Modded RTR: P4'ing a Heljan Hymek

[Allegheny1600]

Hi All,

Although I'm principally a H0 scale modeller, I do 'model' British outline too! Even when I lived in France some 30+ years ago, when I modelled British I had to have the correctly scaled track to go with the 4mm models, hence P4.

That French modelling session did not get too far, a rough oval of Ratio(?) track bases, a crudely done Hornby Hymek and a couple of Hornby or Lima wagons was all I got done before attacking a Hornby Western with the aim of giving it (in 1980) the sort of chassis we all expect today, only it went horribly wrong and put me off rather.

Fast forward to today and I've gotten some courage back and am tackling P4 again!

I've done 'drop in' conversions of most of the currently available Western Region diesel hydraulics with the honourable exception of the Dapol class 22 but I wanted to see just how far I could go with an 'upgrade' of the already fine Heljan Hymek and had already made a very small start on this when this challenge was announced, so I had to join in!

So far my materials list is;

Heljan Hymek in Green.

Penbits sprung bogie kit.

A set of suitable Gibson wheels.

Extreme Etchings glazing kit.

Modelmaster etched numbers.

 

Does anyone know if there is anything else I might need? TIA!

 

That's the introduction done,

Cheers for now,

John E.

[Horsetan]

You could try and re-engineer it using a Maxon coreless motor in place of the Bühler.....

[Allegheny1600]

Thanks Horse!

I'll give that due consideration. I know the running would be simply awesome IF I were to fit such a motor, it's worth thinking about at this stage.

One thing I did forget to add to my 'shopping list' and still need to obtain;

Sound decoder and decent speaker!

 

Anyway, progress so far;

 

My first job was to open out or ensure all holes were clear for the size wire that will go through. There is quite a lot but they were soon done.

 

Next I had to chop out, clean up and solder these items, which are the pivot frames.

 

They are quite small really but thanks to my recent soldering course tuition at the MMRS and some extra help over time from my dear colleagues there, I actually felt quite confident in tackling this job.

 

Until next time,

Cheers,

John E.

[Horsetan]

Thanks Horse!

I'll give that due consideration. I know the running would be simply awesome IF I were to fit such a motor, it's worth thinking about at this stage.

....

 

You can find suitable ones for sale on eBay from "microlocomotion" - he's based in Texas, and has coreless motors (Escap, Maxon, Faulhaber) coming out of his ears! Ask him for the double-shaft ones - he might even be able to fit flywheels for you.

 

The Heljan Hymek has space to take anything up to a Maxon 2231.