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Planet Industrials Ruston 165 Builds


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I know Ruston has posted details of his build on his loco thread but, as I'm currently in the middle of building mine, I was wondering how many others were on the go.  After all, they sold out very quickly so some of them must be under construction!

 

For me, this is the first 3D printed kit I've tackled.  TBH, I much prefer wielding a soldering iron but I thought I've got to try at least one.  The rather large box it is supplied somewhat dissappoints on opening as there is a lot of fresh air.  Bubble wrap, some printed instructions, a body, an etch, a small packet of a few 3D printed fittings - and some rather large handrail knobs.  I suppose it is the manufacturer's 'standard' box and I'm sure it will come in useful sooner or later.

 

On examination the parts seemed reasonably self intuitive (although I wasn't to sure about a couple of the smaller printed parts - and the instructions didn't help much TBH).  What I wasn't all that impressed by was the need to sand the bonnet top to get rid of the 'layers' and then the instruction to scrape everywhere to get rid of a fine white powder that seems to cover every flat surface.  Is this normal?  However, on remembering building white metal loco kits (and some etched ones!) from some makers there was a lot of fettling needed there too!  And the results weren't always that good even then.  This was all done in due course and the body washed and scrubbed.  Glazing was cut to size while the body was 'naked' as it was easier to offer up pieces of thickish material with the openings clear of etch.  Cab side, front and back panels were attached with Evostik so as to allow a degree of positioning.  My experience with (so-called) superglue didn't fill me with the confidence to use it here so Evostik it was.

 

Buffer beams are etched in 2 layers, I used the top layer without the NEM pocket 'slots' as I use 3-links.  I used my RSU to solder them together.  Prior to actual attaching to the body I decided to fix the front hook in place on the beam since immediately behind its position on the beam there is a large 'box' moulded.  I marked the hole through the beam and drilled a large(ish) hole to clear the 'tongue' of the hook.  The rear hook had a slot filed into the moulding behind the beam to clear the tongue.  Again using Evostik, the buffer beams were attached them to the body and, as the rear beams do not have a lot of 'meat' to stick them to, I added a couple of 60 x 60 thou plastic fillets between the rear of the beam and the footplate.

 

The bonnet side panels were next and I fitted the door handles in place while they were still on the main etch.  However, looking at photos it would appear that 0.33mm (or at worst 0.45mm) should be used for fidelity - the holes are etched at 0.60mm.  I therefore resorted to using this diameter of wire, the handles being soldered in position from the rear, the solder being filed down to clear the top edge of the openings in the bonnet side so the panels could fit flush.  Evostik again being used for attachment.

 

For the front grill  (a choice of 2, I used the one with the half etched bolt heads, pushing them out from the rear with a gramophone needle) I cut a small piece of 20thou black plasticard to the exact size of the bottom 1/6th (approx!) of the moulded grill aperture and stuck this to the back of the etched grill so that it would locate squarely in place.  There is no method of location provided as Ruston pointed out in his build.

 

Cab steps were solderd up and a section of brass 'L' angle soldered to the top rear to reinforce the attachment to the body.  Araldite was used here for strength as steps can be vulnerable in use..

 

The top panel of the bonnet was lined with 10thou plasticard to raise it slightly, the plastic being cut back along the sides to create a gap.  Thanks to a photo provided by Ruston I was able to fabricate an approximation of some of the assorted 'fittings' on the bonnet top, most of which I have no idea what they are!.  The exhaust is a section of small bore brass tube drilled out at the top.

 

This is how the body looks currently -

 

1199136329_Ruston165Body.1.A.jpg.273cad9f600655cf18926227da7cfe75.jpg

 

1090801558_Ruston165Body.2.A.jpg.0994bcb4157901a4d4bb3934e5b8812b.jpg

 

2147379839_Ruston165Body.3.A.jpg.d70b2f4399e35963d7dff9def4a682a4.jpg

 

The cab roof (as yet not attached) is 30thou plasticard with ventilators, rain strips and lifting 'handle'  (end of Smiths' coupling hook) fitted.  And I haven't mentioned handrail knobs yet have I?  The ones provided are MASSIVE compared to photos, even Gibson ones seem to large - and they should be different lengths depending on where they are situated on the body.  More thought needed here!

 

As the loco is being built for P4, the chassis is a 'scratch' built one using side frames milled for me by Ruston.  I had to use some folded etch spacers as the ones Ruston made were slightly to narrow ( a miscalculation on both our parts) meaning that the slots milled to accept them are redundant.  I have resorted to fitting some lengths of 10thou plastic to cover them which I'm sure won't be to obvious when all is painted and weathered.  Gear box is a High Level Roadrunner Plus originally purchased for my Gordon Ashton Peckett chassis and wheels are Gibson 3' 3.5" ones.  Driven axle is fixed (but removable) and the other is centrally pivoted, resting on a steel 10BA screw through a spacer above.  The pickup 'plate' doubles as a keeper plate for the compensated axle which moves in some axle boxes and hornguides I found in my 'stash'. The motor rests in a 'cradle' formed from a section of brass tube and a spare EM width spacer from a High Level Pannier Tank chassis kit (both from my box of brass bits that 'will come in useful one day' - and they have!), the radii of the two being an exact match along with the between frame width for the spacer.

 

2126970221_Ruston165Chassis.1.A.jpg.02b393bebb9a450ae2c219046d4a7303.jpg

 

1914405322_Ruston165Chassis.2.A.jpg.ecce88d9fbbf5436b2b198919617ce64.jpg

 

2034300258_Ruston165Chassis.3.A.jpg.aea6411351ee52fde04d335fa8638c20.jpg

 

The motor is mounted on a small piece of sticky back rubber foam sheet to cushion it in the cradle and will be held in place with a twist of soft wire.  The rear shaft has been shortened to make insertion of the chassis into the body easier.

 

Now to fit the wheels, attach the brakes, pickups, cab fittings....................

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, 5050 said:

As the loco is being built for P4, the chassis is a 'scratch' built one using side frames milled for me by Ruston.  I had to use some folded etch spacers as the ones Ruston made were slightly to narrow ( a miscalculation on both our parts)

I didn't miscalculate anything. It's not my fault that you're one of the Awkward Squad, is it? Bloody P4'ers! :P

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Some progress to report.  Not a lot (as someone used to say) but reasonably significant I think.

 

Firstly, the body.  The 2 air tanks under the footplate have small (0.45mm approx.) holes moulded in the ends to take the pipes that are reasonably apparent when viewing the prototype.  I'm surprised that no mention of these is included in the instructions.  After cleaning out the holes with a short length of 0.45mm wire I bent some 'pipes' up, using photos as a guide.  The nearside rear one had a 'valve/tap' fitted soldered up from a couple of bits of small bore brass tube and a bit of wire as a handle.  The tail ends of the pipes were stuck to the inside edge of the footplate.

 

497492392_Ruston165Body.4.A.jpg.a9ee780bbc4cbee65e1b9efbacb19142.jpg

 

The bonnet top had an air intake filter 'mushroom' added, made from a short dome head brass screw with a piece of suitable thickness brass scrap soldered into the slot and filed smooth.  Not all versions of the loco have these but I like the appearance so Rule 1 applies!  The bonnet front handrail is fitted using Gibson short knobs rather than the overlarge/overlength ones supplied with the kit.  Still to big going by photos but I'll have to live with them now.

 

906138035_Ruston165Body.5.A.jpg.72c1a1def21925c255849d487283db66.jpg

 

I decided that I would like the cab to have a better representation of the control desk which, going by the photo Ruston posted on his 'Everything You Need to Know etc.' thread, is only approx. 1/3rd the width of the one moulded into the kit body.  To achieve this I measured/calculated/guesstimated it to be around 13mm wide and marked it as such.  With a small (1mm) drill I drilled around the edges of the outer 'segments' and, using a very small knife edge file, filed into the first of the holes near the edge.  Very quickly the whole of the unwanted section broke away along the drill holes and I could then file the edges smooth.

 

1594870191_Ruston165CabInt.1.A.jpg.95430ae52057cf34d986f875518587ba.jpg

 

The actual control desk was made as a separate item from 20thou plasticard with dials etc. (positioned using the photo mentioned above) sliced from assorted diameters of old kit sprue..  It's still be be painted.  This drops onto the truncated section of kit 'desk' and will be stuck in place after painting the interior.  There are some control handles that are fitted into the ends of the desk made from pins etc.

 

2056956261_Ruston165CabInt.2.A.jpg.29645a1f4470517d0c6f184b3b9f9667.jpg

 

Wheels have been fitted to axles and a preliminary fitting to the chassis has resulted in a (thankfully!) free running unit.  Rods will be filed down a bit and possibly shaped a bit more as they have quite a distinctive shape.

 

517553974_Ruston165Chassis.4.A.jpg.ab4798eb692d0b033c5f417765e27508.jpg

 

1736574924_Ruston165Chassis.5.A.jpg.116fb5862d305f61ad7240202efdca38.jpg

 

The chassis was test fitted into the body to see what it all looks like!

 

1073738964_Ruston165ChassisFitted.1.A.jpg.e77c7f8917a5b0b55682a43a46fcf432.jpg

 

1699969794_Ruston165ChassisFitted.2.A.jpg.e51d155032f1227f8e3a6c0caedf4ece.jpg

 

And then positioned on my photo-plank for a bit of 'atmosphere'.

 

1667365646_Ruston165ChassisFitted.3.A.jpg.8aa8511acd5cf4088a51693cd02d7c88.jpg

 

You will see that bonnet side and cab handrails are not yet fitted as I positively refuse to use the ones supplied.  However, I have run out of Gibson Medium ones so these will have to wait until a reasonable sized order can be placed to make it worth while ordering.  In the meantime finalising the chassis etc. (brakes, sandpipes, painting, running-in etc.) will keep me occupied!

 

Has anyone else (apart from Ruston) started building one yet??

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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3 hours ago, 5050 said:

You will see that bonnet side and cab handrails are not yet fitted as I positively refuse to use the ones supplied. 

They are a complete waste of time, aren't they? I don't know where they're from but they're fit for nowt. I had the same in the two kits that I built, so I presume everyone has been supplied with them. I used Gibson mediums for all but the three across the front of the engine casing, where I used short ones. I really should have used short ones all round.

 

The kit manufacturer's own build appears to have been done with short HRKs, so I don't understand him providing those ridiculously oversize things. At least with a scratchbuilt chassis you don't have to worry about the screw holes in the body not being in the right place and you don't have to rely on using chewing gum to hold the body on... :wacko:

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I've realised that it may be some time before I need to place a biggish order with Alan Gibson so have decided to use the HRK's supplied - but not as delivered.  I've reduced the diameter of the heads and the 'shank' by holding them in the drill chuck fitted to the headstock of the lathe in place of the 3-jaw chuck.  This allows a finer 'hold' to the tails of the knobs, runs more accurately and doesn't have big chunks of metal (in the shape of the jaws) flying around in close proximity to my fingers!  I used a small flat file to reduce the head, only pressing lightly, and a small square file to reduce the shank and attempt to remove the taper.  When I fit them I will 'countersink' the holes in the body with a 1.6mm drill so that the 'collar' fits flush with the surface.  On the cab with the etched sheets I will have to live with the collars as the etched holes are a bit big and the material is to thin to countersink.

 

Here is a reduced one alongside an original.  Was it worth it?

 

243114871_Ruston165HRKs.1.A.jpg.db1cfe347cbab9d703263a39dc98db8d.jpg

 

A bit out of focus I'm afraid but, even with the macro setting on the digital SLR, I have difficulty in focussing close up.

 

 

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Very nice work, 5050. I am tempted by one of these but haven't succumbed as yet. I may well have a chassis in OO for one, but then again, I'm not convinced that I should do one in OO, as it would probably be more 'useful' in P4. If I did so, I would probably scratch build a chassis, would you or Ruston have the dimensions, please, should I find myself needing to do one?

 

If the handrail knobs are now OK, then fine, but otherwise I suspect I'd live with what Alan Gibson had to offer and trust in weathering being my friend.

 

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23 hours ago, PenrithBeacon said:

My kit arrived Friday and I gather that the criticism of the handrail knobs has been heeded, those supplied seem to be OK. 

That seems to be good news.  I used the 'modified' kit ones for the bonnet and decided that they are still to long for the cab so have gone with AG short ones. They're all still much to big compared with photos of the prototype but I'll have to live with it.

 

To anyone who comments negatively - Rule1 applies!

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19 hours ago, Captain Kernow said:

Very nice work, 5050. I am tempted by one of these but haven't succumbed as yet. I may well have a chassis in OO for one, but then again, I'm not convinced that I should do one in OO, as it would probably be more 'useful' in P4. If I did so, I would probably scratch build a chassis, would you or Ruston have the dimensions, please, should I find myself needing to do one?

 

If the handrail knobs are now OK, then fine, but otherwise I suspect I'd live with what Alan Gibson had to offer and trust in weathering being my friend.

 

Send Ruston a PM.  He's the Main Man for this.  I've just used what he provided - and it works.

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1 hour ago, 5050 said:

Send Ruston a PM.  He's the Main Man for this.  I've just used what he provided - and it works.

I should be getting a new cutter ground so I can alter the pattern and mill a slot, rather than an axle hole, so you awkward P4 types can have your compensated axle.

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A set of frame parts for the Pi Ruston 165, milled from 1mm thick engraving brass.

165framespb.jpg.099177355b96822de16e4a503401d250.jpg

The overall width will be 15mm. The rear axle hole is 1/8th in.  Two stretchers slot into the frames at the rear; one is blank and the other has an elongated hole for a body fixing screw. The stretcher with the hole can be tapped 10BA so that a copper-clad pickup plate can be screwed to it. The front stretcher, again with elongated hole, slots in the front. This one will need filing to size.

 

The rods have approx 1.5mm holes and will need to be lined with hard brass tube, or Gibson steel bushes.

 

The axle slot is 1/8th and the top of the slot is approx 0.5mm above the axle line, so as to allow a rocking axle to work. You will need to make your own arrangements for fitting a suitable bar or what have you for the axle to rock on and to prevent the axle from falling out.

 

I can also do these with a hole instead of a slot and in OO.

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A bit more finished this morning - the handrails.  Not much to say that hasn't already been said about the knobs so I won't say anything:rolleyes:

 

Rails 'stuck' into the knobs with a dab of superglue, one end being fitted flush and the other end snipped off and filed back with a mini-file once the glue set fully.  The horizontal ones below the cab side windows were a bit different.  The end next to the vertical rail centre knob is attached to it.  I presume the real one has 3 holes in it.  Rather than stick it and hope it stays put I tinned the end of the wire and with a small dab of flux, a hot clean iron and a bit of trepidation, I soldered the end to the knob.  Seems to have worked!

 

185791195_Ruston165Handrails.A.jpg.130b9caa2552dcf44951b8a3490acf7b.jpg

 

The bonnet top panel and the 'mushroom' were chemically blackened as I had some on a Q-Tip from blackening the wheel balance weights.

 

Next question -  do I paint the wheels in the body colour (probably corporate Blue) or leave them Black?  And how about the coupling rods?  None of my other industrial 'creations' have had wheels and rods painted.

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2 hours ago, 5050 said:

Next question -  do I paint the wheels in the body colour (probably corporate Blue) or leave them Black?  And how about the coupling rods?  None of my other industrial 'creations' have had wheels and rods painted.

Get them painted! Just because all your other locos are wrong is no reason not to. :P

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Now doing some more work on the chassis and decided to thin the coupling rods down a bit by milling them thinner.  Still need a bit of tidying up and filing.  Was a bit over-enthusiastic with the right end of the top one but once it's painted (?) fitted and dirtied it'll be OK.

 

1629855022_Ruston165MilledRods.A.jpg.2d172dc4b9aef59d0ecc8f484250378f.jpg

 

I now need to fit the brakes and tackle the pickups which I always find a bit awkward with small wheel locos.

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Couple more things added.  First the pickups from 0.33mm nickel silver wire bent to shape and soldered into very fine 'U' section brass which adds a bit of support and makes them marginally easier to attach to the pick-up 'plate'.  Temporary wire sheathing 'nuts' still in use until I decide what to do about the controversial issue of 'to paint or not to paint' wheels and rods.

 

1702157425_Ruston165Pickups.A.jpg.89a5f15ef82e70b4b6c4a8b0ec578d6d.jpg

 

And after a rummage around in my stash of potentially 'useful' bits I have found a horn which I've attached to the cab roof.

 

883792417_Ruston165Horn.A.jpg.9eb09a2156d5dc4a8f5f2e57c511cd6b.jpg

 

You can also just make out the soldered connection between the horizontal and vertical cab handrails.

 

Next is finalising the size and shape of the glazing bits I made at the start of the build and also the cab fittings.

 

And then painting.....................................

 

Oh, and I hooked up the motor to the pickups, a bit of light oiling - and it runs beautifully.  Major relief..........!

 

 

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4 hours ago, Michael Edge said:

You will have to paint the rods, I've never seen a full size loco with brass ones.....

Wheels black or body colour usually.

There's always a first for everything:)

 

Probably end up a dirty 'steel' colour, they're already chemically blackened.  I'll experiment with some Humbrol Metal Cote I've acquired from somewhere - but never used .

 

Yet..................

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