Popular Post snitzl Posted January 17, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted January 17, 2020 (edited) Thought about starting a workbench type thread for quite some time, up until now, all of my posts have been in the blog section of RMWEB. My main obsession at the present time is a project I've called Fun Town, an imaginary place were most of the scratchbuilt models are based on pure imagination. What I would like to do before settling down with the next scratchbuild, is present a few images of Fun Town to show some of which has been achieved so far. Railway Market Stalls outside the Stone built Terraced Shops. Next door to the Stone Terraced shops is The Mart, a stone building based on The Mart, Lower Parliament St, Nottingham. Fun Towns overhead Tram. Sharmans Steam Traverser located inside the Market Warehouse. A birds eye view on the walkway that links the Marts upper level to Verne's tower. Verne's flying machine on the workbench, the flying machine is DCC operated and has 3 motors and LED lights. Snitzl. Edited April 10, 2022 by snitzl Re-Upload Images. 22 5 3 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baby Deltic Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 It’s an absolute treat to see modelling on this level on any forum. Excellent, truly excellent. Keep up the good work. 1 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TangoOscarMike Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 The railings and staircase are magnificent! And so is everything else. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
grahame Posted January 17, 2020 Share Posted January 17, 2020 Unique and certainly looking like fun. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
snitzl Posted January 18, 2020 Author Share Posted January 18, 2020 (edited) First of all, thanks all for the kind words, much appreciated. A loco is required for "Fun Town", something small and unusual to shunt the market stall wagons, browsing the web I came across a vertical boilered De Winton from the 1870's which had the right appearance, but I wanted if possible to include the transverse cylinder of the Albion, a locomotive built in 1848 for the South Yorkshire Railway. Another feature that I hope will be possible to include, is the curved footplate of the L.S.W.R Class 460 : 4-4-0 by William Adams. I've not actually attempted this type of modelling before on a locomotive, all loco's I've built in the past have been based on prototypes, I usually find a locomotive that appeals to me and search out the drawings, but with Fun Town, a different approach will be taken. This just might be a total disaster, we'll have to wait and see. Just to make things a little more interesting, the loco will also run on standard gauge P4 track, Protofour profile wheels, run on DCC with DCC uncoupling, Sharman's flexichas system built into the chassis and for character, the loco will be heavily distressed. De Winton from the 1870's. Transverse cylinder of the Albion. Curved Footplate of the L.S.W.R Class 460 : 4-4-0 by William Adams. Time to make a start. Edited April 1, 2022 by snitzl Re-Upload Images. 10 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom q vaxy Posted January 18, 2020 Share Posted January 18, 2020 and a heckofa start it is! not often I see an acknowledgement of actual enjoyment it the hobby; so many equate it to "work". following along. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted January 18, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 18, 2020 I can imagine the late, much-lamented Allan Downes would have loved this! Innovative and very classy. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
snitzl Posted January 18, 2020 Author Share Posted January 18, 2020 (edited) Hi Oldddudders, I was a big fan of Allan Downes and found his work very inspirational back in the early 1980's, I'd like to think that perhaps just a little of his unique skills rubbed off. In one of his earlier article's , he used computer chats for the bricks ( because scale wise, they were the same size ) and stuck them on one by one, inbelievable. Edited January 18, 2020 by snitzl 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
snitzl Posted January 22, 2020 Author Share Posted January 22, 2020 (edited) Hi all, thanks for the comments. Because this loco requires a transverse cylinder, I've decided that it's probably simpler and less troublesome to have both wheel axles driven. The chassis, machined from solid brass includes provision for a compensated flexichas design with one fixed axle and the second axle, allowed to rotate about the gearbox worm axle. A pair of Tenshodo worm and wheels are used for each of the axles and a bevel gear extracted from a scrap sigma camera lens is used for the main drive. The Mashima motor maybe a little to big, we'll have to wait and see. Worm and gear locations are determined and then soldered to 2.0mm diameter silver steel, the gearbox is machined from solid brass. Assembled axle, drops into a 2.0mm square slot. Motor is mounted vertically on two spacers and secured by two countersunk screws. Thats all for now, Thanks for looking. Edited April 1, 2022 by snitzl Re-Uploaded Images. 5 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TangoOscarMike Posted January 23, 2020 Share Posted January 23, 2020 In future I will confine myself to the "like" button, but I will indulge myself in one more post to say the following: I see a lot of mind boggling work on this forum, but this is something more! 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
snitzl Posted January 24, 2020 Author Share Posted January 24, 2020 Hi TangoOscarMike, any complementary comments are allways welcome, as are consructive criticism and hairbrained idea's. Thankyou. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
snitzl Posted January 27, 2020 Author Share Posted January 27, 2020 (edited) Just a quick progress report : Managed to do a little more on the chassis assembly, added the side frames and reshaped the solid brass chassis block to match the profile of the side frames, the traverse cylinder drive components have also been added. The Snitzlton : Still need to source or make some some driving wheels, the 3ft - 8 spoke wagon wheels are obviously temporary. I will make a start on the body next. Thanks for looking. Pete. Edited April 1, 2022 by snitzl Re-Upload Images. 4 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
snitzl Posted February 5, 2020 Author Share Posted February 5, 2020 (edited) Hi all, It became apparent when building the footplate for 'De Snitzlton', that the Mashima motor was not only to large in diameter, but also to long. I checked out the 'Motors and Drive Systems' thread, here on RMweb and was a little shocked to discover that all of the bespoke model railway motor manufactures I was familiar with, have gone, including Mashima. One thread, in particular mentioned the used of an 'N20 motor', so I've placed my order and await delivery from china, a second potential candidate is 'N-Drive 1015', which I'm also waiting for. Both these motor's have the same dimensions, so there's a chance that they are the same motor, we will have to wait and see. Chassis has been modified to take one of these smaller motor's, the footplate and chassis now have a small location ring which will also align the motor and locate the boiler. Dental burs are used to add texture to the boiler and chimney extension tube, this loco needs to look heavily distressed and ready for the breakers yard when complete. Could do with a clean up, brass filings all over the place. Next, I'll leave the body for a while, and take a look at the coupling mechanism. Thats all for now, Thanks for looking. Edited April 1, 2022 by snitzl Re-Upload Images. 6 5 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
snitzl Posted March 31, 2020 Author Share Posted March 31, 2020 (edited) Hi All, I've been working on a steam assisted uncoupler for ' De Snitzlton ' which is basically a simple motor and gearbox that will hopefully animate the uncoupler along with its operator. The progress has been more like slowgress, so I felt the need to insert a few images to log my present position. Most of the gears for this project have been taken from an N20 motor / gearbox assembly, a product that is plentiful on xbay. All of the gears required minor modification's and some gears, I've either had to make or have still to make. I must warn anyone thinking of attempting a project with these gears, the teeth are 0.15 module, total height of these teeth is 13 thou, which is only a fraction over 0.3mm. I've spent quite some time on my knee's, searching for dropped components. Here's the rear end of the gearbox, part of which will be covered by the coal bunker. Height of the brass gearbox will be trimmed down further when certain criteria has been established. Front end of the gearbox. Rotating Buffer's ? - All part Fun Town. Stay Safe Everyone : Snitzl Edited April 1, 2022 by snitzl Re-Upload Images. 7 9 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Corbs Posted March 31, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted March 31, 2020 Awesome 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
snitzl Posted June 9, 2020 Author Share Posted June 9, 2020 (edited) Hi All, Here's an update on the steam assisted uncoupler for ' De Snitzlton '. The gearbox has proved very problematic with regards to gear fits, concentricty of the gears and getting the correct tooth form on the home made cutter's. After modifications, the gearbox was complete, but because of inefficiencies in the gearbox design, that little 4mm dia motor proved inadequate. I've not given up on the steam assisted uncoupler gearbox, but I do feel the need to make some progress, so I will switch to working on the body and wheels and spend some time rethinking a gearbox solution. Motor is now mounted above the bunker on a small bracket. ............ On test, the motor would not acheive it's ideal speed and would stall often. Motion from the gearbox is transferred to the front cams to operate an uncoupler mechanism and the operator. Thanks for looking : Pete Edited April 21, 2022 by snitzl Re-Upload Images. 7 7 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post snitzl Posted August 5, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 5, 2020 (edited) Hi All, Here's yet another installment on ' De Snitzlton '. I've removed the steam assisted gearbox and laid it to one side to get a few other jobs done. Progress has been a little slow due to the amount of time spent repairing my wife's aviaries which seem to need a little work to replace rotted wood every year. The coupling rods ( there are two per side ), are made up from brass and steel components assembled in a tufnol jig and then soldered. Wheels are turned from brass and steel with tufnol insulators on the main axle's and crankpin's. With the wheels fitted, the rods are located but not secured with nuts, just to check the mechanism. The motor bevel gear is bushed, fitted to the motor and the mechanism checks out fine. Quite relieved that there were no problems with the mechanism, its time to move onto the steam assisted operator and uncoupler That;s all for now - Thanks for looking. Edited April 1, 2022 by snitzl Re-Upload Images. 9 15 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted August 7, 2020 Share Posted August 7, 2020 Love it. I absolutely love it. In some respects it reminds me of a Tim Burton set. Would it be possible to take a few overall shots of fun town and take us on a walk through the metropolis? I can't be the only one who's drooling in anticipation of seeing more 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
snitzl Posted August 7, 2020 Author Share Posted August 7, 2020 (edited) 19 hours ago, hendie said: Love it. I absolutely love it. In some respects it reminds me of a Tim Burton set. Would it be possible to take a few overall shots of fun town and take us on a walk through the metropolis? I can't be the only one who's drooling in anticipation of seeing more Hi Hendie, it's so gratifying that you want to see more of Fun Town but most of what exists on this small micro layout appears in the intro of this thread. Your reference to Tim Burton and his unique work just might spark off a whole new approach to railway modelling. Thanks Snitzl Edited August 7, 2020 by snitzl Unnecessary Link Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post snitzl Posted August 8, 2020 Author Popular Post Share Posted August 8, 2020 (edited) On 07/08/2020 at 02:29, hendie said: Love it. I absolutely love it. In some respects it reminds me of a Tim Burton set. Would it be possible to take a few overall shots of fun town and take us on a walk through the metropolis? I can't be the only one who's drooling in anticipation of seeing more I decided not to be so humbug and take a few images for hendie, it has been such a hot day that I decided to have a day off from model making and take pics instead. The railway market stalls outside the Mart building. The layout runs on DCC and all the wagons have live axles and an led light under the canopy. Brids eye view showing Verne's Tower railings. Thanks for Looking. Edited April 1, 2022 by snitzl Re-Uploaded Lost Images 14 3 4 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hendie Posted August 17, 2020 Share Posted August 17, 2020 that's fantastic. The wealth of detail belies the true scale of Fun Town - I had imagined it being much larger. Somehow the small footprint makes it all the more interesting and captivating 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
snitzl Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 (edited) Hi All, Managed to do a liitle more on De Snitzlton by adding some of the uncoupler mechanism at the front of the loco and also adding a non animatde driver / stoker. The uncoupler cams and lifing beam are hidden inside the front buffer. Here;s the uncoupler in its uncoupled state. The robot driver / stoker is a 4mm scale model loosely baised on Rodney Copperbottom, but unlike Rodney, the legs and arms on this model are symmetrical. The indiviual components are turned from mild steel on a small watchmakers lathe and soldered together. Copperbottom fooling around on the foot plate. Here's an animated gif of the uncoupler, operated by turning one of the rear buffer's by hand. Thanks for Looking : Snitzl Edited April 1, 2022 by snitzl Re-Upload Images. 11 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Corbs Posted September 18, 2020 RMweb Gold Share Posted September 18, 2020 An automaton fireman! Brilliant! 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
snitzl Posted October 22, 2020 Author Share Posted October 22, 2020 (edited) Hi All, Here's another update on 'De Snitzlton' - I've been doing a little work on the animated steam assisted uncoupler operator and also a non animated driver / fireman to replace the retired robot ( yes, I had second thoughts about the robot ). Both these figures have been made from brass bar using dental burs and a Minicraft handheld drill for the sculpting. Making figures has always been a bit of a challange for me as I don't make them that often and this is also a first attempt at making figures in brass. The steam assisted uncoupler operator has joints at both shoulders and elbows, the two cams that provide the movement can be timed to provide out of sync movement. Another view on the uncoupler guy. Here's the fireman / driver. Both figures are soldered to the footplate. Our retired robot man heading for the Horse and Groom. Thanks for Looking : Snitzl. Edited April 10, 2022 by snitzl Uploaded Lost Images. 9 9 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John Besley Posted April 9, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted April 9, 2021 This is pretty cool... any more updates? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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