riscosuser

Did a couple of cakeboxes, in 09 got down to 2" radius in testing but opened that out to 2.5" for the cakebox. It has run just shy of 100 hours at various little shows with no issues. This is using the tomytec chassis. Again in testing I found the Kato would just about run arouind 2.5" but seemed OK around 3". In passing in GN15 (i.e.16.5mm gauge) I did just under 3" (73mm) but after 100 hours or so flange wear is becoming noticeable. As to curve gauges I just used home made ones cut from scap sheet metal using a nibbler then "filed" to line using a bench sander. Track gauges were standard "N" ones.

Thought it worth an update. Not had much modeling time this last year. However Madeira Meadows has now run for over 100 hours at various shows. Flange wear has not been insignificant despite graphiting the track. I'm intending building a fresh loco, possibly the steam taxi, just for Madeira. Thoughts include off-set axles and using smaller wheels on the inside. Also worth noting it ran all day at the Bradford 7mmNGA members open day last November. I took it out of the box the following week at "off the rails" realising it had been left switched on. It then ran all day without being recharged! Both Madeira Meadows and Bunny Mine will be at the 7mmNga show at Morecambe this coming Saturday 22nd Feb.

I've had increasing damage recently on shipped items. But I've never seen a "broken" magazine before! (DVD intact!)

Thanks, I wish I'd taken more pictures when I was there, trouble was I don't think they (the family) would have been too impressed if I had spent a day roaming the track & stations. A revisit needed?

I've been trying to find information, primarily stock drawings for the Italian 950mm Circumvesuviana system. Not found anything of use. Does anybody know of any source(s).

Well done, excellent composition, superb modelling.

Yes, only issue as I see it is still only 6" high

One on the day, I'm about 75% of the way through restoring it. Sorry, there is a bit of motion blur. Here it is in a 100% unrestored condition. It will be at the "Off the rails Event" on the 17th November along with both cakeboxes and Abbotts yard.

A little video of both cakeboxes running; On the bunny mine info the Arduino uno board on the left. (I'm going to use the smaller Arduino nano. The 1.5A H-bridge to the right.

I am taking Maderia Meadows & Smokey Mountain / Soggy Bottom for the "Emett" corner at the 7mmNGA Bradford meet this Saturday. Also taking The Bunny Mine cakebox along as well.

Not progressed much this week, However will take this along to the 7mmNGA Bradford meet this Saturday. along with Maderia Meadows & Smokey Mountain / Soggy Bottom for the "Emett" corner.

In a word no, are your servos trying to move past their physical limits?

Your wish (eventually) my command. You can see the start of the repairs to the left-hand side, I ended up cutting it out and replacing with card. The tree to the RHS front was snapped off and the rear one bent, I'm going to remake this one with a wire frame for the base. I'm updating the detail on the little loco, the rear shows up how I "stretched" it. One issue I have is how much it should weigh, My figure weighs in @ 24gms, so to balance it I need another 24gm weight. The brass loco and mechanism weigh in @ 18gms so this would be 66gms (2.3oz in English) Just concerned it might be too much. Does anybody know?

There are certain moments where you want to scream. While having to do so trimming due to the raised cab roof I knocked the cakebox & loco on the floor and damaged both. So a bit of extra work now needed I'm reasonably happy with my manual mode Arduino coding, need to do more work on the automatic aspect. At least I've finished wiring the board and have fitted the servos. As can be seen, I've had to trim the servo bases leaving one microswitch (& despite the rat's nest) it works.

Well, I'm rather pleased to say I've done the basic programming in just a few hours, not bad for a first go!! I hunted around last night for something to make the job easier. found it in Tinkercad, which is free to use. The emulator has let me test the code and the wiring out without damaging any hardware. (I did make a mistake on the enable pin on the L293 although using a module means this would have been taken care of for me) I've designed it with switches for "testing" I'll post my code below if anybody wants to play. I could have made some of the code more concise but I hope I've made it easy to read. code follows; #include <Servo.h> #include <SoftwareSerial.h> // Variables will change // set servo min/maxs if required int posmin1 = 0; int posmax1 = 255; int posmin2 = 0; int posmax2 = 255; int posmin3 = 0; int posmax3 = 255; int button = 0; int speed = 0; int direction = 0; //set pin names // 0 RX // 1 TX // 2 is free Servo servo_3; //4 is free Servo servo_5; Servo servo_6; const int motorDirPin =7; //temp diag const int trackloop =8; // temp dual servo diriction const int motorPin1 = 9; const int motorPin2 = 10; const int motorEnable = 11; const int siding = 12; // on final version //13 internal led void setup() { //setup pins pinMode(A0, INPUT); servo_3.attach(3); servo_5.attach(5); servo_6.attach(6); pinMode(motorDirPin, INPUT); pinMode(trackloop, INPUT); pinMode(9, OUTPUT); pinMode(10, OUTPUT); pinMode(siding, INPUT); pinMode(13, OUTPUT); //Serial.begin(9600); } void loop() { //H-Bridge control speed = analogRead(A0) / 4; direction = digitalRead(motorDirPin); analogWrite(motorEnable, speed); if (direction == HIGH) { digitalWrite(motorPin1, HIGH); digitalWrite(motorPin2, LOW); } else { digitalWrite(motorPin1, LOW); digitalWrite(motorPin2, HIGH); } // read the state of the loop pushbutton value: button = digitalRead(trackloop); if (button == HIGH) { digitalWrite(13, HIGH); servo_3.write(posmax1); servo_5.write(posmax2); } else { digitalWrite(13, LOW); servo_3.write(posmin1); servo_5.write(posmin2); } // read the state of the loop pushbutton value: button = digitalRead(siding); if (button == HIGH) { digitalWrite(13, HIGH); servo_6.write(posmax3); } else { digitalWrite(13, LOW); servo_6.write(posmin3); } // wait 15 ms for servo to reach the position delay(15); // Wait for 15 millisecond(s) }

Time to move onto Phase 2 I've had a little time to think about the control for this cakebox. Basic criteria, 1.Manual/automatic control 2.Control for the point servos 3.Speed control of loco(s) 4.possible additional animation? Was intending using an Arduino, both on price and capabilities, I still feel this will meet the bill. Worth mentioning I have never used one, so this is going to be a learning curve. Requirements; 1x Analogue input for speed control (pot) (seems reasonable to use this for both auto and Manual modes.) 1x Analogue input for setting loop delay (would work with a fixed delay, but a good way of determining what looks best) 3x PWM outputs for the servos 2x PWM outputs to drive an L298N H-bridge Circuit 1x digital input to control siding point servo (only enabled in manual mode) 1x digital input for auto/manual switch 2x inputs for loco detection Going to leave D0 & D1 free so I could possibly add a serial device later. Doesn't leave many free Digital i/o's probably going to use analogue for loco detection. I might as well use an L298 module considering the price despite having a couple of chips already. All I need to do now is build it!

Thought it worth mentioning the bunnies. I used the collection from warbases. I cut off the wargaming bases and smoothed them off with a file before painting. Then they were drilled and spiked. The static grass hiding the base.

I've done some basic tests before covering the track. Next step is to fit the servos. Once I've done that I should be able to show a video of a loco doing a few laps.

In total, I've ordered 3 lots of " 6 inch" all of them turned out to be 5 inch ones & one set of cake boards which they replace with 5 inch ones, So any info on where to get them appreciated. Re Bunnies, there are never enough bunnies (only 5 in this case).

Well, I've just sent in the pictures for the competition. Spent the last few nights on it. The rise in height of the loco cabs has meant that I've had to hack the roof/entrance to the mine. The "layered" approach of the tile construction meant it was relatively easy to modify. I suspect I will still do some more tinkering especially with the ground cover but this is it so far. I've had to use a modded cakebox to give me the six inches in height. The shot taken however does show some of the pre-requisite bunnies.

Ever felt time is drifting away on a project? Just worried my vision is getting old Only a few days left so going to try & spend a bit of time and get it entered.

Given up trying to find a genuine 6" high cake box everyone ordered over the internet was 5". So have now submitted with a picture of it sat inside one of the 5" boxes & additional cereal packet!

I've hit on a minor issue in that the 1:43 figure I've chosen for the locos won't fit (unless I cut his feet or head off). So I've modified the A1 Models brass kit, I've used the opportunity to change it more to my liking by lowering bonnet and raising the cab. All done by adding a strip and some minor butchering. The modified version on the left, original to the right.

Not done a huge amount recently, just a couple of hours a fortnight. I have fitted the base, been messing around with the trees. The intention is to hide the right-hand entrance so it looks more like the loco's are going somewhere. Need to sort out how the ground is going to look.