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Pugsley

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Blog Entries posted by Pugsley

  1. Pugsley
    leave it alone....
     
    Having my Dad over for Christmas has been an ideal opportunity to give him a bit of tuition in weathering. Using one of his Christmas presents, I've demonstrated a few basic techniques using gouache.
     
    Before:

     
    After:

     
    The clean patches on the Kernow models are just that little bit too clean. Both of the patches were brushed over with a grime mix made from raw and burnt umber and black gouache. When dry, they were brushed over with a large, soft flat brush to add subtle streaking.
     
    Once satisfied with that finish, the white spillage was added and run over with the same brush, imparting a dirty tint to the white. This was repeated a couple of times to build up the finish.
     
    Twenty minutes later, you have a wagon that is a little bit different to the rest. Go on, give it a go.
  2. Pugsley

    The Spaghetti Incident

    By Pugsley,

    Progress continues slowly with the 7mm 37, and I'm currently in the middle of adding all the wiring for lights etc. This is how things looked the other day:

     
    It's all a bit tidier now, but I am running out of places to put all of the wires - and the ones for the cab lights, speaker and cooling fan aren't even visible in this picture!
     
    I've given up casting the brake shoes from the kit - I'm now in the process of drawing up my own and will get those from Shapeways, or possibly give iMaterilise a try, as I've not had anything from them yet. I'm also going to look at adding additional pickups to the bogies as I'm not totally convinced that the original solution is going to work that well - there is more movement in the axles than they can cope with at present.
     
    I've also started creating a length of track, so I can set the chassis up on the rolling road, to get that running sweetly by tweaking a few cv's. It looks like this project will have taken the best part of 3 years to complete, and it's not even there yet - yikes!
  3. Pugsley

    I don't believe it!

    By Pugsley,

    Said in best Victor Meldrew voice, as the first bogies is now 95% complete and all appears to work as intended!
     
    The sideframes aren't glued in place yet, merely held in place by the spring pressure and the location of the axleboxes/equalising beams, but it performed successfully in a few hand propelled tests last night. I can run the bogie over an obstruction of 1.5-2mm, with all other wheels remaining in contact with the ground as demonstrated in these pics:

     

     
    The bottle of flux was just rested on the pivot of the bogie to provide an approximation of the weight that the bogie will carry under the loco. I balanced it as best I could, and it shows that the bogies sits pretty level:

     
    The assembly has highlighted a few design issues that I would change if I were to do this again, principally that now the torque reaction arms are in place I can't remove the traction motors. On the plus side, however, this means that I don't have to rely on the axlebox retainers in the kit to keep the axles in place if the loco is picked up. The torque reaction arms consist of a link made from 0.7mm wire, which is soldered into a hole in the motor unit frame for rigidity. The other end runs in an elongated slot, to allow the motor to move up and down, but not rotate under power, shown below:

     
    This pic also shows ride height adjusting screws, which will bear on the plates affixed to the underside of the chassis and the modifications made to raise the pivot plate up, mostly consisting of a block of brass milled to the necessary dimensions. The projections from the cross member are the locators for the brake gear, the fitting of which will be one of the next jobs.
     
    An overview of the progress so far:

     
    It's really starting to look like a 37 bogie! There's still plenty to do, the motors need to be wired up, I need to devise and rig some pickups, the cross-members need to be glued to the cosmetic frames, which also need to be glued to the etched bogie frame. Amongst other things! I'm pleased that I'm finally going to make one of my elastic deadlines now - this bogie will be sufficiently complete to be displayed at the S7 Society meet at Mark on the 8th October (non-members are welcome, I believe).
     
    It's going to be an interesting loco to drive once complete. There's no braking effect from the drivetrain, so coupled with the weight of the loco, which will need to be reasonable to get the suspension performing well, it'll have plenty of inertia once the power is cut. Perhaps I'll only run it on layout with reinforced buffer stops to begin with!
     
    More later in the week, hopefully.
  4. Pugsley
    It's been one of those days. One of those days when most things don't go the way you want them to. In fact, I've had the Sadim touch all day (the opposite of the Midas touch - everything you touch turns to sh*t) so it came as no real surprise that the start on the layout didn't quite go to plan.
     
    Once all the Templot plans had been put on the boards, I started putting stock in the relevant places just to check the visual appearance of the plan. I don't make detailed plans, as such, I have a 'vision' that I work towards, and due to my inability to draw sketches are out of the question, unless you're trying to visualise a layout through the eyes of a four year old. Is that mummy there?!? No, it's supposed to be a tree.
     

     
    So, all stock was put in various locations - tanks in the oil terminal, the 455 in the platform and two Mk1's in the bay platform, pretending to be a 2-HAP. I didn't like it, which wasn't totally unexpected with the way that the day had gone up until that point. In the pic above, the fiddle yard is off to the bottom of the picture and the viewing side is off to the left. The Bachmann wagon boxes liberally spread around are to assist with building the picture - I decided I needed some help once I decided I didn't like it the way it was.
     

    Looking from the front of the layout, over the other end of the oil terminal sidings, towards the station. The 455 is in the main platform, the '2-HAP' (if you squint, a lot, it might look like one) is in the bay.
     

    Looking across the oil terminal sidings, across the headshunt beyond towards the houses behind the railway - recently built and looking suspiciously like Bachmann TTA boxes.
     
    So, after the initial disappointment and irritation of it not working in the way I had envisaged, getting to the stage of thinking 'bu**er, I'm going to have to start again', I walked away for 10 minutes. On coming back to the layout, I hit upon the solution - just reverse the viewing side.
     

     
    I now understand why I've never seen a layout that slopes down at the back, it just doesn't work visually. Sure, in real life there are probably many stations that are flat at the front but slope away at the rear, but as a model it just doesn't work.
     

     
    The last change of plan is the large industrial building that was supposed to be to the right at the front of the layout, where the vans are sat in the pictures above. This isn't going to work, so I'm going to have to contrive another off scene industry to get the vans in and out. I think that the industry will now be a low-ish relief building coming out of the backscene enough to make the exit to the fiddle yard slightly less visible, providing just enough of a hint to justify the occasional train of vans entering and then reversing in to the off-stage siding.
     
    Jobs for the near future will involve turning the boards around and testing my theory - whatever happens next really hinges upon the results of that. Hopefully the change of viewing angle will do the trick, or it really is back to the drawing board.
  5. Pugsley
    With the oil terminal on the forthcoming layout, I decided it would be a good idea to have a Railfreight Petroleum 37 or two on the roster for bringing the oil trains in. A search of fotopic found this photo of 37890 at Guildford in 1991:
    http://crumb.fotopic.net/p49489748.html
     
    Given that it's not a million miles from where the layout is set and the year is spot on, 37890 was decided upon. Research indicated that the Bachmann model of 37672, one of the first releases of the all-new refurb 37, was the ideal starting point as the grilles are the same (37891 was another possible candidate).
     
    The work required is minimal, two bodyside windows need their frames shaving off and the apertures filling. Other, smaller, apertures also need to be filled. I'm adding the new Shawplan/Extreme Etchings parts to mine to change the cooler group fan grille and windscreen surrounds. I'll also be swapping the buffers for Hornby parts as the Bachmann ones are too spindly and I'll also be putting a Replica high-intensity headlight on the front to replace the undernourished Bachmann one. Horns from NNK complete the body modifications.
     
    The chassis requires minimal work, the bogie sideframes need to be cut away and remounted slightly higher, the ride height seems OK. The loco will also be converted to EM with Black Beetle wheels.
     
    A repaint will follow, although it's pretty straightforward as the model was already in Transrail grey.
     
    Progress so far:

    The windsceen etch is attached by with cyano adhesive. The etch is very thin, so doesn't need to be recessed into the shell - the windcreen panel is obviously a separate panel on the real thing as well. The next job here is to file the plastic back to the same profile as the etch for the flushglazing, which will be fitted after painting.
     

    The fan grille comes in two parts, the mesh surround and the securing ring, much as the real thing. The Bachmann etched grille needs to be removed, and the moulded outer surround carefully removed. I gently shaved it off with a scalpel and finished off with a fine file.
     
    The area where the ring was will need to be painted to match the roof - Railmatch acrylic Exec Dark Grey is a good enough match for this. Carefully line the mesh up with the hole - it goes to the edge of where the moulded surround used to be, taking care to get the mesh square.
     
    Once in the correct position, put a small drop of cyano on one of the four 'corners' and wait for it to dry. Once this is secure, small drops can be placed in the three remaining 'corners' to secure the mesh fully.
     
    The securing ring is very fragile and is best pre-rolled to the roof profile before fitting. I did this with a bit of 8mm tube on a pad of folded kitchen roll. As before, I ran a thin film of cyano along the central rib of the ring and put it in position, making sure it was square. Once this has dried, a thin film of glue an be run along the outer edges of the sides, with an old scalpel blade, and the grille pressed into place.
     

    This shows the apertures that need to be filled, the window is the biggest and all of the remaining footsteps around the engine room access door. This is the same both sides.
     
    I've got a day off today, so hopefully more updates later!
  6. Pugsley

    Spring bounce

    By Pugsley,

    An appropriate title in a couple of ways, one, that the first of the production primary springs have taken shape this afternoon, and the coming of Spring has given me a chance to get on with this madcap scheme.
     
    So, for starters, a view of the first bogie with one of the equalising beams in place, on the first two springs:

     
    To the front left are some more springs in various stages of completion. The long coil of wire behind the individual springs is how it starts. This is 0.61mm soft copper wire wound, under tension, around a 3.3mm drill bit, making sure the coils are lapped up tight to each other. The next stage involves stretching this out until there's roughly 1.5mm between the coils, which is the stage this particular example is at.
     
    The next step is to cut the large spring down to make the individual springs, which are 7 coils each. Each end is levelled and the spring recompressed, before the end is filed to make it sit level. These then fit onto the studs on the sideframe and the equalising beam. The next photo shows it in close up, with one of the prototype secondary springs loosely plonked in place to give an idea of what it'll look like:
     

     
    And this is what it's supposed to look like:

     
    It's close enough for me!
     
    The next job, after finishing another 14 springs, is to work out how far out the stirrup needs to be packed out from the front of the hornblock, followed by filing down the equalising beams to fit in the stirrups.
     
    It's been a long time coming, but it really does feel that the end is in sight for this project, at last!
  7. Pugsley
    Links for the next parts of the saga:
    14 - Done it! (well sort of)
    14A - Done it 2! (well sort of)
    15 - Stepping up a notch
    16 - Oh bu**er!
    17 - Paying the (sand)piper
    18 - BOGIES!
    19 - Lining up ducks
    20 - (Traction) motoring on
    21 - Getting closer but a long way to go
    22 - Monkey in the well
    23 - You stud!
    24 - Tanked Up (and Boxing)
     
     
     
    The focus for the next stage of this project is going to move from the blog section, to the normal forum bit as the additional interaction is going to prove useful, I think. I'll still put the occasional post in here for construction that isn't related to the bogies and certain progress milestones, probably.
     
    This is the drawing I've used to prove that the concept is sound, using the dimensions of the parts that I've found so far. It all fits in the space I've got available, which is a good start!
     

     
    The original copy is to exact scale size, the diagram above is enlarged for clarity.
     
    The dark blue bits at the top of the image are the chassis rails, on the floor moulding, that project downwards. The red box around the bogie is the maximum height allowable to ensure that the buffer centres are a scale 3' 5.5" above rail level (24.21mm), although I could allow myself an extra mm or two if required, there's variation in the real thing, after all
     
    The hornblocks are from Slaters, and the inner frames will be etched from either 0.70mm brass or nickel silver, I haven't decided yet. One thing to note, the wheels haven't come out very well in that picture, the larger floating green things you can see are the axle mounted gears, with the grey rectangle underneath being the rail. I'll upload a better diagram at some point.
     
    Now that I'm satsfied that the concept works, and I've found the right parts for the job, next job will be to finalise the motor and gear positioning before deciding on the design for the frames and motor mounts. What I learned when designing my class 455 etchy bits is going to come in handy here!
     
    The best part is, now that it's public, I'll have to get on with it and make it work!
     
    The adventure of the springy bogies will continue Here
     
    Edit - I've just noticed that this is chapter 13, I do hope that's not some kind of omen...
  8. Pugsley
    Actually not that kind of resurfacing, more a stalled project bubbling back to the surface for a little more attention. this happens from time to time, and frequently they sink back again, still incomplete, but I'm hoping to actually have this one finished by the end of the year.
     
    Yes, the 37 has made a comeback, now that the distraction of the IZA Ferrywagons is over for the time being. Actually, a fair amount has been achieved since the last update, with most of the wiring in place, the chip installed (although it can be removed for painting) and the speaker enclosure built. This is how things stand at the moment:

     
    I never thought I'd be pushed for space in a 7mm loco, so how crowded it's starting to look in there has come as a bit of a surprise! There is a mini DIN plug to go at the number 2 end, which will transfer the power to the body for the radiator fan motor, cab lights and speaker. Unfortunately it is only a 6 way plug and socket I have, so there will be an extra connection for the cab light common feed, but that's not the end of the world, just slightly less tidy that I would have liked. The miniature connectors on each end of the chassis are for the tail/marker/head lights at each end, so again the body can still be removed completely from the chassis.
     
    One of the reasons for the stall was that I hadn't quite worked out how I was going to secure the bogies, as well as saving up for the sound chip. The real thing uses steel rope to stop the bogies detaching, so I thought that I could possibly use the same sort of process. The first experiment was with stainless steel microbraid from Eileens, which really just is miniature steel rope. It soldered beautifully to the little tubes i bought to represent the crimped joint, but was too inflexible and would have required some form of springing mechanism inside, which wouldn't be easily hidden and seemed like bloody hard work. So came the revelation:

     
    Elastic thread! It's a little thick in original form, but I found that one of the cotton layers came off quite easily, leaving one layer of cotton and the rubber core remaining. I figured that the remaining sheathing would be rough enough to glue nicely to the chassis, and the rubber bit remained springy. So, the final solution is as shown above, which seems to work quite well and engages the etched hooks quite nicely. When the bogies are complete, there is another metal part to be glued to the bogie, under the hook, which will stop the retainer dropping out, which it will at the moment if everything is compressed enough.
     
    Whilst they don't retain the bogies quite in position, they stop it falling all the way out and keep it nice and level when it does drop, if the loco is lifted other than by its bogies. It's not a perfect solution, but it's better than nothing! It also doesn't look too overscale, although I think it is slightly.
     

     
    A close-up of the miniature connectors for the lights. The connection to the decoder will be soldered to the Veroboard and run under the chassis and into the main body thorough the gaps where the motors should be, if the kit was built conventionally.
     
    The plan is to have it running round the S7 test track this coming Saturday, so I need to pull my finger out, although I only really have the speaker to mount and wire in before connecting everything up to get it running. The lights etc won't be installed until the body is painted, so I have a fighting chance at least
  9. Pugsley

    The Current State of Play

    By Pugsley,

    This is how things are at the moment:

    I hate electrical fault finding, but with much reluctance I have broken out the multimeter to try and find out why my 37 disgraced itself a few weekends ago, where it made all the right noises, but didn't actually do anything. I've put the first bogie on its 'custom stand' for easier access
     
    Fault number one was found quite quickly - one of the connections to the centre motor on the No 1 bogie is a bit dodgy, so that will have to be remade. Soldering in that confined space is certainly going to be interesting! I can't drop the motor out, as a bit of poor design has led to the motors being captive once the torque reaction arms are in place. If I ever do this again, that is going to have to be addressed.
     
    Closer inspection of the other soldered joints has uncovered another couple of areas of, shall we say, comedy soldering, which is probably also not helping the cause. Once these have also been redone, things should work a lot better.
     
    On the plus side, the pick-ups are all OK, well, except for the one that has dropped off, but we'll gloss over that.
  10. Pugsley

    A Quick Update

    By Pugsley,

    I dunno where time goes these days - one minute it's Christmas and the next it's Easter! Still, I can offer a quick update on the 37 project - it is structurally complete and painted, with a few little bits to add before the weathering commences in anger. This is how it is at the moment:
     

     
    The biggest problem at the moment seems to be a ride height problem at the No.1 end, this is currently riding some 2mm too high, which although it doesn't sound a lot, is enough to make it look a little odd. I'm not quite sure what's causing that at the moment, but I'm hoping it won't be too hard to sort.
     
    Some of it has been weathered though:
     

     
    I had to do the fan before fitting the (rather nice) Shawplan grille, otherwise there was no way of doing it later.
     
    Tom - This is about the best I could get of the ripple effect now it's painted. I think I could have done it a bit more now, as the paint has increased the subtlety of the effect, but it's a very fine line to overdoing it!
     

     
    Edit - Image upload now working!
  11. Pugsley

    He ain't heavy....enough

    By Pugsley,

    The second bogie has now reached a stage where I could plonk the loco down on the pair of them to see how everything looked and worked, so I couldn't resist giving it a go! It has highlighted a couple of minor, related, problems that are going to be fairly easily corrected. The bogie pivots need to be cut down a bit further as they currently hit the centre traction motor on each bogie, and the loco isn't quite heavy enough for everything to sit right. The first problem can be cured with a big file, the second with some of this:

     
    Which I think has to be the most economical way of buying lead for weighting models, admittedly it did cost £23 but I won't need to buy any more for a very, very long time!
     
    The threaded adjusters on the secondary suspension have also proved their worth - I've had to jack the side closest to the camera, in the photo below, up by about 1.5mm to get everything sitting level. It might need a bit of further adjustment when I set it up on a marble surface, instead of the cutting mat, but it's pretty much there. This pic does show it riding too high though, which is a combination of the two problems mentioned above.
     

     
    It looks quite imposing from this angle, which also slightly shows the rippled sides, which could create some interesting photo effects, once the loco is finished and I build a photo diorama for it. I also need to fettle the fit of some of the springs, a couple of them sit at funny angles, which is due to being slightly out when the pilot holes for cutting the mounting studs were drilled. If I were to do this again, I'd make a little jig for getting the drill centred in the cast springs, which were used to form the mounting studs.
     

     
    I've also made a representation of the encoder fitted to the refurbished examples, which is fitted to the centre axle, on the side opposite to the speedo, on the No. 2 end bogie. I did toy with the idea of not bothering, but decided that it would only irritate me in the future if I didn't do it. The picture above also highlights the lack of brake gear, which will be added once I've cast the necessary bits in resin.
     

     
    Once the bogie is fitted, the mechanism is pretty unobtrusive. The final drive gear on the leading axle does show up quite well at the moment, but once that's been coloured black with permanent marker, it shouldn't really show.
     
    I've also uploaded a video to Youtube, showing the suspension in action. I've probably built in a bit too much travel to the design, I don't think there's that much movement in the real thing, but it should cope with whatever rough track is thrown at it. The drivetrain might be a little noisy in operation, but I do plan on fitting a soundchip, so it shouldn't be too noticeable, with a bit of luck.
     
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQLQNdcBNHA&feature=youtu.be
     
    It appears to work like it should - the bogie moves around with no noticeable movement of the body (until it reaches the really big drop, but that's to be expected!), so I'm happy with what I've achieved. Next steps include casting the brake shoes and fitting the rest of the detail parts onto the bogies. Once that's done, it's time to crack on with the body.
  12. Pugsley
    Lack of updates should not be confused with lack of progress, although the two are usually related - I can't write about doing naff all, well, I could, but people would soon stop reading it!
     
    However, in the time I've not been here posting, I have summoned up the courage to actually make a start on painting the 37 and it hasn't been the disaster that I feared it would. It came close to it on a number of occasions though! Mostly problems with paint adhesion, I don't think I cleaned the body quite enough before assembly, and on a couple of occasions I thinned the Railmatch acrylics a little too much, which didn't help. A bit of remedial work with some fine sandpaper did the job though, and now you'd never know!
     
    This is how it looks now:

     
    After masking all of the stripes around the door areas, I was starting to wish that I'd decided to build it as a triple grey example! Still, I'm fairly pleased with the end result, even though it has required quite a lot of touching in in places - I'm not sure Tamiya masking tape is as good as it used to be.
     
    I've also got the replacement brake shoes from Shapeways - these are the best quality parts that I've had in the FUD material, and they arrived within 7 days.

     
    I've now ordered some more, as I was three quarters of the way through doing the first bogie before realising each sprue contained enough brake shoes for one bogie, and I had only ordered one of them.... Mounting the brakes in position has also confirmed that I have some room to add extra pick-ups, so these will also be put in place, which should help with the problems experienced on the first test run.
     
    In addition to the bogie works, a coat of Klear will go on the body next, in preparation for adding the decals, of which the orange cantrail lining is what I'm looking forward to least. Everything else is straightforward, there's the Kingfishers to go on the engine room doors and the numbers are Replica rub-on ones. I'm toying with the idea of putting the OHL warning flashes onto thin plastic sheet, or photo paper, and sticking them on, to provide a little bit of relief, but haven't quite made my mind up in that respect.
  13. Pugsley

    The Initial Griming

    By Pugsley,

    This really is the most I've done in ages - whilst on a roll I thought I'd make a start on the weathering. I used the water mixable oils for this, just to see if they were any good for loco, as well as wagon, weathering. They are! Well, subject to some limitations, anyway.
     
    This is how things now stand:

     
    I've used a combination of Raw Umber, Burnt Umber, Black and White oils for the body grime. This has mostly been acheived by almost drybrushing the colour on, before running over it with a small flat brush, moistened with a screenwash solution. After this stage, when still damp, a dry number 12 flat brush was flicked over the surface in a top to bottom, vertical, motion to remove more paint and give the rain streaked appearance.
     
    The oils have also been used on the nose grilles and to recreate the grime deposits that gather in the cab door recesses. I'm going for subtle on this one, working from a pic that I can't post, unfortunately.
     
    The underframe has just had it's first coat, a mix of Vallejo Flat Earth and Black acrylics, applied by brush. No airbrush has been ued on this so far (except for the repaint). It's a bit glossy still, but later processes will tone this down to dead flat where required. I did try to use the oils straight on the underframe, but it didn't really work, they need to be used on top of something else for full effect.
     
    That's it for the time being, as everything will now need to be left for at least 24 hours to dry - the biggest disadvantage of using the oils. More as it happens
  14. Pugsley
    From the moment I saw this picture:
    http://gallery6801.f.../p61948874.html
     
    I knew I wanted to model it. Admittedly, I've not gone down the 100% fidelity route, so the details are still that of the Bachmann tank, representing a Met-Camm built example, but it's close enough, I feel. It certainly captures the essence of the prototype, in my opinion.
     
    The first stage was to mix up a wash of white spirit and grimy black powder, and give the barrel a good coat of that. Once dry, any excess powder was brushed off with a large flat brush.
     

     
    The whole tank was then covered with gouache, mixed up from raw umber, burnt umber and black. Liberally applied with a flat brush, it was left to dry before work with the powders started.
     
    Powders mixed from grimy black (which could be approximated with Mig Black Smoke and Europe Dust) and Mig Europe Dust were applied to give the matt, grubby look.
     
    After grubbing, the clean patches were created by removing the gouache and powders with a stiff flat brush and cotton buds, moistened with diluted screenwash. As the decals are laser printed, it didn't affect these, even without varnish sealing.
     

     
    The ends and other side now need finishing, before the whole wagon is given a coat of Vallejo matt varnish to seal everything in place.
  15. Pugsley

    3rd time lucky

    By Pugsley,

    This is it for a while now, I promise! The more I use these oils, the more I like them, and the more I'm getting to grips with using them. The 3rd wagon is by far my favourite of the ones I've done recently, it just looks that bit better than the others.
     
    I've used a photo of a different tank as a guide for this one, for a bit of variety:
    http://www.flickr.co...57603195747980/
     
    The model:

     
    I've used the same techniques that I've developed over the other two wagons, but have added more artificial highlights and shadows on the underframe, and on the roofwalk. Again, the underframe was exclusively oils, with talc added as required to matt the finish, the same was done to the bufferbeams.
     

     
    The base grime under the filling hatch was created by loading the tiniest amount of paint onto the brush, then rubbing it gently over the barrel. The streaks were added with a small brush, then worked into the barrel by tapping and scrubbing until the desired effect was achieved.
     

     
    I think a rake of these will look rather nice in the oil terminal on the layout, which I really should get on with building...
     
    More as and when!
  16. Pugsley

    Monkey in the well

    By Pugsley,

    It feels a bit like the old maths question at the minute - there are three steps forward, and two steps back again. The bogie artwork is currently undergoing another tweaking, but I'm hopeful that the mark 3 version will be the final version, as I've just about discovered everything that could be improved upon, I think..
     
    It's mostly little things, like adding a couple of extra positioning holes on the parts that are soldered on to the mounting plate, but the frames have required a complete redesign. In this version, the axlebox guides will be soldered on to the main frame, with a spacer between to pack them to the right distance inside of the frame.
     
    As a part of the final redesign, I've been assembling the various parts, to check that everything works as it should. The following photos show the secondary suspension mount, with the original trial spring in place.
     

     

     
    Since taking these pictures, I've realised that the prototype spring is too powerful - it needed a force of 500g to compress about halfway, which I think means that the 37 would need to weigh 4kg for it to work as intended! I've since cut the prototype spring down to 7 coils, which reduces the spring force greatly (I'm not sure how much by yet, I haven't measured it). I've got some thicker copper wire on order, so will see what that's like, as I think that the brass might still be a bit too springy.
     

     
    This shows the revised spring length for the secondary suspension, alongside the first prototype primary spring, made from copper wire. I'm not sure if this is final length for this one, the revised frame etches need to be constructed first, so I can work out the height of spring required.
     

     
    The remains of the moulded springs on the kit sideframe, will be turned into locating studs for the primary springs. i had originally planned to replace the equalising beam mounts with an etched part that would actually pivot, but have abandoned that plan for now. I will give it a go at a later date, but with a suitable casting, the etched parts don't look as good as what's there at the moment.
     
    This funny looking part:

    Rests on the secondary springs, whilst also locating the bogie on the pivot. There will be some form of screw adjustment incorporated either into the supports that rest on the slide plates (see next pic), or from the secondary springs to the bolster to give the ability to adjust the ride height.
     

     
    The slide plates and the bolster bearing surface can be seen in the picture above. The plan to stack etched washer-like parts isn't quite working - I need more than I've planned for in the etch, so this will be replaced by a turned brass part of the required diameter, once the next version of the main etches are back, as I don't know what length the part needs to be to maintain the correct ride height at present.
     
    The final picture shows the mounting plate in place on the bogie, but it is too close, as mentioned above.
     

     
    There's a few more parts to test this week, then hopefully everything that needs it will be amended by mid-week, so the revised file can be sent to the etchers.
     
    More soon, with any luck
  17. Pugsley

    Virtual reality

    By Pugsley,

    I've been getting into 3D design in a big way of late. I need to get some parts made for the 7mm scale tank wagon projects, which are slowly progressing beyond ideas in my head, so set to learning the drawing package (Alibre) by knocking up a buffer of the type required. It's taken some time to get to this point, but I'm now happy it's as accurate as I can make it.
    Behold the mysterious floating buffer:
     

     
    Unfortunately, as the head has been built as the same part as the shank, it appears chromed in the final render (pimp my buffer ), but that's a lesson learned for next time! The plan is to send the model to Shapeways, or similar, to make a master, which will then be used to make wax copies for lost wax casting.
     
    It's been a nice diversion from the weathering and 37 projects, although I've now discovered that I need to redesign the traction motors slightly, after running into a little problem with tolerances. Still, the new drawing package should be able to help with that as well.
  18. Pugsley

    Tanks a bunch

    By Pugsley,

    The first of the 45 tonners is now almost complete, with just tidying up and painting left to do. i also need to fit the catwalk that fits above the buffer beam, on the solebar, but will fit that once the barrel has been painted.
     

     
    The kit instructions are quite straightforward, but I did struggle with one bit, folding the legs on the catwalk. I got my head around it eventually, and took the following photo to illustrate the correct way of folding:
     

     
    The legs need to be folded over to the outside, despite the half etch fold line being on the inside. In the picture above, the first two legs have been folded over, the rest haven't.
     
    The first of the 102T tanks is also now complete and ready for weathering.
     

     
    Let the fun commence!
  19. Pugsley
    It's not often I feel compelled to compose a more typical blog post with my general wittering (I think two in as many years is quite sufficient) but over the last few days I've been, well overwhelmed isn't quite the right word, but I've come to truly appreciate what a fantastic tool the Internet really is.
     
    Of course, there are the more immediate aspects, (one of which I'd probably best not mention here ) such as bringing together like minded groups to discuss their interests and share their models and information. Forums have allowed people to share their projects with others from around the world, and have allowed people to see some fantastic modelling that they may otherwise have never known anything about.
     
    Forums such as RMweb (other model railway forums are available) have also lead to a bit of a revolution in terms of passage of information. Want to know what loco hauled the 2F38 from Blackpool North on the 6th June 1992? Someone probably knows (an upside-down dog for anyone who can tell me, and yes, I do know the answer ). There is a veritable mine of information here alone, before you even start casting the web wider, outside of forums and other groups. There is also the social aspect, where online relationships, in the broadest sense, transfer into the real world. I've certainly met some great people, who I regularly keep in contact with, through RMweb.
     
    A special wagonphile mention must go to the Barrowmore MRG - I'd be struggling to do what I'm currently doing without the amazing resource created by putting the BR weight diagram books online.
     
    Before the demise of Fotopic, there were a huge number of images available to view stretching from the 60's to the present day. Want to find a photo of a particular loco in 1991? It was probably on there. The demise of Fotopic has left a bit of a hole in that respect, although it's great that a lot of people who had images on there have slowly migrated them to other providers - especially the like of Paul Bartlett and Martyn Read (and others) - their photos are invaluable to wagonphiles. It does, however, highlight one of the major Internet negatives - the transient nature of the content and the ease in which it can be destroyed - keep those hard-drives backed up!
     
    What's prompted this outpouring of Internet love? I've been searching the web for information on parabolic suspension for the tank wagon project. Although most of what I needed has been measured from prototypes, I find that no matter how thorough I think I've been, there's always something I've missed. Either something I didn't photograph properly, or a key dimension that I didn't measure, or if I did, I recorded it in such a way that I no longer understand quite what I did...
     
    Anyway, after a bit of deft Googling, I have now ascertained that the length of a Bruninghaus parabolic spring is 1200mm over the eye centres (when straight) Edit - I've since discovered that a UIC standard spring is 1200mm, the standard UK spring is 1400mm, which was the cause of much head scratching when dimensions scaled from photographs didn't match! For the UIC suspension, the bottom link pin is 750mm from the spring centre, there is a 150mm offset between the top and bottom pins and the pins are 288mm apart and 35mm diameter. The pin dimensions will be the same for the UK spring, but I'm guessing the 750mm dimension quoted above should be 850 for the UK spring. In short, everything I need to get my suspension parts drawn up and in the right place on the model. Stuff that would have been very difficult to obtain even a few years ago, and I would have had to take another 230 mile round trip to go and get the information that I didn't get first time around.
     
    So, in short, I think that this is a brilliant time to be doing what I'm trying to do and I'm now more fully appreciative of the role that the Internet plays in it, it would be a darn sight harder without it.
     
    If you've got this far, thanks for reading my waffle and I hope it's been interesting/struck a chord/not been a complete waste of time (delete as appropriate) I promise that the next post will be more interesting, with pictures and everything.
  20. Pugsley

    Tanking along

    By Pugsley,

    Oh, the irony!
     
    The tanks are coming together slowly, and I was getting bored of stabbing myself removing the springs from the 45 tonners, so started yet another new project in the form of a Bachmann TEA.
     
    I bought 3 of the tanks when Kernow MR Centre were selling them off cheap, thinking that I'd have to repaint them all, as the livery wasn't really suitable for the Total oil terminal, or the time period. However, a visit to Paul Bartlett's Fotopic site changed all that:
    http://gallery6801.fotopic.net/p61948874.html
     
    This is a fairly straightforward weathering project, more than a detailing exercise, there are subtle differences between the prototype picture and the model, but I'm not going to do anything about them. I don't feel it's worth really detailing something that is fundamentally wrong to start with (barrel diameter) and most people won't notice anyway!
     

     
    So far, the moulded ladders have been removed and the gaps at the end filled (please Mr Bachmann, can we have tanks that fit together properly?), this was the best of the 3 in terms of the ends fitting the barrel, the next two are going to require a lot more work. I've also gone over the whole wagon with 1000 grit wet and dry paper, used wet, to matt down the finish, both to distress the paint and also to provide a key for the later weathering.
     

     
    At this stage I've built up the area under the tank slightly to vaguely resemble the prototype, and fitted an etched ladder. It's not the best, I'll admit, but it is an improvement on the original moulding.
     

     
    The first of the custom decals from the laser printer have been used, and I'm really happy with the results. In the pic above, the number, the 'no naked light' and 'not to be loose shunted' are ones I've designed and printed myself. I was worried that the yellow lettering on the shunting notice wouldn't work too well on the grey tank, but it's worked out fine.
     
    Next job for this one is to decal up the other side, then start on the weathering. I'm going to enjoy that
     
    Meanwhile, work also continues on the 45 tonners, with the next stage being the work on the barrels.
     

     
    The first 4 have got the 'Esso' style of walkway, with the ladder on one end of the barrel, instead of having a ladder down to each side, from a central platform, on one end. The S Kits parts consist of an etch fret and fairly comprehensive instructions. It looks like it should be fairly straightforward to fit.
     
    More as it happens!
  21. Pugsley
    As a further distraction from the 37 bogie project, I thought I'd do a little more to the chassis for the Nitric Acid tanks. I'm using Alibre design for this as well, which has a sheet metal function, that calculates fold sizes and the half etched fold areas based on the parameters I specify. It's taken a while to get my head round, purely because there's so much it can do, and I'm not really familiar with CAD, so I'm very much learning as I go along.
     
    There's a few hours work gone into this so far, it would have been quicker apart from the sharp learning curve, so I've redone a few things several times to get where I am now.
     

     
    It's just the outer members at the moment, the next thing I'm going to draw up and add to the assembly are the axleguards (W-Irons), I've just got to work out a foolproof way of locating them, which I think is going to involve etching through and using Scale Hardware cosmetic rivets. All other solebar rivets will be of the usual half etched and punched through variety.
     
    Although this is going to be mostly etched, I'm planning on making as much use of castings as I can, in order to reduce construction time and complexity. I'm aiming for a compromise between the JLTRT speed and ease of assembly and the MMP looks and details. Only time will tell if I can manage it!
     
    Everything appears to look OK size wise at the moment, I've scaled the buffers down and fitted them virtually. They're the right distance apart (scale 1727mm) and there's only a tiny bit of bufferbeam visible on the outer edges, just like the prototype, so I'm happy.
     
    More as and when...
  22. Pugsley

    Low fidelity?

    By Pugsley,

    Who needs expensive decals when you've got paper and blu-tack?
     

     
    I've started another project to give me a break from the 37, I thought it was about time I indulged in a spot of wagonry. Besides, now slow progress is being made on Bisley Jct, I really could do with some stock for the oil terminal!
     
    The plan is for 8 wagons initially. All will be fitted with S-Kits walkways, and various detail differences in chassis in terms of strengthening ribs, handbrake locations etc will be represented. To the untrained eye, it'll look like there is two types of tank, look a little closer and it'll become apparent that there are 4 different types across the 8 wagons.
     
    I'm also going to change the springs this time, for the later parabolic version. At least some of the wagons will feature springs by Cambrian, the rest will probably be built from strip.
     
    I've designed my own decals for the project, the testing of which is under way in the picture above. The Total logo is now the correct size, the Caib logo needs to be a bit bigger. The beauty of doing it this way is that I can tailor the decals to match each wagon as required, and I only have to get what I need, instead of buying large packs of transfers for only one or two items. Of course, this may turn out to be a more expensive way of doing things, I haven't had the price for the sheet back yet, but it will be sufficient to finish 16 wagons (13xTTA, 3xTEA) so even if it is relatively expensive, it shouldn't be too much per wagon.
     
    Not having to make TOPS panels from individual letters and numbers is probably the best advantage!
     
    More progress as and when, hopefully this week, when I can outline the mods required to each wagon. I need to do a little more to the 37 at some point though, I'm hoping to have the frame of one of the bogies fully assembled by the Bristol show, in a little under two weeks.
  23. Pugsley

    Interior design - too

    By Pugsley,

    Since discovering TFMP's camera has a macro mode, I've managed to take some decent photos of the completed engine room bulkheads.

    No 1 end
     

    No 2 End
     
    Again, working from photos I've added grime washes with gouache and used powders sparingly. Looking at the photos I've found of 37 cabs, the engine room bulkheads don't seem to get as grubby as the nose.
     
    Just the cab interior to weather now, then I can crack on with installing the other cab fittings and get the other nose bulkhead completed. I'm going to try and make some track circuit clips to fit on the brackets - it may prove a bit tricky to do convincingly, but there's no harm in giving it a go!
     
    The painted flags look a bit naff close up (the out of focus pictures from my camera helped disguise that!), but in the context of the finished loco should look OK. It'll be quite had to see most of this detail anyway, but at least I know it's there! The cab lights should help a bit though.
  24. Pugsley
    Follow these links for the other stages of this project - I've had to trim the number of entries in the index box, to the right:
    Part 2 - More Gronk progress
    Part 3 - It doesn't look much different, does it?
    Part 4 - End of side 1, please turn over
    Part 5 - Side 2
    Part 6 - End of side two - approaching the end(s)
    Part 7 - Nearly the end(s)
    Part 8 - The finished article
     
    I know its in the archive, but seeing as this is still a current project, I'd better move it over here.
     
    Based on this photo:
    http://web.ukonline.co.uk/railscans/pic ... 000310.jpg
     
    The model started life as Dick Hardy, but I wanted to do something different with it. I started this ages ago, and it was intended for the later period on Chittle, but now I've got rid of the layout (and the rest of the stock), I'll probably put this one up for sale once finished - I still want to do it justice though.
     
    This was how far it had got previously:
     

     
     
    Renumbered, and the black window surrounds and cab door that the Hornby model came with have been painted grey, with a mix matched to the factory finish. I'd also renumbered it with Fox transfers, and changed the warning flashes to the early type (I'd originally planned to do it in 1998 condition, which wasn't much different). It needed fading, and the roof and sides need to be done separately - executive dark grey is a funny colour when faded, it goes a kind of tan colour. Departmental grey, however, just gets lighter.
     

     
     
    At this stage the roof has been faded with washes mixed up from Humbrol 110 and 34. The sides have been attacked with white gouache washes. The numbers have been removed, as the fading virtually obliterated them. I'll put them back later, probably after the first grime layer has gone on - as they're plastic, the oily dirt from the fuel doesn't stick to them.
     
    The downside of using this wash technique is the wash gathering in all the detail, and looking very wrong. Since trying this method on the 08 (after using it with some success on my blue 33) I've decided it's a technique that is better suited to smooth sided vehicles. Undeterred though, I pressed on to see what would happen once some grime had been run into the panel lines:
     

     
    And to be quite honest, it looked more than a bit pants. So, I decided that it all had to come off (the beauty of gouache) and that the only way to get the overall fade would be to do a spray fade. I left the gouache washes that I had already put on the yellow on both ends, as I wanted that more faded than the black. A bit of maskol to protect the glazing, the roof masked off, and it was ready to go:
     

     
    The gouache hasn't gone completely, but it doesn't matter as the sprayed fade will even things out. I used Vallejo off-white, heavily thinned with a little screenwash added in the mix to help the surface tension. this was sprayed at relatively high pressure, and just dusted on, and built up gradually.
     

     

     
    It's looking much better by this stage. It needs a bit more work on the battery and exhauster boxes on one side, and a bit on the solebar of the other, but that can be done with gouache.
    Once the dirt starts to be added:
     

     
    It starts to look more like it should from the photo. Numbers have been added again, but from Modelmaster this time - I'm disappointed with how yellow the Fox transfers go.
     
    The griming/highlighting needs to be finished on both sides, and then it'll be onto the underframe. I haven't yet decided what technique to use on the underframe - my variation on Martyn Welchs' method, or another idea I've been cooking up, similar to that I use for buffer grease. Hopefully I'll make a decision soon
  25. Pugsley

    Spot the difference

    By Pugsley,

    I've made a start on the chassis of the first TTA, replacing the springs and making it look a little more like the prototype it's based on.
     
    Whilst looking mostly similar, 45t Monobloc oil tanks are a minefield once you get into the details. Suspension brackets are different shapes, there are different rib quantities and spacings, different handbrake arrangements, etc, etc. There are also different lengths, but more about that later.
     

     
    So far, the detail that isn't required has been removed, with new detail added in place, the SAB load sensing valve has gone and the brake arrangement has been changed. The new handbrake came from another wagon, which will be modified to have a completely different arrangement when its time on the workbench arrives.
     
    The Bachmann model is based upon a Pickering design, the one currently on the bench is being modified to represent a Powell Duffryn built example. Eventually the fleet will consist of examples from Pressed Steel, Pickering, Powell Duffryn, Standard Wagon and Rootes Pressings, hence the variety in the fleet. The first batch of 4 comprises of 2 Powell Duffryn and 2 Pickering examples, the latter requiring very little modification in terms of the chassis.
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