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JZjr

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  1. JZjr

    Lima Class 60 Modern Upgrades

    By JZjr,


    Modern Upgrades
    The next project on my workbench is to bring my Lima Class 60, 60016 'RAIL Magazine', to modern standards.
     

     
    This is similar to what I have done to my Hornby Class 56 which has featured in this blog previously.  I have found it cheaper than replacing the loco with the newer versions which are available - as with the 56, if I didn't already have this model, I would probably buy the newer version rather than buying this especially for upgrades; particularly because of the internal detailing which has already been completed on this model.
     
    As it stands, the model has had transparent grills fitted with internal detailing and has crude weathering applied.  I have etched nameplates but they have not yet been fitted which I will do before weathering.  I am undecided if I will put DB transfers on the cab sides - you'll find out later if I decided to in the end.
     

     
     
    Aims
     
    Lighting - Individually controlled running lights and cab lights. DCC Fitting - Fit a Plux22 socket and speaker ready for a LokSound decoder. Motor - Fit a new motor (if required after testing with a quality decoder)  

    60016 in 1999, before being named.  Photograph: Steve Jones, licensed under CC Attribution 2.0
     
    Lighting
     
    For the lighting, I have an unused Class 67 lighting kit from Express Models which I will adapt by removing the top marker lights which will come in useful when I repair my Bachmann 57 which will be done at a later date.  Express Models do have a DCC lighting kit for the Lima 60 but it is not prototypical, there are other suitable kits though, the 67 kit is just what I had to hand.
     
    The lighting kit is easy to fit to the 60, the light clusters are glazed and are almost the correct size so no drilling needed.  The head and tail light glazing is attached to the cab-end glazing and can easily be snapped off after scoring with a scalpel.  The marker lights have a separate piece of glazing which can be pushed out from the inside with a needle or the blade of a scalpel, the hole for the marker lights is tapered so needs widening on the inside - I used the scalpel blade.  The only other adjustments needed are:
     
    To cut away the chassis edge around the front to accommodate the black LED surrounds, I did scrape away a little of the paint while doing this but it is an easy touch-up. To mount the internal cab mouldings into the body rather than in the chassis so the lighting units don't foul it at the body is placed back on.  The glazing holds the main clips for the body so careful placement is needed to ensure a secure fitting.
       
    Then, the Express Models LED's from the lighting kit slid right in and hold with friction alone.  When testing from a bench PSU at 12v they are a little bright (not obvious in the photos) but I can dim them by adjusting the decoder settings and there's always the option to add an additional resistor at a later date if they are still to bright at the minimum setting.
     

     

     
     
    For cab light I will simply use small white LED boards which include a resistor, I bought these on eBay.  I chose these due to the compactness, it can get a little messy inside the locomotive with lots of wiring and through-hole components so the fact that the board accepts 12-18v directly from a decoder is ideal - as with the running lights, I can adjust the brightness via the decoder if necessary.
     
     
    DCC Fitting
     
    I have purchased some Plux22 socket board from Illuminated models, using Plux22 gives me enough function for individually controlled lights without soldering to the decoder or adding a second decoder to the loco which can make it difficult when programming.  Each end of the loco will use five functions (cab light, marker lights, tail lights, left headlight, right headlight) totalling 10 and the Plux22 socket gives access to 9 functions meaning that I will require one more function, the ESU LokPilot and LokSound 5 series decoders offer an Aux8 via a solder pad which is a full power function.  They also offer a further four logic level outputs if desired - two via solder pads and two via the socket - although these by default are not enabled as the pins/pads are for different features by default.
     
     

     
     
     
    The intention is to add Legomanbiffo sound with a suitably sized speaker given the space in the body.  The use of an ESU chip gives me an easy way to program complex rules which dictate what each function does depending on multiple 'states' of the loco.
     
    Motor
     
    If - after testing - the motor does need replacing, I intend to use a Hornby Class 66 motor bogie as I did on my old Hornby 56 - this time, I will need to create a mounting as I do not have a donor chassis.  Basic testing with a bench power supply shows the motor has a starting voltage of 5.2-5.8 volts and the current draw looks good but doesn't run very slowly so will need further testing.

  2. JZjr
    The fitting of internal and external lighting to a Bachmann Class 170, the Express Models lighting kit has previously been fitted to this model.
     
    Introduction
     
    I have obtained a Legomanbiffo Class 170 sound decoder to add to my fleet, I am installing it into my CrossCountry class 170.  I also intend to fit saloon & cab lighting as well as bodyside indicator 'hazard' lights.  An Express Models lighting kit has already been fitted to this model, I probably did a write-up of that on the old, old, old RMweb but that is long gone!
     
    I also am looking to use conductive couplings to share track pickup between the three vehicles and to share the speaker connections.  I have both the Roco and Fleischmann 4-pole coupling and and going to use one type on the 170 and the other type on my 159.  The 170 should be incredibly reliably powered because, with the conductive couplings it will have all wheel pickup which gives me 12 wheels per rail for contact.  See below for why I am not sharing pickup wires through the couplers.
     
    For the speakers I am going to use iPhone speakers with one speaker in each end vehicle, both fed from the LokSound 4 in the centre power vehicle.
     
     
    Construction
     
    I started looking into installing the bodyside indicator 'hazard' lights (BILs).  The Bachmann 170 (original version, not the 201x retool, which I believe will have working BILs anyway) has pieces of painted glazing poking through the BIL holes which should make this nice and easy.  I've removed the glazing pieces and filed the paint off so they are translucent.

     
    I purchased some amber LEDs from RapidOnline in the hope I could use these but it turns out they are a little (a lot) too red for my needs although this doesn't show very well in the photo!  I think I'll add  these to my electronics part box to be used another time.  At about 1.20 for 40 LEDs though I don't mind not using them.

     
    I also have some DCC Concepts micro LEDs, these are pre-wired surface mount LEDs, which have a good colour for my needs.  I have used these on my 142, gluing them on to the bodyshell.  However, these are smaller, and hence more expensive, than they need to be for this project.  I've had a look on eBay and I can get some 1206 Orange LEDs, these are surface mount LEDs that are a bit larger than the DCC Concepts LEDs and are also pre-wired.  They are the same as the LEDs I used in my 'OFF & RA Indicator Project', they are quite a bit cheaper than the DCC Concepts option as they are larger.
     
    The first major task is shuffling the couplings about.  I previously swapped the bodies around so the motor was in an end vehicle so that I could run it as a 2 or 3 car set.  I have now reversed this so that I only need three decoders throughout the train.  Then I removed the corridor connection moldings so that I can replace them with flexible card versions to achieve a closer couple provided by the conductive couplings.  I have bought some cardboard corridor connections for the 170 from Modellers Mecca, I will add these when I move on to the centre vehicle.
    (This photo still shows the Kadee couplers, the Roco conductive couplers will close the gap by 1-2mm)

     
    The function decoders are mounted in the end of the end vehicles, with the wiring for the previously installed express models lighting kit running on the roof.  I have used black electrical tape to cover the vents in the roof to stop them from glowing and installed veroboard strips to provide internal light and BIL indicators with power.
     
    As I was looking at the conductive couplers and deciding the best way to wire them I came to a terrible realization; as the couplers are pushed together, the wrong contacts would touch before mating correctly.  This means that I could end up with a short, it also means that I could blow a speaker and the decoder a lot more easily than I'd like - all I would need to do is couple on live rails!  Because of this, I have decided to stick with just speaker wires running through the coupler and to stick with all wheel pick-ups on a per-vehicle basis.
     
    The internal saloon lighting is simply achieved using 'warm white' LEDs from TruOpto.  I like these LEDs as they give a very nice colour which is very similar to full scale warm lighting using incandescent or LED lighting.  I find that CrossCountry do tend to use a warmer light than other TOCs, I will be buying many more and using them in my 220 & 221 for the same warm lighting effect when I eventually get around to them, my workbench queue is growing exponentially!
     
    Wiring (WARNING: I'm not the tidiest at wiring, mainly because I struggle to neatly strip the thin wires I have used):

     
    Generally, I am happy with the lighting.  I will need to add two more LED's to even out the light and I will need to get the paint out - all of the patches that look like reflections in the photo are patches of light bleeding through the body.  There is also bleeding around the BIL beacons, I will also paint around them with black paint and use white tack to seal the LED.

     
    So here we are with lighting take two, I need to add some 'White-Tack' around the Express Models lighting board to remove some of the excessive glare from the cab, there is also a little bit of leakage around the windows, for now I will leave the windows alone but the solution could simply be to glue them in to close the gap.  Other than that I am much happier with this.

     
    Opening this vehicle up for the final time I am fitting the iPhone speaker into the floor space and wired up to the conductive coupler.  As I am using the four pole coupler I am wiring the top two contacts to one side of the speaker and the bottom two to the other side of the speaker, this will be the same in the other driving car.  The two speakers are wired in parallel.  This means that the speakers will be in-phase whichever way I couple up the vehicles (if you want to find out more about speakers being in or out of phase, search for 'Phase Cancellation' to learn about the phenomenon).  Only a small amount of work was required to make the speaker fit under the seating, I also drilled a hole in the engine mold to let some sound out.  This space is from where I removed the original weights however the combined weight of all the added parts makes it just a little heavier than it felt before.

     
    Also, it is time to put some passengers in the vehicle.  I have both standing and seated passenger figures, I bought a bag of 100 of each from Model Signs via eBay.  My three year old helped with this but, she was a little distressed that I had to cut some legs off as they were a little to tall/long.  She was a little concerned that they wouldn't be able to get off the train without their legs.


     
    Now I just have to repeat the same again before I move on to the centre motor vehicle.  Then I'll have a finished 170, keep a lookout for Part 2
     
    Cheers
  3. JZjr
    Creating a Class 159 in South Western Railway Livery - I had some help with the painting!
     
    Introduction
     
    I was in conversation with Andrew of Cairns Road Works regarding some First Great Western repaints and got talking about an SWR repaint.  So I decided to jump onto eBay and find a used 3-car 158 and set to work.
     
    There are no transfers available for the SWR livery at the moment so Andrew got in contact with Railtec and got an agreement in place.  Living at the right end of the country meant I was to provide some detailed photographs.
     
    I am also going to upgrade the lighting on the 158 to include prototypical LED marker/tail lights, saloon lighting & bodyside indicators - I'm also planning on adding some roofing detail where I can to better reflect the current prototype.
     
    Most of the information here will be about the lighting and detailing as this is the part of the project I am completing - I want to make it nice and clear that the credit for the painting doesn't rest with me!
     
     
    Research
     
    The research from my end consisted of hopping on a train to Salisbury and hoping to find a unit in the correct livery,  as it happened, there was one on depot and one stabled in the station so I spent some time taking some photos before getting some lunch and heading home again.  Easier than I had expected.  The photos can be found at: https://fredboniface.co.uk/railphoto
     
     
    Lighting
     
    After disassembling the bodies and removing the original lighting boards I found that the holes in the cab end were 2mm holes - perfect for some 2mm tower LEDs.  I've sourced my LEDs from DCC Concepts - I have tried cheaper LEDs but none of the Bi-Colour LEDs are of the correct polarity and none of the 'headlight' LEDs are of the right tone.  I am going to fit a headlight on each side of the cab so I can use a night running headlight or if the prototype ever gets fitted with the new type of 'dual' headlights I can easily model it!
     
    For the bodyside indicator 'hazard' lights, I am planning to use DCC Concepts Micro LEDs stuck to the body with the wired fed through a 0.5mm hole drilled through the body.
     
    The internal lighting will either be formed of 12v LED strips or individual small LEDs mounted on the roof.
     
    This is one of the early versions of the Bachmann 158, the front cab piece is molded in clear plastic and painted rather than glazed, this means that I needed to paint the inside and the inner surface of the LED holes to prevent the entire front of the train glowing as it does in the original model.

     
    The LED's are held in using a replacement lighting board made with Veroboard, I will attach a 4 pin & a 2 pin (I don't have a 5 pin) micro-socket to the board to facilitate easy removal of the body in the future, I bought my micro JST connectors from RailwayScenics for £0.65 each.  The board doesn't protrude outside the bodyshell as much as the photo suggests so a quick trim should keep it inside.  I will use a short jumper wire to join both common tracks together and then use the top strip to connect the marker light tracks together.

     
    I've used the space available towards the bottom of the board to fit resistors for the tail lights.  I have only fitted 10K resistors so this will need testing before I make the board for the other end to save switching too many components around.  Due to the improvements, the new board is quite a bit bigger than the previous board which means I will need to carefully construct a cab interior around the board.  The board is also a little bit thicker than the previous which will mean the glazing unit behind the cab will need some minor adjustment to fit back in place.

     
    I wired up the lights for a quick test using 1K resistors for the marker & headlights.  I have dimmed the marker lights and the tail lights through the decoder.  I am happy with the tail lights, but, not the marker lights.  I will swap out the resistors on the marker lights for something a bit more resistive.
     
    Marker Lights, Tail Lights, Day running, Night running. (Click on any of the photos for a larger view).

     
    I now need to make up a lighting board for the other end before moving on to the next stage.
     
    Next, Part 2: Disassembly & Interior Detailing
     
  4. JZjr
    Using a Hornby Class 66 Motor bogie to re-motor a Hornby Ringfield Class 56 - and exploring the concept for future upgrades.
     
     
    About
     
    The motor in my Lima Class 60 has seized and is in need of replacement, I have seen all of the topics about using CD/DVD Drive motors but I'd rather have a motor rated for 12v.  Although, if the need ever arises to re-motor some of my other stock I may have to look further into this.  I decided however to complete my Hornby 56 first as I have just added lighting to this model and would like to get it 'finished' before moving on to something else.
     
    I started comparing bogies with some of my other stock with motor bogies available and noticed that it is close enough to my Hornby Class 59.  While not an amazing motor, my Hornby 59 does run fairly smoothly at low speeds, something that cannot be said of Lima or Ringfield motors nowadays - even with a quality decoder.  I managed to source a Hornby Class 66 on eBay, I bought a 'non-runner' (which incidentally runs just fine, I suppose it was tested on DC as the decoder was set to only work on DCC).  The Hornby 66 cost me just £38 and although the body is not in a usable state, it did include a Zimo MX645 sound decoder with YouChoos Class 66 Sound.


     
     
    Construction
     
    To be honest, construction was much simpler that I had thought it would be, mostly because I had a donor chassis so I didn't have to build anything.
     
    The Class 66 power bogie is held in with a clip on the top of the motor, both the Class 56 and 60 power bogies are held in place with a clip at the front and back of the bogie.  I will need to look into building a fixing into the Hornby body.  Possibly by cutting out the 66 motor fixing and building this into the model.
     
    I will also need to dismantle the bogies so that I can fit the correct side frames to the new bogies.
     
    This is the Class 66 Motor Bogie once removed from the old chassis, I have de-soldered the noise suppression capacitor.

     
    Because I managed to find a donor loco for the motor bogie, it means I can cut the donor chassis down and retain the same motor mount.  When I get around to doing my Class 60, I'm not sure I'll have that luck so it will be more work.
     
    Photos top left: The motor bogie with the mount and the original side frame.
    Photos top right: The motor bogie sitting in the 56 chassis, I needed to open up the hole on both ends for it to fit.
    Photo bottom: All put together, I secured the motor mount to the chassis using liquid poly, liquid poly did not work when attaching the side frames.


     
    Now I need to get the side frames attached with Araldite, the photo does exaggerate the offset between axle-boxes & axles. 

     
    And then all that's left to do is fit a sound decoder.
     
    Conclusion
     
    Cheaper than a new version of the 56 and it means I don't have to re-weather.  It also means that if I want to change the speaker for a larger & better version, I have plenty of space and more options to choose from!
     
    If I was looking to buy a new Class 56, based on the current prices, I would buy a newer Hornby version.  But I'd rather do this work on an existing model than sell it and replace it.
     
    I was going to post a video here to show off the lighting effects working with the sound, however, the Legomanbiffo sound project is on a LokSound 5.  There is no definition for this decoder in DecoderPro yet so I can't remap the functions as I don't have a LokProgrammer.  This means the lighting is all over the place - but, when I have remapped these functions, I will post a video in the comments.  For now:
     
    The cab lights which are now working off of the LokSound, the rest of the functions are working off of a LokPilot FX which you can read about in my previous blog post.

     
    Up next will either be sound fitting a Bachmann 170 using conductive couplings or a lighting upgrade on a Bachmann 158 soon to be repainted 159.  We'll see which gets done first!
     
    Cheers
  5. JZjr
    Upgrading a Ringfield motor Hornby Class 56 with a modern spec DCC lighting system.
     
     
    About
     
    Built between '76 - '84, the Class 56 is a heavy freight locomotive.  They are now only operated by GBRF and Colas however my model is in EWS livery and will be staying that way.
     
    The model, with it's ringfield motor, has a huge amount of space inside which makes working with it very easy - I hope.  It was originally fitted with filament bulb lights which I removed many years ago when originally fitting a decoder.  Hopefully this mean I will be able to reuse the existing plastic lenses which means I can use the #1206 LEDs I acquired for my OFF & RA indicators project previously posted.

     
     
    What do I want to achieve?
     
    I want to bring this model to modern standards with LED lighting in the cabs and as head/tail lights.
     
    I want the ability to separately control marker, head & tail lights as well as DCC controlled cab lights.
     
    I want to complete this project without buying any more components or equipment (apart from some solder, I'm running quite low!)
     
    I want to run the marker, head & tail lights from a LokPilot FX.  The cab lights will, for now, be left unconnected pending the fitting of a sound decoder in the future.
     
    Fitting & Wiring a speaker ready for a future sound install.
     
     
    Construction
     
    With one of the cab units out, it should be fairly simple to pop an LED onto the roof before slipping it back in.  It could do with a lick of paint to make it look more like a 1970's locomotive and less like a space ships cockpit.  Looking at pictures from Google, the cab is more of a 'light grey' than 'space-age metal'.

     
    As it turns out, I have no grey paint so in the spirit of having nothing left in the modelling budget, space age metal it is.  I will however add a few details in black on the desk and paint in a door at the back of the cab.
     
    After looking at the light pipes, I have decided to use the original light pipe with one #1206 LED for the tail lights, one #1206 LED for each marker light and a 2mm Tower type LED for the headlight - this fits perfectly and is easier than squeezing the smaller led in the right place above the tail light pipe.
     
    The surface mount #1206 LEDs were secured with PVA before being surrounded by 'White Tack' to prevent light bleed.  The 2mm Tower LED was a perfect fit for the headlight hole so the Hornby lens was dispensed with.  The Cab light LEDs are the same small LEDs as the marker & tail lights and is just resting in the top of the cab.

     
    I then simply used electrical tape to secure the wires past the motor, now I can begin construction of a 'circuit board' with a small piece of stripboard.

     
    With one end now wired up, I have to say that the fine wires on the #1206 LEDs are very fiddly to solder when you have 8 to do!  On that note, with half of the LEDs wired in and no solder left; it is time to call it a day until I can grab some more solder to start work on the other end.

     
    With the solder, speaker & decoder here it's just time to wire it all together.  I've mounted the speaker, a base reflex from Roads & Rails, onto the top weight with just a thin film of PVA glue, this should make it easy to remove if I ever want to change the speaker.
     
    Then it is just a case of setting up the 'Decoder Lock' in DecoderPro and get some function mapping done.  I love the logical interface for programming ESU decoders which is why I chose to use the LokPilot FX.  Function 23 gives me a 'hazard warning light effect', no idea if this ever existed in this form on a 56 but it gives me a change to play with the decoder settings.

     
     
    Final Outcome
     
    Marker & Headlight:

     
    Tail Lights: (Showing a little bit of light bleed, I will use a cocktail stick to push the white-tack higher up towards the cab)

     
    Marker Only:

     
    Cab lights will remain inoperable until I fit a sound decoder, I have also left the motor un-wired for now after removing the Bachmann decoder.  In the future, I will look to re-motor the loco by adapting a more modern Hornby motor bogie.
  6. JZjr
    The creation of working OFF indicators & RA repeaters in OO Gauge, mounted with Next Train indicators just like you see at the station.
     
    About
     
    OFF indicators are used to aid Guards & Despatchers during train despatch, they are used when signal sighting is obstructed due to platform curvature, length or placement.  When the signal is displaying a proceed aspect, the OFF indicator will illuminate.
     
    RA 'Right Away' repeaters are used to despatch DOO trains - either ECS or service trains depending on location.  They too are used when signal sighting is obstructed so the driver can easily see the indication.
     
    NTI 'Next Train Indicators' displays are the three line displays usually found on the platform that indicate the next trains departing.
     
    I was going to post a prototype picture here from Bristol Temple Meads but it was complete before I had a chance to get one.  I may come back and pop one in here, we'll see.
     
    Here I will recreate a island platform NTI display with OFF and RA indicators, for this I will use the 3D printed versions from Mainline Models - they have been designed using technical drawings from Unipart Dorman, a major provider of signalling infrastructure to Network Rail.  They are made available through Shapeways, a 3D printing marketplace based in The Netherlands. Links: OFF Indicator, RA Repeater.
     

    They are shipped from Shapeways as printed, in a clear 'Fine Detail' plastic.  Shown with Peco Code 75 track for scale.
     
     
    Materials
     
    To contruct the structure I will be using:
    4.8mm Square Tubing (Available from Evergreen Scale Models & Plastruct among others) Polystyrene Sheet (Plasticard) Next Train Indicators printable kit (Purchased from ModelRailwayScenery.com) Pre-wired #1206 SMD LED's (Purchased from eBay) Black Paint (I used Tamiya Dark Iron)  
     
    Construction (Time to compelete 4 Hours)
     
    Once I received the Indicators from Shapeways I saw that some of the holes had webbing over them so the first task was to push a thin needle through those holes to ensure they were open, then I could begin painting them black to match the prototype.  Following the painting, again I pushed the thin needle through the holes to ensure they hadn't been bridged by the paint.  The plastic does take the paint reasonably well but does require 2-3 coats to get complete coverage - I used Tamiya Dark Iron. It's helpful to paint the inside first, this way you can hold it up to the light and easily see any gaps in the paint.
     
    When the indicators are held up to light the effect can be seen (before the back and sides are painted) - the close-up photo shows scratches from the needle when I was clearing the holes, I didn't notice these when I was checking them so I am confident they won't be seen from 'viewing distance' - or even with the naked eye from a normal distance!

     
    Now to think of the LED's, here is one of the #1206 pre-wired LEDs.  This is the size recommended by the designer in the Shapeways product description.  Personally I think it looks a bit small but I will need to get a power supply set up and see how it looks - if needed there is space for up to three LEDs per indicator.

    I don't have a bench power supply - I don't even have a proper workbench - so I will use a spare 12v wall plug and wire it to some veroboard putting a resistor in line with the LED, this will also let me test the brightness and pick the best resistor value to use.  Maybe I should invest in a breadboard for things like this so I can leave the soldering iron away for testing but for now it will do.
     

     
    I started out with a 1K resistor which was much too bright and made me realise I needed to touch up some of the paint on the back and sides of the indicators!  I then tried a 10K resistor which was rather dim compared to what I needed.  I settled with a 4K7 resistor and facing the LED 'backwards' - that is to say facing away from the holes - in the indicator, this value gave fairly consistent lighting of the indicator.  Each indicator has a small slot in the bottom for the LED to slide into.  I am using 12v to power the LED although other voltages can be used, the required resistor value can be calculated using the formula: Volts / Current (0.0025) = Resistance (Ohms).  The current value of 0.0025A was calculated from my values of 12v and 4700 Ohms.  For example, to power the LED from a 5v supply the resistor value would need to be (5/0.0025=2000) 2K.
     
    Next, I moved on to the NTI Displays.
     
    Like many printable card kits; the Next Train Indicators kit contains a template page which needs sticking to card before cutting out, I used an empty cereal box, and also has a 'wrap' page which needs printing and wrapping around the carboard structure built with the template.
     
    I stuck the template page on to a cereal box using Pritt stick before using a sharp scalpel to cut around the edges - before doing this I did draw some 'flaps' onto the template to stick them together to provide a solid 'base' for the wrap around.

     
    The parts look quite a bit smaller once they've been cut out so I opted follow the instructions properly and use the wrap to hold together the template pieces, it's almost as if someone has thought about this!

     
    After the first attempt using card, I gave up on it.  The card I was using was too thick and it is all I had to hand so I went on the search for something else I already had and that I could use that was thin enough.  That's when I found some thin Plasticard I could use, this seemed ideal as I could easily bond it to create a solid base to put the wrap over.  So I set out cutting out these shapes again for the second attempt.
     
    I achieved a much better outcome with the polystyrene sheet with two cut and prepared in the same time as I managed one crude cardboard version, on to the wrapping.

     
    After wrapping the first display I noticed a couple of problems, mainly with my cutting accuracy.  When I make more I will be taking more time and care, I will also probably discard the coloured wrap and just paint the plasticard instead and stick to using the kit as a scratchbuilding guide.  I will however be using the orange text in future builds.  I'd still highly recommend the kit but again, recommend it as a guide rather than a kit.

     
     
    Finally, on to the mounts.  As I mentioned I am using 4.8mm square tubing, which, to be honest, does look a little over-scale once cut down to size but not to a huge amount.  In future builds I would probably reduce this to 3.5mm - 4mm tubing.

     
    I chose to use tubing as it would allow me to run the wires inside to I only have short lengths of it to tidy up.  This will mean I need to cut a small section out of the bottom of the horizontal part for the wired to run through.  I used a spot-face cutter as I had it on the desk from making the LED testing circuit.  Because of the sharp turn the wired would need to take, they needed to be fed through before sticking the two parts together.  Ample wire was provided on the LEDs for this without having to extend anything.
     
    The screens and indicators are attached to the mount with thin strips of plasticard - I am using Pritt Stick to attach them to the displays and Loctite to attach the painted indicators, I am using liquid poly to attach to the mount.

     
    Once the indicators and screens were fixed to the mount, I pushed the LEDs into the indicators before securing the wires by adding some PVA glue,  just around where the the enter the bottom of the indicators, with a cocktail stick.

     
    Then it was just time to paint the whole assembly before wiring it up for a test run.
     
     
    Final Outcome
     
    Overall I am quite impressed with what I have created in a relatively short amount of time - no more than 5 hours over two days!
     
    I am very impressed with the appearance of the 3D printed OFF and RA indicators and will definitely buy and use them again.
     
    As I said above, next time I will use the Next Train Indicator kit as more of a guide and only use the orange text screens on a plasticard base.  This should give a cleaner looking display as well as a stronger build and I can use liquid poly to hold everything together rather than Pritt Stick.  I think I would also look to fill in the slots of the RA and OFF indicators after the LEDs have been fitted, this way I can paint the bottom black too.
     
    Also, looking at the illumination, maybe it would be wise to use two LEDs per indicator for a more even light.
     
    Here is the final outcome:
     

     
    and here is a video of it working:

    VIDEO - Apologies for the screaming three year old background noise, she was jumping on the bed pretending to be 'SuperLucy'.
     
    This is something I will re-visit when I have space and a plan for a layout, then I will work on ironing out some of the inadequacies of this project.
     
    Cheers
    Fred
  7. JZjr

    Just Pictures

    By JZjr,

    The second vehicles lighting unit is wired up so just some photos of the set as it is now. Still no directional lighting fitted - I can't put it off too much longer though.
     

    Both vehicles with saloon lights on & BILs illuminated
     

    Cab light on
     

    Inter-vehicle wiring
     
    I think that the inter-vehicle wiring needs a bit of a rethink - possibly with a couple of holes in the floor and running some of them that way rather than having them all running through the corridor connections.
     
    Looking at the photo of the cab, I think a bit of rebuilding of the desk is needed to make it fit better - the original is rather undersized.
     
    Cheers
  8. JZjr

    My Plan

    By JZjr,

    The Hornby 142 is a rather crude representation of the Class 142 'Pacer' and the model dates back to the days of Lima.
     
    Not only is the model crude, but the 142 itself has changed a fair amount since the model has been released, the doors for a start have changed and new features such as NRN antennas have been added. I would like to bring my models up to date and also to correct shortfalls that were, not surprisingly, made in the days of Lima.
     
     
    When I have completed this project I hope to have:
    Detailed roof, including NRN Radio Pods and vents. (SJR Models)
    Detailed interior, including cab details and hiding the DCC decoder.
    Further electrical connections between cars. (to provide digital functions)
    Correctly represented folding leaf doors. (Electra Railway Graphics)
    Detailed front end including windscreen wipers and BSI Coupler. (East Kent Models - Hornby Spares)
    Representation of corridor connections. (Folded card)
    Directional lighting. (Express Models Kit)
    Interior Saloon lighting. (LED Lighting strips)
    Individually controlled cab lighting. (LEDs)

     
     




     
    These images show the current state of my two Hornby 142's in First Great Western Livery.
  9. JZjr

    Arriva 142 to First 143

    By JZjr,

    My Arriva Trains Wales class 142 has now been half converted to a First Great Western 143.
     
    The final livery of the 143 will be the First Great Western 'Plain Blue Interim livery', this was applied to one of the class between the 'Local Bristol Livery' and the 'Local Lines Livery'
     
    Only the first half of the unit is done at the moment and the other half will be done in three-four weeks. If I have not updated this blog after three weeks then feel free to PM and remind me!
     
    Some pictures of the first half of the unit are in the attached gallery (The unit does not appear as gloss in the pictures as it does in the flesh!)
  10. JZjr

    Workbench

    By JZjr,

    As this was originally intended as a layout blog, all of my workbench content from now on can be found here.
     
    This includes the 142/143 conversion and any new posts will be made there.
  11. JZjr

    Arriva 142 to First 143

    By JZjr,

    My Arriva Trains Wales class 142 has now been half converted to a First Great Western 143.
     
    The final livery of the 143 will be the First Great Western 'Plain Blue Interim livery', this was applied to one of the class between the 'Local Bristol Livery' and the 'Local Lines Livery'
     
    Only the first half of the unit is done at the moment and the other half will be done in three-four weeks. If I have not updated this blog after three weeks then feel free to PM and remind me!
     
    Here are some pictures of the first half of the unit (The unit does not appear as gloss in the pictures as it does in the flesh!):
     











  12. JZjr

    The Idea

    By JZjr,

    This is the track-plan of the station area.
     
    Below is a track-plan of the local area.

     
    Below here is a sign I made up to use as the station notice board.

     
     
     
    Services:
    Half hourly shuttle between Swansea and Clydach. Class 153/142/143
    3 Trains a day to/from Clydack to Pembroke (via Morriston and Gorseinon) Class 153/142/143/150
    Hourly stopping shuttle from Cardiff Central Class 153/150
    2 Trains a day to and 1 train from Cheltemham Spa Class 142/143/150/158
    1 Daily direct train to Holyhead via Cardiff Central Class 158/175
     
     
  13. JZjr

    Sound In (Well not quite)

    By JZjr,

    My Howes sound chip has arrived and it's time to remap the functions!
     
    The 142 isn't ready for a chip yet - lots to do - but I couldn't resist having a play with the chip. At the moment I am using a ViTrains 37 body and using the standard speaker that is supplied with the LokSound 4. I am using the Howes sound project.
     
    I started by reading all CV's using DecoderPro so I have a backup file in case it all goes pear shaped, it took around an hour to read all of the CV's. I used this, along with the provided function sheet, to establish which sound slots associated with which sounds.
     
    Then I began remapping the functions to a 'personal standard' so all of my stock will use common functions (this is in the notepad file at the top), the function mapping tab of DecoderPro is also in the gallery.
     
    I'm not too sure about having door open and close on the same latching function - this means that the door close sound plays whenever track power is turned on and also seems to play whenever I select speed-step 0 from anywhere above 50%.
     
    For now I think it's time to return to the 142 and get that ready for decoder fitting before settling on function order and volume settings!
     
    Cheers.
  14. JZjr

    142 Upgrade

    By JZjr,

    I've created this new blog to keep all of my projects together.  I'll continue to update my 142 blog but any other projects will be kept here.
    Click here to view the 142 upgrades blog.
  15. JZjr

    Progress Ongoing

    By JZjr,

    Progress has been ongoing - albeit not well documented on my part!
     
    The LokPilot FX has arrived and has been wired in along side the LokSound and a Zimo speaker in each vehicle. I am using the 'Decoder Lock' feature of many decoders to program (this uses CV 15 & 16 to ensure only the selected decoder responds to programming commands).
     

    Zimo speaker in the trailer vehicle
     
    All of the lighting works as hoped in the motor vehicle, a bit bright but when it is all together this can be adjusted through the decoders.
     

    Internal and Leading Cab Light on
     

    BIL Lights on
     
    I have had to lengthen the toilet area to house the decoders as the roof is taken up by the lighting boards and the Pacers don't have a lot of hidden space with their large windows and open seating area.
     

    Lenthened toilet area with decoders and wiring visible before glazing is installed
     
    I have used thin wire between the two vehicles which mean it is now permanently coupled.
     
    Most of the remaining work is simple to do - Fitting NRN Radio pods, creating a floor for the motor area, adding head/tail lights and fitting a functional coupling to either end.
  16. JZjr

    Internal Lighting

    By JZjr,

    I have now produced two lighting boards - one for each vehicle of the first unit. Each board powers one vehicles Cab light, Saloon lights & BIL Indicators.
     

     
    I have used stripboard so I can mount all required LED's & resistors directly to the board to avoid any difficult to hide wiring. Unfortunately with this board in place the standard glazing unit won't fit back in completely so that has had to be cut down with a sharp scalpel and carefully snapping it.
     

     
    I haven't been too picky with the resistor values as, if the lights are too bright, I can dim them through the LokSound or LokPilot FX decoders as appropriate. I plan on mounting both the decoders in the powered vehicle and using small JST plugs to connect track power and lighting wires through to the other vehicle.
     
    I have some Express Models tower LED's to fit head & tail lights - I plan on creating the lew style light fittings with bi-colour Marker/Tail lights, firstly because this is easier but also as this is what probably would have been fitted if GWR still had any 142s. Once the head and tail lights are in and my LokPilot FX is here I can start to work on wiring in the decoders and connecting everything together. After the decoders are in and it all works there are just a few cosmetic things to sort out - Rebuild parts of the interior, fitting of the NRN radio pods, painting the seating & cutting a hole in the front skirt for future coupling fitting (I hope Bachmann offer their new 158/9 coupling as a spare so I can fit all my 14x, 15x & 17x fleet).
     
    Oh, and then there's another one to do before I move on to my next project!
  17. JZjr

    BIL 'Hazard Lights' In

    By JZjr,

    Today, my DCC Concepts order arrived - so it was time to fit the bodyside indicators.
     
    I have used DCC Concepts MicroLights - these are pre-wired LED's measuring less than 1mm in either direction. I could have used any surface mount LED but the benefit of them being pre-wired is a necessity for me at this size!
     
    I bought a 0.5mm drill to make a hole for the wires to pass through and just stuck the LED on the surface with Loctite.
     
    Not a great photo at the moment - My wife took the photo while I held the wires against my multimeter.
     
    Still en-route is the two speakers, the Howes sound decoder and some NRN Radio pods, I still have to decide on the LEDs used to fit head & tail lights.
     
    I also ordered some 1.6mm 'Butterfly' LEDs which I am planning to use for cab and passenger lights. I'm currently waiting for a new soldering iron before I construct a stripboard 'roof unit' which will contain all resistors for the cab, saloon and BIL lights - when I have this along with the decoder I'll be
    able to take some better photos! Then I just need to think about micro plugs to connect the two units.
     
    Does anyone know how I can insert more than one photo into a blog post?
     
    Fred
  18. JZjr

    Underframe Detail

    By JZjr,

    Starting with a few dabs of paint on the underframe - silver on the exhaust, a couple of spots of orange and red on some mouldings. The Hornby underframe is fairly crude so the red and orange paint don't really match up to the prototype.
     
    After that dried I brushed over with some 'Rusty Wash' made using some Tamiya Orange Brown and a drop of Orange mixed with suitable paint thinners; and some 'Dirty Wash' made using some Tamiya Dark Grey and a dash of Orange Brown, again with suitable paint thinners.
     
    As you can see I managed to damage the glazing mould, I have had to order a complete body spare from Peters Spares. I plan to saw the glazing so I have access to the roof to fit the DCC Decoder, wiring and lighting.
     
    Next - Altering the internal seating to give a more prototypical look.
  19. JZjr

    Many Years Later

    By JZjr,

    Almost 6 years later (with no progress), it's time to continue.
     
    With a wife, two kids and a new full time job since the last progress, time will be tight but I'm sure I can do more than I have done in the last six years!
     
    I've ordered some NRN radio pods from PH Designs, a total of 6, to add to my two pacers and my 121. It was £20 but I can't seem to find any others - I've previously used Hurst but they seem to be out of stock of everything. Although NRN is out of use the pods are still fitted to most stock. I'll also need to make a pod for the GSM antenna. From the photos I've seen this is a small 'lump' behind the NRN pod.
     
    I've half weathered the underframes and just waiting for the wash to dry before I take on the other sides, I'll post some photos when they are done.
     
    Then I'll move on to the interior:
    Removal of the DCC Sockets
    Cutting the interior moulding
    Adding lower floor where possible
    Adding a toilet cubicle
    Fitting directional, cab & Saloon lights
    Adding Sound chips and fitting speakers
     
    Hopefully it will take less than 6 years!
  20. JZjr

    Painting Detail

    By JZjr,

    I have now painted the interior of one of my units.
     
    For the seating I have used Humbrol RC404, although this isn't a match for First Great Western Blue, I think that it is close enough when viewed through a window of the unit. I have also used Tamiya X-32 (Titan Silver) on the very top edge of the seats, this is to represent the hand-rails on the top of every seat, I am hoping that this will show up when I fit internal saloon lighting.
     
    I have painted the passenger side of the cab door partially black (upper half) as in photographs of the units that I have seen, I have also painted the drivers side of the door all-black, this is because there is no representation of this in any images and I want to be clear where the door is, I may well go over this door in another colour as it probably isn't black in the actual units.
     
    I have painted the wheel sides using Tamiya XF-64 (Red Brown) and I have painted the tank cap (on the side of the chassis) Titan Silver.
     




     
    Much of the interior painting looks un-neat but a lot of this will be hidden by the body and passenger figures.
  21. JZjr

    Removing Fittings

    By JZjr,

    I have started by removing fittings from the seating unit that aren't present in images of unit interiors.
     


     
    These fittings are shown here and include dividers and screw fittings that are used to mount the DCC socket, something that I will also remove as it isn't very easy to hide with such large proportion of the model being clear plastic.
  22. JZjr

    On Hold

    By JZjr,

    As the news hit of the 2010 layout challenge I thought that I would built a layout to enter so as that happenes Clydach will go on hold.
     
    Here is a link to the challenge layout:
     
    http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php/topic/3548-newport-sth-wales-branch/
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