Ixion 0 Gauge Fowler Diesel Loco

[Barnaby]

Very good Q&A.

Thanks

 

Regards

[alfsboy]

I used Pantone colours for years as the graphics people always designed in pantone which a basically a printers colour system which arrives at the colour over a white surface like paper .So a Pantone match usually is useless for paint mixing  as there is no white in the mix .i had to mix car paint to spray little promotional trucks and cars in bulk but the shade was always a bit iffy as there is no actual given mix that looked anything like the Pantone original .The original Team Lotus cars from 90 on and probably earlier were designed in pantone but they used the nearest for the actual mix so the  mid green on a lotus 102 / 7 was actually a VW colour .

[The Stationmaster]

Having sen one today at close quarters for the first time I was very impressed by the quality of the finish let alone the overall high standard of the model.  However my 4mm commitment remains rather too deep rooted so I resisted temptation - this time.

[Dava]

Mine is dismantled for painting & weathering but it is clear from this that the chassis could be a very good basis for other diesel jackshaft drive (eg Hudswell Clarke) & even small steam locos.

 

Dava

[81A Oldoak]

Having sen one today at close quarters for the first time I was very impressed by the quality of the finish let alone the overall high standard of the model.  However my 4mm commitment remains rather too deep rooted so I resisted temptation - this time.

 

It will get you in the end. Resistance is futile!

 

It was nice to meet and chat to you at Warley yesterday.

 

Regards,

[81A Oldoak]

Here are a couple of shots I took showing the Ixion Fowler at work on Mike Bragg's "Reely Grate" layout at the Warley show yesterday.

[The Stationmaster]

It will get you in the end. Resistance is futile!

 

It was nice to meet and chat to you at Warley yesterday.

 

Regards,

 

Likewise Chris and thank you for the opportunity to have a good look at it - hearty congratulations on producing such a delectable piece of work.

[ngtrains.com]

As I promised some pictures of a Fowler converted to DCC & Sound by what I mysteriously called the `third way' I'd better get on and do it here

 

Here we have a Fowler converted to DCC & Sound using a ZIMO MX645 decoder with our own custom made sound project done for us by Paul Chetter. In addition the the DCC this model as shown in the picture has on board `Keep Alive' that will keep it running for several seconds if track power is lost.

 

The chassis in the picture is one that once its done its duty as the DCC fit prototype will be getting all manner of other stuff done to it. Hence its red rods and blackened tyres. All being well I'll post some more pictures of the conversion later this evening along with adding details to my own website

 

[81A Oldoak]

Picking up the thread from Andrew Jones of Luton MRC in the Dock Green forum.

 

The Fowlers were almost all different with buyers able to choose engines of different size, power and make and different gearboxes to suit their needs. For a manufacture this presents a challenge as we had to opt for one version. We are confident that there will be many customisations by owners of the Ixion model.

 

Regards,

 

Chris

[AJon30]

Thanks. If the pony engine box is removed is there a raised moulding or a hole in the footplate? Can't really see from the photo's posted. As the bonnet comes off, it might be possible to remove the existing detail and add new bonnet side doors with single grilles suitable for DVLR Churchill and others, including this crazy colour scheme!

 

 

Rgds Andrew Jones

Luton MRC

Edited November 27, 2013 by AJon30

[Steve Williams]

The instructions were in the box after all! They had stuck to the inside top of it.

 

So, after running it for 15mins in forward and 15mins in reverse on the rollers with straight DC I had the body off and fitted a decoder.

Then I had a go at painting and weathering.

Fowler-001.jpg

I removed the oil lamp by easing it out with a pair of snipe-nosed pliers and filled the hole with plastic rod, shaped to fit exactly into the square hole.

I gave the bodyork a coat of matt varnish to take the shine off and painted the wheels and rods. The rods have been given a touch of weathering where the driver has spilt oil when lubricating them. This was done using a mix of red-brown, gunmetal and satin black.

 

The running plate has been painted with matt black that has a touch of white added and a touch of weathering powders brushed onto the running plate. The shiny silver hand rails and bonnet handles have been painted over with rust.

Fowler-003.jpg

The buffers have been painted with a rust-coloured mix and the same mix of as on the rods has been applied to them.

I am currently painting a driver figure and will add the oil can that came with the loco as soon as that too is painted.

 

I also painted the jack but I feel this ought to have been a seperate item with the toolkit, rather than being moulded on to the running plate.

Dave, did you prime the rods before painting?

[Ruston]

No, I didn't think it was neccessary as they're not going to be handled. If any of the paint does chip off I'll just fill it in with dirt and/or rust weathering.

[81A Oldoak]

Thanks. If the pony engine box is removed is there a raised moulding or a hole in the footplate? Can't really see from the photo's posted. As the bonnet comes off, it might be possible to remove the existing detail and add new bonnet side doors with single grilles suitable for DVLR Churchill and others, including this crazy colour scheme!

 

jf4100013.jpg

 

Rgds Andrew Jones

Luton MRC

There are some shallow raised mouldings on the footplate, but no holes. They could easily be concealed by a large tool box as shown in your photo of the stripey Fowler. The impression I get from looking at many photos of Fowlers is that you can probably get away with just about anything; such are the joys of modelling industrials. 

 

Regards,

 

Chris

[chaz]

There are some shallow raised mouldings on the footplate, but no holes. They could easily be concealed by a large tool box as shown in your photo of the stripey Fowler. The impression I get from looking at many photos of Fowlers is that you can probably get away with just about anything; such are the joys of modelling industrials. 

 

Regards,

 

Chris

 

I'll go along with that Chris. As Dock Green and its associated industrial estate are entirely fictitious I feel no shame about the prospect of a Fowler identical to the GWR one. But its got to be black - Swindon khaki (as my father used to call it) is off the scale....

[ngtrains.com]

Now I have done a couple and sorted out how I am doing the DCC & Sound conversion in my own loco's and those for customers I thought I would add some notes here to explain and show the installation.

 

 

As you can see in this picture despite being 0 Gauge there isn't a lot of space in the body. The motor and flywheel take up all the body whilst the gears fill the space under the desk

 

 

For possibly the easiest conversion there is this little space above the desk in the cab.

For a motor only application then a small decoder such as the MX621 will plug in and fit in here although managing how the wires coil away as you put the chassis in to the body may be a challenge

For a sound application you can just squeeze an MX468 in transversely into that space. And I do mean just, its a tight fit with a risk of damaging the wires and with issues with connecting the speaker up and making the wires fold away tightly.

Disadvantages are: -

• Neither motor or sound decoder are equipped for keep alive

• Sound is just 1W so not very loud

For me to offer this commercially there is too much risk in doing damage to the details in the body as I try to shoehorn it all in and, at the end of the day, its not an optimum solution for the sound install.

 

Moving towards a better solution is this.

The Ixion circuit board has to be removed and discarded. A ZIMO MX645 decoder can then be mounted in this space and hard wired to the motor connections.

Six wires (2xpickup, 2xSpeaker & 2xKeep Alive) have to be run down into the chassis to be connected up. Space is very tight for running wires down the side of the motor.

This is doable but its not the most elegant solution.

 

THE EDM MODELS CUSTOM CONVERSION

This is what you get if you order a DCC & Sound Installed Fowler from us.

• Very clean installation within the body

• Decoder, speaker and keep alive all contained within the chassis

• Keep Alive gives 5+ seconds of smoothed running

• Speaker sealed to base plate for better sound isolation

The appeal of this method as a commercial installation is that you take the body off and set it aside removing it from potential damage.

As part of the conversion the model gets run in, cleaned and greased and the DCC set up tuned to each individual loco

Its a pity that due to one bit of inconsiderate design some heavy engineering is required to achieve this as shown further down this page

 

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Where there is space on the loco is underneath. The die-cast chassis is actually hollow.

It features a moulded mount and connectors for the speaker but as the speaker isn’t sealed to the grill the sound isolation is suspect.

 

 

 

The Eureka moment is that you think if I can get rid of the plastic mount I have all that space.

As you bin it the jubilant mood is spoiled by a die-cast lump. No matter how you try the good decoder (ZIMO MX645) won’t fit.

 

That lump annoyed me so I pointed the sharp end of a milling machine at it and removed it.

(That is a gross simplification as some time was spent making the holding fixture and clamps.)

(Also this photo is staged. When actually doing one the gear end it shrouded in tape and a mini vacuum is removing swarf as the cutter makes it)

After all the milling the chassis is thoroughly cleaned and the gears re-greased

 

 

The result is this. A very compact installation all within the chassis. Featuring: -

MX645 decoder mounted flat where the lump was

A large keep alive unit which keeps the model running for several seconds if power is lost

A speaker mounted to the keeper plate with sealant ensuring proper sound isolation

 

 

When it’s all back together the IXION PCB has gone and the two wires just go to the headlight.

We think this is an elegant solution giving a superior conversion and it is what we will be offering as our commercial conversion.

(the blackened wheels and red rods are not standard but we’ll do them for you whilst the model is stripped down for £20)

 

 

 

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I have done a couple of videos that show the slow running and the keep alive capability (they are poor resolution as they were just done using my mobile phone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AKhowIAz80     

 

 

Paul Chetter has already posted a video of a sound fitted loco running on test. I'll put the link here again but point out this is just a development of the sound project and not the finished article

 

Full details of our sound conversion with prices and more of these picture and video links can be found here

http://www.ngtrains.com/Pages/Ixion/Fowler/fowler.html

and yes, if you have already bought your Fowler we will fit sound to it for you

 

[Mike Bellamy]

An amazing job Paul - well done

 

Sounds like Chris needs to get you on the design team for the next model before it comes off the  drawing board  computer screen so that the installation for whatever's next will be easier 

[Osgood]

Great stuff Paul.  When do you anticipate having the sound project finished and therefore ready to do a couple of installs to client's own Fowlers?

[ngtrains.com]

Great stuff Paul.  When do you anticipate having the sound project finished and therefore ready to do a couple of installs to client's own Fowlers?

 

Osgood,

 

To get them back soonest you need to get them to me soonest.

 

The sound file should be completed in the next week but that isn't going to be the dominant factor

 

The only way the conversion works economically is to do them in batches as it makes sense to do the operations in batches

Here you see the queue for this afternoons session of milling lumps off. It makes sense to do them as a batch or the time spent setting the mill up ends up being applied to each job if you do them individually. More important is that the mill (normally in the cold mech eng workshop with the big boys tools has moved to the nice warm model room but is sat on the table that is also the painting station and there are models waiting to be painted so after this batch the mill gets packed away until the painting is done.

 

Similarly there will be a session of sealing speakers onto the keeper plates, a keep alive making session, assembly of the electrickery on a jig before an festival of reassembly.

In amongst that lot adding the sound project is just about half an hour per loco with it sat on the rolling road as you can upload the sound project via the rails and wheels.

 

The quick bit might be that I am doing a few spares in this batch so swaps are possible

 

(probably best not to figure the value of the models I am about to chew lumps off)

[ngtrains.com]

Today was a day of choices: -

 

Option 1:  Go into York with management to St Nicks Fair, pay a fortune for parking, see nothing that interests me, get more an more annoyed with the morons that shuffle around like the living dead whilst not looking where they are going or,

Option 2:  Get on with the Ixion DCC/Sound installations 

 

Here is what we did......

 

Completed the machining of that annoying lump out of the chassis of a batch of ten Fowler's in for conversion.
Cleaned the swarf out with a blast of compressed air and washed the out with IPA  (not booze)

Went for a walk round whilst the fumes cleared

 

Mounted a load of speakers directly to the chassis keeper plate. Two reasons to do this. Firstly, sealing the speaker to the keeper plate gives better sound isolation between the front and rear of the speaker and, secondly, I've just machined the speaker mounting lump out of the chassis

 

 

Next up is making up the Keep Alive units. This is a tray of raw keep alives

 

and this is the KA assembly jig part 2. Didn't take a picture of part one as its only a boring bit of aluminium angle.

The are glued in pairs, one pair gets the middle cap glued on and then they go in this to have the other pair glued on. When I did the prototype installation there was no jig and the stupid glue did what stupid glue does best, it stuck me together but missed the caps completely. With a load to do the jig became a must if only for the continued flexibility of my fingers

 

 

A nice by product of selecting option 2 is that management selected option 1 so Saffi cat and I have the house to ourselves. Saffi has been celebrating with a long nap above the radiator but has now arrived announcing its feeding time and knee time so, having fed her, I've knocked off for a coffee break and to provide the required knee.

 

[ngtrains.com]

and then it all went a bit quiet.........

 

Yes, I know no progress posted for a week but its been a busy week doing retail orders and other custom jobs but the sound installs have been making progress.

For the batch DCC & Sound conversion of the Fowler it been a week of jigs.

 

If you were doing one loco you probably wouldn't bother but with a load to do jigs make sense.

First jig is the red rods painting facility. They are abraded cleaned and then placed in this jig to be sprayed with etch primer and red top coat

 

Next is the fiddly painting jig to hold the crank pins and collars. Etch primer and top coat again but brushed this time

 

The last jig for today is the dummy chassis jig so all the connecting up and soldering can be done away from the chassis

 

 

As you can see the scrap 2 by 1 collection has come in handy.

 

 

On the sound front I received the final version of the sounds today. I will try to video them tomorrow

[81A Oldoak]

I have a demonstration sample of the EDM Fowler sound project. I am still learning to drive it, but will have it at the Reading trade show tomorrow. 

[Osgood]

I have a demonstration sample of the EDM Fowler sound project. I am still learning to drive it, but will have it at the Reading trade show tomorrow. 

 

I'll bring a can of EASYSTART, ideal for an old vintage Fowler .  Unless you have a can of the Australian brand of course......

 

Edited December 6, 2013 by Osgood

[pauliebanger]

I'll bring a can of EASYSTART, ideal for an old vintage Fowler .  Unless you have a can of the Australian brand of course......

 

Starting Fluid.jpg

 

Ask to hear the sound on F21 played. Then offer the can to Chris!

 

Actually, I made a recording of the 'driver' saying something very close to this. It was going to appear on F20, but I chickened out as I didn't want to upset the vicar.

 

F20 is still blank, so look out for the XL version. (X-rated Language). Ha ha.

 

Paul

[81A Oldoak]

It was a pleasure to meet several of the regulars on RMWeb at the Reading O Gauge trade show last Saturday. From what I could see, business appeared to be reasonably brisk on many stands. Ixion does not sell directly at shows and exhibitions as we do not like to compete with our retailers.

 

I have resprayed a Fowler in plain satin black and picked out the Fowler motif in white paint. It is looking rather smart and I'll post some photos in ex-works condition some time this week. In due course it will be subject to some gentle weathering.

[81A Oldoak]

I have resprayed a Fowler in plain satin black and done a little bit of detailing including picking out the Fowler motif on the bonnet. In due course I will add more detail and subject it to some weathering, but it will not be excessive. Stay tuned.

 

Regards,