BernardTPM Posted January 20, 2023 Share Posted January 20, 2023 11 hours ago, The Johnster said: I suppose it would be fun to try and make one with working shock absorbers. The bodies of the real ones could be seen moving back and forth on these springs when the train snatched or buffered up, and during shunting, and if the body were ballasted sufficiently, the effect might be reproduceable in 4mm. Not that I'm going to try it, you understand, just an idea. DCC servo control of this would definitely be cheating! Servos would be the only way of keeping the movement realistic. Physics doesn't work to scale in models. Same with anything that swings freely; they move much too fast. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold C126 Posted January 20, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 20, 2023 I have never seen a Shocvan, let alone one being 'Shoc'd', but could one place a wagon body on ball-bearings (recessed so hidden) on the chassis, the body packed inside round the sides with weight, and have a 'springy spike' sticking up from the chassis that stuck into a notch inside the middle top of the roof? Then when jolted, the body would move on the ball-bearings and the sprung strip would 'wiggle' the body a little. You still need scale, visible, moving chassis springs of course... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted January 20, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 20, 2023 (edited) Reckon it’s doable; Bernard’s point about physics and scale is a good one, but anyone who has witnessed a shocvan ‘shocing’ will attest that it is a fairly sharp and violent movement, and the body will move to the ends of the springs in a rough shunt. It lessens damage to the contents all the same. Some sort of waggler that the body is mounted on, that would return it to the default position within about a quarter of a second in a 2mm movement, might work and look reasonably effective. Piece of foam sponge, perhaps? On a block train of them starting off could be fun! More reliable than servos, and compatible with DC as well! Edited January 20, 2023 by The Johnster Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Dan Randall Posted January 20, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 20, 2023 13 hours ago, The Johnster said: I suppose it would be fun to try and make one with working shock absorbers. The bodies of the real ones could be seen moving back and forth on these springs when the train snatched or buffered up, and during shunting, and if the body were ballasted sufficiently, the effect might be reproduceable in 4mm. Not that I'm going to try it, you understand, just an idea. DCC servo control of this would definitely be cheating! It’s already been done in S scale, by Jas Millham, many moons ago, in the 3rd MRJ Compendium…. I’ve often thought about giving it a go in 7mm scale, but it’s a long way down my list of things to do! Be nice to see someone else having a go though, especially with a video, of the body moving back and forth. (Would also be nice to see another MRJ Compendium as well - No 3 came out in 1997….!). Regards Dan 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold The Johnster Posted January 20, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 20, 2023 Wowser, ingenious! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold C126 Posted January 21, 2023 RMweb Gold Share Posted January 21, 2023 22 hours ago, Dan Randall said: It’s already been done in S scale, by Jas Millham, many moons ago, in the 3rd MRJ Compendium…. Please could you provide a precis of his method when convenient; I do not have the article to hand. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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