Atso Posted June 15, 2012 Share Posted June 15, 2012 Hi all, Its been awhile since I posted anything in this part of the forum - actually its been awhile since I posted any personal modelling progress on here but life the universe and everything seems to have a habit of getting in the way at present! To help jump start a stalled project I thought I'd post some pictures and information on what I've been up to. I decided to see what could actually be done with one of my 3D printed K3 bodies that occasionally crop up in the 3D printing forum. As this thread will focus on my actually completing a project, I thought it more appropriate that this thread be included in the Kit Building and Scratch Building section (mods please feel free to relocated this should you so desire)... I won't go into the process of designing the 3D printed body here as that has been covered before in other areas of the forum. The body was designed to fit onto a Farish V2 chassis but problems with the oversize wheels left this project dead. The introduction of the Farish B1 changed this. I'd suspected from the start that the B1's driving wheels were undersized and a quick measuring up session with one of the superb models proved that I was correct (approx. 5'9). I managed to obtain a spare set of driving wheels and set about converting the V2 chassis to accept these. This was not as easy to do as it sounds. The B1's axles are slightly narrower than the V2's which left my first attempt to simply fit the gear to the B1's axle as a total failure! Not admitting defeat I took a tapered broad to the centre driving wheel's plastic bushes and reamed these out to 1.4mm so that they would accept the V2 axle - not as easy to do as its been to write about it as the plastic bush kept coming away from the wheel but a little patience and a lot of luck saw this done with the axles still fitting squarely to the wheels... After a bit of tinkering, I got the wheel quartering sufficient to get the chassis running, its still sticking a little but I'm convinced this is actually due to poor electrical pick up due to the different wheels - a new pick up system will be designed at a latter date. Having got this far I offered the body to the chassis and found it was riding about 1.5mm too high. Out came the files and I lowered the cylinders and valve gear retainer slot by about 1mm. This still leaves the body a little high but the motor is getting in the way of further lowering and I'm not brave enough to take a file to that! Having decided that enough was enough with the chassis I turned my attention to the body. A couple of coats of Halford primer showed that I needed to do some rubbing down to remove all traces of the printing process. This done I sprayed the loco and tender bodies with Halfords matt black followed but a coat of clear lacquer. Now came the really fun bit, the lining. I obtained a bow pen a little while ago now and have been playing with it to try and get consistent lines. Having managed to get to the point where I was achieving 85% success I loaded the pen with some red paint and attacked the model! Next up were the boiler bands; I wasn't happy with some transfers I'd obtained and rather that risk further disappointment I looked for another solution. This came from Dr Tim Watson who suggested I use sellotape. I cut the tape to form 0.5mm wide bands and lined the edges red, as I was applying these to a black base colour I didn't think that I would need to pre-paint the bands black – please have a look at the pictures a judge for yourselves if you think I was right or not! Having got this far, the bodies got another coat of clear lacquer before I proceeded with lettering and numbering. These was done using fox transfers which, once dry got one more spray with clear lacquer to seal them in. That pretty much brings the project to its current state. I've got to graft the V2's valve gear onto the B1 wheel set. This will require the replacement of the crank as I need to screw this to the new wheels while the V2 uses a push fit pin arrangement. Pictures are attached below, please let me know what you think and any suggestions regarding the valve gear would be most appreciated! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atso Posted June 19, 2012 Author Share Posted June 19, 2012 A quick update with some thoughts on the valve gear. The issue is that I need to replace the crack to allow the Farish screw arrangement for the B1 driving wheels to be used is place of the V2's push fit pin arrangement. Having investigated, simply drilling out the threaded crank pin holes on the new driving wheels is not a option - I don't think there is enough metal there to accept the old crank pin. My current thoughts on this would be to carefully drill out the rivet that holds the crank to the rest of the valve gear and replace the V2's crank with the B1's. I think I could use a brass pin with a washer soldered onto the front to keep everything together, much like with larger scale kits. However in N gauge this is a daunting prospect. Any thoughts or suggestions would be most gratefully received... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wyvern Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 That is a superb effort, its been well worth the effort to install the see through wheels Guy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atso Posted June 23, 2012 Author Share Posted June 23, 2012 Hi Guy, Thanks for the comments! I agree that the see through wheels make a big difference, also they're closer to the correct size which also helps maintain the look of the prototype. I haven't had the time (or the courage!) to yet tackle the valve gear. Got a couple of projects to complete for others first... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordini5 Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Superb looking model. The lining... well how can you keep a steady hand I think the sellotape idea for the boiler bands worked a treat. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike J Posted June 24, 2012 Share Posted June 24, 2012 Superb work. You know what will happen now...Graham Farish/Dapol will announce they intend producing one! I can't help you with your valve gear quandary, other than to say that I have every confidence you will make a decent job of it. The lining worked a treat. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atso Posted June 28, 2012 Author Share Posted June 28, 2012 Thanks guys. Mike, I wish I shared your optimism in my abilities to sort out the valve gear! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atso Posted November 24, 2012 Author Share Posted November 24, 2012 Just a small update. Last month I had the pleasure of driving Hans Starman from Luton airport to catch his train up north. For those who don't know, Hans is the proprietor of N-Stars who make and modify n gauge chassis. I took the V2/K3 hybrid with me and presented it to him to sort out the running issues and valve gear. A few weeks later and I have a lovely running chassis with correct diameter wheels (which are quartered properly!) and slightly modified V2 valve gear fitted! Here is the result! Sorry about the poor quality picture but the light was good tonight. I'm not sure when I can report this project as finished, as posted elsewhere on the forum I've got some problems to sort out first... but it is nice to have a little ray of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy few months! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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