Pikey

I think the ones I've seen on Youtube from Germany are controlled like that, but I cant for the life of me see how there's room for 3 of them - one to control the steering and another two to control the arm and bucket! The next pair of loader and logger are finished and in the hands of their delighted new owner You might just be able to see I did manage to cram the driver figure back in the cockpit, although he's a lot further forward than he should be. The logger is loads of fun I seemed to be pretty rubbish at driving it, hopefully new owner Bob will get the hang of it. So I can now FINALLY work on my own loader, and I feel like putting some extra effort into the lights - they have work lights at the front and rear, plus extra lights at the top of the cab and possibly tail lights and reversing lights as well, need to do some research. I've also ordered a 'rotating beacon' - which is actually 3 LEDs inside which flash in turn to simulate a single light going round and round

Realised I havent updated this thread for ages! I now have the first loader working and it will be off to its new owner very soon: I had to use the next size up servo, 2.2g, as the smallest one that I use for everything else just wasnt powerful enough to move the steering. So any hope of retaining the driver figure / cab detail went out of the window - the cab is now full of servo and wires, in fact the wires are bursting out of the window a little bit as well. I crammed it as hard as I dared, but there just isnt quite enough room in the engine compartment! The next three, including the one with the logging attachment, are about 50% complete and I'm going to add lighting effects to the last one which is going to become the new star on my layout whenever we are able to do exhibitions again :-)

I've not long received mine, and I have to say its really good - quite a lot better than the Carson VW offering, and I think a lot of that is down to the controller - these have a small trigger style controller much like the type you'd expect for a bigger RC car, with both trim and range control for steering and throttle channels, plus a button for a third channel (which is spare on the mini) They cost around the same as the Carson VWs, once you've paid for shipping and VAT / customs charges, and they both look better (being the right scale) and drive better too.

The parcel finally arrived at the weekend Progress pictures on loader #1, I'm about 4 or 5 hours in so far (including thinking time - the other three vehicles will be much faster as I know what I'm doing now): Make hole for motor/gearbox, also drill holes for micro switch and charging socket I think the servo is going to sit approximately here, I want to get it as low down as I can because I want to retain the driver figure if possible: Make space for battery and receiver in the engine bay. I'm actually going to use a smaller battery because the servo location will eat ever so slightly into the space at the front of this piece: Take apart the arm/bucket - harder than you'd think, because its fitted together with steel rivets that need to be drilled/Dremelled out very carefully to avoid damaging the arm. Enlarge the holes to take 2mm diameter brass tube bearings (the ones on the end broke as the metal is too thin, but superglue should be strong enough for this to hold together in operation (I hope), and make space for the central cogs:

So in actual fact the parcel had the wrong address on it - so it made it all the way from Germany to within about 100 yards of my house, before being returned back to Germany!

Haven't got a lot to show here for the moment, but I have picked up a few commissions - to do three near identical loaders (so I'm going to make a fourth one for myself at the same time) and a crane lorry But my order from Germany has been delayed - on the UK side (obviously) so I haven't done much other than cut holes for the motors so far. Hopefully my motors and servos will arrive soon and I can show some progress.

Love the Land Rover. Mine is still one of my favourite models, I'm going to try a short wheelbase version at some point What gearmotors are you using that cost £3.50?!

After a pause, with not being able to get Deltang receivers, I've finally been able to get on and finish the recovery truck. I think this is about as good as a G95 motor/gearbox from Sol Expert will run, as the slow speed control isnt really there, but the top speed is about right if you want to drive along a road. For purely low speed manoeuvring the G494 would be better, but as I've said for a long time they dont really sell something in the middle of those two ratios, around 225:1 which would be absolutely ideal.

Probably too steep, and I've realised this isnt quite how the real lorries work. In real life, the whole sliding bed mechanism sits on a subframe which itself can be tilted up. So the bed tilts up and slides backwards, then when the bottom contacts the ground it rolls along the ground so that its almost flat to the floor at full extension. I can probably replicate that, by building a separate subframe, but I might save that for the mk2 as I'm quite pleased with how this one works, despite it not being entirely realistic. I painted the cab and bed, and did a test assemble: I'd have liked to do marker lights, but because the whole bed is detachable I've made do with a dab of orange paint. Just waiting for an RX47 to complete the build now

How do you enter program mode with a transmitter such as that? With a stick TX, if you turn the RX on with the sticks pointing towards each other, you go into a programming mode where you can enter simple 'yes' / 'no' commands by moving the right stick up/down to cycle through all the different settings. It sounds like its programmed 1, 1, 2 and you need to change it to 1, 1, 1 for the 'centre off' throttle type. The programming list is here: http://www.deltang.co.uk/rx63a-v610-p.htm

Probably shouldnt have chosen a grey car for these photos I added a pair of 2mm diameter bars to the u/s of the bed - this gives it weight for stability, plus gives a smooth track as the bed moves forwards and backwards. The bed is still engaged with the Z bracket in the second picture, so I'm hopeful that it will work as intended when I test it later today

A subject I've been wanting to tackle for a while - a breakdown lorry: The back is a 3D printed recovery flatbed which I had to make narrower as it was far too wide. The plan is to have it slide off the lorry and tilt down onto the ground like the real ones do. I've made a little Z shaped bracket which will fit into a recess in the body so that when the threaded bar is turned by the motor it will move backwards and forwards, and hopefully gravity will do the rest when the bed gets far enough over the back of the truck

Hello A few of you may know me from building and operating a layout called 'A Remote Depot' at a few exhibitions recently, including Warley. Chopped picture for reference below: I built A Remote Depot because I was getting more and more into making the radio controlled vehicles, and I had nowhere to drive them. This will remain as an exhibition layout, and indeed I have several booked in for this year and next. But I have a number of trains that have just sat in their boxes for too long, and I'd like to have a much larger & permanent home layout on which to run them, and also a larger environment to drive my little vehicles around. Also, somewhere to store A Remote Depot that isnt in my front room would also be an advantage I do have a layout in my garage at the moment, but it was built many years ago on Sundeala board, using Setrack pieces - which as you can imagine is now showing its age..! One of the first jobs is to dismantle this, and salvage anything that can be salvaged from its construction. Over Christmas and New Year I have had a thorough clear out of my garage, and apart from the re-assembly of a broken tumble drier (dont ask!) the stage is set for the construction of my new layout! The outer limits of the layout is fixed - 3.8m x 2.8m, as this is the biggest amount of space I can take up in my garage whilst still leaving enough room for my car on one side and my dirt bike at the back. So I'll start building the timber framework while I work on the exact details of the track plan. I dont want a lift-up or swing-out section, and I dont want to have to duck much to get to the inside of the layout - so the plan is to raise the layout to 1.5m, and construct a false floor at 0.5m. This will put the layout at 1m above the new floor which is about normal, and means I only have to duck a little bit to get in under it. It also means I can store A Remote Depot for exhibition use under the floor. The trackplan will be basically a double track loop, with a through station on one side, and a small TMD on the other, and a virtual quarry on one of the short sides. I'll also have a road running around the whole layout, in which I'll set a wire for the Faller system so I can have a bus driving around by itself. I have lots of other ideas about what to fit in, but the layout is still in the planning stages while I build the timber framework. Here's the current version (very roughly spliced together from two different AnyRail models): Its not that exciting, and its going to be a long term project/labour of love, but hopefully I can get some baseboards up and some trains running in the near future.

That's very kind of you to say

Finished and tested on my little off road diorama : I charge £180 to build a model like this, or a normal Land Rover, or a Transit van - or anything* you want really plus £70 for an Orange TX6i transmitter. Or the Ford 400E vans are £135 and that comes with its own transmitter I've come to the conclusion that I actually like building these more than I like driving them - because once I've finished a model, it usually goes into the storage box with all the others and I move on to the next project. So making them for other people is actually quite a good thing. I dont do many, because they're obviously a niche product at the moment - perhaps even a niche within a niche - and they're very expensive, but hopefully I'll get the chance to do more in future. Next on the horizon is the Das87 Unimog kit. *normal vehicles (ie steering and driving functions only - lighting functions, ramps/cranes etc are extra)

That's awesome work. I had never thought of taking one of the 4mm planetary gearboxes apart!

Yes, there's no sound

Progress on the Forward Control. A lovely model to work on. There is a separate subframe for the leaf springs and all the underbody detail, so I chopped all but the rear leaf springs off, and used them for the bearing holders. Enlarging the hole in the plastic chassis, and cutting into the back of the diecast bit, gives space to mount the motor vertically: I used the same width axle as I would use on a normal Land Rover, and it would have been perfect except for the inner flange on the FC wheels. So they stick out a little, but not enough to warrant changing the axle width I dont think. Spare blue LED fitted and tested just for fun: The driver came from an old moped, so he's wearing a bomber jacket and helmet, although I've painted his helmet brown to look like hair instead. I've no idea what period LRFC ambulance drivers would have worn, but as it turns out the guy who this vehicle is for doesnt want a driver in the cab anyway so I'll keep him for a future project - which is excellent news as I really like him I'll try and get some electrics into it this evening

The road sweeper looks like this underneath: Well, it used to - I've replaced the linear servo with a proper servo now that's hidden inside the back bit along with the battery. All of the vehicles are basically the same, just executed differently depending on the particulars of the original model. They all have tiny Deltang receivers, 3.7V LiPo batteries, a motor and gearbox driving the rear axle, a steering axle and servo for the front axle, with the original model's wheels attached. Some have removable batteries, some have on-board switch and charging socket. Some have lights - the lighting functions are all pre-programmed into the Deltang receivers as standard

I'll be taking this to the Cheltenham model railway exhibition in October this year

Here's the how-to videos: Part 1 - Disassembly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=06ySI1xBRqg Part 2 - Axles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhqavoloclM Part 3 - Getting it Running: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLBTrypDuaQ&t=1s Part 4 - LED Lights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EjP6UzuMJ0 Part 5 - Final Assembly: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYwMolBmc_8&t=1s Hope they're of some use

I filmed a How To video showing the construction of the Ford 400E van using the Carson chassis. Once I've finished editing and uploading all of it (its in 5 parts), I'll share them all on here The next thing on my list is a commission to build a Forward Control Land Rover, which I've wanted to do for a while actually, so I'm pretty excited to get started on this one! My local model shop didnt have the exact one required, so I've had to order it. Once it arrives I'll take it apart and have a look at whats needed.

Brilliant

Here's the fire engine

Here's the Carson fire engine on the end of my finger - I've already swapped the Commer wheels and tyres onto it. Note the tiny speaker: And the Oxford Commer PB and pump trailer, which will be driving around shortly