-missy-

Andy. In the case of my wheels, the rims are manufactured for the 2mm scale association. They are CNC turned and purchased in large batches therefore substantially reducing the part cost. Being available to members they are extremely useful for home brew wheels like my own. M.

Richard. Have you considered chopping up some digital callipers to make something DRO like? I have seen it done. Callipers can be picked up for not much, i have a plastic pair which cost me less than £5. J.

Hi Gareth. Its a freelance sort of thing. It started out as a whitemetal kit of a German prototype but I chopped it around a bit. The original 'home-brew' chassis was 6.5mm gauge so I needed something to work on 4mm gauge track.

I like them David. What software are you using? I use Inventor and spent some time recently getting the profile of the spokes correct with all the tapers etc, it wasn't the easiest thing I have done! Julia.

Thanks Don. They will be soldered in place. J.

Hi. This is now the point of no return. Once the cranks are on I can no longer take the chassis apart due to the design (mainly me taking a slightly easier route on the design). Happy with the results so far though. J.

Its just like being at work. A bit of gearbox design. For me 3D CAD just makes it so easy. You can see exactly where everything fits (and doesn't). The trouble is you just don't get any sense of scale. J.

I'm playing around with this. Don't know if it will work out or not. J.

Hello. I have played around with the design of gearboxes using bevel gears. The biggest problem I had was trying to achieve a decent reduction in the gear ratio, it's where a worm and wheel have a distinct advantage. Of course with a worm and wheel the ratio is much better but you cannot back drive through them as you can with bevel gears. M.

Hi Justin. How about using some threaded rod with a washer and nut instead? It normally comes in 12" lengths. J.

Home-brew 5mm diameter, 4mm gauge plain wheels (with the beginnings of some extended axles). These took a couple of attempts to make. J.

There isn't such a thing as a stupid question Nick. In the case of this engine, all the driving wheels are resin 3d printed. I have used the original farish pickups. J.

Wot Don says Nick....

Hi William. As Jim said, the resin 3DP wheel was taken to my friendly Investment casting company who used it as a master to cast in Brass. Not a difficult or costly process to do. I added extra material to specific areas of the wheel so I could then machine them to size afterwards. I cannot see any reason why this could not be used in any scale really, I do know that the principle has been used for 5 inch gauge live steam stuff, and even 1:1 full size prototypes (I know because I have done it). J.

Hi Don I used the same technique for my City driving wheels but took it one step further and used the 3d prints as masters for Brass casting. I have used both techniques successfully to date. J.

Yes. 3d printed driving wheels, modified original tender wheels.

2mm Finescale SECR C Class engine.

Thanks for the reply Ben. Trust me, I am VERY aware of the limitations (and advantages) of laser scanning! I have always worked to the idea of its better to get as much information as possible on a subject, hence the thanks for the NRM drawings. Below is my attempt at the engine, the majority is based upon the laser scanning.

Hi Ben Thank you for the tip-off about the works drawings, I'm going to chase that up. I'm interested in the comment about the laser scanning, especially the comment about it being of limited use. What are the reasons behind that? I scanned the engine a while ago and comparing it to available drawings there didn't seem to be that many discrepancies with the limited available dimensions i had, (ignoring the more recent modifications of course). The scanning did highlight quite obviously that the engine was hand built though, it will be interesting to compare the 'as built' against the original works drawings for sure, I bet there will actually be quite a few discrepancies! J.

Yes it is. Its a 3D model generated from a laser scan. M.

Absolutely top modelling Nick. You are an engine building genius.

If we all still had the attitude of you two we would all still be making things by filling lumps of Brass. Shameful attitude towards people who make an effort to try and help others and improve the hobby in my opinion.