24

[Clive Mortimore]

Last night I fitted Tension Lock couplings to my newest Sutton loco and ran it double headed with a Bachy headcode box one.....they didn't 'alf look good together.

[aureol40012]

On 01/04/2020 at 23:54, iak said:

Calm down people.

With all that is going on in the world, I see no reason for silliness.

So we disagree, fine. It's not really "that" important is it...

No, hence the winky face.....

[Dougjuk]

I have to admit this loco has grown on me, I am now happy with the two speakers and reblown the chip with Legomanbifo 24/1 sound.  All the lights function well the sound is great.  I have ordered some supplies so I will lightly weather it at some stage.

 

Just a shame that Bachmann had not allowed just a little more space for a speaker.  they could save money by not bothering with their own speaker.

 

Nice model really like it, will try doubling it up later in the week with other 24's and maybe a 25.  Will need to weather the HUO hoppers to go with it.

 

Doug

 

 

Edited April 14, 2020 by Dougjuk

[robertcwp]

On 21/03/2020 at 11:49, Phil Bullock said:

Heres 5145 ready for service on Abbotswood...

 

Thanks Jim!

 

Original speaker not too bad with V5 chip and biff sound file so left it alone ....

Phil

 

How did you go about changing the headcodes, please?

[Phil Bullock]

On 15/04/2020 at 21:49, robertcwp said:

Phil

 

How did you go about changing the headcodes, please?

 

Afternoon Robert - sorry its taken a while to get back.

 

As is usual form Bachmann have printed on the back of the glazing so for us that goes straight in the bin - have tried cleaning it off on other models but it aint worth the hassle.

 

We use the Precision labels headcodes which come with self adhesive carriers of various sizes. The original glazing need to come out therefore. As it removes outwards I would normally suggest getting in behind it and popping it out to avoid the risk of damage but given the complexity of the lighting arrangements I wouldnt suggest that on this model. The cab interior is a work of art and does come out easily - the headcode illumination is an LED on top of the internal cab roof which sheds its light through a clear moulding.

 

So to remove from the outside either get a thin blade in between it and the body and pop the glazing out - or as it is going in the bin drill it carefully in the centre to the point where the drill bit can be used as a lever to pop the glazing out.

 

Find which of the carriers is the best fit - if cut carefully it will be an interference fit, if not a very light spot of Glue n Glaze in the corners will help retain it. Then attach selected digits in situ, and cut replacement glazing from box window acetete - again an interference fit if careful. And thats it.... 

 

Are you going for the plywood version?

 

Hope that helps

 

Phil

Edited April 17, 2020 by Phil Bullock
Photos added

[robertcwp]

36 minutes ago, Phil Bullock said:

 

Afternoon Robert - sorry its taken a while to get back.

 

As is usual form Bachmann have printed on the back of the glazing so for us that goes straight in the bin - have tried cleaning it off on other models but it aint worth the hassle.

 

We use the Precision labels headcodes which come with self adhesive carriers of various sizes. The original glazing need to come out therefore. As it removes outwards I would normally suggest getting in behind it and popping it out to avoid the risk of damage but given the complexity of the lighting arrangements I wouldnt suggest that on this model. The cab interior is a work of art and does come out easily - the headcode illumination is an LED on top of the internal cab roof which sheds its light through a clear moulding.

 

So to remove from the outside either get a thin blade in between it and the body and pop the glazing out - or as it is going in the bin drill it carefully in the centre to the point where the drill bit can be used as a lever to pop the glazing out.

 

Find which of the carriers is the best fit - if cut carefully it will be an interference fit, if not a very light spot of Glue n Glaze in the corners will help retain it. Then attach selected digits in situ, and cut replacement glazing from box window acetete - again an interference fit if careful. And thats it.... 

 

Are you going for the plywood version?

 

Hope that helps

 

Phil

Thanks, very informative. 

 

No, I'm not going for plywood.

 

I have cleaned other headcode glazing without any great trouble. Nail varnish remover or meths seem to work, provided you are in a well-ventilated room.

[Porcy Mane]

1 hour ago, Phil Bullock said:

As is usual form Bachmann have printed on the back of the glazing so for us that goes straight in the bin - have tried cleaning it off on other models but it aint worth the hassle.

 

I find it dead easy. Bit of T cut has the original lettering off in seconds and has the advantage of retaining the raised beading. If only Bachmann had put their beading on the surround, then the glazed section would have been prototypical in size. I print my own Headcodes as I find it gives me more flexibility when sizing to manufactures differing h'code box sizes .

 

If anybodies thinking of binning their Bachmann headcode glazing, I'll take it off your hands.

 

 

P

Edited April 17, 2020 by Porcy Mane

[Phil Bullock]

You are right about the beading Porky - 

[robertcwp]

On 17/04/2020 at 14:57, Porcy Mane said:

 

I find it dead easy. Bit of T cut has the original lettering off in seconds and has the advantage of retaining the raised beading. If only Bachmann had put their beading on the surround, then the glazed section would have been prototypical in size. I print my own Headcodes as I find it gives me more flexibility when sizing to manufactures differing h'code box sizes .

 

If anybodies thinking of binning their Bachmann headcode glazing, I'll take it off your hands.

 

 

I must give T-cut a try.

 

What font do you use for headcodes, please? I have never managed to find one that looks right.

[Porcy Mane]

20 hours ago, robertcwp said:

What font do you use for headcodes, please?

 

Hello Robert

 I make my own.  It's a bit of a faff and not very cost effective I'm afraid. I'm slowly building up a library of the individual headcode characters that include part of the figures above and below. These are produced in an old version of photoshop at hi resolution. The characters are produced by using the pencil tool to paint in individual pixels black or white to the desired shape. For characters that include rounds I usually use a photograph of my own as a tracing aid. Anti aliasing in photoshop renders parts of the transition between black & white in shades of grey but this seems to result in a sharper image on the final print.

 

I then use the layers facility in Photoshop. Saving after each step.

 

First on one layer I produce a red border, the inside dimensions equalling the models headcode

aperture size.

 

Next layer has a representation of the Blind runners.

 

The next four layers have the individual characters positioned where I want them using the red border as a positioning guide. At this point I usually make a low resolution copy of the merged layers as a jpg then exporting the jpg into a word document and do a test print using A5 page size to save paper. The word document needs to be sized to match the resolution of the photoshop image.

 

For some reason I find importing into word then printing is more accurate at printing the image correctly sized rather than printing directly from photoshop.

That leaves me with an image like this. The lettering is rather crude at high res but I think it look reasonable when finally printed for 4mm scale.

 

 

The test print is usually OK dimensionally, so I return to the layered "master" file and crop to the inside of the red border.

 

If the headcode is to be illuminated, I do as the prototype and use a backing with a thinner lettering mask. This is done my mirroring the finished headcode blind, tacking the mirrored headcode underneath and thinning all the lettering on the lower image. This is folded behind the front headcode and definitely helps with light bleed and reduces the halo effect that so worried BR engineers.

 

I'm left with something like this:

 

 

Crude but it looks OK at 4mm.

 

 

As per the norm, a permanent marker is used around the edges. My final prints are normally OK but if not I imagine I could use the % +/- control supplied with most printer drivers to slightly increase or decrease the final size.

 

This is one I did aeons ago, replacing the original replacement. 5 thou plasticard was used to prevent light bleed and I replaced the two separate amber LED's with four warm whites. Fortunately we don't have to do this with the 24/1.

 

 

P

[robertcwp]

Here is my backdating of 24 137. Still to be dirtied up a bit.

 

P1080724a by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

P1080725a by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

 

I used copies of Heljan Hymek headcodes, reduced to 91% of their original size. One end has new headcode box glazing. The other end retains the Bachmann glazing.

 

Edit: this reflects 5146 after its overhaul late in 1972, so it's really slightly out of period for me, but it fits with the emblem position, valances removed and gauges on both fuel and water tanks. See Derby Sulzers site.

Edited April 19, 2020 by robertcwp

[class29returns]

Anyone else waiting on a pre order from Rails? Not in a great hurry for it but ordered a blue one when announced and just wondering if the order has been lost in the years gone by

[aureol40012]

22 minutes ago, class29returns said:

Anyone else waiting on a pre order from Rails? Not in a great hurry for it but ordered a blue one when announced and just wondering if the order has been lost in the years gone by

They first started shipping nearly a month ago. I’d contact them if the money has been taken.

[class29returns]

14 hours ago, aureol40012 said:

They first started shipping nearly a month ago. I’d contact them if the money has been taken.

No money taken,they are out of stock,just wondering if they are still working on their pre orders when they get stock in.

[robertcwp]

Kernow had blue ones still in stock today.

[russ p]

Bure valley have one in stock 

 

http://www.burevalleymodels.com/p/11265/32-442---Class-24-1-24137-BR-Blue

[russ p]

I ordered a green one from bure valley last week was here the next day 

[MrB]

I recently had a go at a wee conversion to a Scottish region 24.

Looking at the above posts I could have done a better job of the headcodes

 

Regards

 

Roy

[Enterprisingwestern]

 

Has the model got proper Sulzer 2 wheels or are they standard Bachmann disc?

 

Mike.

 

[Porcy Mane]

38 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

Has the model got proper Sulzer 2 wheels or are they standard Bachmann disc?

 

They're holey. They pull out ot EM OK and run through my EM gauge Soc./Peco point test piece Ok. I had to thin the brake pull rods to get them in. I don't think the pull rods will need thinning for Ultrascales and 2mm tyre at P4 but I've yet to try that.

 

Pic will be along in a minute.

 

 

 

Moike,

I set the back to backs at 16.4 to compensate for Bachmann overthick flanges. Nice touch is the design of the circuit board along with the clever use of the JST's means there is no de-soldering needed to drop the bogies, but Bachmann still follow other manufacturers in getting the wiring colour codes wrong with one of the bogies. A result of production line methods I suspect.

 

Edited April 23, 2020 by Porcy Mane
Add pic

[Enterprisingwestern]

2 minutes ago, Porcy Mane said:

 

They're holey. They pull out ot EM OK and run through my EM gauge Soc./Peco point test piece Ok. I had to thin the brake pull rods to get them in. I don't think the pull rods will need thinning for Ultrascales and 2mm tyre at P4 but I've yet to try that.

 

Pic will be along in a minute.

 

 

That's good P, thanks.

I harboured hopes of the correct wheel as they had done the AL5 correctly.

 

Mike.

[Porcy Mane]

31 minutes ago, Enterprisingwestern said:

AL5

 

 

Is that a robot?

 

[robertcwp]

24 137 becomes 5162:

 

P1080728am by Robert Carroll, on Flickr

[Michael Delamar]

Who does ploughs?

 

 

[Porcy Mane]

11 minutes ago, Michael Delamar said:

Who does ploughs?

 

 Bachmann (supplied)