plasticbasher

Thank you all very much for the suggestions.

I've only quickly skimmed them, but will look properly before attempt No. 2 next weekend:

• Yes, I did level the build plate (all films were removed including the one on the LCD screen).  Will read the instructions again.
• My resin shaking was probably nothing like enough and I certainly didn't then wait for the bubbles to dissipate.
• I have just bought a 5 litre container of IPA so I can clean things more effectively (I probably only had 150 -200ml to use last night).  Thanks for the filtering advice!
• Temperature definitely wasn't something I'd paid much attention to (windows were open because of the resin smell and it wasn't exactly warm and dry yesterday.
• The print was a demo, so I would have hoped the supports were good enough....I will have a good look though.  Mine also came with Chitubox and I'll check the support settings there.

I would also like to find a source of the pre-cut FEP sheets as the one on my resin contain has a thumb nail scratch (guilty) and took a bit of a hammering in my amateur clean-up efforts.

Yes, I recognise this is a bit of a learning process; the need for absolute cleanliness has been my first lesson..!

Cheers,

plasticbasher

Hi All,

I have just got a Geeetech Alkaid 3D printer (the $99 / £99 3D resin printer of YouTube fame).  I am using Geeetech 405nm UV resin.

My first print was a failure and I cannot work out why.

It was one of the pre-loaded "demo models" - a fantasy snake's body with a dragon's head, curled up a bit like a pretzel.  In general I was pretty impressed with the print, but there are two whopping great flaws and one smaller, but obvious flaw:

• A significant section of body / neck behind the head came out flat and thin, like only one surface printed.  Probably about twice the heads length.
• The last 10-15mm of tail didn't print at all.
• A section of the head by one of the eyes looks recessed (it's all there, but it's like someone cut it out and glued it back in 1 mm lower than the surrounding surface).

I also have a Geeetech washer & UV hardener and the upper surface of the print was perfectly hard after 20 mins; I flipped the print over and despite having a further 25 mins under UV lights, it is still tacky to the touch.

I suspect that I did not shake the resin anywhere near thoroughly enough.  Does anyone think anything else might be going wrong?

Cheers,

plasticbasher

Thanks Pebbles.

Done the above:

• No visible breaks in the wire.
• All solder connections to the commutator look sound under my naked eye (armature is as clean as I can get it).
• No short circuits (testing between each pole and the motor frame).
• Testing resistance between adjacent poles gives 5 ohm on one and 7 ohm on the other four; so I reckon there's my issue.
• I did contact Scalespeed, but they weren't interested in doing the rewinds on MRRC 5 pole armatures.

Looking carefully at mine , the wire is not simply wound around each pole one at a time (like a three-pole X-03 / X04), but seems to be done in two "phases" around the adjacent pole on one direction and then around the adjacent pole in the other direction.  Seemingly quite a bit more complex, so I guess requires a special jig or takes more time than they can justify for a viable price.

I have been searching the internet as it seems perfectly viable to do myself by hand if I "acquire some knowledge".  Certainly it appears the slot car community did it all the time in the 1960's & 70's and adjusting the wire thickness and number of turns was a big part of tuning the cars.  So using the same principles, but in reverse (ie. aiming for more winds using thinner wire) will help "tune" a motor for model railway use (more torque and lower revs).

Sadly most of the seemingly good DIY armature rewinding videos covering 5 pole rewinds on YouTube are from guys in India in their local Indian language and I am probably only grasping 10% each videos content at best. There is one I watched on armature winding principles late last night by an Indian electronics professor (in English language) and he made me wish I paid much, much more attention in school..!

This may take a while before I feel ready, but I will win this one..!

plasticbasher

Hi All,

I have acquired an MRRC / Airfix 1001 motor (ie. a clone of the X03 / X04 units, but 5 pole) that is in excellent condition, other than it frequently refuses to start with the armature in a certain position.

This suggests the armature windings have damage on at least one pole.

I am looking for recommendations of a company that can rewind the armature.

Cheers,

plasticbasher

I believe it is the 1970's Airfix / GMR (then later Dapol) model, so at a guess is it probably a fundamentally pretty accurate model of a specific prototype.

I bought two recently (one Hornby and the other Airfix).   Other than paint finish and the Hornby one coming with modern metal wheelsets, they were identical.

• I hadn't realised how much shorter they are than the Mainline / Bachman Macaw H - which is, comparatively speaking, a giant.
• Replacing the big couplings with the Dapol style push fit ones works, but they protrude way beyond the bufferbeams (therefore I postulate Kadees must offer scope for a massive improvement).

On 24/07/2023 at 10:42, Poor Old Bruce said:

There was a thread on here a (long?) while ago if you can find it. The first thing to do is find some of the yellow track cleaning coaches at swapmeets - you don't need the track cleaning gubbins - and swap the chassis as the track cleaner has scale height buffers (then flog off the unwanted bits at another swapmeet). The roof can also be lowered by taking off about 1mm at cantrail level (there's a ridge there to guide your craft knife), cut down the ends to a lower profile (I used an old 'Smash' mashed pototo tin for a guide and also to form a new plastic card roof. Add roof detail to taste. That gives the coach a whole new look. Block off some of the windows to make a brake compartment.

I am pretty sure the same "scale-height" chassis is also used in the very first releases of the 4 wheel coaches in the late 70's and the "improved" LNER / BR 20t brake vans from the 1980's and 90's.

The quick way to tell the good ones from the "bad" ones is the couplings:

• The over-tall chassis fitted to most of the coaches has moulded on tension lock couplings and a deeeeep solid buffer beam reaching down to the couplings.
• The scale height track cleaning coach (and brake van?) chassis has separately fitted (rivetted or screwed) couplings and a coupling hook moulded on the buffer beam.

Next is the stable building and the first floor section above the passageway.

And the roof:

• I used a total of three roof mouldings.
• The idea is to cut both end panels off one moulding (which will be used in the centre) and one end off the other two (careful to leave ridge tiles on one side of the joints and not the other).
• Then a bit of right angle section (cut short enough to fit inside the building's walls was used to brace the joins (see the third photo below). 

Thanks for the comments and feedback.

The Airfix Waterloo farmhouse: obviously a bit collectable now!  So a bit beyond my self-imposed cost limit.  However I bought a job lot of broken, partially assembled and incomplete buildings on eBay last week for about £15 all in.  At first glance you might tell me I was robbed, but I'm quite happy with it; there is 80% of an part-built Airfix / Dapol engine shed in there, the key components of several buildings which I think are fairly sizeable Continental (ie. Faller, Pola etc) N Gauge warehouse buildings, loads of railings from Hornby elevated track sections, some plastistrip and plastic-rod sections.  On topic, there is what I suspect is some kind of wooden building from something like a Wild West play-set.  The building may have been more toy than model and probably something like 1-50th scale, but the wood effect planked walls are nicely done and already finding a new life as a random shed and lean to outside toilet (see photo's).  I will try and use them to come up with something similar in general outline to the Airfix Farmhouse stables...so @BernardTPM: thanks for the "lead"..! 

@TangoOscarMike: I'm getting there! 

• Diagonal bracing...hmm...I shall Google some Tudor building pictures...
• Yes...erm...width and height...erm...short answer is no!!!!  Without greater modification, the base buildings are simply too small for such ostentatious luxuries..!  I am starting with the roof, where I will use dimensions for the  middle section of the first floor to fill the gap I create between the two halves.     I've decided this is more of your fictional  "budget" Country Inn, where the horses got stabled, but the Stagecoaches had to be left out the front.  So the passageway is definitely too small for a wagon but I believe large enough to lead a (1:76 scale) horse through comfortably.
• Symmetry - having mocked up again tonight for the photo's, I fear your right.  But I've already cut, trimmed and glued the roof together and am loathe to try again.  I'll see what I can do with the remnants of the third kit I bought for it's roof...

To start - here are the little buildings made from the walls of what I assume was a toy structure of some kind.  One is a nondescript shed and the other is a lean-to outside toilet.  I plan to use the rest of the "wooden" wall pieces to create a wooden stable block.  Back wall of the shed and the doors are offcuts of plain plasticard engraved with planks using a (Tamiya branded) Olfa scribing knife.  My first use...what a great tool..!

Won't be much more progress for a little while, as I have run out of plastic solvent!

Current plan is:

• A third roof is coming in the post (actually, it's an entire kit).
• When that and the solvent arrives, I will start working on the "arch", middle section of the first floor and joining the three roof sections into one unit.
• I need to cut holes in both first floors for the staircases.
• I will make a base with an accurately cut floor glued to it for each structure to slip over.  A bar, rudimentary tables and a stair case will attach to the floor.  The floor should stop the inward bowing of the ground floor walls.
• I want to do a porch of some kind around one of the front doors and maybe a lean-to structure somewhere else to break up the uniformity of the building (what were toilets typically like on 200+ year old pubs in the 1930's?).
• Also I guess I should make up some old stables, as it is a country inn somewhere rural and bucolic - again what might they have looked like by the 1930's?
• Then I will spray the lot with Halfords black primer (to prevent light bleed, just in case I ever fit interior lighting in the future before adding any further details and finishing it.

Finally views of the interior ground floor walls:

Interior view of both structures (notice the crude outlines of doors...simply rectangles of very thin plasticard, but that is all you will need once the windows are in place):

And this will become the right-hand building (note the single medium size window on the first floor, again at what will become the outer end).  Was thinking the ground floor could be a carvery / restaurant rather than a bar.

This will become the left-hand half of the new larger building (note the single small window at the "outer" end).  The bar will be in the rear lefthand corner of the building as you look at it, hence all windows in that corner have been filled in:

A bit more progress today.  Completed filling in all the windows that I wanted to "delete":

1. Remove window ledge.

2. Cut piece of 1mm thick plasticard to fit aperture.

3. Glue in place (with solvent) slightly recessed to match adjacent wall sections.

4. Make up timber framing to match rest of building (0.25mm x 1.5mm plastic strip).

Where I have replaced windows, to prevent the replacement sections of "wall" falling out I have reinforced somewhat excessively by adding inner walls from more 1mm thick plasticard.  This is mostly at the ends.

I have also made first floor interior walls in the second structure (a mirror image of what I did in the first structure above).

Finally for today, here is a mock-up of what I intend the complete building to look like, but with a continuous first floor and a walkway for horses on the ground floor.  I feel the need to add a "porch" to one side as it is too symmetrical for my imagining of an old fashioned building.

To reduce the excessive number of first floor windows I am blocking in all end wall windows, except one (which is halved in size):

1. Snip or slice the window-ledge flush with the wall.

2. Slice the window-ledge down so it matches the external framing.

3. Cut a small rectangle of 1mm plasticard to fit the opening.

4. Glue in slightly recessed, so it would be flush with the wall rather than the external framing.

5. Add strips of very thin plastic strip to replicate any additional external framing required.

6. Consider adding an internal wall (for strength) if you have filled in a lot of windows...you can make that out on the left in the photo in the previous post).

At one end the first-floor end window will not be visible, so I just filled the opening with plasticard (ie. I didn't bother removing the window-ledge); I did do the ground floor window "properly" though...

I'm not happy with the quality of some of these photos...apologies!

Next add some (believable) first floor rooms.  I settled on rooms dictated by the size of the windows at the rear of the building, with one of the end rooms made smaller to allow for a staircase (hole not cut yet) from the ground floor.  There is a corridor running across the front of the first floor and outlines of doors to each room will be added in due course.

I've acquired a couple of Dapol Country Inns and am determined to do something with them.

I have decided they will become a (..erm...) country inn; this is freestyle and inspired by seeing a thread on the "Airfix Tribute Forum" (the thread "Airfix 2015 Railway Group Build; MrT's Country Inn").  I have no particular prototype I am modelling, although I do recall once visiting a much larger old inn with the same fundamental layout as I am trying to achieve, albeit on a less impressive scale.

The Dapol (formerly Airfix) kit is quite attractive and picture postcard "cutesy", but has a few issues in my mind:

• It is very small for an inn, being perhaps the size of a modern 1970's three bed semi-detached house.
• The kit is literally a shell (external walls, roof, chimneys and doors); with no internal detail whatsoever.
• There are windows everywhere, which seems pretty unrealistic for a older building and makes a usable floor plan difficult

The plan is to make both kits more or less as designed, but with the following changes:

• Add very perfunctory floors and and walls to represent bedrooms upstairs and maybe a bar and basic kitchen downstairs.
• Fuse two kits into a single building with a "archway" between the two halves for (in my mind) an original purpose of walking tired stagecoach horses through to stables at the back.
• Blank off some windows, especially at the ends and downstairs, to make my floorplan believable.

Step one - make both basic shells as designed (no roof yet), but with a first floor:

• Run a strip of 1mm x 1mm plastic strip horizontally 30mm up each wall on the inside (ie. immediately above each window recess) to support the floor and keep it level as the glue sets
• Cut a rectangle of 1mm thick plasticard measuring 111mm x 60.5mm and cut notches at the corners for the "internal buttressing" of the kit's walls.
• Assemble everything.

You should end up with two structures looking like this:

Now sorted - thanks

If you haven't already sorted something out with @MartinWales, I have a Hornby R8250 controller.

That's the basic train-set controller they provided until very recently, with the interlock on the direction switch so you can only change direction when the power is reduced to zero (the only clever / redeeming feature of this horrible piece of built-to-a-price equipment).

It's got the matching Hornby "wall wart" P9200 transformer and works fine (I've repaired the wires that supply the track, so it has been pulled apart by me).  However I cannot stress enough that it's thoroughly cheap and nasty...hence free except for the price of postage - I really do have that low an opinion of it....

Unless you are really cost constrained, should Martin have something better quality I'd personally go for his offer, but my offer is there!  A Bachmann set controller or a previous generation Hornby one would both be much better IMO.

Cheers,

plasticbasher

6 hours ago, RedgateModels said:

Just checked my stocks, no joy I’m afraid ☹️

Thank you very much for checking!

And thanks 33C and John - putting something together does seem the best option at the moment 

Your Saint build is really inspirational @Corbs

An alternative (more traditional) approach I've had bookmarked since I first found it a few years ago is this one:  https://www.rmweb.co.uk/topic/39982-improving-the-Hornby-saint/#comment-427675

In fact I started replicating @TheCuckoo's work on my Saint, but using a complete Bachman Mogul tender.  Additionally I also filled in the gap under the boiler with a section of boiler stolen from a scrap Triang Hall body, which is my only "enhancement", but found my attempt at the footplate modification he described had set at a slightly jaunty angle - that caused me to pack my efforts away in disgust and forget about it..!

I might dig it out again and rethink based on your work.

As an aside, having worked on mine, and compared to the scrap Triang Hall body I had at the time, I believe that (although both the Saint loco body and chassis block are fundamentally the same as a Triang Hall), the Saint body was subtly rejigged to sit at the right height on the Saint chassis, despite larger driving wheels.  It's a shame they went that far (seemingly without fanfare), but didn't address a few other failings to drag the model from being a "sort of" Saint-a-like into something a bit closer to scale.

On 10/12/2015 at 17:26, railroadbill said:

... newer ones have a higher torque lower revving motor that makes them more controllable.  This one runs very well indeed, slow running nearly as good as a Bachmann 08 or the Hornby austerity tank when I tried it out. A pleasant surprise.

 

My question is, when was the new spec chassis introduced, and is there an easy way of telling from model number or appearance if buying a second hand one?

Further contributing to the thread resurrection 😀 I've had a couple of newer ones and can confirm there is a significant improvement in running qualities over one from the 1980's to 2000's.

Even more so if you stuff any hidden cavities in the chassis with some lead scraps...I just weighed my Caledonian Pug and I've got it up to 168 grams in total.  It rolls along really nicely.

As for identifying a new one by appearance: finer blackened wheels is one clue, but I don't know how reliable that is as an indicator.

I recall reading somewhere (this forum probably) the motors are exactly the same as the older ones - it's the little array of capacitors (or resistors) fitted into the wiring on top of the motor that effects the improvement in performance.

If my statement is correct (is someone more knowledgeable able to confirm?) then it would be possible to "tame" any of the loco's with the generic plastic 0-4-0 chassis by fitting the electronic components in the same way Hornby have to the current ones.

Cheers,

plasticbasher

I acquired a Triang M7 chassis in a job lot of bits; it had clearly spent a few decades lurking on a shelf in a dusty and damp garage or loft.

Having got the X03 motor running again (really surprisingly sweetly) I am now faced with the problem of the chassis collector plate (part ref X.627).  These look very similar to the same item on a Triang L1 or 2P (part ref X.444). 

The screws on the old one were over-tightened and the plastic has cracked, warped and crumbled under the pressure.

The shape of these collector plates is a bit more complicated than many equivalent parts on other Triang loco's as they contain indents for routing wiring and swinging bogie / trailing truck arms, so although I could make one out of a couple of pieces of plasticard laminated together, I'd be interested in buying one if possible.

From some quite extensive googling they appear to be as rare as the proverbial rocking horse effluent.  I've found a number of posts like this one dating back 15 years on various forums wondering about replacements.

Is anyone aware of a source of supply (ie. a 3D printed replacement)?

Cheers,

plasticbasher