Gallows Close Posted February 26, 2012 Share Posted February 26, 2012 Hello Will, I do like the way that you are explaining this build - and what a neat little trick on the cab end. Nicely done! Cheers, Chris. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted February 26, 2012 Author Share Posted February 26, 2012 Thanks Chris! It seems to be working so far but the first coat of primer will no doubt bring with it a long snagging list. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted February 28, 2012 Author Share Posted February 28, 2012 Finally did the last inner end today - these are starting to look familiar now... Nice to get these finished so I can more onto something else Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Michael Edge Posted February 29, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 29, 2012 Should have your underframe bits in the post today or tomorrow. Michael Edge Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted February 29, 2012 Author Share Posted February 29, 2012 Thank you, Michael, I'm looking forward to them. Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted March 4, 2012 Author Share Posted March 4, 2012 Just a quick note to thank Michael for the excellent underframe parts which arrived on Friday! To say that these will save me some time is the world's biggest understatement... Photos of this weekend's progress to follow later. Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted March 5, 2012 Author Share Posted March 5, 2012 The first achievement of this weekend was to sort the roofs out. As supplied, the Class 150 cars each have three vents located along the centreline of the roof. The 325 also has three vents but the builder put two of them to one side and one to the other side, with no thought for 4mm scale conversions being done 17 years later. Bachmann were much more considerate, adding the vents as seperate fittings which makes them easy to remove. Each vent moulding consists of a base part, which fits below the surface of the roof, and a top part which is the vent itself. I cunningly (or foolishly, delete as applicable) chopped the former from the latter so that the base part could plug the holes of the old positions and the top part could be glued in the new positions. A sound principle perhaps, but slicing these tiny parts in two took a little practice to develop a consistently successful technique. As a result I destroyed some vents and had to make replacements from plastic strip. The photo below shows the resulting mess. The old holes still need to be smoothed over and the roof ridges reinstated in various places: I also fitted the large, round roof vent behind each cab; I believe this is an outlet for the air conditioning system. Not having any good photos to hand, I assumed the round vent sits in a round recess and hence used a 6mm woodworking drill bit to make one with a flat bottom. The vent cover itself is a 5mm plastic wagon buffer from a Parkside kit. Predictably, I later found that my assumption was in error and the vent actually sits in a square recess... ... so I may correct this error if I can think of a neat way of making a square hole. Any ideas? Again, the roof ribs need to be reinstated - they should go all the way to the (white) cab front moulding. My second achievement of the weekend (I know, two in one weekend!?) was to draw up some artwork for a brass etch. I'm now in possession of some lovely bogie sideframes from Mr. Edge but the bogies need an inner structure. At the same time I needed to make some cab doors and an NRN radio bracket for the roof. I was inspired by Nigel Lawton's website (www.nigellawton009.com/VeeTipper.html) to have a go at some home-etching, and have followed his techniques so far. If people are interested, I'll set up a seperate thread to show the process, otherwise I'll be back here in a few days with (fingers crossed!) photos of the finished fret Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
briantwigley Posted March 17, 2012 Share Posted March 17, 2012 This is such an amazing conversion, you've done some really superb work on it. I'd love to try it out in N gauge! Can't wait to see it progress. Ryan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted March 20, 2012 Author Share Posted March 20, 2012 Thanks Ryan! I'm having to work away from home a lot at the moment, so not much progress, but I hope to have something to report later in the week. Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted March 27, 2012 Author Share Posted March 27, 2012 Doesn't time fly when you're enjoying yourself? A bit of 325-related progress: I've started the process of producing some etched brass detailing components, and am recording this in a seperate thread as it may be of general interest to non-EMU modellers: http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/54219-etching-brass-on-the-cheap/ Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted April 11, 2012 Author Share Posted April 11, 2012 My home etching project has now been completed and I've come out of it bearing components for the 325. The photo above shows bogie frames for the PMV vehicle, NRN radio antennae and cab doors. These aren't perfect, but I think they'll look fine from most distances and were considerably cheaper than having something professionally etched. The bogies will be fitted with cast resin sideframes supplied by Michael Edge, but first I need to turn the etches into working bogies. The etch is designed to hold the sideframes the correct distance apart, leaving it too wide for the wheelsets, so I fitted some plastic spacers to hold the bearings in position: Note that the bearings just protrude through the brass enough to locate them in position. I had a rummage in my bits box and found these wheelsets which are perfect for the power bogies. They are slightly larger than the Class 150 wheelsets on the trailer bogies, and include cast centres featuring brake discs. Unfortunately I don't know who manufactures them, but they appear to have a steel axle with alloy or aluminium wheels. The next photo is just to show the effect of the lumps of brass I included to represent the traction motors. No fine detail here, but it will help to 'bulk up' the appearance of these bogies, especially when joined by brake cylinders etc. The last task for tonight was to plonk the power car body on the bogies to see how it all looked. I used self-tapping screws into the plastic chassis, with a few washers to sit the vehicle at the correct height. This revealed a slight problem with the wheels just touching the bottom of the chassis, so I'll have to either add another washer (if possible without it riding too high) or trim the bottom of the chassis to make room for the wheels. Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Harvey Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 Have you got any pictures of it with the other cars Will? Pete Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted April 12, 2012 Author Share Posted April 12, 2012 Not yet Pete; I was summoned from the garage by SWMBO at this stage so I didn't get chance! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallows Close Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 I particularly like the cab door etch Will. Just one question though about the bogies - How will you be representing the suspension components? Best wishes, Chris. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Fisher Posted April 12, 2012 Share Posted April 12, 2012 I'd go for Romord - Markits for the 12mm wheel manufacturer Will. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted April 13, 2012 Author Share Posted April 13, 2012 Chris - I've got some cast resin side-frames from Michael Edge for the power bogies (photos to follow this weekend). These include the suspension components, but not the brake cylinders which I'll add seperately as they're quite prominent on the ends of each bogie. As for the trailer bogies, I'm using the Class 150 sprinter bogies which include primary suspension and secondary airbags, but need additional yaw dampers making up. These are the ones which go between the bogie and a bracket hanging down from the body, and will need to be hand-made. I might have a go at casting them in resin or whitemetal to stop myself from going insane! I'll also need to add third rail collector shoe beams to the outer end bogies, but these will be a bit easier to scratch-build. Ian - Thanks! Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted April 14, 2012 Author Share Posted April 14, 2012 Good morning from a very damp York. Here are a few photos of progress on my 'power' bogies: Lined up with the adjacent vehicles, the PMV sits at the correct height, but as I said before the wheel flanges are just scraping on the bottom of the chassis. I cured this by filing the edge of the existing bogie cut-outs to a 45-degree chamfer. I don't have any photos but frankly it isn't very exciting! The vehicle runs very smoothly, with none of the 'wobble' I've experienced with kit-built bogies. This may be due to the full-width bolsters on top of the bogies. Next, I fitted the resin sideframes as supplied by Michael Edge (thanks Michael!). These transform the bogie from a piece of brass into something much more convincing. I trimmed the corners of the castings to blend them flush with the ends of the brass frames; hopefully when painted it will look like one assembly rather than 'stuck-on cosmetic sideframes'. The above bogies don't quite look complete so I added a rough representation of the brake cylinders using bits of brass and styrene. It looks a right mess when viewed so close-up... will I ever learn to take my photos from a bit further away? The overall effect helps to bulk out the bogie. I just need to add the brake cylinders to the other bogie and then these will be ready for painting. Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted April 14, 2012 Author Share Posted April 14, 2012 Saturday night TV is brilliant for one reason - while Mrs J. is fully occupied watching 'The Voice' and 'Britain's got Talent', I'm in the kitchen with unrestricted access to the computer so I can inform you of my progress in the garage earlier. Today has been underframe day. First up, here's a shot of those completed motor bogies under the PMV body: I spent a very therapeutic afternoon adding the underframe equipment to the PMV and TAV vehicles. These parts werre supplied by Michael Edge and have saved me many hours of scratchbuilding. After fiddling about with the bodies by hand for days on end, it was a pleasure to use some simple 'plug and play' components. Here is a quick snap of each side of both vehicles: Next I'll complete the underframes on the DTV (driving) cars. These have fewer 'boxes' but have the added complication of the front bufferbeam which needs to be made up from scratch. Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallows Close Posted April 15, 2012 Share Posted April 15, 2012 Hello Will, The resin parts suddenly make the bodies look much more like those from a class 325 - It gets the mind's eye working overtime. I really like the powered bogies with their sideframes, and a neat little bit of scratch build for the brake cylinders. Best wishes, Chris. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted April 15, 2012 Author Share Posted April 15, 2012 Thanks Chris; it's comforting to know my work is being approved by someone with an eye for EMUs! I think the first coat of primer will make a big visual difference - I certainly hope it will look a bit neater at that stage. I've made a start on the bufferbeams today - photos to follow. Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted April 19, 2012 Author Share Posted April 19, 2012 I have been working on the bufferbeams this week, although unfortunately I forgot to take any photos. I have decided to use Mr. Edge's bufferbeam casting to save yet more plastic-bashing, along with turned A1 models buffers (unsprung, as this unit won't be coupling up to anything), Shawplan's excellent whitemetal buckeyes and home-made air brake hoses from 0.5mm wire. These have their top fitting made from fine wire wrapped round the main 'hose' with a little tail left pointing upwards to represent the isolating cock handle. Thankfully the bottom end coupings of the hoses don't need to be modelled as they are tucked in behind the buffer head where they can't really be seen. The 325s have a pair of standard RCH lighting connectors, presumably for compatibility with loco-hauled parcels stock or for remote control of locomotives. The cable to each of these needs to be made from fine wire formed into a very complex shape to replicate the way these cables are stowed. This just leaves the multiple-working jumper, of which the connector head is moulded into Michael's bufferbeam casting so only the cable needs to be fitted, again from 0.5mm wire. A picture would be worth a thousand words here, so I'll take one this weekend and pop it on here. Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gallows Close Posted April 19, 2012 Share Posted April 19, 2012 Hello Will, I'm looking forward to seeing how the cab ends fit with the bufferbeams - This is where the charcter of the unit will be defined - You sound to have made a very nice job. When you come to fit the etches for tha cab doors, what is your plan for having the doors flush to the rest of the bodyside? Best wishes, Chris. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted April 20, 2012 Author Share Posted April 20, 2012 Hi Chris, Regarding the doors, I have come up with a series of excuses for the doors not to be flush with the bodyside! The front edge has a thick rubber seal (etched as a ridge in the brass), the top edge will be concealed by the rainstrip above, the bottom edge has a footstep beneath it (etched with the door) and the rearmost edge, well... I can't think of an excuse for that, but the brass is very thin. This photo shows the areas I'm talking about: http://www.railwayscene.co.uk/image.php?imgref=5500 Strictly speaking the door should have a narrow gap around all edges, but I don't think I could do this neatly so the etch is a compromise. Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Fisher Posted April 20, 2012 Share Posted April 20, 2012 How about scribing around the cab door aperture Will, I know that is what I am doing... Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
CWJ Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 Ian - If, like you, I was using the Bratchell kit as a base model, I would no doubt do the same but my model needs the cab doors making completely from scratch. I found the neatest way to include the seals, window frame, handles and kick plate was to put them all on an etch. We'll see how it looks... I can always peel them off again! Here are a couple of snaps of the bufferbeams in progress, as promised: The buffers aren't yet glued in position, as I'll need them out of the way for painting, so they're just loosely placed in position for the photo. Cheers, Will Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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