Will's 1990ish Projects

[dj_crisp]

I like the idea of the masking tape! Thanks for that tip. 

 

For my mk2s I'm going to have to work out a decent wiper method as I can't use the DCC concepts axle pickup method as the wheels are all insulated and not solid like the DCC Concepts or Branchlines/Black Beetle wheels.

 

cheers

Will

[big jim]

I was having a think about how to do my charter rake which are hachette MK1d with Hornby wheels, the wheels are insulated both sides

 

I’m going to see if this works, pull one of the wheels from the axle and put a piece of sticky brass strip (the type you can use as DCC bus bar, slug repellant tape stuff) on the inner face of one of the removed wheel then reassemble the wheelset with a spring in place pushing the axle through the brass strip, hopefully there will be enough contact between the axle and strip to make the axle electrically live, if not a blob of solder may do the trick

 

Watch this space, well watch my workbench to see if it works, will try and do it later today or certainly this week anyway

[dj_crisp]

Definitely sounds like it's worth a try. My thoughts were soldering a a bit of wire to the back of the wheel and to the axle but your approach sounds more elegant!

[dj_crisp]

I'm pleased with the coach lighting I've done so far and have even managed to get a flashing tail light working off a decoder. As a result I've been looking at how to illuminate MK1 & MK2 brake coach interiors. In order to have an even spread of light I've decided to have a go at modelling an approximation of the guards mesh interior.

 

Destined for a Regional Railways BSK;

 

 

And a view from the other side

 

 

The mesh is over scale but i wanted a thin look so opted for 1.5mm square mesh. The sliding doors and frame are crudely approximated with plastikard. Overall I think it'll look ok. 

 

I'm not sure what the interior colours should be but think I'll just leave them in grey.

 

Happy Modelling!

 

Will

[dj_crisp]

I've just been playing around with my NSE MK2 BFK having fitted the mesh and door shape in the brake compartment. A few photos to hopefully shown the improvement that the mesh makes.

 

 

 

 

And one shot (badly out of focus) with normal UK Grey weather as background light.

 

 

It's interesting taking photos with super long exposures as the camera highlights any light bleed which isn't immediately obvious. These shots were taken to check if there is any light bleed there is around my attempt at a flashing tail light. A little more paint is needed then I'll be able to attach a lamp from modelu which has been drilled to accommodate the 1mm fibre optic.

 

cheers

Will 

[Jack374]

Great idea Will and something rarely modelled...where did you source the mesh from?

 

Thanks,

Jack.

[dj_crisp]

Hi Jack

I sourced it from 4d model shop... very quick service.

 

Size I used is 1.5mm brass square mesh and I reckon I'll be able to do about 4 coaches a sheet. Size is probably a bit over scale but I wanted it to look thin... was tempted with 1mm which I think is closer but I didn't think it quite fine enough.

 

Cheers

Will

[dj_crisp]

I've been debating what the interior colours should be for my Mk1s and Mk2s.... if anyone can help that'll be greatly appreciated!

 

As far as i can see some of the MK2a's in NSE livery/period had a very light (almost white) interior so my choice of grey is probably a bit dark. But then again I think some might have had a wooden interior...

 

Mk1s I'm even more lost on!

 

And I think they were a light (almost white) colour for the Regional Railways versions.

 

It's a difficult one to find info on!!

[alanbuttler]

 A little more paint is needed then I'll be able to attach a lamp from modelu which has been drilled to accommodate the 1mm fibre optic.

 

cheers

Will 

 

Hi Will, I've been meaning to adapt the prints for fibre optics to avoid drilling them and possible breakages. If you let me know the details of where the mods are needed I'll add a new fibre optic ready product to the range (when I get time!).  

[dj_crisp]

Hi Will, I've been meaning to adapt the prints for fibre optics to avoid drilling them and possible breakages. If you let me know the details of where the mods are needed I'll add a new fibre optic ready product to the range (when I get time!).  

 

Hi Alan - sounds great. I've just drilled out the centre where you'd fix red jewel supplied with them. I'll hopefully get over me cold and post some photos next weekend! 

 

cheers

Will

[big jim]

I was having a think about how to do my charter rake which are hachette MK1d with Hornby wheels, the wheels are insulated both sides

 

I’m going to see if this works, pull one of the wheels from the axle and put a piece of sticky brass strip (the type you can use as DCC bus bar, slug repellant tape stuff) on the inner face of one of the removed wheel then reassemble the wheelset with a spring in place pushing the axle through the brass strip, hopefully there will be enough contact between the axle and strip to make the axle electrically live, if not a blob of solder may do the trick

 

Watch this space, well watch my workbench to see if it works, will try and do it later today or certainly this week anyway

Quoting myself here but I gave the above a go, copper tape on the rear of the wheel, spring pickups etc and although it worked it was pretty rubbish so I gave up, went on eBay and managed to get some brass bearings that look to be the right size to replace the plastic one on one side of the wheel, they have obviously been delayed by the weather but once they arrive I’ll give it a go

 

 

 

One thing I am going to try is the copper tape along the chassis to save having wires running along my coaches to the lighting strips, also useful for IM stock with things like milepost lights

 

[dj_crisp]

Thanks Jim!

Your use of the copper tape sounds like a genius suggestion. I was looking for a way of sneaking some wires through without fouling the interior.... copper tape sounds a great plan.

 

Cheers

Will

[big jim]

It does work as I wired a led across it but the pick ups let it down, hopefully the brass bearings will cure that problem

[big jim]

the bearings arrived today but are not long enough but i can get some similar diameter shims to pack out the wheel which i may give a try

 

as it happened i googled 'powered axles' and one solution that came up that was staring me in the face, as im using wheels with 4 holes in then why not put a piece of fine wire through 2 of the holes, tightly lock it with wire twisting pliers between the wheel face and axle and similar around the axle and slip the pick up spring over the axle as normal

 

i'll give that a go tomorrow and report back

[dj_crisp]

That sounds an interesting idea Jim... and thanks to you I'm about to order some copper tape

[big jim]

I bought this

 

GABBREIN 4 Pack Copper Foil Tape with Conductive Adhesive for Stained Glass, Art Work, Soldering, Electrical Repairs, Grounding, EMI Shielding (3 size) https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B071HQB77R/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_-KENAbXREP4CM

 

They had it in Poundland last year but it’s seasonal as it’s sold as slug repellant tape

[dj_crisp]

I do admire modellers who can batch build and maintain focus. My MK1 coach project is progressing but at a slightly slower rate than I'd hoped for, as currently I'm doing about 11 of them I realised I'd got a bit bogged down.... so to keep my mojo going I've had a bash at a 66 (as a quick and super easy project)!

 

This one is a bit out of my time frame but I'm a sucker for an unloved loco going very cheap! And to cap it all an express models lighting kit was sourced from eBay for next to nothing so I went about fitting this first;

 

 

In amongst the mass of wires is the express models kit which has been soldered up to 2 decoders (one with a 8 pin socket so i can program it separately. I'm rather impressed with this kit and defintely the best Express Models kit I've fitted. It also helps that Bachmanns original lighting arrangement is a pretty good starting place with excellent light feeds.

 

So all thats needed is to rip out the circuit board (and capacitors) and solder everything up!  Things didn't go quite so smoothly in that I was planning on using a DCC concepts decoder with a hattons 8 pin (as the function only decoder). Don't know why but both have failed and I'd vowed never to buy any again. The lenz standard and a chinese rip off are fine!

 

It perhaps looks a bit complicated but was actually easy to install. Now I have 8 functions allowing separate night, day, tail and marker lights. I've left the markers and tail as directional for simplicity.

 

 

Interior has been roughly painted with some light grey walls, dials picked out and blue seats. The light grey on the back of the drivers cockpit is very important as this seems to be very noticeable through the front window in photos I've seen.

 

 

If you've read any of my posts before you'll probably know that i really dislike the manufacturers fitted glazing. I've tried to hide the thickness and refraction of the original glazing by painting the sides black. This involved painting both inside and out of the glazing and inside the body shell windows leaving only the window unpainted. The edge of the side windows was picked out with a silver marker pen and overall I'm fairly happy with the effect.

 

 

Onto Kadees.... These are mounted directly onto the chassis so i fit a full sized skirt (is that the right word??). A holed has been drilled in to the chassis and I've used a 10 BA  nut and bolt to fix the kadee. The nut and bolt is the opposite way round to how i normally fit them with the bolt underneath. This is so the bolt doesn't foul the lighting unit when it;s refitted and I only had to scrap a small amount of plastic off the lighting unit in order for everything to have a nice snug fit. There is a bit more plastic to remove from the loco front to get the correct Kadee height and I tried to only takeoff as much as needed so the front looked flush. Finally a spacer is needed (I used 4mm plastic rod with a 2mm hole drilled) to set the right height.

 

 

Time to fit the skirt (?) - As this is one of my specials i didn't have the Bachmann originals. Thankfully I did have some Lima Class 66 (or 59) versions as spares. These are nice and thin and just about the right size (only a smidge under) - but need the Lima fixing chopping off and a new version made of 0.7mm wire adding. This has been superglued and is nice and strong (better than the originals, The setup does however allow me to change the Kadees now as they can slide out if needed.

 

Air pipes are from a Hornby Class 60 as i didn't like Bachmann's attempts.

 

Conversion to EM has been down using Branchlines 14mm wheels on 2mm axles and is very straightforward. As this is an older Bachmann 66 then I've also added extra pickups so it runs more smootly. Interestingly I've had to had a bit of plastic off to allow extra clearance on the front axles and allow them to turn freely. Before i did it I noticed alot of wear here so i wonder if the previous owner had the same issue in OO. It's probably while it was sold to me as a poor runner.

 

Base weathering has started but there is much to do on tis. I also have to make up some steps (one missing) and one bogie is missing all of its extra bits... not sure how i can sort that out just yet! Maybe no-one will notice.

 

So my quick project hasn't been particularly quick. But I've really enjoyed messing about with this loco over the last few weeks and it's got my modelling mojo back! Shortly back onto coaches although i may sneak a 60 in between!

 

Happy Modelling!!

 

Will

 

 

[Jack374]

Great work Will, I agree that bringing a bargain loco back to life is rewarding. I’m the same as you in that I can never stay on a project for long...'quick' projects like these break the monotony.

 

Keep up the excellent work,

Jack.

[lyneux]

Will,

 

I have the same sense of dissatisfaction with the glazing on my 59s. Does Brian do laserglaze for these yet? Otherwise I might try cutting some acrylic to fit.

 

Guy

[dj_crisp]

Great work Will, I agree that bringing a bargain loco back to life is rewarding. I’m the same as you in that I can never stay on a project for long...'quick' projects like these break the monotony.

Keep up the excellent work,

Jack.

Totally agree... looking forward to your next update!

 

Cheers

Will

[dj_crisp]

Will,

 

I have the same sense of dissatisfaction with the glazing on my 59s. Does Brian do laserglaze for these yet? Otherwise I might try cutting some acrylic to fit.

 

Guy

Hi Guy

 

Not that I'm aware of.... although I've never spoken with Brian about 59s so you never know. I use 0.5mm lexan sheet and if you can find 0.5mm perspex... that'll be better. I think the thickness helps.

 

Cheers

Will

[James Makin]

Looking superb Will!

 

As one idea if you’re feeling daredevil, is drilling out the lifting eyes on the front ends and touching in with a splosh of yellow, does make a big difference to the appearance, albeit it can go pear shaped sometimes, it’s a bit all or nothing!!

 

Cheers,

James

[dj_crisp]

Looking superb Will!

 

As one idea if you’re feeling daredevil, is drilling out the lifting eyes on the front ends and touching in with a splosh of yellow, does make a big difference to the appearance, albeit it can go pear shaped sometimes, it’s a bit all or nothing!!

 

Cheers,

James

 

 

Thanks James

 

I hadn't noticed them.... but now you mention it I'll have to have a go!

 

cheers

Will

[dj_crisp]

Back to coaches! 

 

This is going to be a dual fitted MK1 BSK and so I've attacked it with a Masokits underframe detailing kit. I've soldered the Masokits bits as i find that easier than gluing and things have gone together well

 

 

 

If it all looks a bit wonky and not square its because i haven't fixed it to the structure in case I've got things completely wrong. I'm hoping to get a S-Kits air brake cylinder thing but if not I'll bodge one myself.

 

To be honest everything is guess work and I don't pretend to know where everything goes. I'm sure some things are the wrong way round but I'm just trying to make an impression there are some air brakes going on

 

 

 

It did take longer than i expected.... but this was mostly because I'm spent half the day staring at photos and guessing!!

 

 

 

 

Next up some 51L cylinders and distributers... which have had their bases pretty much filed away and the cruel close up makes them look a bit rough but they seem ok.

 

I can see a few pipes so I've added the one i know where it goes (distributor to cylinder).... but not sure where the second one ends up other than behind the cylinder! These have been made with 0.5mm wire bent to shape. 

 

 

I actually found having a beer helped me get through all of this!

 

If you know where I'm going wrong or can help please get in touch!!

 

cheers

Will 

 

 

 

 

 

[Waveydavey]

Those 51L distributors look rather on the portly size. I have some in my spares box that’ll never be getting used.