Leighpants Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 Hello everyone. Im new to this forum and thought id start contributing with some loco scratchbuilding. Wanting to start small i thought a jinty would be an ideal candidate. So i set about drawing up a kit design. Not much detail on the model yet, just want to get somewhere close to the right dimensions and shapes. Construction wise i plan to use a combination of plastic and metal parts, I have a fair bit of experience in casting resin parts so i may make some molds along the way too. The boiler works out at 32mm so i plan on using a piece of steel tube for that. I'll have to have a rummage in my materials box and see what other goodies are in there. Once i have the 3d model to a reasonable level i will start to split it into parts according to material and process. As for somewhere to run it. I'm planning on a model of Rhuddlan station. It was on the Clwyd valley line. Nice and simple single track with a couple of sidings. one siding was used for unloading goods, mostly coal and some agricultural and livestock. A short platform and a nice station house. This however is months away from being started. I'm still collecting materials and I'm far from bored of my current n gauge layout. That's all for now. I'll pop up some more pics when the model is looking more interesting. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hartleymartin Posted January 1, 2016 Share Posted January 1, 2016 I recommend making it glue-and-screw construction where possible. Etched frames, using turned brass spacers (makes it easier to convert to S7 or coarse scale if anyone wants to) Urethane castings for much of the body work, but perhaps whitemetal or pewter for the side tanks to add adhesive weight over the wheels. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighpants Posted January 13, 2016 Author Share Posted January 13, 2016 The jinty plan is finished. Ive been mocking up a few bits and making masters for cast parts. Parts will be cast in pu resin. Il add some weight to the tanks when i cast them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hartleymartin Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 Go for a company which produces good quality castings. I've built some kits where the castings were so poor that I basically had to sand off all detail, apply lots of filler and then apply new details (rivets - what a pain!) and I probably could have scratch-build better quality parts. When someone buys a kit, they want to be able to assemble it out-of-the-box. The only things which would not normally be included in a kit are the wheelsets, gearbox and motor, though many kits now supply these either included or as a pack which can be bundled with the kit. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighpants Posted January 14, 2016 Author Share Posted January 14, 2016 Il be doing my own casting, it's a really simple process just takes a little care. I do know what you mean though having to re - work parts just isn't on, especially at the price of some of these kits. I do plan on the kit being basic. At present I can't justify the expense or time it would take me to produce things like handrails. What you will get all being well is a chassis and body kit, at a very competitive price. This means you can choose your wheels and motor and add as much or as little detail as you like. On another topic, I have been playing about with an idea for my layout. I've been prototyping an arduino based radio control system. The loco will run off a 2 cell lipo. So far I've got a fully controllable motor. I'm just reading up and working out what I will need for the transmitter. I'm thinking push button controls on the handset. With incremental speed settings. Control of multiple arduino from a single source isn't somthing I've looked at yet. But watch this space. So far the parts to control the motor cost a whopping £8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 Leighpants Would you be able to turn your final para into a specific thread? There is a discussion about wireless remote control of small models, and the radio formats that can be used, rumbling around in another thread about "toy trains" for small children, but I think it needs a topic of its own, and I'm hoping that you might be "tech" enough to answer some of the questions that have arisen. What radio format have you adopted? Kevin Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighpants Posted January 14, 2016 Author Share Posted January 14, 2016 Ive had a test rig running from a 2.4 ghz comercially available setup. using a comercially available transmitter. Thats no problem But the transmitter just dosent suit model railway use and you are limited to one loco per transmitter. So i used the arduino to generate the pwm signal to drive a tiny electronic speed control scavanged and modified from a servo. Thats fairly easy too. very simple circuit and sketch. What i dont know how to do is assign an individual address to multiple arduinos and have a master transmit to them. At present thats beyond my skills. To answer your question i dont know which is best and im not sure which i will adopt. If i choose bluetooth then there is the possibility of using an app on a smartphone to control trains. This is highly feasible as there are numerous rc projects controlled via bluetooth, such as quadcopters. There are numerous tx rx sets compatible with arduino so i definitely need to experiment. This does bring us back to multiple loco control. how to assign adresses to separate arduinos running on a common radio frequncy. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearholmer Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 Interesting. Worthy of a separate thread. I really think it is. K Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BG John Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 I've got no intention of changing from DC to DCC, because of all the complexity, and total lack of realism of controlling trains from smartphones and other gadgets. A knob and a few switches in DC may not be like the cab of a steam loco, but at least it seems closer to the real world than a virtual one. If I do switch from DC, it will be to radio control with some sort of "proper" controls. There may be clever electronics behind the scenes, and I'm quite happy to write software or tweak settings, but the human interface needs to feel real when I'm actually running trains. Otherwise the whole layout may as well be virtual. Now I've ventured into the realms of 7mm scale, it might even be easier to squeeze the bits into a loco. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
raymw Posted January 14, 2016 Share Posted January 14, 2016 Why not use dcc, but instead of shoving the control signal down the track, push it across wirelessly? There is open source code for Pic based loco dcc controllers which you could use, provided you publish your additions/alterations. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leighpants Posted January 14, 2016 Author Share Posted January 14, 2016 Nearholmer if it gets intresting or i have somthing to show for it il make a thread. Bg john i completely agree. I really would like a tactile controller. Also my aim is to have dead track so conventional dcc is out of the question. In terms of the squeezing things in my esc is postage stamp sized. arduino nano is approx 40mmx20mm. Lipos are 400mah jobbys 20x20x40mm. You could probably get that lot inside a 00 diesel if you were creative. Raymw, ive no experience at all with pic or programming anything pic related. I havent looked at how dcc is built either. Maybe somthing for the furure. For now i just want one or two locos with a single function. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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