StephenF

Spectacular, beautifully done 👌. Hope you get the glitch sorted …

Thanks Jazz, I’ll try and set the motion up with the cylinders unsoldered so I can get them out for painting. At least it’s a Black 5, there’s a list of unlined ones in the book, thank goodness. Cheers.

Jazz, As a (very) part time modeller, I’ve long enjoyed looking at your thread, great work and super pictures! I’m finally getting a rebuild of a kit (Black 5, P4, rc) towards finishing. Seems fairly smooth running, though valve gear still to be done. I’m just not sure how to paint the chassis. I can drop the wheels out, but the cylinders eg are soldered in. Do you use a brush to get round them, or hang the whole thing and turn it round? Also, how do you finish wheels, motion etc.? I expect you have someone who does painting ,lining, weathering etc? Photo attached of my original build, no paint on chassis. Any hints much appreciated! Steve

Or call the hgv guys (Pikey, Otherplanet, Giles eg). They’d have what it takes I expect. Cost you an arm and a leg though, shouldn’t wonder...o(

Ok, next job, convert a recovery truck (heavy duty). With a winch etc.

Here’s the progress so far. It’s a bit smarter looking than the Seagull, with a little panel for the switch and charging socket. The steering looks to be toed out, which I will fix, and the servo arm is out of line with the axle which is not ideal, but I can’t do much about it. There’s not enough height space for it. I’d like to use a stepper motor, but the Deltang/Micron rc receivers won’t do that (yet). Anyway, it does steer, so I’ll leave it for now. Also, I’m waiting on a higher geared motor, this one is too slow. I know everyone’s longing to see the test drive, but you’ll just have to wait....

You can just see the plates which will hold the axle fixed underneath. Getting the exact right position was trial and error. This was really the most difficult part of the build, I will put up more photos of the complete job soon.

So as to have enough support for the steering axle, I fitted a brass plate that extends in a narrow strip down the centre aisle of the seating moulding like so:

Hello, all the photos on my old thread seem to be non functioning, so I’m starting a new one. After a long break over the winter and spring, I finally got back to modelling, specifically finishing the Leyland halfcab I started last summer. In case you missed it, my first diecast rc conversion was this Burlingham Seagull: The Leyland was tricky in comparison, quite a bit smaller and with a serious problem at the front. The mudguards are part of the baseplate which has to go in the bin in order to fit the motor, axles, servo etc. Also, there is very little support at the very front for the steering axle. So I cut the mudguards off and glued them directly to the metal body:

Hello Ray, thanks for asking! The short answer is no. As always, I have been off doing other things, and getting distracted. That’s why the last bus took ages...:) I have made some progress though. You were quite right, the front of these kind of buses is quite difficult, owing as you said to the lack of strength. Also, the wheel arches are part of the baseplate, which must be removed for a steering system. So I have cut the arches off, and glued them separately to the casting. I also needed to remove quite a bit from the insides, so the wheels would turn. (See photos) On the seat moulding which is the main chassis, I made a brass plate which runs down the aisle and extends forward to hold the steering axle. As you said it’s pretty tight, and took a bit of time to get right. I have had the steering axle in, also have just about done the rear axle mounting. I’ll post more photos sometime.... Quite a lot left to do, and not much spare time at the moment, but I will get to it eventually! regards, Steve

Looked pretty smooth operation to me, I have to say. I thought the lorry movement was a bit abrupt, could do with slowing down more gradually. Just imagine those tiny little 1950s brake drums struggling to make themselves felt... super work anyway.

Thanks. So you could have a simple pickup system that provides most of the power, but no hesitations or flat spots. And no need to wire points up either. Has anyone any ideas about under layout sound? Then you can have a bass subwoofer that wouldn’t just be white noise. I know people have very different opinions about that. But could it be linked to the loco speed? Or would you have to have a separate system like the Soundbyte app? Sorry if this is a hijack trainkid! But very good question....

Hi there! Not sure I understand. Surely a big part of using RC is to not need to pick up from the track? Do these Bluerail thingies work via Bluetooth alone? That would be interesting...

Very nice engines too. I was wondering whether to use the Radiomaster for trains, or the Tx22. Handy to have separate transmitters in any case...

Yes, sounds good. I have spent a ridiculous amount of time putting bearings in wheels so they run true, and on the halfcab I brilliantly managed to glue two up completely. I have worked out a method which I’ll describe when I post next, but probably about 6 hours to make an axle, and then there’s mounting it right. It’s certainly time consuming, but it does get quicker with a system. 20+ vehicles, you’ve got enough for a small town! But you need a bunch of people/transmitters to have them driving about at the same time. Or use Faller type system...maybe there could be an automated radio control traffic system run by computer. Then you could have a couple of people driving independently, trying not to hit or get hit...!