lancer1027 Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Excellent work and very interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter220950 Posted January 16, 2015 Author Share Posted January 16, 2015 The last couple of days have been spent continuing the seemingly never ending cycle of fill, sand prime to get closer and closer to an acceptable finish. The roof fan holes were opened out, and the grille surrounds glued in place and filled ready to be blended into the finished roof level. A set of Nameplates have been ordered from Guilplates, and I have dug out an old set of etched diesel numbers that I had in store for the Hymek. These were condemned to the spares box as they were in brass not Nickel Silver, but will be fine on Lion, which had gold transfers for the numbers. Some etched riveted strip has also been ordered from Scale Link to frame the roof grilles and panels. These two items have been the only real spend so far, the plates are £12.00 delivered, and the etched strip around £14.00. I’m not looking to spend a lot more, with a set of buffers and some paint being the only other anticipated spends. (Apart from a sound chip if it turns out o.k.) Next to be tackled, now I had relatively flat sides, were the side windows, these were marked out in pencil and stitch drilled out prior to cutting out and filing the openings. Similar work was done to the ends, to form the revised headcode openings at a higher level than the Hymek. The lower valances, which sit inside the main body sides, were then formed from plastikard and attached to the body. The fuel tank was then sorted, I did my usual trick of looking around for a bit to see what could be used as a base, and found the spare motor mount housing from a Lima 33 was ideal for length, if not a little wide. So it was sectioned lengthways and narrowed to suit. Sides were then fabricated with plastikard, a couple of old washout plug castings, and some brass off-cuts and etchings. These were then attached to the base at the correct level, ready for painting. Propped up at the correct level, with a couple of Heljan 47 bogie sides underneath, it’s moving closer. I’m still a little unsure of the correctness of the front windows, but will wait until the general finish is closer to completion when I can give it a coat of white primer, as colour can affect the finished ‘look’. There’s still a long way to go before it gets to that stage, I still have to sort roof grilles and translucent roof panels, and there’s still a couple of pretty big holes to be knocked out for some means of propulsion. Given that I don’t want to be spending a fortune on power bogies for what is, after all just a bit of whimsy, I went back to raid the bits boxes. In the Class 26/33 box are a pair of Lima 33’s awaiting abuse, and as I won’t be using their motors, (wheelbase too short for correct bogies), I thought they might be of use. A quick comparison against the Heljan 47 bogie sides indicate that they might be suitable, (about 2mm difference in wheelbase) with an attached third set of wheels, this would put the motors behind the cabs, one at each end. I did briefly toy with the idea of Siamese-ing two motors together with the common middle axle being driven by both motors, but it would put one of the motors in the cab, so one at each end it’s going to be. The Lima motors can be a bit frisky, but I’m expecting to tame that with a decent chip. Class 47 bogie sides aren’t quite right, but I might live with them, it’s also possible that I might modify them to something a bit closer. The biggest problem I have is that I only have a pair of sides, purchased for 50p some years ago at Telford. As they aren’t now available as spares it looks like I will be digging out the resin to produce a couple more. Meanwhile it's back to filling and sanding! 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 The last couple of days have been spent continuing the seemingly never ending cycle of fill, sand prime to get closer and closer to an acceptable finish. The roof fan holes were opened out, and the grille surrounds glued in place and filled ready to be blended into the finished roof level. DSCF3508.JPG DSCF3510.JPG DSCF3514.JPG A set of Nameplates have been ordered from Guilplates, and I have dug out an old set of etched diesel numbers that I had in store for the Hymek. These were condemned to the spares box as they were in brass not Nickel Silver, but will be fine on Lion, which had gold transfers for the numbers. Some etched riveted strip has also been ordered from Scale Link to frame the roof grilles and panels. These two items have been the only real spend so far, the plates are £12.00 delivered, and the etched strip around £14.00. I’m not looking to spend a lot more, with a set of buffers and some paint being the only other anticipated spends. (Apart from a sound chip if it turns out o.k.) Next to be tackled, now I had relatively flat sides, were the side windows, these were marked out in pencil and stitch drilled out prior to cutting out and filing the openings. DSCF3512.JPG DSCF3515.JPG DSCF3516.JPG Similar work was done to the ends, to form the revised headcode openings at a higher level than the Hymek. DSCF3517.JPG DSCF3518.JPG DSCF3519.JPG DSCF3522.JPG The lower valances, which sit inside the main body sides, were then formed from plastikard and attached to the body. DSCF3525.JPG DSCF3526.JPG DSCF3530.JPG The fuel tank was then sorted, I did my usual trick of looking around for a bit to see what could be used as a base, and found the spare motor mount housing from a Lima 33 was ideal for length, if not a little wide. DSCF3533.JPG DSCF3535.JPG So it was sectioned lengthways and narrowed to suit. DSCF3537.JPG Sides were then fabricated with plastikard, a couple of old washout plug castings, and some brass off-cuts and etchings. These were then attached to the base at the correct level, ready for painting. DSCF3536.JPG DSCF3538.JPG Propped up at the correct level, with a couple of Heljan 47 bogie sides underneath, it’s moving closer. I’m still a little unsure of the correctness of the front windows, but will wait until the general finish is closer to completion when I can give it a coat of white primer, as colour can affect the finished ‘look’. There’s still a long way to go before it gets to that stage, I still have to sort roof grilles and translucent roof panels, and there’s still a couple of pretty big holes to be knocked out for some means of propulsion. DSCF3546.JPG Given that I don’t want to be spending a fortune on power bogies for what is, after all just a bit of whimsy, I went back to raid the bits boxes. In the Class 26/33 box are a pair of Lima 33’s awaiting abuse, and as I won’t be using their motors, (wheelbase too short for correct bogies), I thought they might be of use. A quick comparison against the Heljan 47 bogie sides indicate that they might be suitable, (about 2mm difference in wheelbase) with an attached third set of wheels, this would put the motors behind the cabs, one at each end. I did briefly toy with the idea of Siamese-ing two motors together with the common middle axle being driven by both motors, but it would put one of the motors in the cab, so one at each end it’s going to be. The Lima motors can be a bit frisky, but I’m expecting to tame that with a decent chip. DSCF3552.JPG DSCF3554.JPG Class 47 bogie sides aren’t quite right, but I might live with them, it’s also possible that I might modify them to something a bit closer. The biggest problem I have is that I only have a pair of sides, purchased for 50p some years ago at Telford. As they aren’t now available as spares it looks like I will be digging out the resin to produce a couple more. Meanwhile it's back to filling and sanding! I did an oo guage conversion from a 47 and used 37 bogies. They might be a better bet? Could spare side frames be obtained from Howes Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phill Dyson (onslaught832) Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 (edited) Great stuff Peter ......watching with much interest Just wondering, but have you considered using that etched power bogie in your Hymek box to power Lion? Edited January 17, 2015 by Phill Dyson (onslaught832) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muddys-blues Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Hi Peter, what a cool conversion job, I am very impressed with that. Happy modelling Craig 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter220950 Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 I did an oo guage conversion from a 47 and used 37 bogies. They might be a better bet? Could spare side frames be obtained from Howes Paul Paul, Good suggestion, but the 37 bogies are as wrong as the 47's, and unfortunately also no longer available as spares. Lion 37 47 The lower half of the bogies aren't too bad, and some years ago, when I were a lad and lived in a cardboard box, I made a start on plastkard bogie sides, they are a bit crude, but with a bit of work I think I can graft them onto the 47 bogies with a spring or two cut out, and should end up somehere closer. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter220950 Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 Great stuff Peter ......watching with much interest Just wondering, but have you considered using that etched power bogie in your Hymek box to power Lion? Phil, not really, I think it's earmarked for a stretched Lima 33 to 26 conversion, (Or the narrowed stretched 33!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 (edited) Nice work! I thought it was only Ross, Phill, Ian and me that were mad enough to hack about lots of cheap plastic locos and coaches. I have, a year or two back purchased a fair few Cl37 and Cl33 Heljan spares for my projects, a shame that they seem to have sold out so soon as they are a useful resource. I shall keep following with great interest - brave and exciting work! BTW, please excuse my ignorance, where did you get the drawings from? ATVB CME Edited January 17, 2015 by CME and Bottlewasher Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobster Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 Very nice Peter - I am really enjoying following this, can't wait to see the finished article. Cheers, Bob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phill Dyson (onslaught832) Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 I still quite fancy doing Falcon by kitbashing one of these Hymeks .......not sure I fancy the £500+ price tag for the Heljan ? Phill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter220950 Posted January 17, 2015 Author Share Posted January 17, 2015 BTW, please excuse my ignorance, where did you get the drawings from? ATVB CME It's British Rail Main Line Diesel Locomotives, Colin J Marsden & Graham B Fenn. Oxford Publishing ISBN 0 86093 544 2 It has 4mm drawings for Lion, Falcon, Deltic, DP2, GT3, Kestrel, 10000-10001, Fell 10100, 10201-10203, 10800, 18000, 18100, Classes 15, 16, 17, 20, 21/29, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 33, 35, 37, 40, 41, 42, 43, 43 HST, 44, 45, 46, 47, 50, 52, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 66, and 67. Along with a couple of pages of photo's, history and dimensions for each - a really useful resource, I find. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted January 19, 2015 Share Posted January 19, 2015 It's British Rail Main Line Diesel Locomotives, Colin J Marsden & Graham B Fenn. Oxford Publishing ISBN 0 86093 544 2 It has 4mm drawings for Lion, Falcon, Deltic, DP2, GT3, Kestrel, 10000-10001, Fell 10100, 10201-10203, 10800, 18000, 18100, Classes 15, 16, 17, 20, 21/29, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 33, 35, 37, 40, 41, 42, 43, 43 HST, 44, 45, 46, 47, 50, 52, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 66, and 67. Along with a couple of pages of photo's, history and dimensions for each - a really useful resource, I find. Thanks. Thought I recognised them, but wondered if they were drawn to 7mm scale? Had that one on loan from a mate for about 5 years, gave it back to him at Chrimbo ATVB CME Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hesperus Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 It was drawn (again at 4mm scale) in an issue of RM too. I know this because I tried to make it in clay for my art GCSE, didn't finish and failed the exam. The conversion work you're doing looks great, I can't wait to see how it turns out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter220950 Posted January 30, 2015 Author Share Posted January 30, 2015 The last couple of weeks has seen a bit of a slow-down on Lion, I started to investigate the roof grilles and made a start in trying to knock something up. Some fine mesh was stretched over a former and Scale-Link rivet strip was soldered on top to tack it down, it was then turned over and soldered from behind. The finished article would do, but on reflection I have decided that as I have to etch windows for my layout buildings I would do some grilles as well, to ensure consistent sizing, so there’s likely to be a bit of a delay until the artwork is completed. I shall also take the opportunity to do some side window frames. In the meantime the plates arrived from Guilplates, and very nice they look too. A visit to Bristol O Gauge Show last weekend saw another stupid impulse purchase to divert my attention away from Lion and the Hymek. Tower Models had two Class 40 bodies for sale at £45 a piece, so I bought one, as I had a Peak with a tatty body and which ran badly as the bogies kept shorting on the brass body. I figured that with a bit of TLC I could get something a bit better for not much money. First stop was to order every sprue I could find from Howes, for just over £70 I have windows, cab interiors, fuel tank and air tanks, together with new bogie sides if I needed to re-build the Peak bogies. I will put the Peak body and one of the sets of bogie sides up on e-Bay to offset costs on the Class 40. A quick play on the Club layout on Thursday night saw the bogies running well with the Heljan body sitting in place, so I think I will stick with the original RJH bogies. With a bit of discipline I have now fitted a case out to hold the Class 40 and put it away until I finish some of the other projects. Feeling guilty about my butterfly nature, and lack of focus, I spent this morning finishing off the Hymek, paint was mixed up to match the light green body stripe, and was applied to the buffer shrouds. The buffer beams and shanks were painted red and buffers glued on, together with the buffer beam detail. Instead of roof lifting rings I have inserted black painted pins to add a bit of detail. The missing handrails were then folded up out of nickel silver wire and the loco was assembled. It now just needs a sound chip and some led’s for the lighting, which were ordered. For around £250.00 it’s not quite as good as a new Heljan, but with a quick weather it should provide another useful loco. 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter220950 Posted February 8, 2015 Author Share Posted February 8, 2015 Little progress on Lion this week, what with SWMBO wanting a new kitchen and taking delivery of the 3D end for the Class 139, I've spent a couple of days just planning out the etching required for it, however there has also been some work done on preparing the artwork for the window etches and roof grilles for Lion. I have also decided to get some small side grilles done as well, even though it will involve digging into the finished side paintwork. Hopefully once the 2D drawings are completed I can get the etching done and get on with it a bit further. One thing that had been needing attention was the door handrails, these are recessed into the body as per the Hymek, but unfortunately they go up higher than the class 35's. Previously I have just run a blade down either side of the handrails to open up the trough, before putting new handrails in. In this case a whole new groove was needed in the top window section, so this afternoon I dug out the lathe and bolted the body down to the milling table A 2mm mill was popped into the drill chuck, and run up and down the line of the handrails, giving new pockets, ready for handrails to be fitted at a later date. I will probably spend a bit of time this week on the bogies, while I'm awaiting the etching. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted February 9, 2015 Share Posted February 9, 2015 Given the Lion plates are I imagine a stock product, there must be other models of this prototype out there. Come on then show your faces all who have tackled this loco before Paul R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter220950 Posted August 5, 2016 Author Share Posted August 5, 2016 Given the Lion plates are I imagine a stock product, there must be other models of this prototype out there. Come on then show your faces all who have tackled this loco before Paul R There was one that appeared in the Guild Magazine a few months ago, it had been built in plastic card and looked very nice. Now I'm gitting closer to completion it's time for Heljan to make one commercially (Big Big converted, Heljan announce Hymek, after a lot of work on a resin Beattie Warship, Heljan announce one, after the Hatchette Scotsman build, Heljan have just announced an A3, and while still sitting on a box of Hatchette A4 bodies and chassis, Heljan have also announced one of those) Wow, it’s almost 18 months since anything happened on this project, how time flies. A grandson, new kitchen, and building work for my daughter seem to have taken up loads of time, and I have been fairly disciplined in working only on my layout instead of my usual skipping around projects. A re-build of the workroom saw this project taken out for re-settlement and brought it back into my consciousness. There has been some activity over the last year, some of it backwards, but I think it’s about to move forwards again. When I last did anything constructive on it I was playing with roof grilles, but decided my efforts were inadequate. An etch was called for but I rely on a fellow Club member to do the CAD work for me, and didn’t get a chance to call in a favour until recently. A few hours were spent sketching out the requirements and measuring the available space, and it was at this stage I discovered that the roof wasn’t quite symmetrical, so a strip of plastic has been attached to the roof, which now needs blending in. The good news is that the etch artwork is now in progress, so I shall get on with making the body as perfect as I can in readiness for the brass bits. I am getting side windows, roof grilles and fittings, and some light surrounds done, with Telford coming up soon I can then pick up any other bits that I might need, such as a driver and brass strip for the side details. The cobbled up bogie sides have been grafted into something that may pass muster when steps and detailing bits are added and they are covered in grime, next job is to make a mould for casting them in resin. The earlier stated intention of powering the loco with a Lima power bogie was also abandoned when I picked up a pair of Heljan 47 units, one of which is powered, and which suit the bogie sides. Having run the Hymek with only one motor for a long time I’m happy it’s more than powerful enough as it is, though for about £40 the additional motor can still be obtained from Howes. If I can get a method of suspending these from a frame that bolts under the loco I might be able to permanently fix the roof, which will solve a lot of issues, the cab floors would have to drop out to glaze and detail but it's something I'm looking at currently. So hopefully it won’t be too long until all the parts are gathered together and I can at last get completion on another of the many ‘half-finished’ project boxes. Quite where I get a sound chip from I'm not sure, though I suspect a 47 is going to be as close as it gets. Peter 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter220950 Posted September 17, 2016 Author Share Posted September 17, 2016 A very brief update, although there's not much to show for the last few weeks, I have had quite a bit of progress on several projects. The last week has seen things moving on a lot faster, showing that if someone else is doing the work they will get it done faster than me. Fellow Club member Blair Ramsay has produced the CAD drawings for etching all of the detail bits I need, earning the new name Blair Grilles. The etch for the Lion roof grilles, details, and side window frames has been incorporated into some etched sides for my Class 139, and are at the moment with Grainge & Hodder. The Telford O Gauge Guild shopping list saw me source the fine brass strip for the sides of the loco and a couple of drivers, so all of the required parts are either to hand or in the piupeline. One of the diversions that took me away from modelling was making shelves looking like big Lego bricks for my grandson’s new bedroom, it set my mind thinking that using Lego for mould boxes would make a better job than my usual plastic card or foamboard. A quick visit to the local Wilkinsons saw a raid on the Pick and Mix stand of Lego like clone bricks and the construction of formwork for the bogie side moulds that’s a little more precise than my usual cobbled together efforts, and what’s more it’s re-usable. The rubber moulds have been made and the early indications from the first casts are looking promising, they aren’t 100% accurate but sufficiently different from the class 47’s to do me. So apart from a babysitting engagement while grandson no 2 is born, hopefully some time next week, all is in place to get a final push on this project once the etches arrive, there may not be much to show at present but there shouldn’t be any excuse to complete the loco soon. Peter 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peter220950 Posted October 9, 2016 Author Share Posted October 9, 2016 Well Monday saw grandson No 2 safely delivered so we came home on Tuesday to let the family settle down, and for us to have a wind-down and some much needed sleep. The Lion etches were waiting on the doorstep when we got back, and look to be just the job, the grilles are full etch, not the half etch I had expected, so I might hollow out behind them now you can see right through, the Class 139 is currently getting priority but with the prospect of some more modelling time now I hope to report some further progress soon. I think I now have all the required bits, just need the time to put them together. Peter 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwr Posted October 23, 2016 Share Posted October 23, 2016 They look the bees knees Paul R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CME and Bottlewasher Posted August 26, 2021 Share Posted August 26, 2021 Any more updates on this enthralling project? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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