RMweb Premium eldavo Posted October 25, 2009 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 25, 2009 Yet another of my ebay acquisitions over the last few months was an unbuilt PRMRP kit for a Class 66. I think the only reason I bought it was because it's big, very big and I don't recall seeing one built. The kit came apparently complete and unstarted without wheels, motors etc.. I sourced a couple of motors, some wheels, gears and Delrin chains so nothing to stop me building it really. The instructions for this kit are available on the web and to be polite are terse. There is useful information in there but it's scattered between drawings and the instruction text. To be honest the text is little more than a rough guide to assembly sequence and is lacking a few crucial pointers. I haven't got very far with this build and it is already setting some challenges. First up I decided to build the basic power bogey structures and get things working. Nothing too difficult in that but of course the instructions don't appear to match the brass etches and there are some vague instructions to adjust the length of things! There are some warnings here already as the bogey innards are generic and used for multiple models. Nevertheless I assembled two working bogeys. The only real variation from the instructions was to add pickups to the insulated wheels. The kit directs you to build the thing with the bogey frames live and picking up from opposite rails. No particular problem with that and I have no doubt it would work fine but I wanted to be able to test and run-in each bogey seperately so I rigged additional back scratcher pickups to the insulated wheels. All up and running pretty much fine. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazz Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 You are right, that is a big loco. I am not a fan of post steam, so I have never built anything near that type of loco. It looks like a bit of a challenge, I will be interested to what this build as it progresses Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted October 25, 2009 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 25, 2009 Turning to the bodywork the first job is to fit cab handrail and door handle backing plates plus a side grill. The instructions then say "5 You can fold the body to final shape" and "6 Fit the centre and cab bulkhead plates to inside of body". Simple eh? Well folding up the body shell, which is a single etched sheet, is actually not too bad and didn't cause any hassle. Surprising really as I thought that would be really tricky. Fitting the bulkheads sounds simple enough except of course that there are no marks, tabs or clues as to where they should be fitted. You'd think there would at least be an etch mark or an instruction to fit them at a measured point! The familiar shape starts to emerge as the centre bulkhead is fitted. In fact the fitting position of the cab rear wall bulkheads is crucial as these have the holes for the securing bolts that pass through the solebar assembly. There's a hint to this in a comment on one of the drawings but nothing else. The only way I could see to get them in the right place was to construct some of the solebar assembly then bolt the bulkheads to that and offer it up to the body. I was then able to tack the bulkheads to the body in the right place, remove the solebar and finish the soldering. There's no clue to this in the instructions which tell you to build the solebar up after the body is complete! Here it is with the bulkheads all in place and the first cab end fitted. Therein lies the next problem. This kit is for a 66 but actually it's a kit for a 59 with a few alternative bits thrown in. Shame they didn't go as far as to replace the cab ends with 66 pattern etches! With the first one I tried to bend it and relocate the light cluster pieces back flush. This has been heavily filed and filled with solder but still needs more work as a 66 front face is flat. Grrrr. After a day or two away from the project I came back to fit the number one end and opted to hack off the lower part of the cab front etch and replace it with a plain piece of sheet. Looks much better and now I have to figure out whether to take the slitting disc to the number two end and try and remove the lower cab front and replace it. Hmm. In this shot you can see I've added some of the roof details and the exhaust silencer. More fun and games with this as the instruction have you chop down one of the Class 59 silencer options to the correct size for the 66. The kit only supplies one former, for the exhaust pipe end, to wrap the etch around so I had to scratch up another one for the outer end of the silencer otherwise there would have been a gaping hole! So how big is big? Here is the O gauge 66 next to a Bachmann 4mm/OO version. The OO version is around 280mm long and seems pretty big on my layout! Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Harvey Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Dave What you have done looks very good though something just looks odd with the O Gauge model when compared to the OO model. It look a bit wide and a bit short. I'm sure that you will sort it all out. Keep up the good work and keep the pictures coming. Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Hi Dave, great work, and it looks really impressive next to the 4mm one. Now all you need are G and N scale models! I'll be keeping an eye on this thread One question though - what part of the lights is different to a 59 - or are you talking about a 59/0 front end? Pete, I think the variation in shape is down to the kit - every 59 or 66 I've seen buitl in O seems to have a bit of a squat fat look when viewed from the front, and I think the roof is a bit pointy at the top. Also bear in mind that Bachmann worked in co-operation with EMD to produce their range of 66s cheers jo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted October 25, 2009 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 25, 2009 ...though something just looks odd with the O Gauge model when compared to the OO model. It look a bit wide and a bit short. ... Yup. it doesn't look right yet. Probably not a fair comparison as the bottom half of the cab front isn't in position yet or the lower skirt. I suspect this beast is too wide though as I don't think the kit maker has allowed for the taper of the cabs that exists on the prototype for clearances. Also the horn grill and upper cab piece is missing so hopefully when these are all in place it should look closer. ...One question though - what part of the lights is different to a 59 - or are you talking about a 59/0 front end?... The cab front etch looks to be for a 59/0 which is why it's not very helpful when building a 66 as they are very different light clusters. If it had been a 59/2 I would be home and dry (nearly!). Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steadfast Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Thanks for clearing that up Dave - as you say the /1 and /2 are nigh on identical to a 66 in the headlight department, so it would have been a bit of a worry if you still needed to do work there! I seem to remember on old RMweb Brian Daniels did a 66 - well worth reading if it's on the last version of the forum cheers jo Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
m davies Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Please be aware that the cabs on class 66 are different sizes, #2 cab is quite a bit smaller than #1 cab, #2 cab is the same end as the roof radiators and the cab doors open direct into a cross corridor like class 60s and 58s, thus the rear wall is just in front of the doors and right next to the rear of the cab windows, entry to the cab is from the cross corridor via ONE access door on the center line of the locomotive. The #1 cab rear wall is much further back, there is no cross corridor, each side door opens into a corridor, one way to the cab, the other way to the engine room, each corridor enters the cab through its own seperate door, thus there are TWO access doors into #1 cab, one on each side of the locomotive. Attached is an image showing the internal layout as posted in both cabs on a GBrF class 66, #1 cab is to the Left, and #1 cab to the Right. The center door into cab 2 is not show but it opens into the cab with the hinges to the top of the center line in the image show. I'm assuming the kit you bought is PRMRP ?, in which case I thought they now preformed the body shell for customers ?, you need to be carefull when forming the roof as some folds are not parrallel above the cabs, you can see this in the second image attached, the higher of the folds tapers towards the center line above the cabs. Hope that helps, I'll be following this one as its amodel I want to get soon and super detail, I see enough of the blessed things so not short of getting very detailed images and measuremnts. Kindest Michael Edited to correct cab ends from info below. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
59004 ( was Shedcombe....) Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 On the 59's and 66's, cab #1 is at the exhaust end, not the cooling end, and this cab #1 is the bigger one, cab #2 at the cooling end is the smaller one. Regards, Michel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
m davies Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 On the 59's and 66's, cab #1 is at the exhaust end, not the cooling end, and this cab #1 is the bigger one, cab #2 at the cooling end is the smaller one. Regards, Michel Your quite right !, I'm all a dither with my #1 and #2 ends today . Kindest Michael Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
59004 ( was Shedcombe....) Posted October 25, 2009 Share Posted October 25, 2009 Your quite right !, I'm all a dither with my #1 and #2 ends today . Kindest Michael Be glad your day is almost over then. Start the next one better !!!! Regards, Michel Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted October 25, 2009 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 25, 2009 Thanks for the info guys. I was aware of the differences and numbering of the cabs having worked on a simulator model of the 59/2. Unfortunately although the kit has different etches for the cab bulkheads they are actually positioned wrongly. In fact the internal cab detail is a bit lacking by the look of it. This kit is a bit of a bodge all round and I'm not sure whether I can be faffed to sort it out properly. Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian G Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 I have photo's inside the cab of a 66 if you require them. Ian G Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian daniels Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 As had been said earlier I did have a thread on my workbench on the old forum, link to it http://www.rmweb.co.....php?f=8&t=1524 Stick with it although it is a hybrid between a 59 and a 66 it's all we got in 7mm Here are a couple of pics of mine. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian daniels Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 Forgot to say I have loads of 66 detail pictures on my website, here http://briandaniels.fotopic.net/c1769723.html Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium eldavo Posted October 26, 2009 Author RMweb Premium Share Posted October 26, 2009 Thanks for the link to the pics Brian, very useful. I don't hold out hopes of turning this into anything like the standard of your excellent example! Cheers Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multiple identity account 2 Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 No Updates? I was very excired when I came across this topic.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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