Class 58 springs

[simon br blue]

In my opinon one thing that let down both the Hornby and Heljan class 58 is the axle box and spring area. It was also the reason why I have not yet purchased a Heljan 58, I did buy a spare set of bogie sideframes from howes of oxford with the intention of making a more realistic representation of the area. However didn't do any work on the project until I was contacted by a member on this forum to see if I would consider producing a CAD drawing of them. I had a go and came up with the drawing below.

 

 

The part itself is simple and quite easy to draw, the hardest thing was to change the shape and thickness of some of the parts so that they could be printed in 4mm. The small size of some of the detail can be seen in relation to the size of my fingertip in the pic below.

 

 

With the last lot of class 25 parts I had printed I also had some of the springs printed in a couple of differnt materials to see which would come out best.

 

 

 

The black material looks ok from a distance but close up the layering of the printing method is very apparent. The transparent material looked good originally but when painted the layering again shows up. The white, strong and flexible material looks too 'fluffy' even when painted but does have the highest level of detail. The last material was called white detail and although it does have the layering effect it's not as obvious as the others and with a couple of coats of paint and a bit of sanding I think it will be ok.

 

 

As always any comments welcome.

[Guest jim s-w]

Cool

 

Are you going to make these available - Please put me down for a set if you are.

 

Cheers

 

Jim

[simon br blue]

An update.

 

I have given a the springs a couple of coats of primer and sanded them inbetween coats. I have also purchased a Heljan 58 from ebay (a couple of weeks bidding until I got a bargin).

 

 

A couple of pics of the springs in place (still only held in place with blu tack). I also need to make some dampers for the outer springs.

 

 

 

 

If they look smooth after the next coat of paint I think I'll try to make a mould to cast some in resin. I think they might need to be thinned a little at the back to give more clearance around the wheels.

[simon br blue]

After another coat of paint the springs looked OK so I used them to cast a silicone mould and then made a couple of resin castings to see what they looked like. The pic shows the first spring castings attached to the bogie with blu tack.

 

 

A bonus of the casting is that the springs are not as deep as the originals (where they were partly pressed into the play doh when the silicone was poured) which means there is a bit more clearance between them and the wheels. When lookng at them on the bogie they look to sit a bit low, I might try to file a little off the top of the springs to raise the axle box to where it is on the wheels.

 

[Pugsley]

They're looking really good Simon. What program do you you draw the parts in?

[simon br blue]

They're looking really good Simon. What program do you you draw the parts in?

 

The parts were drawn in Blender and printed through a company called Shapeways.

[simon br blue]

Another little update. I have finally glued a set of springs to the bogie. I have also added the dampers (although looking at them on the model they look a bit thin)and the pipework that runs to the brake cylinders. I added the pipework to try and add a bit more depth as the brake blocks don't sit level with the wheels.

 

 

 

I will give the bogie a coat of paint and then if it looks Ok I'll set about the other three sideframes.

[simon br blue]

I have given the bogie a quick paint (by hand) to see what it looks like finished.

 

 

 

 

I think I'll use the this as a test and modify 4 more sideframes now that I've got the hang of hacking the sideframe about. I have already cast enough springs to for a complete loco.