Alex's Workbench - Southern Region & Other Projects

[A.R.]

Hi, 

 

Thanks @KeithHC, should hopefully have the final prints soon - some inevitable cleaning up required. The brass beam for the sides, the brass bar for the pivots and some brass tube arrived today so that will be ready to fit to the loco prints upon arrival. 

 

I have a quick question - does anyone know of the style of wheel these locos had? Would they have been simple disc wheels, disc wheels with holes, spoked, or even Boxpok patterns? Any help would be great! 

 

Cheers, 

 

Alex 

[73c]

According to the article on the SREmG web site they were 3'6'' Bulleid - Firth Brown ( BFB ) wheels.

 

https://sremg.org.uk/electric/class70.shtml

[A.R.]

Hi, 

 

Thanks @73c, I have read that article before but must have completely missed it so appreciate you mentioning it! My plan is to try and design some BFB wheel plates and 3D print them to mount in spoked driving wheels...I will see how it goes. 

 

Cheers, 

 

Alex 

[73c]

Your welcome. Looking forward to seeing this develop.

[Michael Edge]

9 hours ago, A.R. said:

Hi, 

 

Thanks @73c, I have read that article before but must have completely missed it so appreciate you mentioning it! My plan is to try and design some BFB wheel plates and 3D print them to mount in spoked driving wheels...I will see how it goes. 

 

Cheers, 

 

Alex 

3'6" BFB wheels are available from Gibson and Markits - for tenders and MN trailing trucks.

[Re6/6]

That is really excellent Alex.

 

I do hope that you don't mind me butting into your thread.

 

Here's my effort which was from a basic MTK wrapper from the 70s of very thick brass by today's standards, which was very hard to solder. For the chassis I used a modified Bachmann Cl 37 one and the rest of it was scratchbuilt. The axlebox area is pretty gruesome There's still much to do!

 

 

 

 

The Michael Edge pan which is exquisitely delicate.

 

 

[number6]

Really like your 4.8.0 - superb. In the original painting I almost thought that it was painted blue - heresy I'm sure but I think a lovely dark cobalt/navy blue as a Southern loco livery with the yellow and green post war lettering would be great. Looked good on the Merchant Navies... The first of these electrics was originally painted a mid blue for a while. So they'd go well together.

 

I'm still building a couple of these locos - 10 years and counting - and I recommend this great book if you've not seen it. So many detail differences on each loco [and between the three of them over the years]. They are absolutely smothered in rivets as well. I have a couple of Michael's pantographs for them in a box but for now they both have a Triang one which looks okay when down. 

 

[A.R.]

Evening All, 

 

Thanks for the pictures and comments, it's great to see such interest in this project. 

 

@Michael Edge Thanks for that, I didn't know they did those. However, my design relies on 1/8th inch axles and I think the Markits/Gibson ones have smaller axles than that - would you be able to confirm that? 

 

@Re6/6 Thanks for your kind comments and for posting the great photos of your models, I like how imposing they feel being made out of such thick brass - what livery do you plan to paint them? 

 

@number6 Indeed, I too thought the 4-8-0 may have been a navy blue in the painting, and I am actually very tempted to paint it in a similar colour - it is fictional after all! Your models look amazing and I have to agree about the locos being covered in rivets - I spent a lot of time adding them to the CAD!

 

I have been working on a couple of things whilst I wait for the final prints to arrive. Firstly, I have given the test prints a quick coat of paint just to get a feel for how it will look and I think it looks good for a very rough test piece. 

 

 

Secondly, I have drawn a quick version of the thin wheel covers to add the Bulleid-style wheels to ordinary spoked wheels and these are currently being test printed. 

 

 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts. 

 

Cheers, 

 

Alex 

[Michael Edge]

Yes, all these wheels are on 2mm axles.

[A.R.]

4 minutes ago, Michael Edge said:

Yes, all these wheels are on 2mm axles.

Thanks for confirming! Do you know of any wheel cover etches if my 3D print attempt doesn't work? 

 

Cheers, 

 

Alex

[Michael Edge]

I don't but it wouldn't be difficult, we have done some for 4'6" wheels. In any case not much of the wheel is visible in these locos - but you can see daylight through the outer holes.

[A.R.]

Evening All, 

 

On Saturday morning, I was pleased to receive the final set of prints for the Class 70 project. These have been printed in black resin at a layer height of 0.025mm and I am pleased with how they have turned out. The body shell is in two halves becuase of printer limitations, but as I hope you will see in later photos, this join line is virtually imperceptible after a little work! 

 

Here are the parts as received: 

 

Firstly, I joined the two body halves and started lightly sanding down the roof to smooth it off. I then added the brass beams down either side, made simpler by the slots in the rear of the buffer beams in the same profile. I then added the sprung buffers (which are quite chunky, but look good on the loco) and the other brass details, such as wipers and piping, to the cab ends - these are just made of brass scraps. I will be adding rivet transfers to the roof, as well as more brass detailing down the sides of the loco. Here are some pictures of the current progress: 

 

Finally, I have started to put together the bogies. This has included sanding and painting, fitting the worm wheel, and adding the 1/8th inch bearings to each side ready for the axles. I have also tapped the various holes (M2) so it all bolts together. You can also see the built-in NEM pocket which means a coupling can simply be clipped into place without any work! 

 

 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts. 

 

Cheers, 

 

Alex

[73c]

Looks amazing, really coming together.

[KeithHC]

Looking good is there space in the bogies for em wheel sets. I shall look forward to further updates.

 

Keith

[Corbs]

Looks ace. Where did you get the printing done?

[A.R.]

Hi All, 

 

Thanks for the kind comments! 

 

Class 70 

I am hoping the wheelsets will fit - they did on the CAD but only when I fit them in reality can I be sure! The motor bogie is certainly an unusual design and is essentially a bit of an experiment to see if I can get a largely 3D printed power bogie to work. The chain drive is also a bit of an experiment so we shall see how it all goes! 

 

The loco will indeed be twin bogie drive, but I am focussing on getting one working first before I start the second so any mistakes I make aren't repeated! 

 

Southern Region Mk1 Upgrade

More work should follow shortly on the Class 70. However, in the meantime, here are some pictures of another side project I have ongoing - the upgrading of some very old Mk1 coaches (mostly Triang). Whilst the modern RTR coaches are exquisite, they are quite expensive and for long rakes that will be going at speed, and think a few rakes of these Triang conversions will do nicely! I have a set of 5 parcels coaches to do next!

 

These Mk1s have been repainted, re-wheeled, had new whitemetal buffers and glazing strips added, details picked out in gold, window signs and numbering added. I have also added scratchbuilt corridor connections and lightly weathered the underframes with powders. 

 

 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts! 

 

Cheers, 
 

Alex

 

 

[KeithHC]

They have come up pretty good to my eye. Is it a case of gold watch out of a sows ear. Keep up the good work. I might have to dig out my Bachmann Bulleids to see what could be done.

 

Keith

[A.R.]

Hi All, 

 

I have been thinking about the livery of the Class 70 lately and I have decided upon a rather surprising and un-prototypical colour scheme - InterCity Swallow livery. 

 

I have always wanted to give these colours a go as it happens to be one of my favourite liveries, so, I asked @Steadfast (big thanks!) to have a go at adding some colours to my CAD drawings to get an idea of what it would look like! 

 

I have to say I am very impressed by the results, and although unrealistic, I am going to go for it as it's a bit of fun, and I can always paint over it in a more accurate green at some point in the future. 

 

 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts (good and bad!) and thanks again to Steadfast's wonderful photoshop skills.

 

Cheers, 

 

Alex

[roythebus1]

On 10/05/2021 at 21:29, A.R. said:

Hi All, 

 

Thanks for the kind comments! 

 

Class 70 

I am hoping the wheelsets will fit - they did on the CAD but only when I fit them in reality can I be sure! The motor bogie is certainly an unusual design and is essentially a bit of an experiment to see if I can get a largely 3D printed power bogie to work. The chain drive is also a bit of an experiment so we shall see how it all goes! 

 

The loco will indeed be twin bogie drive, but I am focussing on getting one working first before I start the second so any mistakes I make aren't repeated! 

 

Southern Region Mk1 Upgrade

More work should follow shortly on the Class 70. However, in the meantime, here are some pictures of another side project I have ongoing - the upgrading of some very old Mk1 coaches (mostly Triang). Whilst the modern RTR coaches are exquisite, they are quite expensive and for long rakes that will be going at speed, and think a few rakes of these Triang conversions will do nicely! I have a set of 5 parcels coaches to do next!

 

These Mk1s have been repainted, re-wheeled, had new whitemetal buffers and glazing strips added, details picked out in gold, window signs and numbering added. I have also added scratchbuilt corridor connections and lightly weathered the underframes with powders. 

 

 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts! 

 

Cheers, 
 

Alex

 

 

Sorry but they simply don't look right with those bellows type corridor connections. The Mk1 coaches are coupled very close using the centre buffing late under the corridor connection. why I've used is the former AB Swain Mk1 closed up buffers, they are the correct type as the prototype buffers have a removable collar which is removed when using the buckeye coupler. Buffers are extended at the outer end of the rake when coupled to a loco. Have you tried the Kean System close-couplings? I'm currently doing a Mk2 set with them and I can get coupling to less than 1mm gap between corridor connections and the design of the close-couple system means the coaches go round very sharp radius corners without buffer locking. It seems a shame to go to the trouble of detailing these old coaches which I must admit are very good for their age, then spoiling the effect with a huge gap between the coaches.

[Steadfast]

2 hours ago, A.R. said:

Hi All, 

 

I have been thinking about the livery of the Class 70 lately and I have decided upon a rather surprising and un-prototypical colour scheme - InterCity Swallow livery. 

 

I have always wanted to give these colours a go as it happens to be one of my favourite liveries, so, I asked @Steadfast (big thanks!) to have a go at adding some colours to my CAD drawings to get an idea of what it would look like! 

 

I have to say I am very impressed by the results, and although unrealistic, I am going to go for it as it's a bit of fun, and I can always paint over it in a more accurate green at some point in the future. 

 

 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts (good and bad!) and thanks again to Steadfast's wonderful photoshop skills.

 

Cheers, 

 

Alex

Glad you liked it Alex, how could I say no to anything in my favourite livery ever!

 

Jo

[KeithHC]

How about a Gatex colour scheme would be more appropriate……. On my dream layout of Gatwick North I could have one sitting as a thunderbird just in case……….

 

Keith

[A.R.]

Hi All, 

 

Apologies for not posting recently! 

 

Quite a lot has changed with the Class 70 project. As I want to get it completed as soon as possible, I have decided to leave the experimental chassis for now and have instead used Class 40 bogies and bogie frames. I have cut these down to the correct length and then used the external pick-up bars from the 3D printed frames. I have also used the NEM coupling pockets I designed and have fitted these to the Class 40 frames too. The bogies have now been primed and fitted to the body and the loco is fully operational! 

I now need to start detailing with additions to include horns, other roof details, handrails, external wires, glazing etc. Furthermore, I have decided after much deliberation to use the original green livery with red stripe! The InterCity livery looked amazing and I am tempted to do another Class 70 simply so I can paint it in those colours, but for my future layout I would like one that fits the southern theme! 

 

I will keep you all updated! 

 

Cheers, 

 

Alex

[DCB]

On 10/05/2021 at 21:29, A.R. said:

 

 

Southern Region Mk1 Upgrade

These Mk1s have been repainted, re-wheeled, had new whitemetal buffers and glazing strips added, details picked out in gold, window signs and numbering added. I have also added scratchbuilt corridor connections and lightly weathered the underframes with powders. 

 

 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts! 

 

Cheers, 
 

Alex

 

 

Just curious why the buffers are modelled in the extended position when they are retracted and out of use between Mk1s.   I shorten the buffer stocks and shove standard buffers back so I can close couple my Mk1s without buffer locking.

The Maunsell 4-8-0 had the same problem as the GWR one, it don't work, the leading driving axle is in the way of a second axle drive, and the GW one failed because there was not enough clearance  over the bogie for the Castle/ King set up with leading axle drive with 5ft 8" wheels so the Maunsell one, even with inside cylinders in front of the smokebox is unlikely to work either.  Mind you the GW 47XX didn't half pull considering its TE was only about 28 000lbs

[A.R.]

Hi All, 

 

Thanks for comments! I can try and do a video of it running at some point in the future @313201!

 

@DCB With regards to the Mk1s, I probably didn't research them enough so no particular reason behind the extended buffers, they were just quite cheap if I remember rightly so I got them and thought they'll do! Also interesting to know that the Maunsell idea wouldn't have worked in reality! 

 

I am now working on getting together some details for the Class 70. However, I have realised non of my drills have a wide enough chuck to turn down the flanges (I will need it to run on Code 75 track). Would anyone be able to do this for me if I sent the wheels over, either with a bigger drill or just a small lathe? If you may be able to help, I would be grateful if you could let me know, either on here or by PM! Thanks in advance! 

 

Hopefully more to post soon!

 

Cheers, 

 

Alex

[A.R.]

Evening All, 

 

Just a quick update. I have now recieved the pantograph kit from Judith Edge kits and ordered some brass handrail knobs. I have also been working on designing various details to be 3D printed and have now sent these off to be printed. Here is the CAD: 

 

 

This detail set includes vents, underframe details, beam details and steps, all of which should help to finish off the model. 

 

I should have some time to bring all these bits together over the weekend so keep an eye out for more updates! Also, if anyone has any ideas/suggestions when it comes ot reducing the flanges that would be great! 

 

Cheers, 

Alex