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Midnight-Freight

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Posts posted by Midnight-Freight

    Flat bogie wagon kits?

    in Kitbuilding & Scratchbuilding

    Posted

    This might be a bit of a non-starter but I'm looking into the idea of building my own bogie ballast wagons like the MMA/MJA/IOA type. I wouldn't mind having a go at building the body myself so can anyone suggest a kit or cheap flat wagon I could use as a base? I'm not too worried about it being super accurate as long as it looks ok.

    Class 66 in OO Gauge - New Announcement

    in Hattons

    Posted

    The 66 market is definitely a bit saturated at the moment but I think it would be a real shame if there wasn't a future run of these. Particularly any new liveries which may appear. My opinion might be slightly skewed as I only have one and it's perfect but they really are a fantastic model and on my end to end shunting layout details like the rotating axle ends really stand out. I wonder, if Hattons have been put off producing any more whether any other manufacturers would be willing/able to acquire the tooling and produce them, with  a few tweaks. It would be a huge shame if the tooling went to waste after all the time and effort that went into the project.

    Class 66 in OO Gauge - New Announcement

    in Hattons

    Posted

    Has anyone had one of these with a dud motor? Mine arrived yesterday and on dc there was no response from the motor but lights came on. With a known to work Hattons DCR-21pin Version 2 decoder fitted my dcc controller won't read any cv's and acts like there's nothing on the track. Functions 0-4 work correctly for the lighting though.

    Hattons 66 and Multimaus problem

    in DCC Help & Questions

    Posted

    1 hour ago, Izzy said:


    As you suspect there needs to be a load in circuit with the decoder for it to get an acknowledgement that the command has been received. Generally the motor ‘chatters’ with each command and the loco can often move along the track in very small steps. With no motor in circuit it assumes nothing there. So a pcb to motor connection problem it would appear. 
     

    Yes makes sense. Obviously I can't change a cv on a decoder in that loco to see if the motor reacts to it. I'll try and check the wiring to the motor and see if I can find an issue there.

    Hattons 66 and Multimaus problem

    in DCC Help & Questions

    Posted

    Thanks for the replies so far. I've been doing some tests with my multimeter and have confirmed that there is continuity between the rails and the 4 points on the circuit board that I assume are the wheel pick up points (2 each side). With the blanking plate in place there is then also continuity at the two points on the board marked motor + and - (from their corresponding rail) which is broken when the blanking plug is removed so that suggests to me the decoder socket is ok and there should be power feeding the motor on DC. I wonder if there is no power going to the motor, which I'll try to confirm. My next question is what information does a dcc controller require from a decoder for it to be able to read cv's and function? If there was no feedback from the motor would that be enough to confuse it and think nothing was on the track? The error 2 code when I try to read cv's is what happens if I try to do it with nothing on the track so I guess my dcc controller isn't recognising there is anything there.

    Hattons 66 and Multimaus problem

    in DCC Help & Questions

    Posted

    4 hours ago, WIMorrison said:

    If the loco is buzzing slightly on DCC that suggests to me that it is still configured to run on DC - have you removed the DC blanking plug?

    Yes, I just mean a very faint noise, I assumed it was normal as most of my dcc locos do it. With the decoder in all the lights work on functions 0-4, it just won't read any cv's and the motor won't respond.

    Hattons 66 and Multimaus problem

    in DCC Help & Questions

    Posted

    Yesterday I took delivery of a Hattons 66 along with one of their DCR-12 Direct V2 decoders which I've fitted myself. I'm using a z21 start with wired Multimaus handset. When I tried to change cv1 to set the address the screen locked for a few seconds before displaying Error 2. I press ok and it then goes to the CV input screen but when I change it and press ok it displays error again and won't accept. Now I've just swapped the decoder from another loco and the Hattons decoder worked fine in the other loco but the problem remained in the Hattons one so it appears to be the loco at fault. When there is power to the track I can hear the decoder buzz slightly and if I turn the lights on the front ones illuminate but not the rears. This is all with the body still removed so no top lights. I'm assuming the body doesn't need to be refitted first and I think the lighting switches are set correctly, not that I would expect that to affect anything. Does anyone have any other suggestions before I contact Hattons? I'm hoping I don't have to return it as cosmetically it's a goodun.

    Just to add the only DC controller I have is an old Hornby one which I tried with the blanking plug in and no response from the loco. When I tested the voltage at the track it was only 8v on max though so I don't know if that tells me anything.

    Class 66 in OO Gauge - New Announcement

    in Hattons

    Posted

    On 26/11/2020 at 15:55, adb968008 said:

    There here...

     

    88CBBB62-9FF4-4B42-80D1-89E4E5CE6DC7.jpeg.165c76ecda99f05d61a65169d7dce4fd.jpeg

     

    Already started on Biffa’ axleboxes. Its going to be a long weekend of axle box mods.. Having done a quick examination:

     

    66-030 - Colas ...roof grill loose on one corner.

    66-004 - EWS .. loose axleboxes, one seems a bit odd to the rest.

    66-010 - DRS .. loose axleboxes

    66-012 - DRS .. loose axleboxes & centre door steps off.

    66-007 - DBS .. loose axleboxes, mark onhandrail

    66-036 - G&W .. centre door steps loose


    the-rest have passed visual inspection. None of these are game stoppers.


    Nothing obvious missing, just minor, no blemishes, marks etc, no glue, so i’ll be keeping them, retro updating the axleboxes, with 3 more in the fleet.

    Whilst I know several are righteous about perfection i’m a little more forgiving on loose bits, as long as everything is there undamaged i’m generally ok with it. I will be dumping my Bachmann class 66’s shortly, which at a 1:1 replacement will be not a too expensive an upgrade, on balance.
     

    Theres no doubting the detailed improvement, weight and running characteristics of this model... it rides head and shoulders above.

     

     

     

    Do I spy a DB red one in there? If so and you will be 'dumping' a Bachmann equivalent I might be interested.

    Weathering EWS class 08

    in Weathering, Painting & Transfers

    Posted

    18 hours ago, Shoey said:

    This video gives a great insight to weathering/fading without the use of an airbrush. If you watch from 4.16 onwards this will show you technique and end result of what I’m assuming you’re looking to achieve. Hope this helps :good:

     

    That's great and gives me an idea of where to start.

    • Like 1
    • Friendly/supportive 1

    Class 66 in OO Gauge - New Announcement

    in Hattons

    Posted

    One thing that strikes me is there seems to be a few customers that have returned faulty models and had replacements that have had the same and/or different problems. Surely if a customer has already had one duff model that they've returned the one thing you make sure you do is to check the replacement is a good one.

    • Like 2
    • Agree 9

    Bachmann / Farish Autumn announcements

    in Bachmann

    Posted

    2 hours ago, TomScrut said:

     

    I couldn't either and I argued that when I read it on the H66 thread. IMO the best way for Bachmann to proceed with the 66 is to stick with what they are doing or claw a bit of cost out from somewhere to make the decision to go up to a Hattons one more difficult or to make the decision to go up from a Hornby one easier.

    Whilst a complete re-tool was unlikely it would be nice if they would at least improve the lighting. You can buy a replacement circuit board that allows the marker lights to work for a tenner (albeit fixed in which ever configuration you solder it) so I'm sure Bachmann could do it at little extra cost and remove one of the most noticeable advantages of the Hattons model.

    • Like 2
    • Agree 1

    Weathering EWS class 08

    in Weathering, Painting & Transfers

    Posted

    Hi,

     

    I'm after some advice on weathering the above Bachmann loco which is currently in pristine condition. I don't own an airbrush so will have to be done by hand. I don't have much experience although through trial and error I have achieved reasonable results on a couple of ews wagons. I'm just after a general faded and used look. My current thought is to use frame dirt for the lower portion and either wipe on/wipe off or dry brush to the desired level. Use a black wash to emphasise dirt in grilles and panel gaps etc. My main query is how best to achieve the faded appearance of the maroon colour. Would giving it a white wash of either Humbrol wash or a thinned acrylic be my best option? Any other suggestions welcome.

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