TurboSnail

Since I'm pretty unsure about the layout of this project, I'm planning to make a mockup of it in CAD to get a good idea of how it will look before I commit to buying parts - it's also much easier to make scale dimension changes than drawing it out by hand. Initial ideas came and went, I'm now thinking of something like this: We have the narrow gauge line coming into the building at the back, which drops coal into the bays below. The engine will stand on the platform on the right, with only the flywheel modelled at present. Since I'll only be making about half an engine, I'm thinking about strategic use of a mirror to disguise the join with the left hand wall...

My entry for the cakebox challenge will be based on the interior of a large water pumping station, inspired by that of the Kempton Park preserved static engines (see here: http://www.kemptonsteam.org/) and some even larger American ones - I haven't looked at many of the other entries yet, so hopefully no-one's got to this idea before me! I did a placement year for the Thames Water research department so was a frequent visitor to the nearby site and surrounding area, hence the name Asheton Row, cobbled together from various local place names, with a 'e' added so that the lawyers of the same name don't come after me! I want to use this challenge as an opportunity to try out some new stuff, including: 3D printing, using textured plasticard, and a foray into 009. If all goes well, I have (distant) future plans for an entire layout based around a water treatment site, so it could be integrated into that some day. If it's anything like my normal projects, progress will be very slow, but I've managed to make a start on some of the CAD work, namely the flywheel for the steam engine - and yes, I am planning the engine to be a scale 10+ metres tall! The cakebox will be on it's side, looking into the 8x6 end, which will hopefully give quite a different perspective. Finding a large OO scale flywheel is not the easiest thing, the old Airfix kit was my immediate thought, but that is now fetching over £20 on eBay, which is a bit steep considering I only need one part of it. Traction engine flywheels were also considered, but would require machining that I have no access to, which is why I'm turning to 3D printing. I drew up this one on CAD - 75mm diameter, or in scale, about 5.7 metres. Only part of the engine will be modelled, to do the complete engine would require significantly more cake.

Yes, brass I think, but it's a bit expensive for me and I have no prior experience with brass. It also has the correct wheelbase, which doesn't match up with the Wrenn body. So I'd rather be wrong, but at least consistently wrong if that makes sense.

The other day, I got some Duck fresh discs through the post. Slightly bemused, as I had not ordered anything like that, I had a closer look and it turned out to be the Wrenn R1 bodies I bought off eBay. Some guy seems to be selling old factory surplus, so I picked up a couple of bodies to have a go at detailing them, and it doesn't matter if they get too damaged. Assuming I get at least one of them into a reasonably good state, I'll need a chassis. The old Wrenn ones are very difficult to come by without a body attached and would need a lot of work anyway, so that's not an option. Maybe I could use a cheap RTR chassis, but none seem to have the same wheelbase as the R1, so I'd have to live with the inconsistency. The most promising option at the moment is to buy a wheelset and rods of the correct diameter, modify the rods and fit them to a 3D printed chassis, unless I can find an old Wrenn chassis block without wheels and motor. The CAD is easy and I can get dimensions from another complete R1 I have (which has sentimental value, hence why I'm not cutting that one up), and I may even be able to include motor mounts and other fancy things. It will probably be slow progress as I have hardly any modelling time at the moment, but if all goes well I might end up with a detailed, slow running R1 for probably under £30 outlay.

Since I've done no modelling this week, I thought I'd share one of my practice videos (I'm trying to learn video editing at the moment). This one is basically just a slideshow of some shots from the Flying Scotsman's visit to the Bluebell in April '17.

Finding time to work on the truck is very difficult at the moment, but I've managed to do some testing of the chassis - see video:

Taking a layout to university with you is not practical, even if it's only a shunting plank. So I'll have to think of other modelling projects to get on with until Christmas. Maybe I can get one or two of the many side projects done... I have a tiny room here, so guess I'm fortunate that most of it is taken up by desk space, which was clearly intended to be used for modelling. I've set up my portable workbench on it, consisting of the cutting mat to make a work area, and projects and tools in the wedge shaped box. I've already outgrown the box's size with R/C gear. Still, good enough for a good relaxing study break!

The RC kit is basically the cheapest handset-progammable controller I could find (FLYSKY/Turnigy i6) with the equivalent receiver (FSiA6, with the housing removed to make it smaller). The controller is actually pretty capable, with editable throttle maps (which really helps to tame the non-linear nature of the servos) etc., but it is pretty low build quality. The battery is a 2s with a voltage regulator inline to make 5v. The other downsides of the servo drive is they have a limited top speed (scale ~30mph) and are quite loud at full speed. But they are slower and cheaper than worm drive gearboxes, and don't require an ESC.

Now the university term has started, my modelling time is severely restricted, but I have managed to make a start on the lighting system. This is the r/c switch that I can connect to a normal channel and use as a 5v on/off circuit. The adapter will be cut up and attached to the flashing blue LEDs so that the whole system should be unpluggable (better word for that?). I'm also going to reduce the length of the wires on the switch so it has a better chance of fitting in the van - I'm not overly optimistic that it will, even with the reduced wiring. Temporarily wiring the system together with the two LEDs in parallel with a 100ohm resistor in series with the battery (if that makes sense), it actually looks pretty good.

Good call, I hadn't noticed but Golden Arrow do a resin body for that as well. Doesn't make choosing an option any easier though... Mine runs fine, it does reasonable low speed too but needs running in to make everything a bit smoother.

I recently bought a Hornby Railroad 0-6-0 in SDJR colours because it was cheap. I really need to come up with better reasons for buying things... Anyway, as I don't model the SDJR, my intention is to use the relatively modern, well-running chassis to underpin something a bit different. Initial thoughts were to replace the chassis of an old Wrenn R1 so it looks less terrible, but the wheel positioning is wrong for the R1 so I'm not sure I'd be happy with that for long. Mind you, there is enough wrong with the Wrenn body that you might not notice... An alternative idea is that the chassis seems to be the same one that is in the Railroad Class 08, so it might be possible to put a Golden Arrow Maunsell diesel shunter body on it, and I've wanted to do one of those for a while. The issue here is that a) it's expensive for me and b) the body is intended for a more modern chassis, so some modifying would have to take place and I might end up with the motor showing in the cab. Another option is the unique SR S class tank, but that's more expensive, but being whitemetal, probably more detailed. Maybe there's something obvious I haven't thought of? Any SECR/SR based suggestions welcome...

The front servo was test located first to try and find the best compromise between the actuator being central and the servo not being too close to one side. The steering axle then got the guide wire glued on - the 90 degree bend is there to make a bigger glueing surface and therefore more strength (hopefully). I would prefer to have a mechanical connection instead but drilling through the plastic would make it very weak. Doing it this way means that if, for some reason, the servo overextends or the axle jams, the glue breaks off rather than damaging the axle. In theory anyway, I've yet to find out if this actually works... The servo horn was modified by cutting a slit down the middle so that the guide wire could slide up and down (for the axle articulation) but not move side to side, which would allow play in the steering. I managed to screw this up, so I made the slot oversize and then added a piece of microstrip to get it back to the correct width. Finally, glueing the servo in place was done in much the same way as the drive servo, by holding it in place and turning it left and right until I found a sweet spot with no binding.

Javis in my case - very cheap! Which was the main factor for getting it... And actually is not bad once toned down, I just needed to find a better colour match as you say. I'll keep the woodland scenics one in mind, as I'm planning to create a couple of small dioramas in deep photo frames (so you get a space of about 100x100x20 mm) to try out a few different techniques so it is worth another try.

Does anyone still use scatter? At least for representing grass, as I still use it for mud areas and am happy with the results, but I recently added a pub garden to my layout using scatter and I'm not all that convinced by the results. I started with 3 colours mixed together and made a test piece, but it's still pretty vibrant: Toning it down with a wash of light grey helped a bit: Once laid using PVA, it sticks pretty well so that's good at least. It was then given another wash of light grey, shown here partway through application. Once dry, it looks like this: Not exactly a perfect match for the grass next to it... I'm actually not too bothered by this, as the layout is meant to be a learning platform for me - if I was trying to make something for exhibition or a club layout, it would get redone. I still may revisit it some time down the line, but for now, I want to get the rest of the scenery done so I have an overall picture rather than worry about each little bit. But going back to the original thought, does scatter really cut it as grass any more? The rest of the grass on my layout is hanging basket liner, which while not perfect, stands up a lot better (metaphorically and literally). Scatter doesn't even have the excuse of being the cheap option any more, since static grass is not that much more expensive unless you're modelling vast expanses of it. I think I'll have to upgrade my methods for the next layout, although fortunately for my wallet that looks like being a long way off.

The chassis got a coat of black, followed by matt varnish to hopefully stop the moving parts wearing through the paint. The competed subframe got the same treatment before being superglued on. The corners of the subframe were trimmed so they didn't show behind the wheels. Next job, lining up and fixing the drive servo. The microstrip you can see on the chassis is there to angle the servo up at one end, so the axis of the servo and the gear are aligned so it should run smoothly. Lining up was done by running the servo and holding it contact with the gear, and slowly moving it around until it meshed properly with no tight spots. Then glue whilst holding steady. Looking at the chassis from the side shows the approx. 2mm ground clearance - not much, but enough to be usable, or about 150mm in scale. Slow progress at the moment due to moving back to university and sorting out stuff (still haven't got internet yet, so I'm writing this from the Uni library, and getting some weird looks in the process).

Onto the rear subframe - possibly too grand a term for it? The axle is made from a section of 2mm steel rod with the ends ground down to 1mm to fit the wheels. I did this with a dremel cutting disk, whilst turning the axle in a drill, thus achieving something both dangerous and stupid - I don't recommend it, and as you can see, it's far from perfect. Testing the axle for width then gave me measurements to use to build the subframe out of folded 0.8mm aluminium sheet. Folded up, it looks like this. The kink in the top was to try and reduce the width slightly as it rubbed on the tyres - eventually I gave up on it and did what I should have done in the first place and made another one with the correct dimensions. I also took the chance to move the axle holes up slightly to reduce the ride height to the correct level. The new one looks like this, shown here getting one of the holes adjusted to the right height by overdrilling and packing the edge with microstrip. It's a bit bodged, but I can't drill and fold very precisely with the limited tools available to me. Finally, the wheels and gears are permanently attached with superglue. The axle is held in a drill and slowly turned while glueing to make sure the wheel is on absolutely straight.

I'm hoping modern ink and keeping the layout under cover when not used will avoid this issue... although another benefit of the Scalescenes stuff is that you can just print off a new cover layer.

Is making retaining walls the most boring job in modelling? It's taken me about 2 years in total to complete the 1.5m length on my layout as I keep finding more interesting things to do. It's got to the point now though where they have to be done so I can move on, which means making and fitting the wall and buttress cappings. I shouldn't complain, since I have a small layout and the Scalescenes walls are pretty easy to build. They look pretty good too, for card kits anyway, and they're definitely economical for doing long lengths. But I do get a bit bored with cut, stick, fold, cut, stick etc. - thank goodness I'm not working in plasticard and having to paint the whole thing too...

With the front axle built, it should be fairly simple to mount it on the chassis - I put two layers of 0.5mm plastic on first to raise the ride height to roughly the right height. Another nice thing about this particular steering axle is that it has two posts on the top that can be used to positively locate the axle rather than just guess. The chassis needs marking up with the centreline of the axle and the 2mm holes, which are 4mm apart. Test fitting the axle shows that the corners of the mounting plastic bit restrict the turning circle, so should be cut down. What you can't see in this photo is that the existing wheel arches in the chassis limit the articulation. Once more with the Dremel to grind away some of the chassis around the wheelarches to allow freer vertical movement. The plasticard was cut down with a knife. I've left off permanently fitting the axle for now until the chassis gets a coat of paint. You can also see the test rear subframe in this shot, more on that another time...

An package arrived in the post yesterday from Poland... KKPMO is as far as I can work out one of the few places that sell a steering kit similar to the Faller car system one but without the magnet so you can steer it with a servo. They also do custom widths, so I went for 19mm between the wheels as that seems to suit the Bedford van. I also got a set of wheels and tyres for the front and rear axles, total cost about £10-15 depending on the ever-changing exchange rate. A quick coat of paint and a comparison to show the difference between the originals and the new wheels. Assembling the steering kit is pretty easy, it's only 5 parts plus a few pins to hold the wheels and axle on. This gives you a free-wheeling, steering axle with side to side articulation, so despite my reluctance to spend more that the van cost on some wheels, it is worth it for such a crucial part of the build. I've also attacked the steering arm with a file to decrease the turning circle as one of the issues with the last truck was the large turning circle, bigger than any of the road corners on my layout! Which raises questions about whether we put as much thought into making the road layout on our models as realistic as we do the track layout.

Not been making as much progress as I'd like to be recently, but I have managed to get the driver in... The back section of the interior is not needed, so was cut off to allow extra space for the control electronics. I had a dig around in my spares box to find a suitable figure, and after some surgery, he fits in the cab quite nicely. The cab 'glass' got a coat of paint at the back to disguise the now absent interior and the cab assembly is now ready to go in once the body has been matt varnished.

I'm thinking of something more regionally ambiguous, as I mostly model SR, but I like the side skirts idea to cover up some of the Hornby chassis' inaccuracies. I've just checked on the Silver Fox website but they seem to have stopped doing their dock shunter kit, which is a shame as it would have had that feature.

I'm reliably informed that the Hornby generic 0-4-0 chassis has the nickname of 'Pocket Rocket'. If you look around on the interweb, lots of people have had a go at making it better, by regearing it, adding weight, or just building a new chassis altogether. I picked up a cheap one (brand new for £10) from a department store somewhere and then had to think of something to do with it (what do you mean, "impulse buy"?) so I decided to try making the pocket rocket into an ultra slow-speed shunter. On a budget, of course... A quick look on ebay/amazon/slightly-dodgy-chinese-website came up with this motor (£1.20ea) and a pack of 50 different sorts of gear (£2), so I picked a few gears that end up with an approximately 90:1 ratio. The brass worm does not mesh with the gears, hence why the plastic one is fitted, although it has the wrong shaft diameter so is held on with filler... will be replaced with thin wall tube when I can get hold of some. The dual shaft motor means I will also be able to fit a flywheel, although I will probably try to pick one up at an exhibition rather than order online, as only Roxey seem to do them with a reasonable lead time and they are expensive for what they are. The gearbox is made from some aluminium sheet I had lying around, no bearings but it spins pretty freely. The drive gear had to be drilled out to fit the original Hornby axle. Slow speed control is pretty good, much better than it was, and better than I'd expect from £13 worth of loco, even without the flywheel being fitted yet. The only video of it I have running is a test I did of some video editing software that I just took as I needed something to edit, so it's not great - the track was very dirty and the plastic chassis is so underweight I had to load it with some random items to make it run at all. Which reminds me, I need to get a camera that will do more than 18 frames per second. Next, I need to get hold of and fit a flywheel, and then find/make a body for it as the original steam one won't fit any more, so I might go for a diesel to make things simpler to build and easier to fit. Initial thoughts are kit-bashing a Dapol c60 0-6-0 shunter to shorten it to fit, but not sure yet. Any suggestions welcome... EDIT: I have started on a 3D printed body to go with this chassis, thread here

If there is space inside at the end of the build, I'm thinking of making the blue lights on top flash - it's a fire truck so I probably have to by law... Anyway, in order to be able to make that upgrade, it needs space to mount some LEDs below the beacons to shine through, and I thought it best to make the holes now, before the bodyshell is assembled and varnished. I started drilling 1.5mm holes from the top (the same size as the beacons) and opened them up to 3mm from inside the shell to fit 3mm LEDs. Then (relative) disaster struck as the drill caught and pulled a chunk out of the roof on one side... Lucky this is an experimental model rather than a fully detailed layout one! Time to break out the filler, something I've never had much luck with in the past. Sanded and painted, it seems I've managed to get away with it, although in the only example I've ever seen of a photo flattering a model, the colour match isn't quite as good as it looks on camera. Maybe we should all start using rubbish cameras to photograph our models... I might have to have a go at some light weathering to blend it in a bit.

The servo gear fouls the chassis if it is left flat, so the chassis was marked and drilled before joining up the holes with a file. Unfortunately, this is the moment I realised I was being a massive spanner, as with the gears being larger than I thought, having both servos within the van's wheelbase left me with almost no room to manoeuvre with the steering servo. Much more sensible to put it behind the rear wheels, out of the way. Cue getting the Dremel out again. I also tried using the Dremel cutting disc to cut the new hole for the servo gear - and discovered that they are completely useless. They also have a tendancy to shatter at high RPM, even if you're really careful and only cutting soft plastic, so I ended up doing it the old fashioned way. Finally, the redundant hole gets plugged with plastic sheet, which I'm hoping will be at the right height to mount the rear axle to.