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newbryford

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Blog Entries posted by newbryford

  1. newbryford
    (Apologies to those who've seen this elswehere) I'm just putting together a top'n'tail engineers train and I wanted to do something a bit different.
     
    Recent trains by my back door have been Freddie 66's and sometimes the reds on the rear loco are on, sometimes there's a battery flashing red on the lamp bracket - and sometimes there's this......
     
    I'm not certain as to why the battery lamp would be in the cab - maybe to stop it going walkies in areas of high pilfering?
     
    Anyway - a simple job to drill out a Springside light to about 1.5mm. File down a red lighthouse tower LED to fit the hole. Mount it via a small piece of paxolin glued to the cab bulkhead.
     

     

     
    The internals will later be painted and suitable flashing ouput from the decoder used to power it.
  2. newbryford

    DIT Flasher......

    By newbryford,

    Following on:
    As this is the rear loco of the train,it will have the gear towers isolated so it can be dragged. Done by dropping the bogie out, removing the two crosshead screws holding the bogie pivot and lifting out the worm and driveshaft.
     
    It's already fitted with sound and I'm going to retain the sound decoder in it, as recent examples of t'n't passing my house have had the rear loco idling.
     
    I've worked out the decoder settings so I can use the existing decoder in the loco. The ESU Loksound has the capability to alter the auxiliary outputs from constant/blinking (phase 1)/blinking (phase 2)/strobe/double strobe/firebox/mars/gyro/etc.
     
    The blinking and strobe rates are too slow - approx 0.5-0.8Hz, but I discovered that the strobe rate can be altered in multiples of 65.536ms...........
     
    So the alterations to the decoder are:
     
    CV116 = 63 (Auxiliary 2 set to strobe)
    CV112 = 10 (Strobe rate of 1.52Hz)
     
    The LED will be wired to aux2 from the decoder and the existing tail-lights disconnected. (66622 has already had the modification to enable switched tail-lights).
     
    I will retain all the parts and wiring should I ever want to reconfigure the loco back to normal.
     
    Quick tip - so I don't lose the driveshafts and worms in case I ever want to re-power the loco, I've taped them to the chassis inside the body!
     

     
    The camera has picked up a light bleed from the LED - but this is not visible to the naked eye!
     
    Cheers,
    Mick
  3. newbryford
    Pics of the Steelman in white primer.
     
    I've used white primer as the basic colour scheme will be similar to that applied to the GEC shunters at Clitheroe Cement works
     
    Photos taken in low summer sun highlighting any imperfections - these will be sorted before the next layer of paint is applied. Cruel enlargement of the pic also!
     
    Ford Diamond White and Radiant Red will be the base colours.

    Cheers,
    Mick
  4. newbryford

    Chunky Beast

    By newbryford,

    The Steelman is virtually finished.
     
    There's plenty of room in the engine compartment for the decoder and LED resistors. The speaker will fit in the fuel tank.
     
    The pic of the chassis and footplate shows how low the motor is mounted within the loco, as well as the first stage of weighting the beast - the lead flashing fits snugly in the space under the raised cab floor.
     
    Window frames and lights will be fitted after painting - my first choice is for dayglo orange ends with angled black stripes.............
     
    There will also be a couple of flashing beacons on the roof to comply with elf n safety.
     
    It's had about 90 mins running around the club's continuous run layout earlier tonight and an already smooth power unit is now even smoother!
     
    It certainly looks like it has a purpose - now to make sure it lives up to it!
     





    Mick
  5. newbryford
    When building kits, there comes a point at which it begins to resemble the prototype. In the case of this little kit, it's fitting of the engine compartment top and cab roof.
     
    After a few days exile from my shed, I've managed to add these parts.
    I've also enclosed a picture of the supplied "Bullant" power unit. This has had about 30 mins running in, in each direction, as well as having the wheel centres painted black - done whilst running in by applying the loaded brush to the moving wheel.
     
    At this stage, it also becomes apparent how much space I have within the superstructure to locate a DCC decoder (Loksound micro), speaker and resistors for the lighting system.
    As well as weighting it with lead to improve the haulage capability and pickup efficiency.
     
     
    Mick
  6. newbryford
    The main engine compartment has been added tonight. The first photo shows the sides fitted - care must be taken not to distort the thin sides, as the top bar is easily damaged. Similarly, the radiator overlay has to be handled very carefully. Much cursing was uttered when I accidentally caught the very fragile overlay etch, whilst trying to file off the tabs. Gentle persuasion with a small pair of pliers and much clamping whilst soldering it to the main radiator etch saved the day. Next time, I would solder the two parts together and then file off the tabs........
    The roller shutter doors definitely make the whole engine compartment more rigid. As per the instructions, I carefully checked and regreased the base plate/footplate joint between each soldering operation, so that I didn't solder the two sections together.
     
    The second pic shows progress to date - it may be a few days before I have enough spare time to get back to this kit.

    Cheers,
    Mick
  7. newbryford
    One advantage of soldering the upper superstructure is the absence of very large bits of brass that act as heatsinks (and heatstores). The fuel tank and end panel have been added with a minor bit of fettling around the edges. Judith Edge kits are well engineered and for a competent etched kit builder should present no problem whatsoever. I quite like building Edge etched kits with about 10 complete so far and another 5 including this one on the "to-do/finish" shelf. The Bullant power unit has had a couple of wires attached to the pickups and running in has commenced. After about 15 mins each way, it's already sounding sweeter. Also during this process, the wheels have been painted, simply by holding a loaded brush to the rotating wheels!

  8. newbryford
    Work has progressed on the Steelman. A few photos are attached showing the underframe with axlebox guides and multi-layer bufferbeams - 5 laminations. The kit has pretty much been built to the instructions so far. Problem with soldering the big bits of brass is that you forget that they remain very hot for a couple of minutes after! The footsteps are particularly nice bits of etching.
     
     

     
    I quite like building Edge kits as my my fotopic site shows
  9. newbryford

    Day one

    By newbryford,

    First of all - a quick intro. A few of you will have seen previous projects of mine on "Blackmill" and also via the DEMU forum.
    This blog will hopefully parallel the DEMU stuff.
     
    It will be an eclectic mix of locos, rolling stock, DCC projects and odd other bits.
     
    I'va already published a few photos of a recent TEA wagon project in the gallery section here
     
    First up is a Judith Edge kit for a Thomas Hill Steelman 0-6-0DH. Pics to follow in the next day or two.
     
    Mick
  10. newbryford
    Handrails mounted to the footplate. Careful work with .45mm wire, flux and 145degree detailing solder and this is the result so far. There's a little bit of cleaning up to do, but I usually save all this until last, just before the kit gets a good wash in a 50/50 mix of Viakal (bath cleaner) and original Fairy liqid, using a fibre glass brush and toothbrush to massage the mix into all the nooks and crannies.
     
    I chickened out on folding up the outer edges of the cab roof to form the gutter strip - my bending bars haven't got a sharp enough edge on them. Instead, I soldered a length of 0.4mm wire along the edge and filed it to a flat top edge.
     
    I've now mounted the power unit (but not photographed yet), which gives me an idea of how much room I'm playing with to mount the decoder, speaker and resistor for the LED lights.
     
    Cheers,
    Mick

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