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SRman

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  1. SRman

    Ayjay 2HAL update

    By SRman,

    Here's another pic of the HAL, this time with some more coats of the green and solebars, footboards and some of the details picked out in black. Roofs are still in undercoat and the bogies still have flash to be cleaned off before proper painting. Handrails on the cab ends and around the driver's and guard's doors are also yet to be added.
     
    I suspect I have used too heavy wire for those main jumpers. Still they are relatively easy to change if I decide I don't like what I have done so far.

     
    Sorry, I still don't have that focus quite sorted out. I used manual focus but I need to change the aperture priority to get better depth of field.
  2. SRman
    I have now revived work on my partly finished Class 22 - a Silver Fox resin body perched on a Bachmann Class 20 chassis. While this has been a runner for some time, it awaited fitting of the resin bogie sideframes and glazing of all of the body side windows.
     
    I have now fitted the sideframes but the bogie frames are now a little flimsy so further work required to make the joints firmer. Nevertheless, it ran several circuits of the layout reliably with a trailing load. I did fire off a couple of photos late this evening so will upload them in the next day or so.
     
    I have also packed some plasticard into the body and chassis ends to make it sit correctly. The body is still loose at the moment but I will drill a hole at each end through the screw holes in the chassis and use some self-tappers to hold it all together when I am satisfied I have all the other work completed - I don't want to screw and unscrew them too often.
     
    Further improvements could include some sort of cab interiors and lights for the headcodes, which would mean drilling and filing them out then glazing them and setting up some LEDs behind them.
     
    Currently it has a TCS MC2 decoder, a type I have only used on this model, so far, although I have lots of M1s, DP2X and DP2X-UK decoders from the same manufacturer. I need to tweak its settings a bit more before I can be entirely happy with the behaviour.
     
    Just to keep things going, here is a much earlier photo of the locomotive, numbered D6356, still with its class 20 bogie frames. I need to check whether it is an early or late body moulding for the headcode style as I am not entirely certain I have chosen the right number for this particular model!
     

     
    Of course, all of this will be eclipsed early next year when the weathered Dapol model I have ordered arrives from Kernow Models!
  3. SRman
    After putting it off for a long time, I decided to resurrect my old Bachmann London Transport 0-6-0 pannier tank. Now this model was one of the old split chassis types so converting it to DCC required hard-wiring a decoder and creating a way for the chassis halves to connect to the decoder red and black wires.
     
    Pulling it apart was quite easy, as even the chassis halves are only held together with two screws and two spacers. There were no bits that needed grinding off as the motor brushes simply pressed against each of the chassis halves and relied on the pressure for contact.
     
    I chose a 9 pin connector that accepts several different types of decoder and cut off the white, yellow, blue and purple wires and shortened the red, black, grey and orange ones (there are never going to be any lights fitted to this model!).
     
    Soldering the grey and orange wires to the brushes was straightforward, remembering to include a little heat-shrink tubing to slide over the brush connections to insulate them from the chassis completely.
     
    I drilled a couple of holes, one each to the rear of each chassis half, sized to accept a 12BA brass screw. These screws were to allow me to solder the red and black wires to the chassis halves (one wire per chassis half). One of the screws was a little tight and actually sheared off but that was OK too, as I was still able to solder the wire to the brass stub.
     
    Before soldering the red and black wires, I reassembled the motor and chassis. This was a bit fiddly as the spacers kept shifting before I could tighten the screws but I eventually managed to get it all together. I then soldered the red and black wires to those screws (or stubs!) mentioned earlier.
     
    This is where the 9 pin connector comes in. I tested the set up with an old Digitrax DH123 decoder that has burnt out its lighting functions but still works for driving a motor. This decoder is expendable, as far as I am concerned! Anyway, it all worked perfectly first go. I tested on the programming track first and all seemed well, then tested using low voltage DC current and the wheels went round, so then I placed it on the main lines and ran it back and forth.
     
    Having established that all was well, I swapped the decoder for a newer Train$ave budget decoder which also uses the 9 pin connector. While a little larger than i would like, it *just* fitted into the pannier's cab. Being black it is well hidden - there was little cab detail to see anyway as the motor/chassis block intrude well into the cab to start with. I had to grind away a little of the wheel splasher mouding in the cab floor to allow my solder connections on the sides of the chassis to clear them but all wnet together smoothly after that.
     
    It is trundling happily around the layout even as I type this. It always had a bit of a rocking motion, in spite of my trying several different wheel sets quite some time ago. I settled on the best combination of wheels I could find, hence the appearance in the phot with the centre wheels having their rims painted out but the newer replacement wheels still having polished rims.
     
    All of that took place last night. My final tasks this morning were to replace the solid buffers as the fairly close couplings were causing derailments on tighter curves due to the buffers coming into contact. I replaced them with some standard Bachmann round sprung buffers. I had to drill out the holes a little to allow fitment. A touch of glue, some red paint on the shanks, and a bit of matt black on those shiny wheel rims and it is now complete ... until I do a little more weathering on it.
     
    The photo shows it before I painted the wheel rims and replaced the buffers. The BR van was a stop-gap to prevent the buffer problem untill I replaced them on the engine.
     

  5. SRman
    Further to my earlier posting, I have fitted an NCE decoder with a 9-pin JST connector and harness, so I can substitute alternative decoders if I'm not happy with the NCE one. I haven't yet wired extra pickups on the trailing bogie so running was a little hesitant in places but it has now completed several circuits of the layout as a 1HAL!
  6. SRman
    Just thinking about that last little bit, I realised that technically, since the motor coach has no lavatory access, while it was running around on its own it was a 1NOL !
     
    Anyway, I have now rigged extra pickups on the trailing bogie of the motor coach and, unusually for me, run the wires very neatly through holes drilled in the upper corners of the compartment partitions.
     
    Next, I rigged a simple hook and loop coupling system using some stiff brass wire drilled into the floor at right angles to the coupling plane. This tended to swivel a little initially so a notch was filed into each headstock and the couplings seated a little deeper into the floor; this was very successful, although the distance between coaches is a little greater than I would like, it negotiates the tightest curves comfortably with just a little clearance between the inner corners of the carriages (no variable couplings here, although it would be nice to use the system Hornby and Bachmann use on their units).
     
    A little oil on the motor gears and axles and off it went. Tweaked the CVs a little to get smooth and consistent starts and it has now been happily trundling around for an hour.
  7. SRman
    I have been completeing or pushing a few projects further forward in the last couple of weeks, besides the layout progress in preparation for a BRMA meeting at my place on Saturday 18th August.
     
    One project was to fit headcodes to the Dapol/Kernow class 22. I chose some Heljan Western headcodes to fit inside the headcode boxes, which entailed removing the cab interiors by cutting the glue until they loosened sufficiently to take out (thanks Rick/gwiwer for the heads up on doing this). This pic also shows some of the newly completed ballasting at this end of the layout.
     

     
    The (fictional) maroon Hymek now has its glazing fitted. I need to reduce the yellow panels a little and fit tail/marker lights.
     

     
    The class 455 with the new treatment of the cab front handrails - these have to be painted white when I am ready. As this treatment looks much more successful than the previous one, I'll be redoing the other cab front to match.
     

     
    Bachmann class 57/0, 57 008 'Freightliner Explorer', lights. I had to repair some wiring and replace one of the marker lights with a new LED. In the second pic you can see that the new marker light is a little dimmer.
     

     

     
    And here is the Bachmann Collectors' Club Porterbrook class 57, 57 601, now with sound fitted (I swapped the Howes sound decoder out of 57 008 while fixing its lights). Enthusuasts nicknamed it "Purple Ronnie".
     

  8. SRman
    I know this has been seen before but I have now converted the maroon Hymek, D7013, to DCC operation, with one TCS T1 decoder wired to both motors in parallel. It was an absolute sod to wire up: I soldered the brush feeds to brass tags but every time I threaded all the wires through, at least one would break off again! I also had to cut away the copper feed to the 'live' brush (as Triang/Hornby had originally wired it) and insulate both brush springs on each motor bogie. Anyway, after turning the air blue for a while, it all works rather nicely now.
     

     
     
    A different project, but also a sod of a job, was doing the wasp stripes and cab end glazing on the Maunsell diesel-electric shunter. This also has been hard-wired to run on DCC but the DCC Concepts decoder was much easier to wire in and secrete behind the radiator. The tricky bit was finding somewhere to put the stay-alive capacitor but I eventually stuck it in behind the fuel tank on one side. It is still not quite sitting properly on its chassis but I'll fix that properly after I have fitted all the handrails and the footsteps. It will be numbered 15201 but it has not yet received any transfers.
     

     

     
    The wasp stripes are still a teensy bit uneven but I am reasonably happy that they only need a few minor corrections now.
  9. SRman
    Yet another project started (while several others continue, unfinished!). I decided to make a start on my Golden Arrow Productions ex-LSWR G16 4-8-0T heavy shunter. I have cleaned up the resin body a bit and filled a couple of holes, drilled out the chimney, smokebox door and handrail holes, and glued in the smokebox 'dart' and the main handrails.
     
     
    The kit is designed to fit a modified Hornby Stanier 8F 2-8-0 chassis. This entails sawing off a bit from the back and mounting a resin block, adding a front extension, and shifting the valve gear and cylinders forward a bit (the valve gear operates off the second axle on the G16 but the third axle on the Stanier original).
     
     
    Of course there are many other details that will need to be added as I go. I have some LSWR sprung buffers to hand, a suitable whistle, and things like lamp irons will have to be fabricated and added.
     

     

     
     
    At least the livery will be simple - all over unlined black!
  10. SRman
    I primed the G16 body shortly after taking those previous photos. This showed up a few imperfections so I have cleaned those up. Next stage is to spray another coat of primer.
     

     
     
    I also got brave and tackled the preliminary work on the Hornby chassis mods. I removed the works and cut the wring (it will be a complete rewire job anyway!). Swapped the crankpins between the third (geared) and second axles as per the GAP instructions then chopped off the rear 6mm from the chassis. The resin piece at the rear is a good push fit but needs to be glued on properly.
     

     
    Tip: Where possible, I put the screws back into their respective holes after removing components as this allows me to keep better track of which screw goes where.
  11. SRman
    A quick update (but no photos at this point): I reinstalled the motor and intermediate gear this morning then hooked up the wires temporarily to test it on DC power. It ran perfectly on the test leads so I placed it on the track and switched that over to DC (from DCC). There was an initial stickiness but after a couple of circuits it ran perfectly, although there was an annoying ticking noise that I traced to the front articulation on the coupling rods touching the spacing washer on the valve gear on each revolution: it doesn't affect the free running so I won't worry about it for now.
     
    Next job is to fire up the soldering iron and hard-wire the TCS M1 decoder I have for it.
  12. SRman
    I spent a short time this afternoon gluing the steps, toolbox and cab roof vent on the G16, followed by filing the rear body mounting to make it sit more levelly. The Christmas bag in the photos was to hide the glare from the TV as I decided to take the photos in the sitting room next to a window.
     
    Still to add before painting are the lamp irons from flattened brass wire, remembering that these Southern locomotives had six lamp irons at each end, lubricator pipe runs, and the clack valves and feed pipes near the front of the boiler.
     
    To be added after painting are buffers, safety valves and whistle, plus the cab door hand rails (to be made from modified Peco track pins, as per the kit instructions).
     

     

     

     
    On test, it has now hauled its first heavy train, although I will probably add a little extra lead into the boiler and side tanks later. The front bogie needs a little more side play as it struggles and even derails on my inner radius curves. Other than that, I am happy with its progress and running qualities.
  13. SRman
    Since most of the remaining painting required will be by brush, I decided it was time to add the buffers, after first painting the buffer beams and shanks red. There was a minor disaster when I dropped one of the sprung buffers and it fell apart on the floor. I fished around with a torch for extra illumination for a while and eventually reunited the buffer head, shank, spring and tiny retaining screw! I do have to check to see if that rear buffer beam should be red for its entire depth or only for the bit up to a level with the tops of the buffer shanks. One buffer seems to have drooped slightly so I'll have to reseat it before I'm done.
     
    There is still a bit of filling and filing/sanding to do but overall the painting can proceed apace. I even started a little of the weathering finish, with dark grey (Humbrol #67) darkened with a little black painted on to the cab roof, smokebox and footplate.
     
    Oh yes ... and I have filed down the outer sides of those 8F cylinders a bit.
     

     

     

     
    p.s. The roof is glossy because the paint is still wet!
  14. SRman
    Another diversion from layout building and work on the G16 and 2 HAL. I looked at my Lima class 31, 31 327 in Railfreight grey and thought I would like to do something useful with it, as the 30/31 was a particularly good model from the Lima stable. Some years ago I fitted separate handrails to the front of my blue 31 004 and repainted the yellow ends completely. 31 327 had been languishing in a drawer because it had never had the side handrails which were supposed to be supplied in the box but weren't.
     
    I decided to shave off the moulded on handrails at the front and drill the holes (#76 drill bit) before losing track of the correct positions for the handrail ends. Bending the handrails involved a small amount of trial and error. followed by gluing with superglue (cyano-acrylate). The door handrails were just as fiddly to get right, especially the ones with the bend at the top on the edges closest to the ends.
     
    I partially repainted the yellow using slightly thinned Humbrol gloss yellow (#69). This should not have matched fully but blended with the slight weathering I had applied at some time previously and barely shows at all.
     
    Flushed with that success, I decided to try it on analogue DC and it ran very sweetly, even without cleaning the wheels (I'm not a huge fan of Lima's running qualities but occasionally one could get a 'winner' that ran really well - both of my class 31s are in this category). I decided to try out a DCC conversion, using an old, sidelined Digitrax DH123 decoder, which has the advantages of 1. being expendable and 2. possessing a 9-pin JST connection from the wiring harness into the decoder, allowing me to replace it in the future with a better decoder. I was pleasantly surprised with the quality of the running, even with this non-BEMF decoder, particularly in light of my previous poor experiences with Lima mechanisms on DCC, so much so that I will convert 31 004 as well in the near future.
     
    Now all it needs is a little more judicious weathering and some etched nameplates and I'll be very happy with the result.
     

     

  15. SRman
    After a period of inactivity on the G16 project, I have now done a little more detailing work. This was to add a wire run (or is it an oil pipe run?) from the front of the tank to the bulge over the cylinders on each side plus the start of what will be the clack valves on each side. For the latter I have used a thickish brass wire with some fibre washers intended for valve gear applications. Next, I will add a little Milliput to the tops followed by another of those fibre washers. The photos show this work to date, with apologies for the blurriness of the first pic.
     

     

     
    Those wire/pipe runs are deliberately kinked and wavy - photos of the real ones show this to be so.
  16. SRman
    The vinyls to convert a Bachmann class 350/1 into a SouthWest Trains liveried class 450 arrived last week, while I was unable to do anything due to a back injury! I have now healed sufficiently to allow short (very short!) spells at the workbench, so I did a little preliminary painting on the first driving coach of the Bachmann class 350.
     
    I have also removed the pantograph and associated insulators and conduits/bus bars from the appropriate coach, Some holes will require a small amount of filling before painting but as I won't be using the vinyls here that can be done at any stage of the conversion process. I noted from photos of that coach in Modern Locomotives Illustrated that one of the underfloor modules appears to be absent when compared to the 350. I would assume that it was the AC high voltage step-down transformer and equipment. This was a rather nicely moulded separate fitting on the model and was easily levered out with a small flat-bladed screwdriver.
     
    The vinyls come with panels to cover the pantograph well, the red and orange flashes on the roof and include a red panel for the driver's cab air conditioning unit. I decided that I would actually paint the drivers aircon unit red and dispense with the vinyl panel for that. I have also decided that I will paint the roofs, ends and skirts (above the underframes) blue. The photos show the first thin coats of red and blue. These are still very thin and do not necessarily reflect the final colouration of the panels.
     
    The vinyls themselves may be seen on Electra Railway Graphics' website at http://www.electrarailwaygraphics.co.uk .
     
    Photos are of only the first coach at this point.
     

     

     
    I don't know how rapidly I will be able to progress with this project but I will take photos at each stage - hopefully slightly better ones than these!
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