Warren Branch

[Alister_G]

Chris, Rob, I've only just seen this, please excuse my tardiness.

 

What you have achieved is absolutely fantastic, and you should both be very very proud of yourselves. Chris, your design and construction abilities show just how far 3D printing has come, and the finished product, as others have said, looks to be to a professional level. Superb!

 

Al.

[chuffinghell]

7 minutes ago, Schooner said:

 

Yes please!

Next came the body, scaling from the GA drawing as best as I could I started by simply sketching the outline of the body over the chassis and running boards already drawn

 

 

It was from this sketch I realised how much space the DCC socket took up and how it would encroach into the cab which was another reason for ditching it

[chuffinghell]

Next came the 3D drawings in a basic form

 

a handy option in Solidworks is being able to have parts translucent

 

another to display a cross section

 

 

Again these were done prior to my decision to hardwire the decoder

[Rowsley17D]

I know it won't haul heavy loads but I just wondered how heavy the finished loco is Chris?

[chuffinghell]

30 minutes ago, Rowsley17D said:

I know it won't haul heavy loads but I just wondered how heavy the finished loco is Chris?

Possibly heavier than you think. The total finished weight is 159g

 

 

which is only 13g shy of a Bachmann 57xx

 

 

All of the weight is over the main driving wheels to aid traction. Not only that have the weight up front takes the load of the rear bogie allowing it to move more freely
 

How I’ve achieved this will be revealed

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by chuffinghell

[chuffinghell]

once happy with the basic shape I started to refine the design
 

The drawing work has been considerably condensed as it actually took quite a while

 

 

The roof was done as a separate item to allow for removal, the splashers and valve bonnet were drawn as separate items to help with the painting

 

 

 

the rectangular slots are to take the water tank fillers and the holes for the breathers both salvaged from the donor 57xx (waste not, want not)

 

Also salvaged was the smokebox door

 

One thing I didn’t like on the donor loco was the valve bonnet so I designed my own

 

 

following a trial fit

 

 

The fillers, breathers, smokebox door, and handrails were fitted and the whole lot given a couple of coats of primer

 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by chuffinghell

[chuffinghell]

Now back to @Rowsley17D’s question about weight.

 

As an engineer I know a few fabrication and machining shops that I use for work so I asked one of our suppliers to machine a stainless steel bar to go into the front of the loco

 

To maximise the amount of weight I designed it with a slot to sit over the motor worm gear

 

 

this added most of the weight over the driving wheels
 

 

I also added some 5mm thick stainless flat to add more weight over the second set of wheels

 

I couldn’t really think of any other way of doing it to be honest

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by chuffinghell

[Schooner]

Chris, honestly, this is astonishing! The more you go into the process and unpack the design, the more and more impressive the whole thing becomes. 

[Rowsley17D]

That's how the big boys would have done, Chris I guess, but at least you'll have no problems with mazak rot!!

[chuffinghell]

6 minutes ago, Rowsley17D said:

That's how the big boys would have done, Chris I guess, but at least you'll have no problems with mazak rot!!

My first choice would have been lead but not practical for obvious reasons, so my preferred choice was brass or phosphor bronze having a higher density than stainless but they didn’t have any in stock so the choice was made for me……and as they made them for me for nowt as a favour I was in no position to complain

[chuffinghell]

Still awake? 😂

[MrWolf]

We certainly are and that's coming from someone who knows the plot twists! 

[chuffinghell]

Because I have a tendency to add details that can’t be seen I thought this project shouldn’t be any different so I turned my attention to the cab.

 

After a very lucky find on eBay a Hornby Lodestar body for £14

 

 

although it was quite clearly damaged one part caught my eye….The cab detail which I assumed would be close enough

 

 

So I set about destroying it, I mean carefully disassembling it to retrieve the backhead and screw reverse* assembly

 

 

I also managed to salvage the steam lance valve

 

 

After trimming a little off the bottom, reducing the thickness and repainting the regulator handle I was left with this

 

 

next I drew up and 3D printed the cab floor based on a photo of a Dapol 14xx interior I found on the interweb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by chuffinghell
*I typed brake instead of reverse oops

[lezz01]

Very, VERY nice Chris.

Regards Lez.

[Gopher]

Well I'm still speechless at what you have achieved Chris and Rob.  Not sure if there is a Nobel Prize for scratch building model locos - but if there is, you will win hands down.  (You may as well enter the Eurovision Song contest next year as well, as you are clearly on a roll - just don't wear any strange costumes).   Well no stranger than your normal attire 😀 

 

I love hearing about the steps you have taken to produce this model.   

[chuffinghell]

My preferred weapon of choice when painting is an airbrush so paint! I’ve got some railmatch GWR green and the railmatch thinner but for some reason I can’t seem to get the ratio of paint to thinner right and I couldn’t get a consistent finish

 

I normally paint using Vallejo Model Air so after searching the interweb to find a Vallejo air alternative and finding nothing I took a chance and ordered this

 

 

however as is often the case when sprayed the colour was not quite as dark, after a little experimentation I mixed five parts green to one part black and ended up with this

 

after masking and painting the black the whole thing was given a coat of matt varnish that toned it all down

 

 

The valve bonnet was painted with Vallejo ‘Model Colour’ Brass (with a little black mixed in) and thinned for use in the airbrush

 

The bonnet and boiler handrail was added after multiple attempts to get the handrail the right shape

 

 

And the steam lance valve added

 

 

The colour isn’t the best match in the world but as I run ‘one loco in steam’ hopefully I’ll get away with it

 

 

Once I’m brave enough to weather it might be less obvious, all my locos were weathered by TMC or Grimy Times but as this loco is quite delicate and I one off I don’t want to risk sending it off for weathering so I have little choice but to attempt it myself…..scary!!!

 

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by chuffinghell

[chuffinghell]

26 minutes ago, Gopher said:

(You may as well enter the Eurovision Song contest next year as well, as you are clearly on a roll - just don't wear any strange costumes).   Well no stranger than your normal attire

I believe it is @MrWolf that plans to wear the skirt that rips off in tribute to Buck’s Fizz

[MrWolf]

2 minutes ago, chuffinghell said:

I believe it is @MrWolf that plans to wear the skirt that rips off in tribute to Buck’s Fizz

 

Believe me, I look terrible in a dress...

 

 

[Winslow Boy]

Just now, MrWolf said:

 

Believe me, I look terrible in a dress...

 

 

 

Just so long as he wears his long John's we should be alright.

 

Heaven forbid if it's his jock strap. What a thought.

[lezz01]

That looks like NATO olive drab to me Chris.

Regards Lez.

[chuffinghell]

2 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

 

Just so long as he wears his long John's we should be alright.

 

Heaven forbid if it's his jock strap. What a thought.

And I thought the prospect of weathering a loco was scary

[Andrew P]

Well Chris, My Gob has been well and truly smacked.

 

TOTALLY GOBSMACKED in fact.

 

You need a job with someone like Accurascale or Revelution Trains with quality and production from nothing to running like that.

[lezz01]

Do you have a copy of "The Art of Weathering" by Martyn Welch Chris?

If not I highly recommend it.

There's one here but there are buy it now options as well.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304496101371?epid=86360146&hash=item46e561c7fb:g:-ncAAOSwCg9iZstS

Regards Lez.

[Andrew P]

1 minute ago, lezz01 said:

Do you have a copy of "The Art of Weathering" by Martyn Welch Chris?

If not I highly recommend it.

There's one here but there are buy it now options as well.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304496101371?epid=86360146&hash=item46e561c7fb:g:-ncAAOSwCg9iZstS

Regards Lez.

I agree Lez, just a pity that it was printed in the days when a lot of pics are still in B + W, my copy is well thumed. I also have similar books done by Hornby Mag a few years ago with a lot of Mike Wild and Tim Shackeltons work in there and FULL COLOUR. There were 2 Volumes of that I believe, or at least I have two.

[chuffinghell]

A coat of gloss added and the addition of Fox transfers the following day, I used Vallejo decal fix and decal softener and personally I found these worked much better than, dare I say it, microsol and microset

 

 

Next we’re the number plates from Narrow Planet that took about four to six weeks to arrive, they obviously know how slowly I work 🤣 even after they arrived I wasn’t ready to use them 😳

 

Markits GWR twin whistles added to the roof which for some reason have become difficult to get hold of but I was lucky enough to find a pack on eBay

 

4 minutes ago, lezz01 said:

Do you have a copy of "The Art of Weathering" by Martyn Welch Chris?

If not I highly recommend it.

There's one here but there are buy it now options as well.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/304496101371?epid=86360146&hash=item46e561c7fb:g:-ncAAOSwCg9iZstS

Regards Lez.

I don’t but I will certainly take a look, thank you

 

I’ve been trying to find a video tutorial on YouTube with regards to airbrush weathering locos but they all appear to be the weathering of black locos or diesels