Corbs' Cobbling - Is it electric?

[scots region]

Hi Corbs, I just remember since you having difficulty with the P2/4, Gresley originally planned to outfit the P2s with an A1/3 style front end, it is a little plane looking, but serviceable. 

[Corbs]

The truth is, the layout is currently out of use as one of the points has given up the ghost and I haven't fixed it, so have been focusing on the RC and narrow gauge projects. Once I fix the layout again the SG projects will pick up once more.

 

In the meantime here is more video of Skarloey running on the floor...

https://www.instagram.com/p/BT99a7HlbIo/

Edited May 13, 2017 by Corbs

[Corbs]

Some Peco vans joined the fleet, at some point they will be repainted into the correct blue livery, but for now I've contented myself with some grey on the roofs instead of the bright white.

Here they are posed with Skarloey. This was the damaged side where masking tape removed a lot of paint. Hopefully it's not too noticeable now...

Edited August 24, 2017 by Corbs

[RAWRlab]

Hey Corbs, 
I'm loving all of the stuff you've made. That inertia control is absolutely awesome.
Sorry if it's a bit off topic, but would you mind showing how you connected kadee's to your thomas? 
I've got another loco with the same chassis which I wanted to do the same conversion on, but couldn't figure out how to do it. 
Cheers,

[Corbs]

Hey Corbs, 

I'm loving all of the stuff you've made. That inertia control is absolutely awesome.

Sorry if it's a bit off topic, but would you mind showing how you connected kadee's to your thomas? 

I've got another loco with the same chassis which I wanted to do the same conversion on, but couldn't figure out how to do it. 

Cheers,

 

Heya,

 

Apologies for the delay in responding. As with all my models it was a bit of a bodge, I located the couplings where I wanted them and used chemical metal to set them in place. They are pretty strong now, but would be a lot of work to remove/replace.

 

 

Today I got inspired to make some modifications to TK&F No.5. This loco had been converted to BPRC rather quickly, and whenever you wanted to switch it on you had to take the body off and plug in the battery. I've now fitted a switch under the footplate, hard wired the battery in, and added a charging socket under the front. Much more versatile.

 

[Corbs]

Phew! Took a while but the thread has been repopulated with images following the photobucket disaster, now hosted locally on RMWeb.

[kevinklein]

Phew! Took a while but the thread has been repopulated with images following the photobucket disaster, now hosted locally on RMWeb.

Thanks, for taking the time to do that, photobucket has decimated RM, as i see catching up now after a 2 year absence... greedy, dishonest action.

[Corbs]

You are welcome, glad it is appreciated it was Dave aka Ruston taking the time to do it that convinced me it was worthwhile.

Luckily at the moment I have the google chrome 'fix' plugin although doubt it will work for long.

[Corbs]

Managed to do a bit of modelling today after coming back from Great Dorset Steam Fair.

 

I had ordered another Mosskito (formerly Meridian) kit for the Leek & Manifold Kitsons from Narrow Planet, which arrived next day! Great service.

This is going to be made into a duplicate of TK&F No.6, the fictional SG 'Kitson' 2-6-0T I'd already knocked up, and take the number 7. I quite like the idea of having two classmates of a fictitious railway together. So many freelance lines seem to have 'one of everything', the NWR included, so I want to break the mould a bit.

 

Here's the in-progress No.7 alongside the more-or-less (but not yet BPRC converted) No.6.

 

 

Staying on the TK&F theme, a few days ago I decided to finish off the BPRC conversion on No.5, a freelance 'Dübs' pugbash. Previously I had just done a simple conversion with no on/off switch or charging port. This required removing the body every time I wanted to turn it on or off (to plug and unplug the battery).

This has now been rectified. True to form, it's a bit bodgy and messy but everything on this loco is.

Here's the switch (wires have now been painted black)

 

and the charging port

 

Here's the loco being charged

 

also one of my Cambrian kit wagons has had wheelsets added, but needs buffers and couplings. Today I was working on a timber load, glued to a piece of card. Needs painting I think.

 

 

[Corbs]

No.5 is still acting strangely, it's always been the weaker of the two 'pugbashes', Perseus is slow but has a lot of weight and grunt behind it which aids traction, No.5 tends to wheelspin slowly, which is fun at first but does get a bit tedious. It's very, very slow as well, probably too slow for regular use.

I've ordered an 8V and a 12V step-up board from Micron to see if we can squeeze more juice out of it, and may replace the battery inside with a smaller one to make room in the tanks.

 

Here it lurks near the now-painted wagon load, which I quite like.

 

No.7, meanwhile, is taking shape. I've taken apart the Electrotren donor loco and made the cuts in the running plate.

Here posed with No.6's chassis.

 

And laid out in bits now some more cobbling has occurred.

 

On the layout, I've done some cobbling of buildings. The shed is a Ratio Carriage shed with one side and one end. The platform is also a Ratio one, cut in half down the middle. Needs blending into the base. This area of the layout has long been neglected and needs more work. The ballast hopper now has a home, along with a ballast pile (glued to a bathroom sponge). I think the hopper needs a screen to protect the poor blokes working in the shed.

 

[Corbs]

After a rather tiring week helping to put on a 4 hour broadcast for Cancer Research, it was a good excuse to stay in and do a bit of modelling. 

 

The second Kitson 2-6-0 is now in Ford Venetian Red, the tank handrail holes having been filled in. After the paint hardens it'll be time to mask up and apply the black edging. I am procrastinating about building the chassis extension to hold the cylinders and front pony truck.

 

The small details have been glued on rather than soldered.

 

[Corbs]

Another development today, fitted a 3.7v-12v converter to TK&F No.5. Please excuse the 'orrible rats' nest of wiring, this is pretty much my test mule so gets torn apart a lot.

 

This is the result. Massive increase in power, where before it was struggling to move 3 (heavily weighted) vans around the layout, it was dealing with 6 with relative ease. This test is on the floor to show the speed increase. The crash into the rug was because I left the inertia control turned up too much.

 

The downsides are:

Reduced battery life

Slow speed control requires a very light touch

 

In all I think this small shunting loco may fare better with an 8v converter rather than the full 12v to give enough power to pull the skin off a rice pudding, but without needless breaking of sound barriers. The problem is the 8v PCB is twice the size, going to have to see if I can cram it in.

 

[Corbs]

More progress on the second Kitson twin. The window surrounds are very fiddly to do! Lines are a bit wonky but my hands are not the steadiest. I do not like brush painting at all.

 

 

 

[scots region]

These conversations are leading me to wonder what a full scale L&B Manning Wardle would look like.

[Corbs]

Hmm, I do wonder. The Kitsons were such massive NG engines that I've been able to adapt them fairly easily.

 

I'd love to do the same with the C&MR Barclay as a SG 0-4-2T or 0-6-0T

Edited September 12, 2017 by Corbs

[scots region]

Hmm, I do wonder. The Kitsons were such massive NG engines that I've been able to adapt them fairly easily.

 

I'd love to do the same with the C&MR Barclay as a SG 0-4-2T or 0-6-0T

I was thinking along exactly the same lines.

[Corbs]

Getting there...

 

Chassis still needs adaptation. BUT it can hide behind the others for now!

 

Edited September 13, 2017 by Corbs

[Corbs]

Here we go. The frame extension for the cylinders has been made from styrene strip, and the pony truck attached. Still some finessing to do but it's very close. Buffers are on order from RT models and I need to make the cab steps.

 

 

I fitted the 9v adapter to No.5 as well. The speed is better, but there are still several problems with the loco that make it hard to use. 

I think there is something wrong with the motor. In forward gear it lurches and splutters forward (running in reverse is fine). Upon closer inspection it looks as though the motor itself 'jumps' up and down on its shaft which may cause the uneven motion.

It's enough jerking to accidentally uncouple wagons over the kadee magnets.

The other downside is that the battery life is still appalling, less than 10 minutes use. My problem is I made the loco before taking the decision to convert to BPRC, I did not design in enough space for a large battery. The big ones I have require slightly more space than is available inside the tanks, or are too long (the boiler is full of lead to weigh the loco down).

In contrast, Perseus runs with the same capacity battery (with no adapter) for much longer and at nice steady speeds, it is a much heavier loco.

I think the next thing to try would be to replace the motor to see if that gets rid of the jerky running, and if so pack the side tanks full of lead to aid traction, and possibly remove the 9v adapter to prolong battery life (OR find a way to fit a large capacity battery).

It can wait until I find a cheap donor, though. For a loco with such a long production life it is surprising how much second hand 'pugs' still cost!

[Corbs]

I was dissatisfied with the cylinders, they were far too bulky and oversized. I almost got away with it on the first loco but this just did not look right.

After a lot of experimenting yesterday and finding I had nothing that really fitted, I decided to cut down the existing cylinders. I removed them from the bracket, sliced them at an angle and filled the gap with styrene and putty, then gave it a lick of paint.

Here's the current state. It's not perfect but I like it better, find it less off-putting. The paint is still drying so it's a bit shiny, but I've tried to reduce the visual effect by adding a square of black around the red.

 

 

The older Kitson will get this treatment next! 

 

Edited September 16, 2017 by Corbs

[Corbs]

The TK&F locos have been put to one side, I'm waiting on a few little bits before I do a 'push' on finishing them off.

 

I brought NWR No.503 "Colonel Henry Regaby' out to play, and having it alongside 301 made me feel that the simplistic (and small) N W lettering kind of let the loco down a bit. I don't mind the larger lettering as an 'austerity' livery, as Thomas has on the other side, so decided to copy what I'd done with the blue E2.

I tried to use a fibreglass pen to remove the lettering, which unfortunately removed the paint, so I carefully masked off the tender side, gave it a coat of Ford Laurel Green (same as Percy) which is a close enough match (and should blend with some weathering).

Then I used the same gold letters as on Thomas and matched the spacing. I think it looks a lot nicer.

 

 

When I get around to lining out Percy's cab on the other side, I may change his lettering too, and the other locos may follow suit (one pre/post war side and one wartime one).

[Corbs]

It's nice to just have a play sometimes. I got the DSLR out, dusted some locos down and took some snaps.

 

The run-round loop point is still broken I think it needs to be dug out and replaced as superglue does not seem to work for long, and the operation is very limited with no run-round facility.

 

 

I think Thomas and Henry need copper caps to bring them in to line with the others.

Edited September 28, 2017 by Corbs

[John Tomlinson]

Not sure what make your track is, but with my Peco 75 I've had a couple of broken tie bar connections over the years. I found any glue repair was only temporary, and that the only solution was replacement. Ballasted points I only managed to remove by destruction, and then cleaned up the baseboard with a chisel and emery paper. The time taken for replacement wasn't that great, probably less than keep faffing around with glue, and you've got a proper job!

 

John.

[Corbs]

Alas I think you are right, John. I may need to bite the bullet and get on with it.

[Corbs]

Whilst at home with the traditional seasonal cold bug, why not indulge in a bit of train set fun on the living room floor? 

TK&F No.6 and 7 were both out zooming around. No.7 unfortunately dropped a rod which needs seeing to - possibly a bigger washer is needed. No.6, whilst still in need of a cylinder 'trim', was exemplary. The whitemetal body adds so much, it was able to pull a heavily-weighted 16 wagon goods train a lot easier than even 'Thomas', which struggled with a lot of slipping and needed banking assistance on the DVD-case built incline.

Edited October 2, 2017 by Corbs

[Corbs]

Not a whole lot of progress so far this week. There's a loss of dexterity in my hands, I'm trying to work out if it's a side effect of having a cold or possibly RSI from using the laptop. Clumsier than usual and keep making mistakes which is concerning. Hopefully will be back to normal soon.

 

Anyway I got my big buffers from RT Models and was able to 'finish' number 7 for the time being. There's more I want to do to both of the Kitsons but I'm putting them to one side for now to try and finish some other projects.

 

Edited October 5, 2017 by Corbs