7mm Diesels

[boxbrownie]

 

David - didn't intend to call you simple mate (though I had to smile as it is you who have the 'Please let me know if I offend etc' as your signature! )

....just kidding Tim, just kidding.

[brian daniels]

I don't seem to have a picture of one of my JLTRT 40's showing all the air tanks under the water tank so I will take a picture for you tomorrow of one that shows my interpretation of the pipe runs.

[sixteen 12by 10s]

Hi a couple of things .

 

 

 

 

Running in your gear boxes, try running them in both directions with a smell amount of brasso on the gears. Once you are happy they run smooth, wash it off with thinners/ switch cleaner and then oil.

 

 

 

 

If your stuck for the air tank pipe work, I should be able to get some shots of them on 212 this weekend.

 

Gary

 

 

 

 

 

[two tone green]

The units running at the Bristol show on ABC Gears stand were as good as silent. I was very impressed with them and the quality of the build. But that's a show and the proof of quality will be the ones in my hands but I'm very hopeful they will live up to the sales pitch made by Mr ABC Gears.

 

So far I have no complaints at all about the service and advice I have received from them. Worth talking to even if you dont buy anything.

[brian daniels]

Here is the tanks under my 40056. As you say it's a bit of a waste of time as you can't see the rear ones! I have moved one of the inner tanks in a bit as the back of the bogie tends to hit it otherwise.

[HealeyMills]

A BIG thank you to everyone for their help and input (as usual everyone is so helpful here):

 

Brian - thank you for the photo, very helpful indeed, and I think I shall follow your lead with the pipework.

 

Gary - thank you for the helpful hints for running in. I think I have the gearboxes run in now as they don't seem to be making huge piles of brass filings anymore. I shall probably oil them now and leave them well alone as they are running quite well. Still sounds a little like a coffee grinder (great analogy Tim) but I think with a little lubrication that may reduce somewhat. You are really lucky having access to Aureol. Thank you for the kind offer of more pics but I think I shall be ok now.

 

I haven't managed any modelling today as I didn't finish work until late, by the time I got home I was exhausted. Perhaps tomorrow.

 

Cheers

Lee

[HealeyMills]

Its been ages since I have managed to find the motivation and time to sit down and work on my loco but eventually today I managed a few hours. I think after my last session with the gearbox issues it dampened my enthusiasm a little but after today I feel like I'm back on track again (pardon the pun).

 

The pipe work to the air cylinders is mapped out (I did receive lots of help from a really helpful chap at the 16 SVT Society). I just need to join them all together but I figured that was pointless until I had painted the tanks. So I've stripped the bogies down to prime and paint them and as soon as I get the chance I shall take the job lot to the paint shop at work armed with a few aerosol cans of primer and paint.

 

Anyway, I''ve finally made a start on the body sides:

 

 

After cleaning up the body side parts I inserted the M3 brass threaded inserts into the bosses. It was a bit of a struggle to get the inserts flush and I had to use quite a lot of force to get them in there despite having enlarged the holes ever so slightly with a 4mm drill bit. The end result:

 

Following the guidance notes from JLTRT I drilled out the body side hand rails as it seems this would be rather difficult to do once the loco is painted without damaging the paintwork. Its a bit of a faff this as I found no matter how much of the drill bit protruded from the pin vice I wasn't able to get a hole for the hand rails that was parallel to the body side itself. I'm hoping this won't present problems later when I fit the hand rails:

 

 

Next, the windows. This bit I have been dreading doing (and I am not looking forward to doing the cab ones either). There was quite a lot of flash to remove from the window mouldings and it took me a while to get a nice snug fit. But eventually after what must have been 2 hours or so I fitted all eight windows, two of which seemed to be larger than the others - which I had not noticed before:

 

 

I'm not completely happy with the use of Cyano-type glues on clear plastics, no matter how little glue I seem to use (and it was an absolute minima on the tip of a scalpel blade) I still seem to get the white 'residue' from what I can only assume is the glue vapours. The windows have cleaned up ok I suppose but I am now very reluctant to use this glue on the cab windows. Perhaps I may try Crystal Klear???

 

As the No. 2 cab was sitting there in front of me I couldn't resist starting to fit the nose details:

 

 

These all went on surprisingly quickly but I do need a few extra bits as 40118 has what I think are headboard brackets either side of the door retaining brackets and a lamp bracket just above and in the middle of the aforementioned. I'm not sure where I can get the headboard brackets from at the moment and I'm scratching my head as to how I might make them. Any suggestions?

 

I also noticed that on both nose ends, on the right hand gangway door, there is a small circular plate with three retaining bolts on. I have no idea what that is nor how I will replicate it at the moment (I wonder if Shawplan does anything like that...Hmmmmm). So as usual things to contemplate and lots to be getting on with.

 

Cheers

Lee

[tinsley-toton]

Re the headboard brackets, this was the advice I received off Brian Daniels to make them:

 

I made mine using a small brass U channel. Use a triangular file and make V cuts into it one after the other so it looks like ^^^^^^^ along the top. Then carefully solder a piece of .4 wire across the top of the first one trying to leave a hole under it. Then cut it off the row of little mountain tops and clean up with a file. Clear as mud I hope Worked for me anyway.

 

T-T

[brian daniels]

Looking good there. Thanks T+T for the bracket link. As I said it worked for me! As for glueing the windows in I too gave up with super glue. If I put the windows in after it's painted then I use Kristal Klear, as with the 40. If they have to go in before painting I use a waterproof PVA. This is because if you use ordinary PVA type glue when you clean/wash the model for painting the glue will more as like return to liquid and your windows will fall out. A waterproof PVA type glue won't. I got some from my local model shop, Howes, as they do boat kits that I think it's best to use a waterproof glue on!

[HealeyMills]

Hi

 

TT - thank you for the advice. Very clear on your instructions so I shall have a go at that once I can source some small U shaped material (may even try plastruct as I have that already).

 

Brian - thanks for the advice on the glazing glues. To be honest I'm a bit disapointed with the Rocket glues etc as the results are not good with the frosting. Ok, I've cleaned most of it off and the remainder won't be visible when the loco is weathered (for some reason 118 was always a dirty loco) but even so not good. Do you put the windows in last then, as I see the guidance notes state to put them in prior to painting??? I was going to put them in last as I had thought that I could paint the window rubber surround using a semi matt black, then mask this and the window orifice off together prior to the application of the banger blue coat.

 

I wondered (Brian you can probably answer this too) which diameter of rod to use for the nose vertical handrails??? Perhaps 0.75mm like the rest of the handrails?

 

Cheers

Lee

[brian daniels]

I used 0.5 for the front handrails Lee.

 

With the 40 you can get in the cab easily enough when it's painted. I thin down the Kristal Klear a little and use a small brush to put it on the inner ledge then offer up the glazing. Once in I go round the edge of the glazing with a bit more thinned glue and let it seep into the edge so you end up with a good strong joint. The 25 and 52 need the windows inserting before you paint the model but everthing else I have managed to add the windows last after painting.

[HealeyMills]

Sadly not really achieved a great deal recently - well not that I can show as all I have done is prepared the cab window recesses for fitting.

 

I have been researching and trying to find the best type of LED's for my loco though and I posted a topic in questions/ help on LED Loco Lighting but, sadly I receieved zero comments . So I've taken to purchasing lots of different types of LED's for a trial of my own. Once I have these inserted into the cab ceiling and in the loco nose I can continue with spraying and putting the cabs together. Then assemble the loco body as a whole.

 

Until then..... I'm at a stand still as I need to spray several items now but only have limited access to a spray booth. Ho Hum

 

Cheers

Lee

[TimC]

Hi Lee

 

Just read your LED question but I'll answer here. I'm sure you'll get eight different answers from eight different modellers on which LEDs to use or not. The important thing is that you are happy with the results at the end of the day. White LEDs can too white/blue and warm white can be too yellow (for my money).

 

I have a JLTRT Class 40 waiting in the queue to build and I'll be using the white lighthouse LEDs thinned down for the marker lights and red ones for the tail lights. I like the lighthouse LEDs has they can be 'fitted' into the marker light hole. For headcode panels I use two white LEDs (whatever comes to hand - I bought a big bag of the rectangular ones of eBay a while ago) and they are fine though I might have a play with a thin coat of cream coloured acryllic paint on the next ones to take the edge off the white.

 

For the cab light, I use a 12V grain of wheat bulb as these do give a yellow (ish) light - (sourced from All Components or similar). I've had a play with the surface mount (SM) type LEDs both individually and in strips. A lick of paint might bring down their intense light/white colour a bit but I prefer the grain of wheat bulbs.

 

To my mind the other important issue with loco lighting is the voltage used. I really trim the voltage down so the lights are just noticeable. The prototype ones were dim whereas some models you see can light up an exhibition hall!

 

I'm currently building a Cravens DMU (well actually I'm not, because I'm away with work ) and I wanted two colour LEDs for the marker lights. DCC Supplies do common anode red/white and red/warm white LEDs, ideal for DCC. I'm not really happy with either as one is too white and the other too yellow. I'm going to go with the red/warm white and have them running down at a 'glimmer' voltage. As I said above, all that really matters is that you are happy with your efforts. I'll be using a SM LED strip for the interior lighting.

 

Good luck!

[HealeyMills]

Tim

 

Thank you for your very helpful response - your point on thinning LEDs down is very comforting as that is what I was hoping to do. I have just ordered a load of LED's of various guises from a well known model shop in Bromsgrove and once I have them I shall investigate further, using resistors to limit the current so that the LEDs are not so bright. I really want to capture that prototypical cab lighting that I remember as I think it may really serve the loco just nicely. I have also ordered some SM LEDs for the cab ceilings - they should be entertaining to say the least.

 

Thank you once again and watch this space as they say....

 

Cheers

Lee

[two tone green]

Hi Lee,

 

On Feb 4th you posted some excellent pictures of the chassis with the two power bogies fitted. It shows the two motors sticking up through the chassis and was wondering if you could let me have the measurements between the two motors please.

 

Reason being I want to fit sound in mine and have just got the Loksound V4 from SWD loaded up with Cl 40 sounds etc and also some speakers. One of which is a Visaton speaker with a paper cone, rated at 2W and measures 77 mm X 41 mm and 30 mm tall, back of magnet housing to front of speaker. It sounds fantastic and that is without a baffle housing to mount the speaker in.

 

So I was wondering if it would fit. I don't have the kit in front of me so cannot play. There looks to be room for it but would like to know from some one who is building it. Thanks

 

Andy Jack

[simon br blue]

Looks like it's comming along nicely. Are the headcode discs in the pic the cast or working etched brass ones?

[HealeyMills]

Oh dear its been such a long time since I updated my Class 40 build and I've neglected to check the thread for anyone else's input too. Sorry.

 

Andy - I shall try to get the measurements soon. Its all back in bits again now (you'll see why if you read on ). I bet if you ask Brian Daniels or Ressaldar they will be able to get the info you need quite quickly.

 

Simon - the headcode discs are the cast ones. I had enough problems with the three link couplings, if I had to make headcode discs too I think I'd be looking for a darkened room to sit in for a few weeks.

 

Anyway, here with a bit of an update. I have stripped all the bogies and gearboxes to get everything primed and ready for its coat of black paint. As the weather was good here today I took the opportunity to get the bogies, bogie frames and body chassis primed:

 

 

While they were drying I took the chance to build the cab consoles:

 

 

 

With those done (it was quite a quick job really) I prepared the cab bulkheads and water tank so I could prime those too:

 

 

The cab fronts themselves are now ready for all the fittings. I have managed to get some 2mm tower LED's for the headcode disc lights and the marker lights so no doubt tomorrows job will be to thin these down sufficiently so that they will fit into their respective drilled out holes. However, I still need to test the LED's that I have purchased but I need to find out the function output voltages for the LokSound XL V3.5 so that I can get the resistance values correct such that the lights are not too bright. If anyone knows these voltage off the top of their head please post away, otherwise I shall be hunting for the LokSound user/ installation guide on the WWW.

 

That's all for now,

Cheers

Lee

[two tone green]

Hi Lee,

 

Ok, no rush for the measurements.

 

As for the decoder, have you considered a new Loksound V4. I'm using one for my 40 as the current draw for the two motors is well within the capabilities of the decoder. Works out cheaper as well and it sounds fantastic. I have it already and with the big speaker I have the sound quality is excellent.

 

Andy Jack

[HealeyMills]

Hi Andy,

 

I had not contemplated the LokSound V4.0 decoder, but I have just been on the SWD site and looked at the user manual. I notice that the decoder only has 6 user functions. Unfortunately I need 8 for the loco (4 x tail lights, 2 x disc headcode lights and 2 x cab lights) and that can be accommodated by the XL 3.5.

 

I don't know what I was thinking when I responded to your last email but its easy to answer your question. I have just measured this distance shown by the arrow in the piccy below:

 

 

..and it is 119.5mm.

 

HTH

 

Cheers

Lee

[two tone green]

Hi Lee,

 

Thanks for the measurement, There is plenty of room for my big speaker, great news.

 

As for the V4 decoder, there is the breakout board that ESU makes that gives the extra two functions. It also makes adding a decoder a lot easier as you mount the breakout board in the loco, do the wiring etc and then push fit the decoder. It also means that if the decoder ever needs removing its a simple two second job to just pull it off the board.

 

Thanks again.

 

Andy Jack

[HealeyMills]

I've had a busy day or two with the loco and things are progressing again - if only slowly. I have now got all the body underframe, bogies, bogie frames, water tank and driving consoles primed and ready for their top coat of paint. The cab bulkheads have had their light grey paint added and are now drying sufficiently so that I can start masking areas off to allow me to detail all the pipework, alarm bell fittings etc etc.

 

On the subject of lighting - I have managed to source some 2mm tower LEDs that provide a warm white appearance. I have noticed by using a very large resistance with them obviously reduces their intensity but also produces a little more yellow hue to their appearance - which is exactly the result I was after .

 

Whilst thinking about how to fit the LEDs to cab nose fronts I remembered a photo taken by Mr Daniels of his 40056 which also had the lighting installed. This revealed that some of the chassis under the nose front needed to be chopped out to allow the cabs to sit correctly on the frame. After much deliberating and a PM to Mr Daniels (thank you) about using a router to remove the unwanted resin bits, I ended up using a scalpel and gently and slowly scraping away at the frame to create two recesses each end:

 

 

Not a nice job really - and if H & S had been around I would have been in serious trouble. At last count I still have all ten digits left .

 

Next job was to fit the tower LEDs which meant thinning the tower parts down from 2mm to 1.2mm. This was easy to do if not tedious but allowed the LEDs to sit nicely in the nose lighting holes:

 

 

Once in situ it became evident that the frame cut outs were correct and adequate, thus allowing the cabs to sit correctly on the frame. With that checked I ensured that a small amount of the end of the LED was protruding from the nose marker light or disc headcode light housing with a rounded finish:

 

 

I think I shall have to remove a little more from the marker lights as they protrude a bit more than they should (so glad I took that photo now ). If anyone knows of a good way of polishing the ends of the LEDs I would be grateful for your comments as I have tried with very fine wet and dry (1200 if I remember correctly) but I am still not happy with them.

 

Next job is to get the bulkheads and cab consoles painted up but that won't be for a few weeks now.

 

Until then...

 

Cheers

Lee

[keefer]

i think 2000 wet'n'dry should be readily available, followed by some sort of polishing compound (T-cut or others)?

 

been following this intently, just waiting to see the finished result!

 

top stuff

[gwrman]

Hi, you could try Lapping Film used to polish the ends of fibre optic cables, I've added a link here.

Lapping film

 

Nigel B)

[eldavo]

How about the merest spot of clear varnish on the ends? Is the resin thick enough to avoid light bleed or do you need to wrap the LEDs in aluminium foil or somesuch?

 

Cheers

Dave

[HealeyMills]

Dave, Nigel & keefer,

 

Thank you for your replies. I shall investigate those suggestions.

 

As I am not driving the LEDs very hard I was rather hoping that the resin will not transmit/ bleed any light. I need to purchase the decoder now and it looks like being the Loksound XL V3.5. I have looked at the new V4.0 but it only has 4 output functions which, with a breakout board, can be increased to 6 - but that is not enough for the loco. Once I have that I shall experiment further and check for light bleed.

 

Many thanks once again

 

Cheers

Lee