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I am definitely not worthy of the praise - Andrews work and quality of the CAD work is clear. The model looks the part because the model has been designed very well.

 

That you can have both superheated and saturated types too adds a further dimension to the build.

 

I'll certainly be buying more N1 bodyshells as time and funds allow. The end result is as good externally as an etched brass kit with the added bonus of knowing what the running quality will be like with the donor chassis.

 

It's just a pity Hornby didn't more extensively retool the N2 chassis with a flywheel.

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  • 1 month later...

Good work Andrew - this is a fascinating and informative thread.

 

It's inspiring me to pursue a 3D printed North British Railway J37, once I have some drawings (which I'm about to order from the NBR Study Group) and worked out if there is a suitable RTR chassis.

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Any thoughts on a V2 the new Bachmann mechanism is excellent the body is poor?

 

No thoughts on a V2 I'm afraid David. The J50 is next and longer term a J6 will be on the cards.

 

 

As promised, I've uploaded a set of PDF instructions on my blog page. They also include a template page that has construction aids for the coal rails, steps and decal application.

 

The instructions can be found here - Ivatt N1 Instructions

 

Thanks to Simon Martin for use of images from his build and thanks also to Atso, Bill Bedford and Graeme King for useful advice some of which has ended up in there.

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I must say that N1 looks really neat. A typical West Riding loco as you say....And such a shame the beggers didn't make over to the boundary of the West Riding at Greenfield! I'm sure your J50 and J6 will look just as good. You might of course be giving Bachmann food for thought but anything RTR would still be a long wait.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Work has now started on the J50 project. I'm exploring a couple of chassis options, one will be 3d printed to the correct wheel spacing and the other option will be to use the Bachmann Pannier chassis (rear wheels will be a few millimetres too far forward). The body will also need to be slightly different for each chassis - the bachy chassis will need a few millimetres less boiler on the underside to accommodate the motor and will not have a modelled backhead in order to accommodate the gearbox. The mounting arrangement for the bachy chassis has been drawn up.

Moving on to the body I have drawn up several versions of the J50 - a J50/2, J50/3 and J50/4. Additionally there are further variations within these such as rear spectacle blanking arrangements (smaller hole version and 2/3 blanking panel), flat or rounded coal rails on J50/2, GNR or LNER buffers (early Group Standard J50/3 had GNR pattern) and a myriad of blanking panels and rivets (still to do these).

 

Here are the first renders. The models are shown on my rough, work in progress, 3d chassis - the wheels will not be part of the model and are included to work out clearances, etc.

 

post-7745-0-97907700-1371743972_thumb.jpg

Left to right: J50/2, J50/2, J50/3, J50/3, J50/4

post-7745-0-33534800-1371743990_thumb.jpg

as above, reverse order

post-7745-0-95092700-1371744004_thumb.jpg

J50/2

post-7745-0-30218200-1371744016_thumb.jpg

J50/3

post-7745-0-66938800-1371744026_thumb.jpg

J50/4

 

Obviously there's a bit more work to do, especially under the running plate. As on the N1 the buffers will be done as seperate parts on a sprue allowing either GNR or LNER option (where appropriate) or swapping out with Alan Gibson ones. The injector pipework under the cab on the J50/3/4 will also be a seperate item as it will be very delicate. The whole assembly hangs on a block that slots into a space below the running plate and behind the side valances. I still need to do the J50/2 version of this.

 

 

 

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Excellent! On the more awkward matter of a scale chassis:

 

1. The N2 wheelbase is of course correct, but even if you swap wheels to a smaller size you're stuck with lumps of metal where you might want daylight (especially for a J6) and the motor hanging out at rear.

 

2. It may offer some comfort for those who feel that they can't or daren't build a chassis in metal, or who find after-market wheels, gearboxes and motors frighteningly expensive, to hear that I've recently had initial success in building a 2-8-2 chassis with plastic frames, considerably weighted and stiffened up by pouring in lead shot and casting resin, fitted with cheap Hornby "super-detail" coupled wheelsets + bearings (£8 or less for six wheels on axles) plus a £3 Hornby gearset and a £4.50 Hornby flywheel-motor and worm. The scope for development and wider application is fairly obvious.

 

By the way Andrew, I can just see in my mind's eye your N1 running in the cutting alongside Horton Park Avenue, or weaving through the curves at St Dunstan's junctions.

Edited by gr.king
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Excellent! On the more awkward matter of a scale chassis:

 

1. The N2 wheelbase is of course correct, but even if you swap wheels to a smaller size you're stuck with lumps of metal where you might want daylight (especially for a J6) and the motor hanging out at rear.

 

2. It may offer some comfort for those who feel that they can't or daren't build a chassis in metal, or who find after-market wheels, gearboxes and motors frighteningly expensive, to hear that I've recently had initial success in building a 2-8-2 chassis with plastic frames, considerably weighted and stiffened up by pouring in lead shot and casting resin, fitted with cheap Hornby "super-detail" coupled wheelsets + bearings (£8 or less for six wheels on axles) plus a £3 Hornby gearset and a £4.50 Hornby flywheel-motor and worm. The scope for development and wider application is fairly obvious.

 

By the way Andrew, I can just see in my mind's eye your N1 running in the cutting alongside Horton Park Avenue, or weaving through the curves at St Dunstan's junctions.

Thanks Graeme and it's encouraging to know that you've had some success with the plastic chassis and how inexpensive it could be. I suppose an option would be to use the pannier wheelset with the coupling rods from the N2 which would give the correct wheel spacing (assuming it all comes apart easily).

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  • 3 weeks later...

For anyone who may be interested the two Ivatt N1s are now available with full condensing equipment on Shapeways website. As before these are based on British Railways-era locomotives with saturated and superheated boilers. The condensing equipment is integrated into the main print so no parts need to be glued. That said, if anyone would prefer these items as a seperate add-on sprue please let me know.

 

http://www.shapeways.com/shops/AJModels

 

post-7745-0-63553400-1373270664_thumb.jpeg

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Andrew, the finished N1 looks incredible. I really need to get on with designing my N gauge version. My problem is the same as you've found regarding the J50 - a lack of a suitable chassis! I ended up getting a custom built one for my J50/3 to get the correct wheelbase! This is also the reason that my own J50 hasn't made it onto my Shapeways shop yet, although the Dapol Pannier Tank could prove to be the solution here.

 

Speaking of the Pannier, the wheelbase is 7'3 by 8'3 against the J50's 7'3 by 9', 1.5mm out in N gauge and 3mm in 4mm... To be honest when I did my first scratch built J50 I used the Farish Pannier chassis which didn't look too bad. Good luck with the project!  :sungum:

 

Mr King's experiences with his plastic 2-8-2 chassis reminded me of an idea I had a couple of years ago, laser cutting a plastic chassis. With some careful design work a strong box could be produced to which bearings, wheels and a gearbox could be attached. Further food for thought perhaps?

 

Anyway, as additional motivation to get your J50 bodies printed, I've attached a couple of pictures of my completed N gauge printed J50/3 below! (Ok, I'm just hijacking your thread now!  :triniti:

 

J501_zps1c1274a1.jpg

J502_zpsf940bb2b.jpg

Edited by Atso
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Andrew, the finished N1 looks incredible. I really need to get on with designing my N gauge version. My problem is the same as you've found regarding the J50 - a lack of a suitable chassis! I ended up getting a custom built one for my J50/3 to get the correct wheelbase! This is also the reason that my own J50 hasn't made it onto my Shapeways shop yet, although the Dapol Pannier Tank could prove to be the solution here.

 

Speaking of the Pannier, the wheelbase is 7'3 by 8'3 against the J50's 7'3 by 9', 1.5mm out in N gauge and 3mm in 4mm... To be honest when I did my first scratch built J50 I used the Farish Pannier chassis which didn't look too bad. Good luck with the project!  :sungum:

 

Mr King's experiences with his plastic 2-8-2 chassis reminded me of an idea I had a couple of years ago, laser cutting a plastic chassis. With some careful design work a strong box could be produced to which bearings, wheels and a gearbox could be attached. Further food for thought perhaps?

 

Anyway, as additional motivation to get your J50 bodies printed, I've attached a couple of pictures of my completed N gauge printed J50/3 below! (Ok, I'm just hijacking your thread now!  :triniti:

 

J501_zps1c1274a1.jpg

J502_zpsf940bb2b.jpg

 

Thanks Steve, your J50 is rather nice with an impressive level of detail, especially considering it's in 2mm. Remove the n-gauge couplings and it's hard to tell. Work and hols had got in the way so a bit of a motivational kick up the backside is just what I needed.

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  • 3 weeks later...

So I finally got around to adding the final details to the J50 prototype and a test print was recently ordered from Shapeways. This was not without some incident; the curved panel that joins the boiler to the tank, a part that had previously exported without problem to STL, seemed to be causing problems and had to be redesigned. Once this was sorted Shapeways had issues with a couple of too thin chassis parts which then also had to be redesigned (Shapeways were probably correct as you will see). Finally the order was placed and the models arrived yesterday.

 

The test comprised of the J50/3 body (to suit the Bachmann Pannier chassis), the J50/2 body as well as a prototype chassis for the J50/2 and a cab interior. The results are generally very good but there are some damages partly due to the single print and the items being crushed together into the too small bag and partly due to some design weaknesses. For example, all of the steps have been broken. This is I think a design fault on my part - pushing the minimum wall thickness - and they will need beefing up for future models or they may work better as a sprued part to add on. Also one of the guard irons has been damaged. I did expect this part to be too delicate so I'm not surprised. Finally one of the suspension assemblies on the chassis has been snapped off. This was one of the redesigned parts but I think the damage may be manhandling but the part will be beefed up further anyway. The prints are of expected quality for FUD and seem to be dimensionally stable with the axle spacing on the chassis being spot on.

 

post-7745-0-49251400-1381478856_thumb.jpgpost-7745-0-91060100-1381478921_thumb.jpgpost-7745-0-08269900-1381478968_thumb.jpgpost-7745-0-65275500-1381478984_thumb.jpg

 

The J50/3 has been designed with a seperate underside sprue that houses a set of LNER standard buffers and undercab injector equipment (ignore that there are only 3 of each buffer, I'd taken two off to test fit before I photographed). The injector equipment is very delicate but has printed remarkably well. This comes on a mounting block that sits in a slot beneath the body. The long pipe will sit just under the steps when mounted so can be further secured. The J50/3 is left hand drive which can be noted with the vacuum ejector on the smokebox. The pipework for this disappears into a recess in the curved plates that join the boiler to the tanks. This is a feature that I don't think I've seen modelled on any J50 kit or scratch-built models I've seen. I have a wonderful picture of Bradford Bowling depot viewed from above which shows a number of J50s and clearly shows this feature. You can also just about see it on a couple of images in the Yeadon's volume. Initial test fitting to the Bachmann chassis has proved successful with just some minor adjustments required to the print for a perfect fit. Here's a picture - with the Pannier's outside brake rods and sandboxes yet to be removed it looks like some strange LNER-GWR hybrid!

 

post-7745-0-19926000-1381479178_thumb.jpgpost-7745-0-81776000-1381479209_thumb.jpg

post-7745-0-83083000-1381479028_thumb.jpg

 

The J50/2 is again designed with a seperate underside sprue. This houses both GNR and LNER standard buffers (both types could be found on members of this sub-class). The undercab injectors are part of the main body print on a mounting plate (as per the prototype). They will need the addition of wire to represent the pipe work. The J50/2 is right hand drive and the top plates and ejector are reversed on this model. I also had printed a rudimentary cab interior designed to slot inside for ease of painting. This is fairly basic but has printed well. I have however made an error with this as the sandbox/step is in the way to slide it in. A small adjustment with the scalpel will sort this for now. I will probably also need butcher this slightly if I decide to put a flywheel on the motor.

 

post-7745-0-34121500-1381479018_thumb.jpg

 

Onto the (highly experimental) chassis. The main frame is compartmentalised for strength and to provide 'buckets' for ballast weight and certainly it has come out very rigid. However, outside detail parts do seem too delicate with the damage to the spring and the guard iron the result. I can see these parts breaking further when fiddling about and adding wheels etc. These parts will need to be either beefed up or perhaps done as sprued items for future prints. Brake shoes are on a seperate sprue but these had nearly all come off. None were lost or damaged but a better sprue arrangement will be required. Fit to the J50/2 body was perfect and a quick fit with Alan Gibson wheels resulted in this:

 

post-7745-0-50831300-1381479222_thumb.jpgpost-7745-0-73929400-1381479233_thumb.jpgpost-7745-0-55850700-1381479244_thumb.jpg

 

My initial thoughts on the chassis are that it's perhaps too delicate to be done wholly as a one part item. Whilst the basic FUD frames are sound and seem strong I think the springs, guard irons and brake shoes will be done as a seperate sprue so that these items can be added later and are not structural. Possibly I may do the basic chassis in WSF rather than FUD (it won't actually save much money) with the detail parts as a sprue off the loco body.

 

 

 

 

 

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A really interesting thread. Please let me know when you get around to producing a L&Y 3F 0-6-0 to fit on the Bachmann C class chassis.... :biggrin_mini2:

 

Hmnn. Never say never, might actually be an interesting project. Is it the correct wheel spacing/size?

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Hi Andrew,

I'm interested in modelling 69481 - an interesting example as it was a saturated engine with part of its condensing apparatus removed. (see attached photo).  So, I think I would be interested in the condensing apparatus on a separate sprue as suggested. How would I go about ordering this. Also, if, instead of a Hornby chassis, one of the direct replacement chassis for the Hornby one was used (a la Bradwell or Comet for example) would this still fit? This is because I model in EM. To your knowledge, has anyone tried this?

 

Regards

 

Clem

post-15879-0-00347000-1382276247_thumb.jpg

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